How to File a Credit Dispute: Steps, Evidence, and Follow-Up

To file a credit dispute, pull your credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, write to each bureau that shows the error with a clear explanation and supporting documents, and the bureau must investigate within 30 days. You can file online, by certified mail, or by phone, and you can also send the dispute directly to the bank or collector that reported the information. The steps below walk through each decision in order.

Step 1: Pull Your Credit Reports

You cannot dispute what you have not seen. Free weekly reports from all three major bureaus are available at AnnualCreditReport.com, and through 2026 Equifax provides six additional free reports per year through the same site.¹ Check all three. Each bureau collects data independently, so an error may sit on one report and not the others, and the dispute has to go to whichever bureau is reporting it. Correcting one does not correct the others.

Step 2: Identify What Is Actually Wrong

Credit report mistakes generally fall into three categories, and naming the category sharpens the dispute.

Identity errors: a wrong name, phone number, or address on your file, or accounts that belong to someone else with a similar name. Bureaus sometimes merge two people’s records.
Account status errors: a closed account reported as open, an on-time account marked delinquent, the same debt listed more than once under different names, or a wrong date of first delinquency.
Balance and limit errors: an incorrect current balance or wrong credit limit, both of which can skew your credit utilization.

These groupings come from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s guidance on reviewing reports.² Before deciding an unfamiliar account is not yours, check the creditor name and account number carefully. Debt collectors often report under a different company name than the original lender.

One category worth noticing on sight: items that have overstayed their legal retention. Most negative information can appear for up to seven years from the date the delinquency first began, and bankruptcies for up to ten years from the court order.³ Anything older is a straightforward basis for a dispute.

Step 3: Gather Your Documentation

Every dispute needs the information that connects you to the item. Have your full legal name, Social Security number, date of birth, and current address ready. For each item you are challenging, note the account number and write a clear reason the information is wrong. “This account was paid in full on March 4” works. “This is incorrect” invites a dismissal.

Supporting documents turn the claim into evidence. Useful records include bank statements showing a cleared payment, canceled checks, a payoff letter from the creditor, or court documents for a discharged debt. Include a copy of a government-issued ID and a recent utility bill or bank statement showing your current address so the bureau can confirm who you are without delaying processing.

If the error traces back to identity theft, file a report at IdentityTheft.gov first. The site builds a recovery plan and generates pre-filled dispute letters.⁴ Creditors may require a police report, proof of identity, and a completed affidavit before giving you transaction records tied to fraudulent accounts.⁵

Step 4: Choose How to Submit the Dispute

You can file online, by mail, or by phone. The FTC lists each bureau’s mailing address, phone number, and online dispute link in one place.⁶ File with every bureau showing the error.

Online

Each bureau’s web portal lets you upload documents, describe the error, and track the investigation. It is fast and gives you immediate confirmation. The catch: some portals require you to agree to terms that include a binding arbitration clause. Experian’s online dispute agreement, for example, states that you waive the right to a jury trial and cannot participate in a class action over disputes arising from the service.⁷ If you think you may later need to sue the bureau over how it handled your report, submit by mail instead.

Certified Mail

A mailed package gives you a paper trail that holds up in court. Send it certified with return receipt requested, so you have proof of the date the bureau received it. Keep a complete copy of the letter and every attachment.

Mailing addresses:

Equifax: P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30348
Experian: P.O. Box 4500, Allen, TX 75013
TransUnion: P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016

Phone

You can also call: Experian at (888) 397-3742, TransUnion at (800) 916-8800, or Equifax at (866) 349-5191.⁶ The agent will take your details and give you a reference number. Phone works for simple corrections but is harder for anything that needs real documentation.

Step 5: Consider Disputing with the Creditor Too

Federal regulations also let you send a dispute directly to the company that furnished the information, whether that is a bank, card issuer, or collection agency. The notice must identify the account, explain what is wrong and why, and include supporting documentation such as account statements, a police report, or a copy of the relevant portion of your credit report.⁸

Once the furnisher receives the dispute, it must investigate, review your evidence, and report back, generally within 30 days. If the investigation shows the reported information was inaccurate, the furnisher must notify every credit bureau to which it sent the wrong data.⁹ A direct dispute is especially useful when you already hold documentation from the creditor itself, such as a payoff letter that contradicts the reported balance.

