Under the FCRA, both the consumer reporting company and the information provider
(the person, company, or organization that provides information about you to a consumer
reporting company) are responsible for
correcting inaccurate or incomplete information in your report. To
take advantage of all your rights under the FCRA, contact the consumer reporting
company and the information provider if you see inaccurate or incomplete information.
Tell the consumer reporting company, in writing, what information you think is inaccurate.
Include copies (NOT originals) of documents that support your position. In
addition to providing your complete name and address, your letter should clearly
identify each item in your report that you
dispute, state the facts and explain why you
dispute the information, and request that the information be deleted or
corrected. You may want to enclose a copy of your report with the items in
question circled. Send your
letter by certified mail, return receipt requested, so you can document what
the consumer reporting company received. Keep copies of your
dispute letter and enclosures.
Consumer reporting companies must investigate the items in question — usually within
30 days — unless they consider your dispute frivolous. They also must forward
all the relevant data you provide about the inaccuracy to the organization that
provided the information. After the information provider receives
notice of a dispute from the consumer reporting company, it must investigate,
review the relevant information, and report the results back to the consumer reporting
company. If the information provider finds the disputed information is inaccurate,
it must notify all three nationwide consumer reporting companies so they can correct
the information in your file.
When the investigation is complete, the consumer reporting company must give you
the written results and a free copy of your report if the
dispute results in a change. (This free report does not count as your
annual free report under the FACT Act.) If an item is changed or deleted,
the consumer reporting company cannot put the disputed information back in your
file unless the information provider verifies that the information is, indeed, accurate
and complete. The consumer reporting company also must send you written notice
that includes the name, address, and phone number of the information provider.
If you request, the consumer reporting company must send notices of any correction
to anyone who received your report in the past six months. A corrected copy
of your report can be sent to anyone who received a copy during the past two years
for employment purposes.
If an investigation doesn't resolve your
dispute with the consumer reporting company, you can ask that a statement
of the dispute be included in your file and in future reports. You also can
ask the consumer reporting company to provide your statement to anyone who received
a copy of your report in the recent past. Expect to pay a fee for this service.
Tell the creditor or other information provider, in writing, that you dispute an
item. Be sure to include copies (NOT originals) of documents that support
your position. Many providers specify an address for disputes. If the
provider reports the item to a consumer reporting company, it must include a notice
of your dispute. And if you are correct — that is, if the information is found
to be inaccurate — the information provider may not report it again.
Sample Dispute Letter
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Date Your Name
Your Address
Your City, State, Zip Code
Complaint Department
Name of Company
Address
City, State, Zip Code
Dear Sir or Madam:
I am writing to dispute the following information in my file. The items I
dispute also are circled on the attached copy of the report I received.
This item (identify item(s) disputed by name of source, such as creditors or tax
court, and identify type of item, such as credit account, judgment, etc.) is (inaccurate
or incomplete) because (describe what is inaccurate or incomplete and why). I
am requesting that the item be deleted (or request another specific change) to correct
the information.
Enclosed are copies of (use this sentence if applicable and describe any enclosed
documentation, such as payment records and court documents) supporting my position.
Please investigate this (these) matter(s) and (delete or correct) the disputed item(s)
as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Your name
Enclosures: (List what you are enclosing)
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Accurate Negative Information
When negative information in your report is accurate, only the passage
of time can assure its removal. A consumer reporting company can report most
accurate negative information for seven years and
bankruptcy information for 10
years. Information about an unpaid judgment against you can be reported for
seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer.
There is no time limit on reporting information about criminal convictions; information
reported in response to your application for a job that pays more than $75,000 a
year; and information reported because you've applied for more than $150,000 worth
of credit or life insurance. There is a standard method for calculating the
seven-year reporting period. Generally, the period runs from the date that
the event took place.
Adding Accounts to Your File
Your credit file may not reflect all your credit accounts. Most national department
store and all-purpose bank credit card accounts are included in your file, but not
all. Some local retailers, credit unions, and travel, entertainment, and gasoline
card companies are among those that usually aren't included.
If you've been told that you were denied credit because of an "insufficient credit
file" or "no credit file" and you have accounts with creditors that don't appear
in your credit file, ask the consumer reporting companies to add this information
to future reports. Although they are not required to do so, many consumer
reporting companies will add verifiable accounts for a fee. However, if these
creditors do not generally report to the consumer reporting company, the added items
will not be updated in your file.