Discovering and resolving mistakes on credit reports can be complicated. We often hear from users of our Credit Report Card who’ve noticed a sudden drop in their credit score accompanied by an unexplained delinquency. That leads to more digging and finding an error on one or more of their three bureau credit reports. That’s where it all starts. Once you’ve confirmed there’s a mistake on your credit report, you’ll need to make two important decisions.
The first is whether to dispute the information with the credit reporting agency or the company giving the information to the credit reporting agency. (Need help picking? Here’s a quick guide to deciding.)
The second decision you’ll need to make is whether to send in your complaint via snail mail (make sure to send it certified mail) or file it online. Both have pros and cons, but if you’ve decided to dispute a credit report mistake by mail here are some important rules to follow:
1. Include identification information. Your name, current address and last four digits of your Social Security number should be at the top of your letter. Also include the credit report reference number, if one is available.
2. Identify the item that’s wrong. Clearly describe the account with the information that’s wrong; for example, “Visa credit card account number ending in 5678 opened 6/18/2006.”
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3. Be brief, clear and to the point. The average credit report dispute is processed in a matter of minutes so don’t expect the person processing your dispute to pour over several pages of narrative. Make sure you clearly state the reason for your dispute close to the top and put any other relevant information into bullets. If your letter is more than one page, it’s too long.
4. Write clearly or type your complaint. If your handwriting is legible, feel free to handwrite your complaint. If it’s not, type it.
5. Don’t quote credit protection laws. You don’t need to reference the section of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) that applies to disputes. The credit reporting agencies know they have to investigate consumer disputes. Reference the FCRA and it may sound like you are being coached by a credit repair firm.
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6. Include copies of documentation, if available. If you have something that documents your side of the story, feel free to include a copies – not originals. Highlight any particularly relevant parts; for example, a statement from the credit card issuer that it would remove certain negative information from your reports.
7. Let them know you’re speaking up. If you have tried to resolve your dispute but are getting nowhere, you may want to put a CC: at the bottom of your letter, indicating you’ll also be sending a copy to the Better Business Bureau, your state attorney general’s office and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. There’s no need to do this the first time you complain, but if you aren’t getting results, getting others involved may help your dispute get the attention it deserves.
8. Ask a friend or relative to proofread it. Ask someone you trust to take a quick look at the letter to get their opinion on whether the reason for your dispute is clear. If they don’t understand it, the person reading the letter may not either.
Sample Letter
Jane Q. Consumer
123 Main Street
Anytown, USA 12345
SSN: xxx-xx-1234
May 21, 2012
Ref #: 000-111-2222
To Whom It May Concern:
I would like to dispute the following item on my credit report:
Big Bank Mortgage Services.
Partial account number 5678.
Opened 6/3/2000
My credit report shows a 30-day late payment in the amount of $631.75 for May 2011. However, I was not late. I have enclosed copies of my statements for April, May and June 2011 that together clearly show my payment for May was not 30 days late.
Please correct this as soon as possible. Thank you,
Jane Q. Consumer
Jane Q. Consumer
Here are the addresses and links necessary to file a dispute with the major credit bureaus.
| Equifax P.O. Box 740256 Atlanta, GA 30374-0241 Dispute online |
Experian P.O. Box 9556 Allen, TX 75013 Dispute online |
TransUnion P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19022 Dispute online |
[Credit Score Tool: Get your free credit score and report card from Credit.com]
For more Credit 101, check out these posts:
- What’s a Credit Score? Really.
- What’s Really in Your Credit Report?
- A Step-By-Step Guide to Disputing Credit Report Mistakes
- How Much Will One Late Payment Hurt Your Credit Scores?
Image: annilove, via Flickr
Gerri Detweiler Gerri Detweiler is Credit.com's Director of Consumer Education. She focuses on helping people understand their credit and debt, and writes about those issues, as well as financial legislation, budgeting, debt recovery and savings strategies. She is also the co-author of Debt Collection Answers: How to Use Debt Collection Laws to Protect Your Rights, and Reduce Stress: Real-Life Solutions for Solving Your Credit Crisis as well as host of TalkCreditRadio.com.
