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Credit reports and disputes

Reading your reports, disputing real errors, and what to do when they say "verified". Each guide opens with a short answer, then shows the mechanism and the sources.

  1. How to get your credit reports free, weekly, from all three bureausGo to AnnualCreditReport.com, call 1-877-322-8228, or mail the request form to the Annual Credit Report Request Service. You can get reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion once a week at no charge, with no credit card. Look-alike sites that ask for payment or a trial signup are not the official source.
  2. How to read your credit report, line by line and field by fieldA credit report has four main parts: identifying information, accounts (tradelines), inquiries, and public records or collections. The accounts section does most of the damage or good. Check each account's owner, balance, limit, status, payment history and dates against your own records, and flag anything you can prove is wrong.
  3. How to dispute a credit report error, step by stepIdentify the exact error, gather a document that proves it, and send a dispute to each bureau showing the error, plus the company that reported it if needed. Explain what's wrong and why, attach copies, and keep proof of delivery. The bureau generally has 30 days to investigate and must send you the results in writing.
  4. Dispute timelines: the 30-day and 45-day clocks, and the othersA credit bureau generally has 30 days from receiving your dispute to finish its investigation. It can take up to 15 more days if you send new information during those 30 days, and disputes made after a free annual report get 45 days. The bureau must send you the results within 5 business days of finishing.
  5. Your dispute came back "verified": what to do nextVerified usually means the company that reported the item told the bureau its data matches its records. If you can prove it's wrong, ask the bureau how it verified the item, which it must answer within 15 days, then dispute directly with the furnisher, re-dispute with new evidence, add a statement, or file a CFPB complaint.
  6. Disputing directly with the lender or collector that reported itFederal law lets you dispute many credit report errors directly with the company that reported them. Send it to the furnisher's dispute address, identify the account and the exact error, explain why it's wrong, and include supporting documents. The furnisher must investigate and answer within the same period a bureau gets, generally 30 days.
  7. The truth about 609 letters: what section 609 really gives youSection 609 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g) requires a credit bureau to disclose what's in your file, where it came from, and who has pulled it. It doesn't require the bureau to produce signed contracts or delete accounts it can't document. Errors get fixed through a dispute under section 611.
  8. Metro 2 explained: the data format behind your credit reportMetro 2 is the standard electronic format lenders and collectors use to send account data to the credit bureaus, usually in monthly batches. Each account becomes a record of coded fields for status, balances, dates and payment history. When you dispute, the bureau sends the furnisher a coded electronic form called an ACDV through a system named e-OSCAR, and the answer comes back in codes too.
  9. Mixed credit files: when someone else's accounts land on your reportA mixed file happens when a credit bureau attaches another person's accounts, addresses or name variations to your file, usually because your identifiers look alike. It isn't identity theft, since nobody used your information. The fix is a dispute with each bureau that lists every item that isn't yours, starting with the wrong personal information, plus direct disputes with the lenders involved.
  10. What not to dispute on your credit report before a mortgageDon't dispute information that is accurate. The FCRA dispute right exists for errors, and accurate items usually come back verified. Before a mortgage, an open dispute can add a 'consumer disputes' remark that sends Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter into extra checks and, for FHA loans with $1,000 or more in disputed derogatory balances, forces manual underwriting.
  11. Filing a CFPB complaint about your credit report: when and howFile a CFPB complaint after you've already disputed directly with the credit bureau and the problem isn't fixed. The CFPB sends your complaint to the company, which generally responds within 15 days and sometimes takes up to 60. You then get 60 days to give feedback, and a version without your identifying details goes into a public database.
  12. Specialty consumer reports: ChexSystems, tenant screening and moreSpecialty consumer reports are files kept by companies other than the big three credit bureaus, covering things like bank account history (ChexSystems, Early Warning Services), rental history, insurance claims (LexisNexis C.L.U.E.), and utility and telecom accounts (NCTUE). Nationwide specialty agencies must give you a free copy once every 12 months on request, and you can dispute errors in them under the FCRA.
  13. Credit repair companies vs. doing it yourself: what you're paying forA credit repair company mostly reviews your reports and sends disputes and letters on your behalf, using rights you already have for free. Federal law bars it from charging before the work is fully performed, requires a written contract, and lets you cancel within 3 business days. No company can legally remove accurate, timely negative information, and you can do every step yourself.