Disputes

[Anonymous]

I have a couple items on my reports that I intend to dispute with the CRA's and have been reading every article and post I can find. Is there really any advantage to sending a hand written letter over of a typed letter? If a hand written letter is ideal does it have to be done in a certain color ink?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

What are you intending to dispute, and on what grounds? Are these entries valid, as in are they collections or chargeoffs of accounts that you owned and opened, and do you in fact owe money on them?

I ask because disputes are intended to be used for erroneous tradelines, and disputing something that is a valid debt of yours typically goes back as validated, is refreshed in the eyes of your score, and sometimes will knock your score down farther.

[simplegirl]

If your disputing valid information it could also be dropped for the time being and resurface when you least expect it.

[Anonymous]

They are items that were opened in my name by my ex wife that I was not aware of until long after my divorce. 

[Anonymous]

I’m no expert on this but you may need to look into the legalities. If you were married at the time, you may be equally responsible regardless of whether she opened them or not.

[Anonymous]

Request a copy of the credit application. Verify who applied. Send your request certified return receipt.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Request a copy of the credit application. Verify who applied. Send your request certified return receipt.

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That is my intention, the reason for my original question is that I have read articles that have stated that a typed dispute isn't read by an actual person and automatically get verified. The same articles say to hand write your dispute and to use blue or purple ink, just trying to find out what is true or not.

[RobertEG]

If your issue is that you did not authorize the account, then the proper approach is to file a police report and send it to the CRA, which then requires the CRA to block the account(s) from your credit report without any involvement or approval of the creditor.  See FCRA 605B.

The dispute process permits a creditor to verify the accuracy of their reporting if they have reasonable basis, for which an application that uses your name is considered basis for verification.

The identity theft process of FCRA 605B was added to the FCRA to address the problem inherent in attempting removal via the dispute process, and requires a CRA to block the reporting from your credit report without any involvment of the creditor.

As for pursuing who opened the account, the identity theft process additionally includes a section 609(e) which permits a consumer to compel the creditor to send to you any business records in their possession related to the account, including the application papers submitted to establish the account, and any transactions made on the account.

Simply sending the creditor a request for records wont require them to do so.

However, if you send them a copy of the police report, you can then compel production of records and pursue your own investigation of the account.