{ 42 comments… add a comment }
This is great stuff! You’d be surprised how difficult it is to find simple instructions for submitting a complaint like this and you laid it out in “laymens terms.” Question: what would you recommend to people… to submit the request first to the credit report agency or to the company submitting the information to the agency?
Thank you Nick!
I personally handle it case-by-case by the type of error. If you know it’s a flat out mistake being made by the furnisher, going to the company reporting it means they have to share the correction with all the agencies to which they reported it. That means you don’t have to try to get each of the three to correct it.
But if it’s something where you one of the CRA’s has it wrong, I’d go to the CRA. That’s also the route credit repair firms may take when they know something is accurate but are hoping it will not get verified and be removed from the report. How do you approach it?
That makes sense. Seems like that would totally save time rather than going to all 3 agencies.
Good morning Geri, I have read all of the above and it is great information, Although I have a company who bought and old debt that was paid in full 3 years prior and I have disouted it to all the credit agancys and the Collection company and nothing has happen to it being taken off my credit report. I have send proof of the payments that were made to the original debtor and still came back information is correct. I dont know where to go from here, could you please give me some advice in what to do now.
Thanks,
Gina
Gina,
It sounds like you have done all you are supposed to do but the collection agency has not done what is required to do by law, which is correct the erroneous information. Your next step should be to talk with a consumer law attorney. The good news is they will likely help you for free because the if the debt collector violates federal consumer laws it will have to pay your attorney’s fees.
I have two problems. I have a work comp bills on my credit report from the doctors never obtaining authorization even when I went to workcomp court to have the visit approved OON. Work comp is not suppost to be reported to credit bureaus. I hvae an on going disput with Verizon Wireless about a horrible phone that never worked and I was charged a termination fee after I was told I would not. I had to give a deposit. Verizon sent part of the deposit back and then charged me ealry terminatio fee and the bill. How do I dispute these after a year of back and forth with out having to fit the bill of an attorney>
Hi question, thank you for your site, I have found it very very informative. I have tried many of these things myself over the few over the last few years and I wish I had the insight of this site before I had done this. I still have a few creditors that still refuse to change their reports even tough I have shown them to be an error. This has been a especially difficult for me as I have Multiple Sclerosis and I have to keep backing off as I tend to get stressed out and persons with MS do not do well or. should limit stress wherever possible. I do not have unlimited
sources but I am wondering if you can Recommend help in my situation
Peter – If your credit reports are wrong and they refuse to fix them then you can either:
a. Complain to regulators (ConsumerFinance.gov and your state attorney general), BBB, etc. and copy the creditors/credit reporting agencies on those letters in the hopes that it prompts a response, or
b. Talk with a consumer law attorney about a possible credit damage case.
And thanks for the feedback on Credit.com. We are so glad you’ve found it helpful!
Thank you I found this very informative! I do have a question…I am not sure but can lenders send 180+ continuously even though you begin to pay off your debt amount? Or does this matter in the case of a borrower like myself was on a hardship program and also working with a credit counsel company. Does this make a difference? If so, I think I need to contact the lenders to correct this.
TaShana,
I am not sure I understand your question. Can you describe the situation more specifically? Did you have a debt that was charged off that you then started repaying through a credit counseling agency? Or did you start repaying it through the counseling agency before it was charged off? Or did you just make arrangements with the credit card company to enter a hardship program? (Again, was it charged off before this happened?)
You write:
“The second decision you’ll need to make is whether to send in your complaint via snail mail (make sure to send it certified mail) or file it online. Both have pros and cons … ”
What are the pros and cons of each, please?
Also, is there any significant difference between requesting a credit report via snail mail or online?
Many Thanks,
Steve Body
Disputing the mistake online is certainly fast and efficient. But you will llikely be limited in the types of errors they specify and you can’t include the documentation/proof you can include if you mail in your dispute. Whether to go this route depends in part on how simple and straightforward the error is. If you are having trouble correcting a mistake on your credit reports, I encourage you to post in our forums where we have a number of moderators who have a great deal of expertise in credit reporting issues.
