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Hi Everyone,
My wife and I are aiming to apply for a mortgage in early May and I have been working hard to get my credit report in top shape. I have one Citi CC with dispute remarks and I have a couple questions I'm hoping the community here can chime in on.
1) I disputed a charge in 2006 where I paid for a product I never received. Since 2006, this CC has had the remarks "Dispute resolved-customer disagrees". Is it advisable to get these removed?
2) It seemed to be taking awhile for this same CC to show that I had paid it off and credit utilization is the main factor affecting my score right now. I filed a dispute using the links from my 3B report and chose the option "balance is incorrect". It now seems I've made matters worse and in hindsight, I simply should have waited. After the dispute to get the balance corrected EQ now shows the remark "Consumer Disputes After Resolution" which certainly sounds worse and sounds like an open dispute. There is so much advice on the internet that says "check your credit report and fix errors before applying for a mortgage" and I tried to aggressively do that.
I have spoken with all three bureaus and they seemed to indicate they could remove these remarks. EQ & TU just accepted my request via phone and said they would email results. EX was extremely helpful and confidently said the could remove these remarks. I also mailed a letter to Cit Credit Bureau Disputes asking that they remove all dispute remarks. It makes no sense to me that dispute remarks for a resolved dispute would remain on your report for 11 years. At this point, I'm sort of afraid every bit of correspondence will just yield more remarks. Any tips of greatly appreciated!
Yes, you can request to have it removed and you should.
Thanks for chiming in! I've requested, I'll report here how it goes.
So far the bureaus have been very easy to deal with- EX, EQ & TU have all removed the comments from my Citi CC. It hasn't updated yet on myfico but it is reflected in the report they each sent me after making the removal request. Now I'm waiting to see fi Citi adds the comments back. I have sent them a letter as well asking that the comments be removed. Stay tuned!
The FCRA permits a consumer to insert a statement in their file if they disagree with the outcome of a dispute, and requires the CRA to then include that statement in subsequent credit reports. See FCRA 611(b)( and (c).
That statement is NOT actually a continued "dispute." It is a gratuitous statement by the consumer of disagreement.
There is no appeal by the consumer of a dispute, and a dispute must be concluded by the CRA within 30'ish days of filing, so old disputes cannot remain as open disputes past their conclusion date of 30'ish days from filing. Thus, the phrase "Consumer Disputes After Resolution" is a misnomer. It should more accurately state that the consumer disagrees after resolution.
Some creditors will nonetheless desire removal of any issue of continued consumer "dispute" of a resolved dispute, and request their removal prior to any loan approval.
It is a voluntary statement on the part of a consumer that carries no substantive appeal impact, and thus the CRAs normally have no problem with their removal.
Thanks for the great info. I wasn't sure to what extent having these remarks would affect my approval prospects so, to err on the side of caution, I wanted to have them removed. So far, so good!
Update: I received a letter from Citi a couple weeks after I wrote them. They requested that the dispute marks be removed. This turned out to be easy and the bureaus and Citi we're helpful and cooperative. It was annoying to have to write Citi vs. call but the did respond quickly. EQ now says
"This item was updated from our processing of your dispute in Mar 2017." That is still a bit annoying since I really want no mention of a dispute but I'm in much better shape now, I think.
Has anyone else had much luck removing comment "Consumer disputes after resolution" from the Comments: field of the accounts on the report?
It seems to be something that CRAs like to put after completing the dispute.
If so, how did you accomplish this? How were you able to remove such a comment?
Can this be done by simply calling the CRA and asking to remove the comment? Is this something that CRAs will simply do over the phone?
Thanks!!