They legally have 30 days from the time you report the mistake to investigate your claim and correct the mistake. However, in many instances the credit bureaus may send you a letter stating that they are unable to investigate the item which you have brought to their attention.

A letter like this a blindsiding tactic which a credit bureau may use in order to gain an investigation extension. If you were to reply to this letter via mail, or make a phone call questioning the letter you will be walking into a trap and will be granting the credit bureau another 30 days to investigate your claim.

This typically happens if you are using a third-party credit repair service . A credit bureau may believe that this third-party service is making frivolous claims. Therefore, they will contact you personally in hopes that you will contact them directly so that they can receive an investigation extension.

If you receive such a letter, do not respond. This is what the credit bureau wants. Regardless of what the letter may say, the credit bureau is required by law to investigate your claim on any number of items and they are not able to refuse to investigate your claim.

Once the 30 day investigation period has expired you may then contact the credit bureau and inquire about the status of your claim. If they inform you that they requested more information and you did not respond, simply end the phone call. You should then send them a copy of the certified mailing receipt you sent along with your dispute.

Send them this information along with a letter stating that the 30 day investigation time allotted to them by law has expired; and that you are requesting that the disputed items on your credit report are removed immediately.

Once again, send this letter via certified mail. Allow the credit bureau another 15 – 30 days and then review your official free credit report. If the lines that you disputed are still present on your report you will then need to file suit against them for FCRA violations and any state by state laws which they may have broken by not completing the said investigation.

In most cases it will never go that far. After sending the letter the credit bureau will realize that you are very aware of your rights and laws, and they will also realize that their blindsiding tactics did not work. Therefore they will generally remove the disputed lines as they realize that if you file suit they will not only have to remove the items any way, but in most cases they will also have to award you money.