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Under the
most recent version of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the credit bureaus
must complete a reinvestigation within 30 days of receiving a dispute
letter from the consumer.
However, the credit bureau still has the right to
consider a dispute letter "frivolous and irrelevant" at their own
discretion, if they feel that someone is attempting credit repair. While
the credit bureaus are careful not to overuse this privilege, they may
deem virtually any dispute frivolous or irrelevant without having to
justify their decision or point to credit repair methods. Learn how to get
the credit repair companies to take positive action on your dispute.
Download "Give Yourself Credit" |
While the credit bureau is required to complete
their reinvestigation in 30 days or less, the consumer has little recourse
against them if they don't. Many consumers assume that the credit bureau
must repair all disputed credit if the investigation isn't completed
within the required time. This is not the case. The credit bureau may take
as long as it likes to repair the credit. The only real recourse a
consumer might have would be to gather a class-action lawsuit to penalize
the bureau for taking too long. At Trans Union, for example, it is common
practice to receive the credit repair dispute letter, take a week or two
to process it, then send the consumer a letter saying that the
reinvestigation will begin on the date that the credit repair dispute was
finally processed. This often gives them a total of six weeks from the
date of receipt of the dispute to complete the reinvestigation.
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