UPDATED*Help with Equifax

[CH-7-Mission-Accomplished]

If these are someone else's accounts and you are only an AU, insist that it be removed from your reports.  You are not liable for the debts and they can't be used to harm you.  It doesn't matter who the creditor is.

[Anonymous]

Sorry i was new to the accronyms, Can I dispute it online easier? Or if you rather me send a letter. Please tell me what to write

[CH-7-Mission-Accomplished]

Online dispute codes can be tricky because they are set up for certain easy to verify reasons.  They don't really give you a blank line where you can write things out freeform.

You could dispute online as "not mine" or "no longer responsible," but that may not be clear enough to get the account off.  Then you try to dispute again and they tell you it's frivolous.  Then you have to file a complaint with the CFPB and the BB and raise hell.

It's always better to do disputes in writing and sent through the mail.

[Anonymous]

alright, I am typing the letters now

[Anonymous]

I too have hired Lexington Law for help with negative and outdated item removal from my reports. I used creditkarma to dispute a collection item and it was removed in less than 2 weeks. I am still going to stick with Lexington Law for at least a month or two to see what progress if any they have made. If I dont see results by end of month 2 I will cancel. However, I am currently disputing another item on my report in seeing how that goes I just may find that I have no need for the firm.. 

The bothersome issue is that, now that I've had it removed from one report, I'll still have to repeat the process for the 2 others and that can be exhausting. But if credit repair is what you want, I believe it is worth it either way. Either put in the leg work and get it done or pay someone else to do it. At any rate I'll keep you guys abreast of any results I see with the firm or my own doing. 

[Anonymous]

February 13, 2016

To Whom It May Concern:

After closely examining my Equifax Credit Report obtained on 2/13/2016, I have discovered the following errors:

Problem 1

Account from Chase Card XXXXXXXXXis an authorized user account and not mine, I am not responsible for the debt. Please remove the account from my report.

Problem 2

Account from Discover Bank XXXXXXXX is an authorized user account and not mine, I am not responsible for the debt. Please remove the account from my report.

(Lexington Law may have challenged this on my behalf and If so I apologize for doing so again)

Sincerely,

XXXX X XXXXXXXX

That is the letter. How does it look? What is the address Do i add my address or theirs in the letter?

[Anonymous]

I went online and disputed all three bureau's woot! I will leave the harder stuff to Lexington. they will probably be mad haha

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have been paying Lexington Law and they removed three items since last month. I assume they are waiting for another payment to start more disputes. I just tried to dispute some personal info and it was very easy online. Anyone think I should get rid of them and be guided by you guys of how to challenge in disputing? Please let me know.

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Legally, a credit repair business is specifically limited in what they can do. They can send disputes on your behalf to the CRA's. That's it. There is NOTHING MORE that they can legally do. Nothing. You, OTOH, have many actions available:

you can send in disputes to the CRA's;

you can send direct disputes to CA's and OC's;

you can request debt validation from collectors;

you can negotiate PFD agreements from creditors;

you can request Good Will deletions of derogatory item by creditors;

you can file BBB complaints against CA's and OC's when appropriate;

you can file CFPB complaints against CA's and OC's when appropriate;

you can file complaints against CA's and OC's with state AG's when they violate state laws:

you can send ITS (Intent to Sue) letters to CA's and OC's when they violate FCRA and FDCPA .

As an individual, you have at least ten different weapons in your arsenal, while they have one.
 

[RobertEG]

To add to Norman's list ---

You can file a direct dispute with either a creditor or debt collector.

The FCRA exempts credit repair organizations from filing direct disputes, and even permits furnishers to dimsiss any direct dispute that even shows or indicates it was preparted using forms provided by a credit repair organization.

It is often better to file a direct dispute than to file the dispute via a CRA.

If you use a CRO, you give up that process.

[Anonymous]

Complete waste of time... I also hired Lexington Law firm in 2009 and paid there $99.00 fee and $82.00 per month I believe to dispute my items and "clean my credit". Fast forward 4 months and they had only disputed 3 items basically 1 item per month. I figured there scam out and cancelled it. They are going to keep you on the hook and SLOOOOOOOOWLY dispute 1 item per month and get the $82.00 per month as long as they can. DO YOURSELF a favor. Read these boards and do as I did and do it yourself. I now know thow to clean my on credit and I do not have to depend on anyone. Hope this helps. You can do this yourself. I went from a 495 to 800 across the boards.......