The Credit Repair Dispute Conundrum

Credit Repair Resistance

The credit bureaus have been known to resist the credit repair process. They have a variety of mechanisms in place which can only be interpreted as a clear attempt to quell and discourage the flow of dispute letters. These techniques include letters proclaiming the frivolity of the dispute, demands for identification, and the refusal to process a dispute on the basis of some undefined suspicious characteristics.

Significant Numbers

It is possible, based on some extensive first hand observation that a full twenty percent of all the credit repair dispute letters that are sent to the credit bureaus meet with one of these methods of refusal. Further, it is exceedingly clear that the majority of the letters that are turned away are done so on a random basis, with no substantiated grounds for doing so.

It Makes Sense

The benefits to the credit bureaus of a concerted campaign of resistance against the growing tide of credit repair effort can be significant and even measurable. If a credit bureau can avoid the detailed processing twenty percent of all credit repair letters they can save, IMHO, millions of dollars per year on their dispute processing budget.

Credit Bureaus and Disputes

To understand the almost inevitable nature of the problem it is worth recalling that the credit bureaus do not get paid for processing credit repair disputes. This is requirement of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and one that they lobbied against prior to legislation, and which they now execute only begrudgingly.

Resistance Pays

I also imagine that a good number of the credit repair dispute letters that are turned away are done so permanently, the majority of supplicants becoming instantly discouraged from any further action. The nature of the situation, however, which is clear upon examination, dictates exactly the opposite response. If the credit bureau resistance is largely random and unrelated to any reasons they state in their responses it makes more sense to send the credit repair dispute again.

Working The Odds

In summary, if one in five credit repair letters sent to one of the three major credit bureaus is turned away for no good cause, you would be well advised to send the letter once again. If the same odds apply to each attempt you make to correct an error on your credit report, then the odds of being turned away as suspicious or frivolous two times in a row are greatly diminished. And to carry the math just one step further, the odds of rejection after three credit repeated repair efforts falls to near zero.

It Will Not Change

It means sense that the credit bureaus do what they can to moderate their work load. The credit bureaus have no government charter, nor direct supervision. Decisions to stem their unwanted credit repair related workload are made behind closed doors, and would be very hard to prosecute. There is no reason that we should expect this behavior to end.

You Can Make it Work

Having said all of this, it is a fact that credit bureaus do a good job over all. They manage a breathtaking amount of data and it is understandable that errors occur. And even with their resistance to credit repair letter processing, they do find a way to administer disputes in a decent manner. It would be nice if the credit bureaus processed each and every letter accurately and immediately. But life is as it is. It is up to us to deal with life as it presents itself. Accept it as it is and work with it. Remain calm, understand the shortcomings of the system, and continue your credit repair. You will succeed!

Copyright © 2009 Ian Webber. All Content. All Rights Reserved.