Credit Repair by BestCredit™

Caution: This information is for credit repair letters used to dispute inaccurate information with a furnisher only. For accurate information, use the methods outlined in White Hat Credit Repair.

Credit repair letter using a furnisher dispute.

A furnisher is a party that provides information to a credit bureau. It can be a creditor, collection agency, or a service bureau. When contacting a furnisher, you must dispute specific information about the debt for the dispute to meet FCRA requirements. You may contact furnishers by phone when you’re in a hurry, but only in conjunction with a written dispute sent RRM. Providing any supporting evidence (e.g., a canceled check or receipt of payment) is also helpful. Make sure your letter references any specific attached documentation. Also be sure to use the address a creditor provides for disputes (usually on its invoices); if one is not provided, send the dispute to a street address and not a PO Box if possible.

No private cause of action is available under the FCRA for disputing directly with furnishers, which means that consumers cannot sue furnishers for violations of the Act.³ However, the lawsuit restriction is lifted when a formal dispute is filed with the bureau and a furnisher affirms the inaccurate data. The furnisher may, of course, rectify the error. But should it fail to correct or delete an inaccurate entry after reinvestigation, your combining a direct furnisher dispute with a bureau dispute will strengthen any legal case you may file against the furnisher.

Disputing when you're in a hurry.

If you’re in a rush to get the offending data removed, telephone the furnisher simultaneously with sending your written dispute and explain the situation, going up the food chain until you find someone who is willing to help you. Often the furnisher will agree that the information is erroneous and correct it. Get the name of the person you spoke with, and have him or her send (fax is best) a copy of the correction to you and to the bureaus. Be sure and ask the furnisher for a copy of the UDF (Universal Data Form). When you get the letter and/or UDF, send copies to the bureaus as well (using the insurance method: RRM), along with a statement indicating what you expect them to do: fix your report immediately and send you a corrected copy.⁴

As with corresponding with credit bureaus, initial contact with furnishers should not contain any threats or mention legal action. Just describe the ways in which you're being hurt by bad credit.

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3.    A properly presented dispute to the bureaus is required to subject the furnisher to liability for failure to conduct an adequate investigation. NCLC Fair Credit Reporting § 3.11.2 (5th Ed. 2002 and 2005 Supp.).
4.    The correction may have occurred in the furnisher’s database, but the bureaus likely won’t get it until the monthly Metro 2 update is sent to them.