If you’ve been a victim of identity theft or have had previous disputes on credit card purchases, then cleaning up the leftover residue can be frustrating to say the least. For example, if you’ve had payment issues with a mobile phone provider, they usually just send the matter to a third-party collector. As a result, you’ll soon find that your credit score has been negatively affected too.
There’s a Way to Clean Up Reports, Thanks to Consumer Law
Fortunately, laws exist in Canada that enable consumers to adjust or correct reporting errors and to stop harassing collection calls of debts that aren’t owed. Canada’s Consumer Reporting Act, which has been established in most of the territories and provinces, can be referenced for correcting errors on a report.
How to Dispute an Error or Inaccuracy
In Canada, the two main credit reporting agencies are Trans-Union and Equifax. So, you need to contact these two bureaus for correcting credit mistakes. You’ll also need to contact the collector or vendor who supplied the data in the first place. When you contact Trans-Union or Equifax, follow up your phone conversation with correspondence. Tell the agency about the error and why you think it is incorrect. When you write them, include supporting paperwork for evidence.
Repairing Your Credit in Canada – How It’s Done – BC loans
Following Up in Writing
The letter to the credit reporting agency should succinctly identify the items that you are disputing and support the information with explanations and facts. Refer to your supporting documentation so you can adequately argue why the item should be corrected or removed. The letter should be sent by registered mail with a request for a return receipt and signature. Copies of the letter and the documentation that you send should be made as well.
Legal Requirements
Legally, once the file is corrected, the reporting agency must send notification to anyone who pulled the report within a span of 60 days prior to the adjustment. The agency must also send notifications to individuals who received the report when it was in dispute. Any credit issues that aren’t sufficiently handled should be reported to the Ministry of Small Business and Consumer Services, or, specifically, to the Registrar of Consumer Reporting Agencies in that department.
Send a Letter and Supporting Evidence to the Company that Provided the Info
Again, also make your claim or dispute known to the originating collector or vendor and support your grievance with a letter and supporting paperwork. You can often find the address on the website of a company. Contact addresses for disputes are frequently listed in the web page’s footer. When you contact and notify the collector or vendor, they are required, by law, to supply the credit reporting agency with a notice of the consumer dispute. If you prove your case, the provider of the incorrect information will not be able to resubmit it.
