Significance

• The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows all individuals one free copy of their credit report each year to review for mistakes. Should you find an error while reviewing your credit records, you have the right to dispute the mistake either by writing a letter to the credit bureaus or notifying them of the inaccuracy online or by phone. Writing a letter, however, allows you to provide each reporting agency with documentation supporting your assertion that your credit information is inaccurate.
  
  

Facts

• The Federal Trade Commission recommends that you circle the errors you wish to dispute on your credit report and then make copies of the report and any documents you have proving that the information is being reporting incorrectly. Your dispute letter should contain a full explanation of your dispute along with whether you want the credit bureaus to correct the error or remove it from your credit file in its entirety. Send your documents to the credit bureaus via certified mail to ensure that they arrive at their intended destination.
  
  

Considerations

• There are three major credit bureaus: TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. Because some creditors report to all three but some do not, each of your credit reports may contain different accounts and errors. Therefore, do not assume that each of your credit reports reflects identical mistakes. Check each of your credit files before you mail dispute letters to all three reporting agencies.
  
  

Effects

• Once a reporting agency receives your dispute letter, it will send an inquiry about the error to the creditor that originally reported the information. If the creditor agrees that the entry is a mistake, the credit bureau will correct the mistake on your report. If the creditor validates the information as accurate, the error will remain. Regardless of the action the credit bureau takes, it will notify you of the outcome of the investigation within 30 days. If the creditor validates the entry, you possess the legal right to dispute the information directly with the creditor.
  
  

Warning

• If the credit bureaus determine that flawed information within your report is true and accurate following your dispute, they retain the right to determine subsequent disputes of the same error as “frivolous.” Should this occur, the credit bureaus are no longer required to investigate any further claims of inaccuracy that you make about the error.