Paying a debt that has already been listed on one's credit report
Are the following statements generally correct?
One has a right to make a short written explanation of any adverse
report in one's credit history and that explanation will be included
in a credit report, but such an explanation will be ineffective
because most credit decisions are made by computer.
Paying a debt that has already been listed on one's credit report will
not remove the record but at best change it from "he didn't pay" to
"he paid late", which is still a serious negative modifer to one's
computer generated credit score.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 15 USC § 1681 et seq. as amended
(11/98) allows such:
15 USC § 611(b) Statement of dispute. If the reinvestigation does not
resolve the dispute, the consumer may file a brief statement setting
forth the nature of the dispute. The consumer reporting agency may limit
such statements to not more than one hundred words if it provides the
consumer with assistance in writing a clear summary of the dispute.
Notification of consumer dispute in subsequent consumer reports.
Whenever a statement of a dispute is filed, unless there is reasonable
grounds to believe that it is frivolous or irrelevant, the consumer
reporting agency shall, in any subsequent consumer report containing the
information in question, clearly note that it is disputed by the
consumer and provide either the consumer’s statement or a clear and
accurate codification or summary thereof.
But I agree with the statement that credit scores do not take the
statement into account.
Lyle.