The way that credit bureaus maintain and report your financial information is
controlled by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA. FCRA provides a method
that allows consumers to dispute incorrect information that appears on their
credit report. Once a credit bureau receives notice of the dispute from the
consumer, the credit bureau has 30 days in which to investigate the dispute,
during which time they are required to review and consider all relevant
information that the consumer submits. If, after review, the credit bureau
determines that the information is inaccurate or cannot be verified, that
information must be promptly deleted from the consumer's credit report. The
credit bureau must then notify the consumer of the change to their credit
report.
The Dispute Letter
To dispute incorrect information appearing on your credit report, notify the
credit bureaus in writing of the dispute. This can be sent through the
mail, or conducted online through the credit bureau's website. Be sure to
provide enough specific information to allow the credit bureau to adequately
review your dispute. If sending the notice of your dispute through the mail,
include a copy of your credit report with all of the disputed items circled, and
include copies of any documents you may have to demonstrate that the disputed
item is false.
Here is a sample letter to notify a credit bureau of a disputed item:
This letter is to inform you of the following disputed items on my credit
report. The disputed items have been circled on the attached copy of the report.
I respectfully dispute the item showing a 30-day late payment and a balance
of $136.00 on a charge account to a creditor identified as "ACME CO," account
number xxxxx-xxxxxxxxxx. This item is inaccurate because Acme Co. invoiced me
for amounts that were not owed. Acme has acknowledged the error and a copy of
their letter or apology is attached.
Based upon this error, I request that you reinvestigate this matter and
delete the disputed item as soon as possible.