Method of Verification by Experian. Don't Believe It?
You need to understand how the whole "investigation" process works.....and once I explain it to you I think you will find it easier to just drop the issue (if these late payments are accurate).The credit bureau does not investigate anything. By law, all they are required to do is "verify" the information is accurate. That involves contacting the mortgage company and asking them if the report is accurate. If the mortgage company replies back that it's accurate, the item stays on your report. The item has now been "verified" and they have fulfilled their FCRA obligations.Next, you can request that the credit bureau supply you with the "means of verification", which is a request that they tell you who exactly verified this information. Again, you are going to be given some "generic" department and may be even a name (don't count on it). It will be vague, and it still will not contain any proof of the late payments.In other words, you are not going to get anywhere by fighting with the credit bureau. You must take your battle directly to the creditor..ie the mortgage company.And I'm going to bet they will not spend a lot of man hours searching for old payment records. But trust me...if it gets that far they do have the ability to find them. The question is how far you want to push them? If you are absolutely certain you did not have late payments, your next step is to follow the dispute procedure and demand validation from the mortgage company. Failing that, you would have to file a lawsuit against them for willful non-compliance of the FCRA. But be warned...if you did make late payments and they can prove it....you will be paying a lot of money in court costs for filing a frivolous lawsuit. But if they can not provide that proof, you will win $1000 for your troubles (plus your court costs).
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