Credit Cards:
How to Dispute Credit Report Errors
Both the Consumer Reporting
Agency (CRA) and the organization that provided the information to the CRA, such
as a bank or credit card company, have responsibilities for correcting
inaccurate or incomplete information in your report. To protect all your rights
under the law, contact both the CRA and the information provider. For details on obtaining
your credit report, see What is a Credit Report (and How Do I Get Mine)?
Contact the CRA
Tell the CRA in writing
what information you believe 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
you dispute, state the facts and explain why you dispute the information, and
request deletion or correction. 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 CRA received. Keep copies of
your dispute letter and enclosures.
CRAs must reinvestigate
the items in question-usually within 30 days-unless they consider your dispute
frivolous. They also must forward all relevant data you provide about the
dispute to the information provider. After the information provider receives
notice of a dispute from the CRA, it must investigate, review all relevant
information provided by the CRA, and report the results to the CRA. If the
information provider finds the disputed information to be inaccurate, it must
notify all nationwide CRAs so they can correct this information in your file.
Disputed information that cannot be verified must be deleted from your file.
If your report contains
erroneous information, the CRA must correct it. If an item is incomplete, the
CRA must complete it. For example, if your file showed that you were late making
payments, but failed to show that you were no longer delinquent, the CRA must
show that you are current. If your file shows an account that belongs only to
another person, the CRA must delete it.
When the reinvestigation
is complete, the CRA must give you the written results and a free copy of your
report if the dispute results in a change. If an item is changed or removed, the
CRA cannot put the disputed information back in your file unless the information
provider verifies its accuracy and completeness, and the CRA gives you a written
notice that includes the name, address, and phone number of the provider.
Also, if you request, the
CRA must send notices of corrections to anyone who received your report in the
past six months. Job applicants can have a corrected copy of their report sent
to anyone who received a copy during the past two years for employment purposes.
If a reinvestigation does not resolve your dispute, ask the CRA to include your
statement of the dispute in your file and in future reports.
Contact the Information
Provider
In addition to writing to the CRA, tell the creditor or other information
provider in writing that you dispute an item. Again, include copies (NOT
originals) of documents that support your position. Many providers specify an
address for disputes. If the provider then reports the item to any CRA, it must
include a notice of your dispute. In addition, if you are correct - that is, if
the disputed information is not accurate - the information provider may not use
it again.
You Should Also Know...
When negative information in your report is accurate, only the passage of
time can assure its removal:
- Accurate negative
information can generally stay on your report for 7 years.
- Bankruptcy information
may be reported for 10 years.
- Information about a
lawsuit or an unpaid judgment against you can be reported for seven years or
until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer.
Some information has no
time limit:
- Credit information
reported in response to an application for a job with a salary of more than
$75,000 has no time limit.
- Credit information
reported because of an application for more than $150,000 worth of credit or
life Insurance has no time limit.
Your credit file may not
reflect all your credit accounts. Although most national department store and
all-purpose bank credit card accounts will be included in your file, not all
creditors supply information to CRAs: Some travel, entertainment, gasoline card
companies, local retailers, and credit unions are among those creditors that do
not.
If you have been told that
you were denied credit because of an "insufficient credit file" or "no credit
file" and you have accounts with creditors that do not appear in your credit
file, ask the CRA to add this information to future reports. Although they are
not required to do so, many CRAs will add verifiable accounts for a fee. You
should, however, understand that if these creditors do not report to the CRA on
a regular basis, these added items will not be updated in your file.
Next ==>>
Unauthorized Use of Your Account: (What to Do if Your Identity
is Stolen)
Table of Contents:
-
How to establish
credit
-
Types of Credit Card Accounts
-
Precautions for Choosing or
Using a Credit Card
-
When You Receive Your Card
- Your Rights and Protections
-
What is a Credit Report (and How Do I Get Mine)?
-
How to Dispute Credit Report Errors
-
Unauthorized Use of Your Account: (What to Do if Your Identity
is Stolen)
-
Help and Resources
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