CRA refuses to provide verification

[Anonymous]

I have two accounts with the CRAs that after three 609 letters they are advising me that they aren’t required to provide verification and I should contact the creditor. I proceeded to advise them of the following: “According to the FCRA’s Summary of rights, a consumer reporting agency shall provide to a consumer, with each written disclosure by the agency to the consumer. This has not been provided and this is the sole basis of the complaint. Therefore, I am still requesting a copy of the verifiable original creditor documentation If the credit reporting agency does not have proof that the negative items are consumers, then according to the FCRA, those items are classified as “UNVERIFIED”, and under the FCRA – all unverified accounts MUST BE DELETED.

Kindly provide proof or delete these items from my credit report. “

Am I not understanding how this is supposed to work or are they just choosing to be noncompliant?

[RobertEG]

I agree with the CRA.

There is no provision of FCRA 609 which requires a CRA to provide verification of the accuracy of creditor records.

FCRA 609 provides for requests for disclosure to a consumer by a CRA of information that is of record in the consumer's credit file at the time of the request.  It does not apply to information not in their files, such as internal creditor documentation, and contains no provision requiring a CRA to verify or prove the accuracy of account information, and does not mandate any deletion of information from a consumer's credit report based on a request for disclosure under section 609.

Deletion of information based on lack of verification applies only to disputes filed under the dispute process set forth in FCRA 611.

More specifically, the consumer must identify a specific inaccuracy in reported information, and the CRA must then forward a copy of the dispute to the furnisher (e.g., creditor) for their investigation.  It is the furnisher who then either corrects or verifies the accuracy by way of a required response back to the CRA.  Their is no referral to any furnisher as part of the disclosure process under FCRA 609, and thus no mechanism for the CRA to obtain verification by a furnisher based on their records.

Many so-called dispute and verification letters are posted on the internet based on an incorrect interpretation of FCRA 609.

If you wish verification of creditor records, then file a dispute under the provisions of FCRA 611 rather than attempt to invent some non-existent verification/deletion requirement under section 609.