When I got back from my last extended temporary duty assignment in support of the war, I decided to purchase a new car.  The credit report was a shocking because unbeknown to me it showed a deregulatory  public record. There was no information on the agency that submitted the record.  After an annoying amount of inquiries one of the credit agencies finally supplied the background information that almost 6 months earlier California had submitted a tax lien. There is plenty to complain about California's role in the initial reporting.  Specifically, they made no attempt to contact me, they failed to reason that a person that lived on a military installation would be an active duty military member. Most annoying, their laziness comes from the same "the individual will do the work to correct our mistake" the credit agencies use to justify their attitude toward individuals.  But my complaint against the California Tax department goes no further than that because it took just two phone calls for them to do the work to correct their mistake.  Part of what California did to correct their mistake was to report directly to the credit agencies that they made the filing in error.

On the other hand the credit agencies continue to report what should now be classified as slanderous information more than a year later.  

If the credit agencies weren't currently protected by poorly written regulations they would be as quick in recording the correction California sent in a year ago as they were in reporting the derogatory information.  Instead they publish a telephone number but make it an all day process to get hold of anyone.  In fact I never was able to record my problem via phone even though I spent over two hour trying.  They make every effort to force you into imputing your social security number into the internet.  But even then they don't really do any due diligence in confirming the report and once they claim to look at it once it is impossible to get them to re-evaluate via the internet.  As you can see above multiple letters written and delivered by snail mail does little to get them to discontinue reporting false information.  To be accurate Equifax ignored the content of the letter totally,  the other two credit agencies made corrections to my credit history but ignored in the same letters the request to correct my wife's credit report.  The protection in law these agencies have to require an individual to invest an infinite amount of time and effort in order get these agencies to stop disseminating slanderous information needs to be changed.  It makes no sense that individuals are going out and spending $100 or more a year hiring companies like Lifelock to make sure Equifax doesn't go around spreading false information.  In situations like mine the credit reporting agencies should have been required to pay me $10 for my first effort in pointing out the mistake ($10 to the wronged party for the phone call -- if they actually make it so you can get through).  After the first contact it should get much more expensive if they continue the false reports.  Remember it is the law that protects these companies so it will take a change in the law to fix the problem.  Does your current congressman back staying with the current regulation and allowing the credit agencies to report false information with impunity? 

Next writing I'll talk about redefining the credit agency mission so that there is at least one that uses a formula that logically assesses the persons likelihood of fulfilling the commitment to pay back debts.   

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