Online Disputes vs. Mail Disputes
Online vs. Mail Disputes
Should you take extra time to write, print, and mail dispute letters to the credit bureaus or take the easy way out and file your disputes online?
Investigations initiated online are typically completed faster but, from our experience, usually, yield fewer removals.
The credit reporting agencies limit you to selecting a pre-programmed dispute reason when initiating online disputes and limit additional information to less than 200 characters. This means that when filing disputes online you are constrained within their pre-determined parameters which usually results in faster processing your the disputes and a higher probability for verification.
Although initiating your disputes through the mail typically takes more time, we can request that the credit reporting agencies investigate several issues at once (balance, status, payment history, etc…) instead of one at a time like online disputes, as well as request that they perform actions like a method of verification request, section 609 request, or debt validation.
We are also able to be more thorough, unpack the reasons for a dispute, cite FCRA, FDCPA, and FCBA laws, as well as provide a detailed explanation for the reason why we believe that the information should be removed.
Ultimately, online disputes are fine for supplementing the credit repair process but, they should not be used as the cornerstone of your credit repair strategy.
Make sure that you mail dispute letters detailing the incorrect information and the reasons for the removals.
Also contact the credit furnishers directly and request debt validation from collection agencies,, request copies of the original contracts from lenders reporting charge-offs and repossessions via section 609 requests. Submit goodwill requests to lenders reporting late payments and send permissible purpose verification letters to credit furnishers reporting hard inquiries you don’t recognize.
Credit bureau disputes, whether online or sent via mail, are a great start to the credit repair process but, they are just a small portion of the tools that you have available to you in the credit repair process. Use every available tool when working on your credit and you will have a much higher probability of success.
If you need help, feel free to reach out to us any time.