If a credit report lists an account, balance, payment, or inquiry that is wrong, dispute that item with every bureau showing it and with the company that supplied the information. Credit reporting agencies generally have 30 days to investigate after they receive a dispute. If you send more documents after the investigation has started, the process can take up to 45 days.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) controls this process for U.S. consumers. State rules and specialty credit reports can differ, so work from the report that actually contains the mistake.

A fix won't promise a set number of credit-score points. Any change depends on the error, the scoring model, and when a lender next receives the updated file.

What to do first

  1. Get reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion through AnnualCreditReport.com, the federally authorized source for free reports. The site currently offers weekly online access.
  2. Compare the files and mark the exact inaccurate line.
  3. Gather copies that support your position.
  4. Dispute the error online or by mail with each bureau reporting it.
  5. Send a separate dispute to the lender, collector, or other furnisher that provided the information.
  6. Keep confirmations, letters, attachments, and delivery records, then read the investigation results against an updated report.

The FTC's free-credit-report guidance explains how to avoid lookalike websites.

What counts as an error

A negative entry isn't an error just because it lowers your score. Accurate late payments, collections, and bankruptcies can generally stay for the legally permitted reporting period. Dispute information that is inaccurate, incomplete, duplicated, outdated, or mixed with someone else's file.

Watch for accounts that aren't yours, including mismatches in the creditor name, account number, opening date, or account type. Status errors are common too: an account may show as open, late, charged off, or in collections when it was paid, closed, or included in bankruptcy. Wrong balances or credit limits can change reported utilization. Payment-history mistakes often hide in a single month, so check every late mark against your statements.

The same debt shouldn't appear twice unless the entries truly reflect separate obligations. Unfamiliar inquiries deserve a closer look: find out whether the inquiry was hard or soft, and whether you recognize the application. Mixed personal information, such as a wrong Social Security number, birth date, name, or address, can merge your file with another person's.

Most negative information can generally be reported for up to seven years. Some bankruptcies can be reported for up to seven or 10 years, depending on the type. Use the original delinquency timeline. The date a debt was sold or updated does not automatically start a new clock.

Not every creditor reports to every bureau, so a missing account isn't necessarily a mistake. The reverse is also true: an error may appear on only one report, and then you only need to dispute it with that bureau unless the same problem shows up elsewhere.

Medical debt and other collections

A medical collection isn't inaccurate simply because it involves healthcare. Check the provider, collector, amount, insurance adjustments, date of service, and payment status.

The factual problems that do turn up include a bill assigned to the wrong patient, an insurance payment that was never credited, a paid bill still shown as unpaid, the same bill reported by both a provider and a collection company, an amount that doesn't match the final statement, and a collection that is too old or was reported before the bureau's current requirements were met.

Credit-reporting policies and medical-debt rules can change. Don't rely on an old article, or on a blanket promise that every medical collection must be deleted. Dispute a specific factual problem and read the current instructions of the bureau listing the item.

A bureau dispute is separate from a billing dispute with a hospital, insurer, or collector. If the amount itself is wrong, contact the billing party as well. Keep statements, insurance explanations of benefits, payment confirmations, and correspondence.

How to read the reports

Save a copy of each report, and record the download date and issuing bureau. Then go through the file in this order:

  1. Personal information. Confirm your name, addresses, birth date, and other identifying details. An old address alone may not affect your score, but an address you don't recognize can signal a mixed file or identity theft.
  2. Accounts. Make sure every account belongs to you. Compare balances, limits, opening dates, ownership, and status with your statements.
  3. Payment history. Look for on-time payments marked late, the wrong month, or a late mark that remained after the account had already been corrected.
  4. Collections. Match the collector, original creditor, amount, and dates to your records. Flag duplicates and incorrect paid or disputed statuses.
  5. Inquiries. Identify applications you made. Contact the bureau if an inquiry is unfamiliar.
  6. Public records. Confirm that a bankruptcy belongs to you and that the case, filing date, discharge status, and balance are accurate.

Highlight the error on a saved copy. Leave the original report unchanged for your records.

Dispute Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion

Spell out one problem

Name the account or inquiry, including the last few digits of the account number. Quote the information you believe is wrong, explain why, say what correction you want, and attach the documents that prove it.

Don't write only, "This account is inaccurate." If the report shows a 60-day late payment for a particular month, say your bank statement shows the payment cleared before the due date, and ask the bureau to remove that late-payment notation.

