Ontario Systems Whitepaper Gives 5 Tips to End the Credit Reporting Nightmare

In a new whitepaper, published by Ontario Systems, Rozanne Andersen, Ontario Systems’ Vice President of Business Development and Chief Compliance Officer, walks readers through five tips that can help end the credit reporting nightmare for collection agencies.

(There is also an accompanying webinar, scheduled for Thursday, 31 October 2013, from 2.00 p.m. – 3.14 p.m. You can register for it here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/475088192.)

“The U.S. credit reporting system is in a state of disarray and this spells “n-i-g-ht-m-a-r-e” for data furnishers,” Andersen writes in the introduction of the whitepaper, available for download now in the Free Reports section of insideARM.

Ontario’s Whitepaper Explains Why:

1. You should wait at least 45 days after the expiration of the validation period to report.
2. You should respond promptly to consumer complaints and disputes.
3. You should promptly update all newly acquired consumer information.
4. You should become a complaint magnet.
5. You should not make false statements.

from the whitepaper:

Aside from abiding by all the complicated compliance requirements imposed on data furnishers, there are really only two ways to approach the issue of consumer disputes. One is to sit and wait for them to come to you – hoping you will remain under the radar. The other is to become a complaint magnet and attract the disputes to your organization first – before consumers decide to file a dispute with the CFPB, the CRAs, their state attorney general, local BBB or retain the services of a consumer attorney.

Consider providing consumers with a variety of opportunities to register their complaints or disputes about the data you furnished to the CRAs with you directly. A consumer web portal or link to your website is the most logical choice for this type of information sharing. You may also want to select a segment of your team to serve as consumer help desk associates. These specially trained individuals would be positioned within your organization to handle the verbal and written consumer disputes and inquiries your front line collection agents may be ill-equipped to handle. These help desk agents can also assist in resolving the debt when appropriate.

Do not, however, completely rule out the role your front line collectors can play. Often times, the collector is the first person in the collection and credit reporting process to identify a possible issue with a consumer’s credit report information. They learn of updated address information, new telephone numbers and changes in places of employment. Under the law, you are obligated as a data furnisher to update this type of demographic data, as well as account data, and any corresponding disputes with the CRAs. Your collectors can be an integral and valuable part of this process.