AM I ON THE CREDIT BUREAUS’ VIP LIST?

The New York Times has publicly exposed the credit bureaus’ VIP list.  As reported by Tara Siegel Bernard, Equifax, Experian and Trans Union “have a two-tiered system for resolving errors — one for the rich, the well-connected, the well-known and the powerful, and the other for everyone else.”

Am I on the credit bureaus VIP list?  It’s doubtful because the VIP list for each of the credit bureaus is made up almost exclusively of celebrities, politicians, judges and other influential people.   If you make the list, then guessed it, you get VIP treatment, including special help from workers in the United States in fixing your credit disputes on your credit report.  According to one lawyer, most VIP errors are corrected immediately.

What if you are not on the VIP list for Equifax, Experian or Trans Union?  Well, get ready for some not so VIP treatment, including re-investigations by automated systems and having your calls and queries outsourced to the Philippines, South America, or India.  Consumer complaints are funneled electronically to subcontractors overseas, where a worker spends, on average, about two minutes figuring out the gist of the matter, boiling it down to a one-to-three-digit computer code that signifies the problem, such as account disputed because “not mine.”  The credit bureaus’ automated system sends the “not mine” dispute to the furnisher of the information (i.e, creditor, collection agency, etc…).  The disputed information is generally verified electronically  by the furnisher and relayed to the credit bureau.  The credit bureau then forwards the results of its “re-investigation” to the consumer and either deletes, updates or verifies the disputed information.

FULL STORY

The credit bureaus and federal law place the burden on consumers to prove the information in the credit bureaus’ database is wrong.  As a result, often the only way to correct errors on your credit report is through the federal court system.  Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), consumers have the right not only to a free file disclosure (credit report), but also to dispute inaccurate items on the report.  When a credit bureau fails to perform a reasonable investigation, consumers have the right under the FCRA to sue the bureaus and may recover actual damages, statutory damages, attorneys’ fees and punitive damages if successful.

Have you received your free credit report from Equifax, Experian and Trans Union? If you have not, then you should request your free credit report immediately.  Have you received your credit reports and discovered errors?  Have you disputed the incorrect items to Equifax, Experian and Trans Union?  If you have and the bureaus have failed to delete the inaccurate information, then you need to contact consumer credit lawyer Micah Adkins for a free legal consultation.

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