Thank you for the tips! My situation is that I’ve already “filed a dispute” through one of the credit bureaus. However All they asked was what I was disputing & sent me an email that Bank of America would not change anything on my report. More details on the situation; I had a B.O.A. Credit card that I fell into trouble with & missed a few payments, got on a payment program, then ran into some money & paid it off In Full (I realize now it would have been better to just make payments, instead of over $5000 lump sum) However, the real issue is its showing as Charged off on my report! But BOA accepted my payment in full & paid off the account. They’re claiming payment was due by Sept. 30 & they did not receive/post full balance check until Oct. 1st. It was most definitely dated & postmarked by Sept 27, I feel they chose to not post payment until the 1st, so they could add Charge off to my report. The late payments will cause enough negative impact, I Definitely don’t want a charge off showing, especially when it’s untrue! I appreciate any suggestions on what my next step should be to address this, write a letter as shown above? Thank you for any help!
Sincerely,
Tory B.
Tory –
Generally under the Truth In Lending Act, creditors are generally required to post payments the day they were received . This is probably a situation where you are going to have to try to find someone higher up the ladder at Bank of America to help you correct this. The credit reporting agencies are just going to check with the lender to confirm it and until their information is corrected you’re going to keep battling this.
If you can’t get anywhere with the bank, I’d suggest you file a written complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
This is a great resource. I especially liked the part where you indicated the information that you should have on your letter of request. It’s extremely important to have all of your identification information on there. Also, I suggest sending the letter certified so that you know who received the letter.
Fantastic. Really simple. My question : My account was handed over by my service provider to a collection agency for an amount of $54. This $54 was supposed to be paid by my insurance. However, Inspite of disputing this charge the coll agency put in on my credit history. Now the service provider has realized his mistake and update the same to the collection agency. The collection agency says they have deleted this charge from my credit history, however, I can still see it there, on creditkarma. A) If they have deleted this charge will my score go back to what it was before they put this charge there ? B) If teh charge is indeed deleted, should I wait for a month or immediately send a letter explaining this situation to the 3 credit bureaus ?
… I wait with awaited breath 
Thank you so much for your advice.
I actually have drafted my letter which I wanted to snail mail and came to this site in search of a sample letter
I don’t know how often the service you are using updates credit information from the credit reporting agency. In addition, there can sometimes be a lag between the time when the furnisher updates and when they actually do. I’d suggest checking again in 30 days and if it’s not there, get your credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com to see which agencies are reporting what. If it’s still on any one of the three reports, start by sending your letter to the CRAs reporting it.
I’d also recommend you sign up for Credit.com’s free Credit Report Card. The service you are using now pulls credit information from a different credit reporting agency than ours does, so if you are using both you’ll have a more complete view of your credit.
As far as your scores go, they are calculated with whatever information is available at the time the score is requested. If all the other information on your reports is essentially the same then your scores should “recover” once this is off there.
Finally, you may want to check out the Medical Debt Responsibility Act which would give consumers some protection in these kinds of situations.
Thank you so much for responding. I ended up calling the three bureaus and this information was on file with all of them. I have disputed via telephone. Hopefully this will be resolved in 30 days. Interactions with Equifax were the beast-iest of all !
Do let us know how this turns out!
I just got a phone call at work from a debt collector that they want to paid for an unknown debt.
what should i do to stop them to call me at work. Is it illegal to harassing me by calling me at work?
If you tell a debt collector not to call you at work they must stop calling you there immediately. If they ignore your request than you may be dealing with a debt collection scammer.
In addition, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act gives you the right to request written verification of the debt. They must mail it to you (email is not sufficient). You may want to read: 11 Ways A Debt Collector May Be Breaking the Law.
Gerri,
My credit report is full of late pays and charge offs from my childrens loans
that i co-signed. I have recently filled Bank ruptcy and included all these depts.
should i be able to have those loans removed from my report.
Unfortunately the fact that you included them in your bankruptcy doesn’t mean they will come off your credit reports right away. My colleague Barry Paperno wrote a really good article recently on how bankruptcy affects your credit scores. It should help you understand how that works.
I received a collection letter from a collection agency attempting to collect a debt that the original creditor failed to submit to my insurance company for payment. I received a letter from this collection agency previously and informed the billing dept. of my insurance information for submittal of the claim. The time for the original creditor to submit the claim, according to the billing dept. is one year. These charges occurred back in 2009. Please advise.
