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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Feb 27 2014 — Now you have better options to dispute a credit report error — By Gail Hillebrand

If you’re trying to correct an error in your credit report at one of the nation’s largest credit reporting companies, there is some good news. Recently, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion added a function to their dispute-handling system that makes it easier for you to explain your dispute. Now you can upload, mail, or fax any supporting documents you have to explain the errors in your credit report.

Why you should care about correcting your credit report — Credit reports play a part in most major consumer lending decisions– including mortgage loans, auto loans, credit cards, and private student loans. If there is inaccurate information in your report, it could cause a lender to offer you an interest rate that is less favorable than it would otherwise offer. Some inaccuracies could even lead lenders to turn you down entirely. Every year, millions of Americans exercise their right to dispute their credit report. In 2011, for example, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion collectively received about 8 million requests disputing the accuracy of information in credit reports. Since October 2012, when we started taking credit reporting complaints, we’ve handled about 31,000 complaints from consumers frustrated with credit reporting companies. The majority of those complaints have been about the accuracy and completeness of credit reports.

What’s different? —  Now, you can provide supporting documents such as a paid bill, a letter you wrote explaining the issue, a police report, or proof of identity information, or other correspondence. Including relevant supporting documents can be important because it allows you to provide evidence that supports your dispute.
Credit reporting companies must forward your dispute, including all relevant information, to the furnisher (the company that originally gave the information to the credit reporting companies). If the furnisher corrects your information because of your dispute, it must correct that information with every credit reporting company with whom it has a relationship.

Check your credit report — So, if you haven’t done so recently, get your free annual credit report at annualcreditreport.com. Check for errors. And if you find an error, use your own words and supporting documentation to explain your dispute.

By Debra Cassens Weiss  from: http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/was_pacer_shutdown_on_friday_due_to_a_cyberattack_group_claims_responsibili?utm_source=maestro&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tech_monthly

Why did Pacer and several federal court websites shut down temporarily on Friday?

A group called European Cyber Army claimed responsibility in a tweet while media reports gave differing reasons for the shutdown, report the Washington Post blog the Switch and ZDNet.

“Government of #USA!” the Twitter message read. “We have taken the liberty of #Nuking your website http://USCourts.gov ! We are the #ECA #EuropeanCyberArmy.”

Politico had an early report on the issue. A spokesman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts told the publication the problem was due to a denial of service attack, which is caused when a website is inundated with traffic in an effort to shut it down. Politico also obtained a court clerk’s email message that said the problem appeared to be a “national cyberattack on the judiciary.”

Then an FBI spokesperson told Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) late Friday that the problem appeared to be caused by technical issues in federal court computers rather than a cyberattack.

On Saturday, however, the FBI said it was reassessing that analysis. Meanwhile, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts was sticking to its assessment that the outage was the result of a malicious attack.

Charles Hall, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, told the Washington Times that court officials had no comment on any groups claiming responsibility on social media. The attack began at 3:22 p.m., he said. Pacer appeared to be working again at about 7 p.m., the article said.