Does a disputed item effect all bureaus reports or just the one it was disputed in?

I disputed an item that should have been settled over a year ago for a credit card, the dispute was through Equifax. I'm only in the first week and have a ways to go until I'm given a response; 30 business days (often 45 days due to weekends) right?

Will the resulting response of validation or removal effect all three bureaus or just Equifax? If only the one, how would I go about having it appear and be removed in the other two reports? Anyone know what I should/could expect to hear in a response?

DBmtgprocessor

Disputing the item with Equifax will on help Equifax. You need to dispute the item with all 3 bureaus Transunion and Experian being the other 2.

thatonedude_01

I've submitted my claim online through Equifax but do not have access to my other 2 reports online. Could I send Transunion and Experian a certified letter regarding my dispute? Would it be better to do this now or wait until I have a response from Equifax?

So, will each bureau have 30 days to respond to my dispute? If this is the case the debt could potentially be removed from one and the other two could still find validity in the debt and let it remain? It would seem strange for a debt to appear one report and not on another. What are the chances of facing resistance from the other two?

If I'm not given a response in 45 or so days how do I go about asking for it removal? Or will it be automatic?

DBmtgprocessor

Basically the creditor reports to whichever credit bureau they want to. In most cases they report to all 3. If you dispute an item with 1 bureau then they get the info directly from the creditor and therefore update their own report. The only way the other 2 are updated are if that creditor in turn reports to the other 2, which they probably wont. So thus you have to dispute the item with all 3 bureaus. You cannot dispute an item unless you have a recent report. You are entitled to a free report from each bureau once a year. AnnualCreditReport.com is a centralized service for consumers to request free annual credit reports. It was created by the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
AnnualCreditReport.com provides consumers with the secure means to request and obtain a free credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies in accordance with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act). All 3 bureaus have a system to follow for disputes and follow up procedures. They dont usually give a problem, they want to report accurately. Each of the bureaus have their procedures posted on their websites.

thatonedude_01

Thanks, that makes sense. If I can figure this out I'll go ahead and submit the dispute to the other two bureaus. I only got the Equifax report because it came when I used freecreditreport dot com. I'm going to cancel here shortly so that it does in fact remain free. I have another two months until I'm applicable for the annualcreditreports again.

For now I got a response to my dispute today but it doesn't seem to have done anything. It shows it to be updated with no clear indication of what if anything was updated/changed. Then, under the definition of what updated means it states that if the one were disputing ownership of the debt it will remain the same.

Problem is I didn't dispute ownership, it's my debt. But, I submitted it as having already been paid. It was supposed to be paid at the same time my other credit card in collections with Capital One was paid over a year ago. I wrote that in my dispute under comments. It kind of seems as if it was just sent back without actually being considered or read.

However, I'm also a bit worried now that the collections agent at Capital One I dealt with screwed me and only paid a higher balance to one card rather than the settlement amount on both. I did everything over the phone the same day, hence I have nothing to prove it. I'm new to repaying debt and really didn't know better. So, I'm thinking theres a decent chance I was mislead and will now be subject to paying a debt that was already supposed to be paid.

Anyone suggest anything I can do to possibly make this right? Should I re-submit my dispute and hope they actually read it this time, send one through the mail, or something else?

DBmtgprocessor

Have you spoken to Cap One about the zero balance? Did you get anything from them after the payment was paid showing settlement accepted? A letter from Capital One would work just as well as you can send that in to the credit bureaus also.

thatonedude_01

Like I said, I was new to paying debt. I didn't even question if I was getting legit info as I was talking directly to CAP ONE... nieve I guess. I'm trying to look through old bank statements from my old bank as I had to switch banks when I moved, hoping I can find the payments debited from my account to them. I'm almost positive it was two seperate debits from my account for the two seperate accounts. I wonder if they can argue otherwise if I find it... I hope I'm not screwed in this. The debt has been collecting interest and is not sustantially higher.