ortgage Firms use credit reporting companies that obtain all credit information from the three national credit repositories: Equifax, TRW and Trans Union. The national credit bureaus do not allow credit reporting firms to add, update or delete any information from their files, even if they have reinvestigated the information and know it to be incorrect. The credit reporting company has the ability to type a correction onto the Residential Mortgage Report once they have completed the research, however we recommend that you contact the three major credit reporting agencies if you become aware of any inaccurate or out of date information in order to make a permanent change in your master credit file.

he Fair Credit Reporting Act, enacted in 1970, outlines the following rights relating to your personal credit record and the credit denial process:

Your credit report must be used in conjunction with one of the following permissible purposes:

• In response to a court order
  
• In accordance with your written instruction
  
• In connection with the extension, review or collection of a credit account
  
• For employment purposes
  
• In connection with the underwriting of insurance
  
• In order to determine eligibility for a license or other benefit granted by a governmental instrumentality
  
• In connection with an otherwise legitimate business need
  

Your Credit Report Should Not Contain the Following Information:

• Record of Bankruptcy filed more than 10 years prior to the date of the report
  
• Suits and Judgements filed over 7 years prior to the date of the report
  
• Tax Liens paid over 7 years prior to the date of the report
  
• Accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss over 7 years prior to the date of the report.
  
• Any other adverse information which antedates the report by over 7 years.
  
• Records of arrest, indictment, or conviction of crime which, from date of disposition, release or parole, antedates the report by more than 7 years (note: the credit bureaus do not tend to report this type of information although it is allowed by the FCRA).
  

f you have been denied credit, employment or insurance within 30 days based upon a credit report, you have the right to receive a copy of the credit report. (Each of the three national credit reporting agencies will provided you with a free copy if you have been declined within 60 days. TRW also offers one complimentary copy per year.)

Once you receive disclosure from the credit bureau, you have the right to request that the credit bureau re-investigate any item that you feel is being reported inaccurately. The Credit Bureau is required to re-investigate your dispute by contacting the organization which reported the information and asking them to confirm the data in their records. (The credit bureau is not required to re-investigate a dispute which is frivolous).

If the information which is in dispute is determined to be reported inaccurately (or if the creditor who reported it no longer has record or does not respond to the inquiry) then the information on the credit report will be corrected or deleted. Remember that the credit bureau will only correct their own records and you should send your dispute to each of the three credit bureaus to be sure that it is handled in all of the databases.

The credit bureaus will allow a creditor 30 days to respond to a request for reinvestigation. You will not hear about the results of your dispute until the entire reinvestigation has been completed. You should be notified in writing of the result.

If the information which is in dispute is verified as accurate by the creditor then the information on the credit report will not be changed.

If, after reinvestigation, you continue to disagree with the information reported you have the right to add a statement (100 words or less) which explains your side of the dispute and will become a part of your credit report for as long as the disputed information is reported.

If you would like, you can request that the Credit Bureau provide a revised copy (in the event that corrections are made) to any creditor who reviewed your file for the previous 6 months (or two years if the inquiry was made for employment purposes).




or Disclosure and Dispute Procedures you can select the appropriate link below to go to the appropriate section of that service's web site.