How do Credit Agencies validate information provided by consumers on disputes

[Creditobsessed12]

I received a letter from Sallie Mae stating that I have never been late on my account.  I asked for a letter stating that I wasn't late this past summer but instead they sent a letter stating that I have never been late at all.  And I have been.  I was late a bunch of times at some point in 2012 because I thought my loans were in deferment and they were not and I have like 5 lates on like 20 student loan accounts which is affecting my score big time. Yes I have like 100 lates.  It's crazy. I want to send this letter to the credit agencies but my question is would they go back to Sallie Mae?  Whoever provided this letter to me must have not done it correctly and this can work to my advantage.  But do they revalidate information like this?  I wouldn't want to get in trouble or maybe get whoever did this in trouble. 

[tufa4311]

CO12, we just had a conversation on your other post - the info thier also applies here. Remember, the Bureaus are not the ones that put info in your credit report, the original creditor is, in this case that would be SallieMae. SM may have sent you a letter stating this or that, but that means nothing to the bureaus - what matters to them is the payment history SM sends to them. If SM told you they show no lates then they should not be reporting any lates. If they are reporting lates then there is a disconnect somehere but this has zero to do with the bureaus. When it comes to "cleaning" your credit report please forget about the bureaus for now - it is with the indiviudal creditors that you have a gripe with, not with the 3 bureaus. 

In terms of this specific case - I agree that it is wierd SM sent you a letter stating you have no lates. This is what i would do - keep the letter, wait a full reporting cycle, then pull your credit report and see if SM is reporting any lates. If they are then your next step is up to you - you could call SM and say hey guys, you sent me a letter stating I don't have any lates but yet you are reporting lates to the bureaus, please clarify...but I think we all know that the letter is most likely do to some error and if you push the issue with them on the phone they will confirm you do have lates. First things first, wait a reporting cycle and see what SM reports.

And to specifically answer your title question - "How do Credit Agencies validate information provided by consumers on disputes" - the Bureaus or Agencies as you referred to them validate your information with the creditor, full stop. If you think they creditor is wrong or lying or anything like that then you have to file a dispute with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Here's a time line to make it a little bit more clear:

You -> Creditor -> Credit Bureaus -> Credit Report ->Credit Score

You provide info to the Creditor through your payment history, your Creditor provides that info to the Credit Bureaus, the Credit Bureaus uses that info to determine your credit score. If you want the Credit Bureaus to provide you with a different Credit Score based on your payment history then the Creditor needs to change what they are reporting the the Credit Bureaus.

[RobertEG]

If you dispute via a CRA, they are not purely mnisterial in the decision making.

They are required to forward a copy to the furnisher of the disipute info, and get their input...... verification as being accurate as reported, corrrection, or deletion.

However, the final decision resides with teh CRA.  That is what their revestigation is.  They almost invariably will verify absent any other info if the furnisher reports back that they verify, but are not bound to rubber stamp their finding.

That being said, you would have to first assert an inaccuracy and provide a basis for such an assertion before you have a valid dispute.

You apparently concede accuracy, so there is a problem in asserteing otherwise.

The CRA could, if you dispute but provide no showing of inaccuracy, simply dismiss your dispute without any need for referral to the furnsiher of conduct of a reinvestigation.

Maybe you can find a creative way, but my suggestion would be NOT to dispute, but rather to send a letter to the creditor asking them to first update their reporting so as to reflect its current accuracy per their requirement under FCRA 623(a)(2).

That avoids need to state inaccuracy when you may not have one.

They might then delete to avoid a dispute........

[tufa4311]

Robert, while in theory your statement is correct, in practice, as you stated, "They almost invariably will verify absent any other info if the furnisher reports back that they verify" - there are very few instances where the CRA overrides what the creditor reports and certianly do not have any power to remove a late that is indeed accurate.

The source is the source - and in this case the source in the credit card company. The CRA has no grounds if the history reported is accurate and in this case I have not heard the OP deny making the late payments in the first place.