File online or by mail

Online disputes are usually enough for simple errors. You can upload documents and save a confirmation number. Use the bureau's official website, not a paid service promising special access. Experian's dispute instructions cover its online and mail options.

Mail can be the better route for identity-theft cases, several related errors, or a dispute that needs a longer explanation. Send copies, not originals, and use certified mail or another service that creates a delivery record. Keep the complete package.

The FTC's instructions for disputing credit-report errors list current methods and mailing addresses for Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Check that page before you mail anything, because addresses and forms change.

Send evidence that matches the claim

Useful copies can include the marked pages of your credit report, account statements, payment confirmations or canceled-check records, a creditor letter showing an account was closed or paid, an insurance explanation of benefits for a medical bill, proof of identity and address if requested, a police report or FTC Identity Theft Report for fraud, and bankruptcy discharge documents when the reported balance or status is wrong.

Send only relevant copies. Don't mail irreplaceable originals or extra personal information.

Dispute the furnisher too

The furnisher is the business that supplied the data: a bank, card issuer, lender, landlord, medical provider, or collection company. Send it the same explanation and evidence, using the dispute address on the company's website, billing statement, or credit report.

Disputing only with a bureau can work. Writing the furnisher creates a second chance to correct its own records. Ask for the result in writing.

A simple dispute letter

You don't need a paid "609 letter" or a special legal phrase. A plain, specific dispute with supporting documents is more useful.

I am disputing the following information on my credit report: [company name and account ending in ____].

The report states: [quote or describe the inaccurate information].

This is inaccurate because: [give the specific facts]. Please [correct the balance/status/payment history or delete the entry if it cannot be verified].

I have enclosed copies of [list documents]. Please investigate this dispute and send me the results and an updated report if the information is corrected.

The CFPB sample dispute letters include formats for common problems. Tailor the letter to your evidence instead of sending a generic form.

After you file

The bureau typically sends the result when the investigation ends and provides an updated report if anything changed. It may ask the furnisher to review the item. If the furnisher confirms the information is inaccurate or can't verify it, the bureau should correct or remove it. If the information is verified, read that response against your documents.

There's no universal deadline for a score to move after a correction. Scores may update once the corrected data is in the report, but lenders use different models and reporting schedules.

Keep the reports, letters, documents, confirmation numbers, delivery receipts, and responses together. Hold onto them long enough to confirm the correction and to deal with the same item if it reappears.

If the bureau says the information is accurate

Check whether it addressed the exact error you raised. Ask the furnisher for its records, and dispute the item directly if you haven't already. Send new, relevant evidence rather than repeating the same vague claim. Ask the bureau how it verified the disputed information. If the matter stays unresolved, you can request that a brief statement of your dispute be added to your file.

If the bureau or furnisher fails to handle the dispute properly, file a complaint through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A complaint doesn't guarantee deletion and doesn't replace the bureau's dispute process. For repeated inaccurate reporting that is causing significant harm, consider getting advice from a qualified consumer-law professional or legal-aid organization.

Identity theft and accounts you don't recognize

An unfamiliar account may be identity theft. It may also be a joint account, an authorized-user account, a former name, or a creditor that reports under a different brand. Confirm the facts before you treat it as fraud.

If fraud is likely:

A freeze and a fraud alert do different jobs. A freeze restricts access to your file for new credit applications. A fraud alert tells businesses to take extra steps to verify an applicant. You generally need to place a freeze with each bureau, while an alert placed with one bureau is shared with the others.

Common questions

Can accurate late payments be removed?

Usually not through a credit-report dispute. If the late payment is accurate and legally reportable, the bureau generally has no duty to delete it. You can ask the lender for a goodwill adjustment, but that's a company decision rather than an FCRA dispute right.

Do I have to dispute an error with all three bureaus?

Only the bureaus that show the error need a dispute. Still review all three reports, because the same creditor may report different information to each one.

Does paying a collection remove it?

Payment can change the account's status. It doesn't automatically prove the original reporting was inaccurate, and it doesn't guarantee deletion. Check the current policy that applies to that bureau, and dispute any wrong balance, date, ownership, or status.

Open the report that shows the problem, mark the exact line that is wrong, and send a focused dispute with copies of the evidence to that bureau and to the furnisher.