How to Fix Your Credit, Fast
Regarding the ability to fix bad credit, consumers have a very important right found in The Fair Debt Practices Act. Namely, consumers have the right to have a collection account validated.
Outlined in the FDCPA, there is a process known as validation and it is significantly different from the common process of verification. Verification simply centers on the credit bureau asking a creditor to verify information present on a persons account. This is a very cursory process that can be dealt with in a rather short amount of time. The creditor will simply review records and then provide it to the agency. The agency will then decide whether or not the creditor has provided accurate information.
When a collection agency is asked to validate a debt, by contrast, the process can get pretty involved. The collector must prove that the debt is your responsibility, and also that they have the legal right to collect it from you. Furthermore, the collector has to cease all collection activity until they provide this evidence to you. If the agency can't validate the debt, it must end its attempts to collect on the debt and stop reporting the collections account to the credit bureaus.
Note that your right to validation applies specifically to collection agencies, not to the original creditor. Collection agency records are presumed to be less reliable than those kept by the original creditors. Collectors are often guilty of going after the wrong people or misstating the amounts owed; the validation process is meant to protect consumers from those practices.
In order to properly validate a debt, a collector is required to present documentation gained from the original creditor that displays you really do owe the amount specified. As you can see, this allows validation to be a truly helpful method of cleaning up problems with your credit report. In some instances, credit agencies may not even have all the necessary forms to validate the debt owed. This is common when a collection account has moved from collector to collector. Sometimes, all the creditor will have is a simple computer printout to provide evidence of a claim. However, the FTC has made it abundantly clear that merely providing itemization accounts is not sufficient proof for the validation of a debt.
There is another very unique aspect to the validation process that many may be completely unaware of. Specifically, it can help you eliminate the collection of accounts that do belong to you. Some may wonder how this is possible. After all, if the debt is truly yours, how could you legally have is removed. The way this can be achieved is through initiating the validation process.
You will find that sometimes - not always, but sometimes - you can get accurate information removed from your file, especially if it has to do with an old collection account. Now, the bureaus and Fair Isaac will tell you that this isn't "playing fair" - that the integrity of the credit system depends on credit reports reflecting the most complete picture possible, including all available negative and positive information. - 16931
Outlined in the FDCPA, there is a process known as validation and it is significantly different from the common process of verification. Verification simply centers on the credit bureau asking a creditor to verify information present on a persons account. This is a very cursory process that can be dealt with in a rather short amount of time. The creditor will simply review records and then provide it to the agency. The agency will then decide whether or not the creditor has provided accurate information.
When a collection agency is asked to validate a debt, by contrast, the process can get pretty involved. The collector must prove that the debt is your responsibility, and also that they have the legal right to collect it from you. Furthermore, the collector has to cease all collection activity until they provide this evidence to you. If the agency can't validate the debt, it must end its attempts to collect on the debt and stop reporting the collections account to the credit bureaus.
Note that your right to validation applies specifically to collection agencies, not to the original creditor. Collection agency records are presumed to be less reliable than those kept by the original creditors. Collectors are often guilty of going after the wrong people or misstating the amounts owed; the validation process is meant to protect consumers from those practices.
In order to properly validate a debt, a collector is required to present documentation gained from the original creditor that displays you really do owe the amount specified. As you can see, this allows validation to be a truly helpful method of cleaning up problems with your credit report. In some instances, credit agencies may not even have all the necessary forms to validate the debt owed. This is common when a collection account has moved from collector to collector. Sometimes, all the creditor will have is a simple computer printout to provide evidence of a claim. However, the FTC has made it abundantly clear that merely providing itemization accounts is not sufficient proof for the validation of a debt.
There is another very unique aspect to the validation process that many may be completely unaware of. Specifically, it can help you eliminate the collection of accounts that do belong to you. Some may wonder how this is possible. After all, if the debt is truly yours, how could you legally have is removed. The way this can be achieved is through initiating the validation process.
You will find that sometimes - not always, but sometimes - you can get accurate information removed from your file, especially if it has to do with an old collection account. Now, the bureaus and Fair Isaac will tell you that this isn't "playing fair" - that the integrity of the credit system depends on credit reports reflecting the most complete picture possible, including all available negative and positive information. - 16931
About the Author:
Michael A. Saunders has an MBA from the Stanford Business School. He maintains a site on fixing credit and is CEO of Information Organizers.
posted by Edgar at
00:14
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