March 11, 2015
A recent article published by Marketplace reports that disputing bad credit information on your credit report is going to be easier than in years past.
According to the article titled, “Disputing bad credit is about to get a whole lot easier”, “The nation’s three biggest credit reporting companies—Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax—are changing the way they collect and report the credit scores. The changes involves the way bureaus handle credit-rating disputes, as well as how they report unpaid medical bills.”
That can be a big help for borrowers who need to deal with credit agencies or manage credit applications while dealing with medical expenses.
According to the article, “Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, all credit error claims are entitled to a ‘reasonable investigation’. In practice however, that wasn’t happening. Chi Chi Wu is a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. She says the bureaus will now be required to investigate every error claim independently.”
“Not just rely on what the creditor or debt collector says, but actually examine the dispute independently to determine if it’s the creditor that’s right or the consumer that’s right,” says Wu.
There’s also a mandatory 6 month waiting period coming for reporting debt related to medical care. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a great deal all credit rating disputes involve unpaid medical bills.
If you have plans to apply for an FHA home loan and think you may need to dispute negative information on your credit report or have concerns about medical bills showing up in your debt-to-income ratio, contact the FHA directly to see how these new rules may affect you or contact the credit reporting agencies to learn what’s currently in your credit report.
Do you have questions about FHA home loans? Ask us in the comments section.
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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