How Many Times Can I Dispute An Item With the Bureaus

[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone, 

I have an old student loan that went into collections several years back. I've paid it in full and the status has been closed, PIF, for over a year now. I have been trying to get the collection status off of my Experian report (strangely it is the only Bureau reporting this item at all). I have disputed with experian via their website two times now. When I try to dispute online I'm getting weird error messages and they're now asking me to call them to make the dispute. I should say I've contacted to OC (a small liberal arts college in CA) and they have been less than helpful in trying to delete the collection reporting. I'm in the process of mounting a full campaign against them, and any input on how to crush their opposition would be much appreciated. 

My real question is, I'm wondering, is there a limit to the number of times I can dispute an item on my credit report? If not, how do I push through all these walls experian is trying to set up? If there is a limit, what are the other ways around? 

Thanks again, take no prisoners, 

[gdale6]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Hi Everyone, 

I have an old student loan that went into collections several years back. I've paid it in full and the status has been closed, PIF, for over a year now. I have been trying to get the collection status off of my Experian report (strangely it is the only Bureau reporting this item at all). I have disputed with experian via their website two times now. When I try to dispute online I'm getting weird error messages and they're now asking me to call them to make the dispute. I should say I've contacted to OC (a small liberal arts college in CA) and they have been less than helpful in trying to delete the collection reporting. I'm in the process of mounting a full campaign against them, and any input on how to crush their opposition would be much appreciated. 

My real question is, I'm wondering, is there a limit to the number of times I can dispute an item on my credit report? If not, how do I push through all these walls experian is trying to set up? If there is a limit, what are the other ways around? 

Thanks again, take no prisoners, 

---

My fico does not advocate the disputing of valid debts or valid credit items that are reporting.  I will tell you disputing a paid off collection and not getting the deletion results in a Fico score drop as the status date comes current and it looks brand new in the eyes of Fico. The way to go after the TL is by GW letters to the reporting creditor.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/GW-letter-Q-amp-A-Examples-and-GW-Success-Stories/td-p/1573680

[Anonymous]

I have had better luck contating the Student Advocate and Dept of Education and asking for a review of my account and reporting data. I tried disputing my student loans with TU, EQ and EXP but no luck, they just kept reporting the same thing. The Dept of Edu deleted two TL's right away, the remaining ones are being reviewed by the student advocate and Sallie Mae and American Student Assistance, that way I have a human being reviewing my case instead of eOscar 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Ahmed, 

I am using my current tactics because I had success calling another school I attended as a freshman, where I also had a collection account (TL) that was quickly deleted by one single good will phone call to a financial aid officer at that school. He called it a backdated forbearance. The college I am now dealing with is straight lying to me, saying first that I had to get a backdated forbearance from the collections company I worked with (not true at all) and now saying that I can't get a backdated forbearance at all (also a lie) because the agreement wasn't made at time of payment. In fact it was, I did have an agreement with the collections comapny, but of course they did not communicate it to the OC (the college) or to the credit bureaus. Now I'm left holding the hot potato, having to duke it out with the institution I thought was trying to give me an education; turns out they're simply trying to pick my pocket and get away with their unscrupulous behavior. 

Anyhow, can you give me as much information as possible so that I may contact the Student Advocate and Dept of Education and Sallie Mae and American Student Assistance. By the way what is eOscar? Please could you share with me more about your story and your understanding of these institutions?

To the last person who commented on my question, I have no problem fighting fire with fire. These schools, and as an accessory the federal government, that are making loans to teenagers for tens of thousands of dollars to kids who have no credit history, no understanding of what they're getting themselves into, and are subject not only to no statute of limitations but also receive little to no financial counseling, are participating in predatory lending of the worst kind. In what world does it make sense to give an 18 year old $50k in loans when he's never had a credit card and the thing he's purchasing is a liberal arts degree from an obscure private college? It doesn't, this entire system of student debt is rotten to the core, bankrupting an entire generation of young Americans when they should be at their most productive and most capable of participating in our economy. And mark my words it will be the house of cards that brings on our next financial collapse. Ironically enough, MyFico does not support condemning these institutions even when they make a mockery of the entire credit reporting system. Let's be honest, the GW campaigns advocated for here are just as much a manipulation of the system as any other backdoor tactic. If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it's likely a necessary tactic to battle the shamelss organizations trying to pin working class and middle class kids to the wall.

[RobertEG]

The simple answer is that a CRA can hold a dispute as being frivolous or irrelevant if it has already been reinvestigated and a renewed dispute is subjstanatilly the same as a prior dispute.  If they find the dispute frvolous or irrelefant, they can dismiss it with no requirement to conduct  anoher reinvestigation.

As an aside, some will file a renewed dispute under the assumption that the furnisher will not verify within the reinestigatio period,thus requifing the CRA to delete.

That is not the case if the dispute is dismissed as frivoloous or irrelevant, as they then have no requirment to follow the reinvestigation process.

A dispute is not substantially the same if if provides additional documentation supporting an alleged inaccuracy.

That applies regardless of whether the piror dispute was a direct dispute of one sent to a CRA.

Basically, they have an obligation to only conduct one investigation of a dispute unless the renewed dispute is not substantially the same.

Additionally, it is noted that the post states that the OC has been contacted and refuses to delete a collection.

The OC does not have authority to delete the reporting made by a debt collector, so it is unclear as to why the deletion is being sought by a party who cannot delete it.

[tufa4311]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks Ahmed, 

I am using my current tactics because I had success calling another school I attended as a freshman, where I also had a collection account (TL) that was quickly deleted by one single good will phone call to a financial aid officer at that school. He called it a backdated forbearance.

---

rmarti55, I understand why you feel the way you do and it is more than apparent that you are all fired up about this issue, which is understandable, however, while emotion can get you started it won't get you finished. Let's just put aside all the fire breathing and your scorched earth policy and actually determine the best way to get this TL off your credit report.

Please understand, the dispute process is not the way to go, it has already been turned down twice and it will most likely continue to get turned down - and unless I'm missing something, I don't actually see anything to dispute. What you may have over looked is that the exact strategy that myFICO advocates in situations such as this, the Goodwill Removal request, is the exact way you got the other TL with a collections against it removed from your report - as you stated, "I also had a collection account (TL) that was quickly deleted by one single good will phone call to a financial aid officer at that school"...you said it yourself, it was deleted by a GOOD WILL request.

How about you take all that energy you plan to use to pillage and destroy your creditor and turn it into a campaign of requesting, asking, pretty please with sugar on top, to have the TL removed. It worked for me and countless others and it could work for you, too!

[Anonymous]

Who is reporting on the credit report? The CA or the College? If it's the CA, I would think goodwilling them. You said that it's no longer showing on 2 of the CBs but is on 1. Was there an agreement made when you PIF for that? 

I can tell you that I had an account in colletions from a University. I wrote letters to the University (snail mail, all the way up the chain) and within a week I got the answer I needed. In my case, the colletion wasn't paid yet and I got them to agree to recall the debt from the collection agency, remove the collection fees, and allow me to pay the college with no negatives on my credit report. 

However, I didn't approach them with an all-out-war mentality. I was very polite, and very much wanted them to see me as a person. 

[Anonymous]

So are you disputing it because it's invalid or incorrect, or just trying to get it removed?