What does a 609 Letter do?
Under section 609 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, we have the right to request information in our files and credit bureaus are obligated to disclose information to the consumer requesting it.
Sending a 609 letter is grounded upon the credit bureau’s legal obligation to only report verifiable information and their requirement to send the consumer that information upon request.
Some people choose to do this 100% using their own words and others opt to use a customize a Dispute Template and customize it for themselves. Others will ask for a Credit Repair company to handle this for them.
How does it Work?
Basically the 609 letter is a debt validation letter, based upon FCRA Section 609.
Consumer credit information is collected by the bureaus from creditors and debt collectors and sell that information to businesses that need to gauge your credit worthiness.
In theory, because the bureau may choose to remove any of that collected data if they decide it cannot be reasonably validated, they are more likely to simply remove the information and not risk a costly violation when faced with a 609 Letter for credit repair.
What doesn’t it do?
It does not give rights to dispute the information, that is covered in Sections 611 and 623 of the FCRA. And grants the consumer a right to challenge the information on file and to request the method of validation of said data. That’s a different letter.
How likely is it to have errors on your credit report?
According to the FTC’s study on this data’s accuracy, 1/5th of all consumers may have serious errors on their credit reports.
What does it look like?
Here is a generic example of how a 609 dispute letter could be phrased.
To whom it may concern,
In accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Section 609, I exercise my right be provided a copy of all verifiable information on the accounts listed below.
If you can’t provide with this material, please remove the accounts immediately.
ACCOUNT NAMES AND ACCOUNT NUMBERS
Sincerely,
Stevie B Consumer
Social Security Number
Are 609 Letters Effective?
Certainly. They have worked on many occasions even after the consumer had already disputed the items, and they “validated”.
Ultimately, there is no 100% guaranteed way to remove anything from your credit report. The best method will depend on the information being reported and where its inaccuracies lay. But the 609 Letter absolutely does work if you use it for the right reasons.