There is no simple solution to this kind of situation, I am afraid. I wrote about this in this article: Time for a Fair Medical Billing Act. At the same time, if the medical provider was in-network with your insurance company, its agreement with the insurance company probably requires it to bill in a timely fashion, and if it does not, it is not allowed to hold you responsible for payment. So assuming the provider was in network, I would recommend you do two things:
1. Send the collection agency a letter (with proof of delivery) stating that you don’t believe you owe this bill and ask them to validate the debt. You don’t need to go into a great deal of detail here; they are required by law to honor your request.
2. Contact your insurance company and explain the situation. Ask them what their rules are regarding in network providers who fail to bill in a timely fashion. You may have to go up the chain a little if the first person you speak with is not knowledgeable about this.
Let us know what happens!
I had my name use and stolen from hospital records was sent a letter from hospital and checked my credit report from the three credit places and yried to get them to remove things from my credit and with no luck.I have gotten in touch with the bank who also released my money to someone that was not on my account and do not know them is there any help for me to get it straightned out?Before all of this happened I had perfect credit it seems like the credit places do not want to help so I gave up it was stressing me out too bad.In fact the bank in which I was banking contacted me about some lady was tryingto cash a check on me because the young man knew I didn’t know them but his supervisor told him to cash it.and then they sent him to another one of their branches and I couldn’t talk to him again and the bank said it was my problem I had several accounts at that bank and my money was gone and no help from the bank.But how do you get things off your credit report even if you didn’t apply for certain catds.
Ellen – Did you fill out a police report? If not, that’s one of the first steps you must take to make sure your id theft case is taken seriously.
Gerri: I’m seeking your opinion regarding how the credit bureaus would respond if I pursue them to try and get a negative item removed from my credit report. A summary of my situation: Overall my credit history is excellent. Ten years ago I obtained a mortgage loan. My spouse at the time was not included on the loan because of her credit history; hence, I was able to obtain a better interest rate if the loan was in my name only. Six years later we divorced. As part of the divorce settlement, I relinquished my interest in the home and property as outlined in the divorce decree with the agreement that she assume all financial responsibilities for the same. A year ago she quit making the mortgage payment, subsequently abandoned the property and I got stuck with a foreclosure on my credit report. I pay her substantial alimony and couldn’t afford to resume paying “her” mortgage payment too. I feel like an innocent victim who is suffering the credit consequences. Do you think the credit bureaus would have any sympathy in my case if I’m able to show them documentation stating she had full financial responsibility?
Great article and great advice. As someone who has done this in the past, one point I found very helpful is send the letter certified with required signature. You are correct in saying that the Bureaus know they have to investigate, and that you don’t need to quote the legal terms. However, it is very helpful to know when they received the letter for dispute.
Thanks for your insight.
I wrote to several furnishers asking what their reports were about because I didn’t know what the debts were for. Some replied that they needed more information from me to answer my questions. What does that mean and how should I proceed? Seems like if they don’t know I shouldn’t have to help them and they should remove it from my report.
Hi Anne –
I checked with consumer law attorney Robert Brennan who handles both credit damage and debt collection cases in Southern California, and here’s his opinion:
Here, it depends on the type of information being requested.
To me, the threshold question here is, did the consumer have an account with the creditor/furnisher? If the creditor/furnisher is having trouble locating an account or wants to verify that the person making the inquiry is in fact the account holder, I think some amount of background information, such as the information requested on a credit application, would be appropriate. This could include social security number if the creditor/furnisher indexes its accounts by ssn, but the creditor/furnisher should be able to access the account using name and address.
If the consumer knows he/she has an account, which number would be listed on any full credit report, then the consumer should be able to request the information of his/her account. The creditor/furnisher should have in place some security questions to make sure that it is not giving out account information to a stranger or an identity thief, and this would be reasonable. Most banks and many creditors have security questions, such as mother’s maiden name or name of high school attended. This is all reasonable and common.
In general, in my extensive experience with credit reporting, most creditors want the consumer to make a good faith effort to provide the information to the creditor to permit a reinvestigation. If the consumer is not forthcoming with requested information, the creditor/furnisher can take that as a signal of something less than good faith. I would generally advise consumers to provide the requested information so long as the requests are reasonable—name, address, social security number, driver’s license, account number, answers to security questions. If a creditor/furnisher wants more than that, this would raise a red flag, at least for me.
