How to dispute an error on your credit report.

What counts as an error

The Fair Credit Reporting Act treats anything inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable as disputable. Common cases:

• An account that isn’t yours.
• An account that’s yours but the balance is wrong.
• A late payment that wasn’t actually late.
• An account marked open that you closed years ago.
• A debt you paid off that still shows as outstanding.
• Identity-theft accounts opened in your name.

You can dispute anything. The bureau decides whether to remove it; you don’t need to prove your case in advance.

Step 1: Get your free reports

You’re entitled to a free credit report from each of the three bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — every week, at

. That is the federally-mandated site; ignore any service charging for what is yours by law.

Pull all three. The bureaus don’t share data with each other automatically, so an error on one report often doesn’t appear on the others — and you have to dispute with the specific bureau that’s reporting the wrong thing.

Step 2: File the dispute

Each bureau has an online dispute form, a mailing address, and a phone number. Online is fastest; mail with certified return receipt is the most defensible if the dispute drags. Include:

• Your name, address, and the last four digits of your Social Security number.
• The specific item being disputed, with the account number from the report.
• A short, factual statement of why it’s wrong.
• Copies (never originals) of any documents that support your case — paid-off statements, police reports for identity theft, dated correspondence.

Step 3: What happens next

The bureau has 30 days (45 if you submit additional documentation) to investigate. They contact the lender that reported the item, who then has to confirm the information or correct it. If the lender can’t verify, the item must be removed. If the lender confirms, the item stays — but you can add a 100-word statement to your file explaining your side, and you can re-dispute later with new evidence.

If the dispute is rejected and you believe the bureau didn’t investigate adequately, your next step is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s complaint portal. The CFPB forwards complaints to the bureau and requires a response — historically a more effective escalation than re-disputing through the same channel.

If the error stems from a hard inquiry you don’t recognize, that often indicates identity theft and warrants a separate fraud alert. The same site (annualcreditreport.com) is where you place one.