In Oregon, the bankruptcy court does not report any information to credit reporting agencies. Due to the public nature of bankruptcy documents, credit reporting agencies routinely gather information regarding bankruptcy filings and process that information. However, these agencies routinely make mistakes and you may find that they have placed inaccurate information on your credit report. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act dictates your actions as well as those of the credit reporting agencies when it comes to maintaining accurate credit report records.
The FCRA states that both you and credit reporting agencies must ensure that all information on your credit report is up to date and accurate at all times. If you have a dispute regarding any information on your credit report, immediately contact the credit reporting company and tell them in writing which information is inaccurate, as well as the information you believe it should be changed to. Include copies of documentation proving your claim with the letter, and make sure that you provide the company with your full name and address, as many people have similar identifying information. To verify the date and time your letter is received, send the documents by certified mail with a return receipt.
Under the FCRA, credit reporting companies are required to respond to your claim within 30 days unless they believe it is meritless. To do this, they will send the relevant information about your dispute to the business that collected the data in the first place so they can investigate and review the information for accuracy. The credit reporting company is prohibited by law from placing the potentially false information back on your report until it has verified that the information is indeed correct. If your disputed information is found to be false or incomplete, the credit reporting company must delete the item in question or update the file so it is accurate.