I received a 1099-c from Citibank which cancelled a debt on 9/08/2011. I already paid the tax on the debt cancelled. They are still reporting a balance on my credit report. I disputed it online and they didn’t change it. My question is: If they cancelled the debt and I already paid the IRS taxes shouldn’t it be reported as a $0 balance on my Credit Report? By issuing the 1099-c aren’t they saying that the debt was forgiven and they wrote it off for tax year 2011? How can I get them to change this?
Sorry, forgot to mention I live in NJ. Not sure if that matters as far as Credit Reporting goes. Thank you
The fact that you received a 1099-C in and of itself doesn’t mean the debt is cancelled. (The IRS says as much in their publications.) Whether or not the creditor can still come after you for that debt is a matter of state law and the contract. Having said that, if the creditor has charged off the debt and sold it to a collection agency (rather than just placing if for collection) then it would seem that the balance should be zero. You might try sending a copy of the 1099-C to the credit reporting agency with a written dispute asking them to report a zero balance. Be very specific in your letter.
I have to warn you, though, that it probably won’t do a lot for your credit scores since the negative information – the charge-off or however it is reported – will still be there. In addition, if you do get a collection notice for this debt I would suggest you talk with a consumer law attorney to find out whether the collector can still try to collect it.
Hi Gerri
I have a different situation. A company in which I was an officer in 2004 and no longer associated with the company from Starting 2005, has failed to pay some taxes. (Now the company has paid in full though). But State of NJ filed a petition with Supreme court, NJ showing my name also as defaulter. I disputed and sent several letters to NJ Tax department as well as all CBA documenting I was not at all associated with the company in the year in which the case was filled. Yet, since 2009 all CBA are still reporting court judgement against my name and this is hampering my credit and obtain refinance.
Can you please help me how to resolve this
Thanks
NM
Prasad -
You can first follow our steps for disputing a credit report mistake here: A Step-By-Step Guide to Disputing Credit Report Mistakes.
If that doesn’t work, I suggest you talk with a consumer law attorney who handles Fair Credit Reporting Act cases for advice. It shouldn’t be too expensive to get a consultation and if the credit reporting agencies don’t correct it, you may have a credit damage case.
Hello, thx for the info
Dish network is reporting on my credit report so I called the company that it was sold to to find out specifics and come to find out the account is in my mothers first name and we have the same last name but with my SS#. Is this disputable? And how should I go about it? Thanks for the advice
Nene – Yes. It is wrong so you can dispute it. Follow our instructions for disputing it in this article: A Step-By-Step Guide to Disputing Credit Report Mistakes. Be sure to dispute it first with the credit reporting agencies to protect your rights. Just state the account isn’t yours. If they don’t fix it, try going directly to the creditor or collector as listed on your credit report. If they don’t fix it, let us know and I will refer you to a consumer law attorney.
I also forgot to mention that I live in California.
i have 2creditcard out there for 12 year. i need help get them out please help me
Shirley – if the credit cards are open accounts, they’ll remain in your credit reports indefinitely until they’re closed. If the accounts are closed they’ll remain for 10 years if the account was in good standing. If the account is closed and had derogatory or negative payment information, it will remain for 7 years from the date of the most recent delinquency. If it’s been 12 years, the credit reporting agencies must remove it from your credit reports — usually, this happens automatically. Unfortunately, we cannot remove the information for you — only the credit reporting agencies can, so you’ll need to file a dispute directly with the credit reporting agencies in order to have the issue resolved and the accounts removed. A couple great resources on how to do that are:
1. How to Order Your Free Annual Credit Reports — http://www.credit.com/credit-reports/article/2010/08/00017/how-to-order-your-free-annual-credit-report
2. A Step-By-Step Guide to Disputing Credit Report Mistakes – http://blog.credit.com/2013/02/a-step-by-step-guide-to-disputing-credit-report-mistakes/
Hello Geri. How old is too old for debt to sit on your credit report? I had fantastic credit before my child got sick and eventually passed away. Through iout her time, my credit suffered something terrible. Its been almost 12 years since then, and the old debt will not go away. Even after requesting it several times.
signed,
Trying to start over!!