| An Unpleasant Possibility | | | | case your credit repair efforts will fall under Section |
| Are there entries on your credit report that do not | | | | 611 as indicated above. But if the creditor says that it |
| belong to you? These may be the result of a file | | | | is your account and verifies your name and address, |
| merger error on the part of the credit bureaus. Or | | | | and you know that this is an account that you never |
| they may be the result of a more nefarious case of | | | | personally opened it is time to act. |
| identity theft. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) | | | | The Dispute |
| gives you very specific and powerful tools to correct | | | | An Identity Theft Dispute must include an Identity |
| cases of identity theft and to quickly block the | | | | Theft Report which may be obtained from an |
| erroneous information from appearing on your credit | | | | authorized agency including, but not limited to, your |
| report and impacting your credit scores. | | | | local police department, the FTC, the States |
| Section 611 | | | | Attorney General Office, and The United States Post |
| Most disputes are governed by FCRA Section 611 | | | | Office. In addition to the Identity Theft Report you |
| procedures which rule that "if the completeness or | | | | must include clear proof of your identity, identification |
| accuracy of any item of information contained in a | | | | of each suspect account on your report, and a |
| consumer's file at a consumer reporting agency is | | | | statement that the suspect information is not related |
| disputed by the consumer and the consumer notifies | | | | to any transaction made by you. Don't make the |
| the agency directly, or indirectly through a reseller, of | | | | mistake of providing speculation about the disputed |
| such dispute, the agency shall, free of charge, | | | | items. The credit bureaus only want the simple facts. |
| conduct a reasonable reinvestigation to determine | | | | Many credit repair efforts are foiled by too much |
| whether the disputed information is inaccurate and | | | | information. Don't muddy the water. |
| record the current status of the disputed information, | | | | Immediate Results |
| or delete the item from the file, before the end of | | | | Once you have properly submitted an Identify Theft |
| the 30-day period beginning on the date on which the | | | | Dispute to one of the credit bureaus they are |
| agency receives the notice of the dispute." | | | | required to take immediate action. The FCRA |
| A Powerful Credit Repair Tool | | | | (Section 605B) mandates that a credit bureau block |
| Section 611 procedures are normally fine, but if you | | | | the reporting of any information that you have |
| have a pending transaction that requires your credit | | | | identified as having resulted from identity theft within |
| report to be in top form and time is of the essence | | | | four business days of the receipt of your dispute. |
| you should consider getting out the big guns. The | | | | The blocking of information means that it cannot be |
| FCRA remedy for identity theft is the most powerful | | | | included on your credit report nor have any impact |
| and quick acting tool available. But before you utilize | | | | on your credit scores. To further accommodate your |
| this powerful credit repair tool you need to determine | | | | dispute the three credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, |
| that the erroneous information on your report is | | | | and TransUnion must refer your dispute to each |
| something more than a file merger problem. | | | | other. This eliminates the burden of dealing with your |
| Assess the Situation | | | | credit repair project in triplicate. Other rights related |
| Many of the erroneous entries that appear on | | | | to identity theft include Fraud Alerts and Credit |
| consumer's credit reports are due to annoying file | | | | Freeze which may or may not be appropriate for |
| merger problems resulting from deficiencies in the | | | | your situation. |
| credit bureau's data management systems. These are | | | | Contact a Credit Repair Professional |
| altogether too common and do not fall into the | | | | If you feel in doubt about the process and want |
| category of identity theft. If you examine your credit | | | | clarification contact a credit repair professional. Most |
| report and discover an account that does not belong | | | | reputable credit repair companies will offer a free |
| to you it is essential to take action immediately. The | | | | consultation and take the time to clarify any |
| first step is to call the creditor that is furnishing the | | | | concerns that you may have. If you would rather |
| data to the credit bureau and ask them if the | | | | hire someone instead of doing it yourself, a |
| account is truly under your name. In many cases | | | | competent credit repair professional can perform the |
| victims of file mergers discover quickly that these | | | | work for you in an efficient and careful manner. |
| mysterious accounts belong to someone with similar | | | | Copyright © 2007 James W. Kemish. All |
| identifying characteristics, like a similar name. In this | | | | Content. All Rights Reserved. |