Have You Been Reported To ChexSystems
Remove The Record when Reported to ChexSystems
Financial consciousness requires you to be up to par with every aspect of your finances. From credit consumption, investments to owning bank accounts. Any minute blemish, especially on your bank accounts, can result in you being reported to ChexSystems. That would mean any requests to open new savings or checking accounts would be denied.
What’s ChexSystems?
Most consumers don’t know about ChexSystems. They’ll only learn about it when slapped with a denial while opening a new savings or checking bank account.
ChexSystems is an agency under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) regulations. It collects, compiles, and shares consumer information on checking and savings accounts.
The data is accessible to all banking and credit union institutions. They, in turn, use it to protect themselves against consumers deemed a higher financial risk.
ChexSystems captures several negative items about a consumer’s finances and will retain the information for up to 5 years. These include excessive overdrafts, owed funds on closed accounts, insufficient bank balances, and bounced checks. Unpaid negative balances, ATM account or credit card abuse, and new accounts acquired recently may also appear on ChexSystems reports.
Every bank or credit union has a criterion through which these items are reported to ChexSystems. They also retain the reasons for denial of opening a new account based on your ChexSystems listing.
Appearing on ChexSystems doesn’t necessarily mean that the reported items are accurate. Even so, you have the right to have the items removed and clear your name off the ChexSystems report.
What Criteria Is Used When You Are Reported to ChexSystems?
Clearing your information from ChexSystems reports requires you to understand how the agency compiles data. Any negative information reported to ChexSystems falls under two broad categories: account abuse and suspected fraud.
When a consumer breaks the terms of holding a particular account, institutions will term it account abuse. These include unpaid fees or overdrafts. On the other hand, suspected fraud occurs when a consumer intentionally commits an offense with their accounts. Some of these include check fraud.
An important thing to note is that consumers’ undesirable account activities will appear on ChexSystems. That’s regardless of whether they were willingly or involuntarily committed. For instance, if you hold unpaid balances for a long time, banks can close the account without your consent. Furthermore, they can also have the elements reported to ChexSystems.
Are You Allowed To Dispute ChexSystems Reports?
When it comes to finances, preparedness is the greatest weapon in your arsenal. Obtaining your ChexSystems report to know your status is an essential step for every financially conscious person.
Clearing your name off ChexSystems reports can be complicated, especially if you don’t know what landed you there. Getting your report will help you understand why you were listed and the institution that reported you.
Anyone can dispute their ChexSystems listing and have it cleared if found to be incorrect. Typically, you can get one free report every year. When a financial institution denies your new account opening request, your ChexSystems report can help you better understand it. You can obtain a copy of the report for free via their website.
How Do You Remove Yourself from ChexSystems Report?
Five years is a pretty long time to wait for your records to fall off the ChexSystems report. That’s why anyone listed will rush to have their data removed. You can do this in two ways. One, you can raise a dispute with the financial institution that forwarded you there. Or two, go directly to ChexSystems.
Seeking Chexsystems Removal Via The Bank
The first approach follows the “pay-for-delete” protocol. That is, settle any outstanding amounts with the bank. In return, they’ll request your removal from ChexSystems.
On most occasions, banks and credit unions report any fraudulent activity or abuse even when they were purely unintentional. You’ll need a clear understanding of why such an event occurred. Then request to meet with the bank manager and explain your situation to them. In some cases, it could be the institutions themselves who may have created the issues reported to ChexSystems.
Most bank branch managers are powerful enough to override some policies; you only need to request. If they agree to your ChexSystems removal request, make sure they do so in writing. However, should they deny your request, make it known that your next plan is going to your state’s regulatory agency.
Forward Your Complaint To Your State’s Bank Regulatory Authority
Next, you’d want to seek assistance to have the items reported to ChexSystems removed via the bank regulatory agency for your state. Most states will list the departments in charge of banking on their websites.
You can also contact the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on the federal level. FDIC has a consumer response center that deals with consumer complaints on all institutions regulated by the corporation.
On the credit union side, you may check the National Credit Union Administration for unions chartered by the federal government. Check on your state’s website for those unions chartered by states.
Raise Dispute with ChexSystems Agency
Disputing any negative items reported to ChexSystems will require strong evidence to show that the report was a mistake. It could be a late payment listing when you had already cleared the outstanding balance. Supporting documents that you may need include bank statements, payment receipts, etc.
ChexSystems has several ways through which consumers can raise their disputes for review. You can choose to submit your request via phone, online, or by mail.
You can quickly raise a dispute over the phone by talking to a ChexSystems representative via the line at 800-513-7125. This method is the most appropriate if you have no evidence to back your claim. However, you cannot dispute identity theft and fraud over the phone.
To submit online, go to the ChexSystems disputes section and choose online submission. Fill out the form that appears and upload your supporting documents to back up your claim. When done, click the submit button.
Before submitting your dispute by mail, first, print out their investigation request form. Fill in the requirements and accompany the document with copies of your supporting evidence. Once done and sealed in an envelope, send it to the address in this link. Alternatively, you can send it via fax to 602.659.2197.
ChexSystems, under federal law, must investigate your dispute in not more than 30 days. During the investigation, the agency will make inquiries to your financial institution that reported the issues. If the matters reported to ChexSystems are incorrect, the agency is bound by law to make necessary corrections.
Contact 007 Credit Agent
The whole process of removing negative items reported to ChexSystems can be daunting for consumers. It can be even more complicated if it’s the first time you’re encountering the ChexSystems jargon. Waiting for five years for your record to fall off by itself isn’t also a better option.
Luckily, there are credit repair agencies that offer a wide variety of services, including ChexSystems removal. The advantage of using a credit repair agency is that you’ll deal with professionals who have vast knowledge of ChexSystems. They’ll advise you appropriately on what you should do to achieve success with the first dispute attempt.
007 Credit Agent is among the reliable agencies with dedicated experts possessing numerous experience in handling ChexSystems removals.