What Happens After You File

The bureau has 30 days to complete its investigation. If you submit additional evidence during that window, the deadline extends by up to 15 days, for a maximum of 45. The bureau forwards your dispute and evidence to the furnisher, which checks its own records. If the furnisher confirms the information is wrong or incomplete, it must correct the data at every national bureau that received it. If the furnisher does not respond before the deadline, the bureau typically removes the disputed item.¹⁰

A bureau can terminate an investigation if it reasonably determines the dispute is frivolous or irrelevant, most often when the submission did not include enough information for the bureau to investigate. Contradictory information already in your file is not, by itself, grounds to call a dispute frivolous. If a bureau declines to investigate, it must tell you within five business days and explain what additional information you would need to provide.¹¹ You can then resubmit with stronger documentation.

The bureau must send you the results within five business days of finishing the investigation. If the dispute produced a change, you also get a free copy of the updated report.¹⁰

If Your Dispute Is Denied

A denial does not end your options. You can add a brief statement to your file explaining your side; the bureau may limit it to 100 words if it helps you draft it, and that statement (or a summary) must appear on future reports that include the disputed item.¹¹ It does not change your credit score, but a lender reviewing your report manually, such as a mortgage underwriter, may read it.

If you believe the bureau or furnisher mishandled your dispute, file a complaint at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. The CFPB forwards complaints to the company, which generally responds within 15 days, though some take up to 60.¹² Be thorough the first time. You generally cannot submit a second complaint about the same issue. Include key dates, amounts, and copies of your communications (up to 50 pages of attachments).

A Warning If You Are Applying for a Mortgage

Timing matters. A credit bureau generally will not use a disputed account in your credit score while the investigation is open, and some lenders will not extend credit during that period. If the dispute does not resolve in your favor, the account resumes its normal effect on your score.¹³

FHA mortgage underwriting adds its own wrinkle. If you are disputing derogatory accounts (charge-offs, collections, or accounts with late payments in the last 24 months) and the combined balance of those disputed accounts is $1,000 or more, the lender must add a monthly payment for that debt to your debt-to-income ratio. Disputed medical accounts and accounts tied to documented identity theft do not count toward that $1,000 threshold.¹⁴ If you are in the middle of a mortgage application, talk to your loan officer before opening a new dispute.

If the Bureau or Furnisher Breaks the Rules

Failing to investigate your dispute, or continuing to report information the company knows is wrong, violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act. You can sue in federal court. For willful violations, you can recover between $100 and $1,000 per violation in statutory damages even without proving a specific loss, plus actual damages, punitive damages, and reasonable attorney’s fees.¹⁵ For negligent violations, you can recover actual damages plus attorney’s fees and court costs.¹⁶

The statute of limitations is two years from the date you discover the violation, with an outer limit of five years from the date it occurred. If you used an online dispute portal that included an arbitration clause, that agreement may push you into individual arbitration instead of court, which is why many consumer attorneys still recommend filing by mail.

1
Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Free Credit Reports
2
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Are Common Credit Report Errors That I Should Look for on My Credit Report
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
4
Federal Trade Commission. IdentityTheft.gov – Steps
5
Federal Trade Commission. Businesses Must Provide Victims and Law Enforcement with Transaction Records Relating to Identity Theft
6
Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Disputing Errors on Your Credit Reports
7
Experian. Dispute Resolution by Binding Arbitration
8
eCFR. 16 CFR 660.4 – Direct Disputes
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681s-2 – Responsibilities of Furnishers of Information to Consumer Reporting Agencies
10
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Long Does It Take to Repair an Error on a Credit Report
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681i – Procedure in Case of Disputed Accuracy
12
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Submit a Complaint About a Financial Product or Service
13
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. If I Dispute a Debt, How Does That Show Up on My Credit Report
14
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. How Are Disputed Credit Accounts Considered for Manually Underwritten Loans
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681n – Civil Liability for Willful Noncompliance
16
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681o – Civil Liability for Negligent Noncompliance