This scenario reads like a fairy tale, only without the happy ending. Once upon a time, consumers could correct flawed credit reports by challenging incorrect information, thereby ensuring themselves better interest rates when obtaining new credit or a quickly approved loan. Unfortunately, this is no longer true and disputing flawed information is not a guarantee that the consumer's credit history comes through squeaky clean the next time he applies for credit.
Originally designed to protect consumers and their credit scores and allow them to obtain the best interest rates possible for their status, the Fair Credit Reporting Act gives consumers the power to dispute false information on one or more accounts listed in their credit reports. However, certain changes in the manner that mortgage giants process this information have destroyed this advantage for consumers. While we all know that bad credit is one of the biggest obstacles to refinancing or obtaining new credit, it isn't the only obstacle anymore. Plus, consumers have been led to believe that good credit should be the easiest path to refinancing. What if this isn't true any longer?
This is where the nightmare begins for some consumers. If a consumer has false information on his credit report and the information is negative, his credit rating is going to suffer. Lenders are going to offer him accounts with high interest rates or turn him down completely. Let's say that the consumer attempts to fix this false illusion of bad credit. He puts in a dispute about some account or other, has the dispute notation placed in his credit file, and wins the dispute. Instead of reaping the benefit of better interest rates, this consumer is earmarked for disappointment as his credit request is tossed back for manual underwriting, a situation that is likely to earn him an "unapproved notice" or higher interest rates than he rightly deserves.
While this certainly does not seem fair to the consumers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are more than content with it. After all, they have decided to protect themselves by ferreting out every application with the potential to turn into a disappointment for the lender. After last year's fiasco with the mortgage crisis, bankruptcies, and subprime loans, the financial world just isn't up to taking a chance. There is no more "innocent until proven guilty." Therefore, consumers are getting penalized for performing the responsible act of disputing flawed reports.
This kind of action is reminiscent of school days when the entire class is punished because a few children misbehaved. The good get punished with the bad. Disputing credit reports can now harm your chances of approval for refinancing. This is simply one of those cases of losing if you do not try and losing if you do. Maybe it is time to protect the consumer again. After all, it is still our data, our reputation and our money...isn't it?
Originally designed to protect consumers and their credit scores and allow them to obtain the best interest rates possible for their status, the Fair Credit Reporting Act gives consumers the power to dispute false information on one or more accounts listed in their credit reports. However, certain changes in the manner that mortgage giants process this information have destroyed this advantage for consumers. While we all know that bad credit is one of the biggest obstacles to refinancing or obtaining new credit, it isn't the only obstacle anymore. Plus, consumers have been led to believe that good credit should be the easiest path to refinancing. What if this isn't true any longer?
This is where the nightmare begins for some consumers. If a consumer has false information on his credit report and the information is negative, his credit rating is going to suffer. Lenders are going to offer him accounts with high interest rates or turn him down completely. Let's say that the consumer attempts to fix this false illusion of bad credit. He puts in a dispute about some account or other, has the dispute notation placed in his credit file, and wins the dispute. Instead of reaping the benefit of better interest rates, this consumer is earmarked for disappointment as his credit request is tossed back for manual underwriting, a situation that is likely to earn him an "unapproved notice" or higher interest rates than he rightly deserves.
While this certainly does not seem fair to the consumers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are more than content with it. After all, they have decided to protect themselves by ferreting out every application with the potential to turn into a disappointment for the lender. After last year's fiasco with the mortgage crisis, bankruptcies, and subprime loans, the financial world just isn't up to taking a chance. There is no more "innocent until proven guilty." Therefore, consumers are getting penalized for performing the responsible act of disputing flawed reports.
This kind of action is reminiscent of school days when the entire class is punished because a few children misbehaved. The good get punished with the bad. Disputing credit reports can now harm your chances of approval for refinancing. This is simply one of those cases of losing if you do not try and losing if you do. Maybe it is time to protect the consumer again. After all, it is still our data, our reputation and our money...isn't it?
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