A lot of consumers dispute credit information online and find it to be effective and quick. Some find that calling the bureaus directly – after pulling their credit report – works best. Others swear by mailing the dispute letters; which one is right?
Honestly, there is no right or wrong way to dispute; depending on what you're disputing. The telephone is good when you have items that are old and obsolete, want to update/delete address, employer info and telephone numbers or items that aren't yours because of incorrect social; when you have a 3-way call with the courthouse, alleged creditor on the phone who state specifically that the negative items has been verified NOT to be yours; or when you're following up on an online/mailed dispute. I'm not a fan of online at all.
The reason why I'm an advocate of first class/certified mail is because of a paper trail and making sure you don't give up certain rights.
Per Fair Credit Reporting Act “Expedited Dispute Resolution” Section 611a(8) the on-line dispute system:
“…the agency shall not be required to comply with paragraphs 2, 6 and 7 with respect to that dispute if they delete the tradeline within 3 days.”
[Paragraph 2 requires the CRA to forward your dispute and all related documentation you provide to the furnisher. They rarely forward the documentation.
Paragraph 6 requires the CRA to provide you with written results of the investigation.
Paragraph 7 requires the CRA to provide you with the method of verification on request from the consumer. ]
So, by disputing online; you are saying that the credit bureaus do not have to provide all related documentation to the original creditor furnishing information on your report, which can be vital to prove the errors you are disputing.
You are saying they do not have to provide you with written results of the investigation, which is important if the item is not deleted; you do want to know why, correct?
You are also saying that the credit bureaus do not have to give you the methods they used to investigate your dispute if the results are not what you anticipated.
Are you willing to give that up if you are not content with the results? I'm not.
So although online disputing may be considered ‘old school'; it's the only way to ensure your rights are kept in tact during the entire process.
After all, the credit bureaus are in the credit business; not the deleting business; and bad credit info sells higher than good credit info.
