An online search for anything related to “bad credit” and “Ohio” brings up a list of offers for car loans and home loans for credit-challenged consumers. Therefore, it seems reasonable to assume that, even though Ohioans are striving valiantly to earn better credit, bad credit still plagues the Buckeye State. Here’s something that may surprise you: A lot of blemishes on Ohio credit reports may simply be errors than can be removed. Disputing errors on your credit report requires sending written requests to the appropriate credit bureaus. After receiving your letter, a credit bureau has 30 days to investigate your claim. But what happens if they don’t respond?
Under the law, if the credit reporting agency fails to respond in 30 days, they must remove the trade line. If they fail to do so, they violate your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
The Right Response when a Credit Bureau Fails to Respond to Your Dispute within 30 Days
All three major credit bureaus are swamped with consumer dispute letters from Ohio and every other state. This is no excuse, but it is a fact of life. Some disreputable credit repair companies will even urge their clients to engage in a scam called “jamming.” This involves having the consumer dispute all negative items on their credit report by sending out several dispute letters for each item. Here, the goal is to “jam” up the disputing process so that the credit bureau gets behind and is forced to remove legitimate items. This is a sleazy, if not illegal, tactic.
Unfortunately for the Ohio consumers who are tricked into doing this, if valid items are removed, it’s only temporarily. The lenders involved will simply re-report the negative info when the next reporting cycle rolls around.
Valid credit error disputes will sometimes get lost in the shuffle. When this happens, the credit bureau is in hot water. It doesn’t matter if they’re backed up. Any credit bureau that doesn’t respond to a dispute letter within 30 days must delete the disputed trade line or it will be in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
At this point, you should send a follow-up letter politely demanding that the disputed item automatically be removed. You may also send a complaint letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Make copies of these letters so that you’ll have them if you decide to take legal action. That’s right. If a credit bureau fails to provide some sort of answer to a consumer dispute letter, they can be sued. The FCRA is a federal statute, and any action that goes against it will not be taken lightly.
How to Get a Free Lawyer to Help with Credit Bureau Violations
Ohio residents who want errors removed from their credit reports don’t have to take on the credit bureaus alone. You can get a FREE, experienced credit repair lawyer right now by contacting Credit Repair Lawyers of America. In fact, you should give us a call if:
- You’ve disputed an error on any of your credit reports over 30 days ago and have received no response.
- You’ve sent a dispute letter that wasn’t answered within 30 days AND you’ve mailed a follow-up letter.
- You’ve received an unacceptable response to a dispute letter, meaning that your claim is being denied, but you have proof that your dispute is valid
- You’ve just discovered an error – or multiple errors – on your credit reports, and you want FREE legal assistance with the disputing process.
Ohio is bouncing back financially, and so are you. Why would you let credit report errors hold you back? Remember that you are entitled by federal law to fair and accurate credit reports, and the credit score that you’ve actually earned.
The Free and Legal way to Get Better Credit
Don’t let debt collections and errors on your credit reports bring your credit score down. At Credit Repair Lawyers of America, we’ve been cleaning up credit reports for consumers since 2008 for free. How do we do it? All of our fees come from the defendants in cases that are settled. This is why our clients pay nothing for the work we do.
Let’s start the conversation about what we can do for your credit. Set up your free consultation today by calling Attorney Gary Nitzkin at (888)293-2882 or sending him a message through our contact page.
