Credit Bureau Dispute * Dispute Negatives * Credit Repair * Credit Dispute * Fix Your Credit

Slow or No Response From a Credit Bureau

Last Updated: October 17, 2011

One of the most basic and important steps in credit repair is sending credit dispute letters. Let's say you've mailed your credit report dispute to the credit bureaus. You've sent it certified and return receipt requested. You've kept a copy of the letter for your records as well as the return receipt when you received it in the mail. Now the waiting begins.

Fast forward 30 days from when the credit bureau received your letter (as dated on your return receipt postcard), which is the maximum amount of time the credit bureau has to respond to your dispute. You've gotten no response or maybe you've gotten a perplexing response and you want to understand what it means.

Credit Bureau Dispute Responses

You will receive one of these types of responses to your dispute:

1. No response at all.
2. A rejection letter on the grounds that the dispute is "frivolous or irrelevant".
3. A rejection based on the grounds the credit bureau believes that you are manipulating the system.
4. A letter announcing your investigation has begun.
5. A letter announcing your dispute has been forwarded to the appropriate credit bureau.
6. A new credit report showing the results of an investigation.

You should keep in mind the credit bureau is a for-profit company with employees trained to respond in a limited number of ways to any dispute that comes in. They are not considering each dispute independently for a unique solution. If you stamp out a ferocious counter-letter in response to the credit bureau's rejection, the credit bureau employee has seen it all and will not change their position. Usually, it is better to simply write the dispute again.

What do These Responses Really Mean?

Here are the basic guidleines for reacting to the results of your dispute request:

1. No response at all. If it's been 30 days after you've sent in your dispute, the credit bureau is in hot water. According to federal credit law spelled out in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a credit bureau is required to respond to you and complete their investigation within 30 days. If they do not respond within the 30-day time frame, they must remove the negative listing disputed. If they do not, they are in violation of the FCRA.
   
   This is good news for you, for you can pressure the credit bureau to remove the listing immediatly. You now need to send them a follow up letter, reminding them of their legal obligations. Here is a sample letter to use and be sure to send it certified or registered and return receipt requested. Again, retain a copy of the letter, as well as the return receipt when you receive it.


2. A rejection based on the grounds that the dispute is "frivolous or irrelevant". If this dispute request is the second, third or even forth dispute for a negative listing, you can't use any dispute that you've used in the past. If you used a "duplicate reason", the credit bureau has every right to classify your dispute "frivolous". Re-dispute the listing giving a different reason in this case.
   
   If you are truly surprised at the "frivolous or irrelevant" designation, you can write them a letter requesting why they have refused to investigate. However, the best and most expedient thing to do would be to re-dispute giving a new dispute reason.


3. Credit bureau thinks a credit repair company submitted the dispute. The credit bureau believes that you are manipulating the system by using a credit repair company, and rejects your dispute. Reject this implication and insist in another dispute, that the credit bureau is shirking their responsibilities and that they are taking a very unwise risk in rejecting your dispute. All you want is for your credit report to be properly corrected.


4. A letter announcing that an investigation has begun. TransUnion will usually send these letters as a clever way of extending their 30-day investigation period. You really have no choice but to accept their timetable. Don't respond to this letter, it will allow them more time to investigate. Just place the letter in the file and watch closely for their response.


5. A letter announcing that your dispute has been forwarded to the appropriate credit bureau. If there is a local credit bureau involved in your dispute, the main credit bureau will forward your dispute to that bureau for verification. Count on an additional two week delay when this occurs.


6. A new credit report showing the results of an investigation. This is the desired result. When you receive your new report, you should copy and carefully analyze the credit report for deletions or changes.

Restoring your credit takes months. There really isn't an quick way to do credit repair. If you decided to restore your own credit, you should know from this text that you will encounter delays. If you need to clean up your credit quickly to secure a loan, you may encounter lots of frustration while you wait.

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