Facts for Consumers from the Federal Trade Commission

How to Dispute Credit Report Errors -- April 1994

Your credit report contains important information about you.  It 
generally includes facts about where you work and live and your 
bill-paying habits.  It also may state whether you've been sued 
or arrested or have filed for bankruptcy.  Companies called 
credit reporting agencies or credit bureaus compile and sell your 
credit report to businesses, which use it to evaluate your 
applications for credit, insurance, employment, and other 
purposes allowed by federal law.  Therefore, it is important that 
your credit report contain complete and accurate information.
Some financial advisors suggest that you review your report every 
three or four years to check for inaccuracies or omissions.  You 
also may want to check your report sooner if you are considering 
a major purchase, such as buying a home.

This brochure explains how to obtain a copy of your credit report 
and how to dispute errors.  It also provides a sample dispute 
letter and lists resources for additional credit information.

How to Obtain Your Credit Report

If you have been denied credit, insurance, or employment because 
of information that was supplied by a credit reporting agency, 
the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires the report recipient to 
give you the name and address of the credit reporting agency that 
supplied the information.  If you contact that agency to learn 
what is in your file within 30 days of receiving the denial 
notice, your report is free.  

If you simply want a copy of your report, call the credit 
reporting agencies listed in the Yellow Pages under "credit" or 
"credit rating and reporting."  Call each credit reporting agency 
listed since more than one agency may have a file on you, some 
with different information.  You may have to pay a reasonable 
charge for each report.

How To Correct Errors

You have the right, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, to 
dispute the completeness and accuracy of information in your 
credit file.  When a credit reporting agency receives a dispute, 
it must reinvestigate and record the current status of the 
disputed items within a "reasonable period of time," unless it 
believes the dispute is "frivolous or irrelevant."  If the credit 
reporting agency cannot verify a disputed item, it must delete 
it.  If your report contains erroneous information, the credit 
reporting agency must correct it.  If an item is incomplete, the 
credit reporting agency must complete it.  For example, if your 
file showed that you were late in making payments on accounts, 
but failed to show that you were no longer delinquent, the credit 
reporting agency must show that your payments are now current.  
Or if your file showed an account that belongs only to another 
person, the credit reporting agency would have to delete it.  
Also, at your request, the credit reporting agency must send a 
notice of correction to any report recipient who has checked your 
file in the past six months.

If a reinvestigation does not resolve your dispute, the Fair 
Credit Reporting Act permits you to file a statement of up to 100 
words to explain your side of the story.  The credit reporting 
agency must include this explanation in your report each time it 
sends it out.  Credit reporting agency employees often are 
available to help you word your statement.

Be aware, however, that when negative information in your report 
is accurate, only the passage of time can assure its removal.  
Credit reporting agencies are permitted by law to report 
bankruptcies for 10 years and other negative information for 7 
years.  Also, any negative information may be reported 
indefinitely for use in the evaluation of your application for:

l 	$50,000 or more in credit;

l 	a life insurance policy with a face amount of $50,000 or 
more; or

l 	consideration for a job paying $20,000 or more.

How to Register a Dispute

You must make your dispute directly to the credit reporting 
agency.  Although the Fair Credit Reporting Act does not require 
it, the Federal Trade Commission staff recommends that you submit 
your dispute in writing, along with 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, explain why you dispute the information, state the 
facts, and request deletion or correction.  You may want to 
enclose a copy of your report with the items in question circled. 
Your letter may look something like the one at the end of this 
brochure.

Send your dispute by certified mail, return receipt requested, 
and keep copies of your dispute letter and enclosures.  By doing 
so, you can document what the credit reporting agency received.

Adding Accounts to Your File

Your credit file may not reflect all of 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 credit reporting agencies.  Those 
not reporting to credit reporting agencies include, for example, 
some travel, entertainment, and gasoline card companies, local 
retailers, and credit unions.  

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, 
you can ask the credit reporting agency to add this information 
to future reports.  Although they are not required to do so, many 
credit reporting agencies will add other verifiable accounts for 
a fee.

For Further Information

The Federal Trade Commission has a series of Facts for Consumers 
discussing credit issues.  Titles include:

Building a Better Credit Record
Credit and Divorce
Credit Billing Errors
Fair Credit Billing
Fair Credit Reporting
Fair Debt Collection
Fix Your Own Credit Problems
Solving Credit Problems
Women and Credit Histories

To obtain free copies of these publications, contact: Public 
Reference, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D.C. 20580; 
(202) 326-2222.  TDD (202) 326-2502.  You also may contact Public 
Reference for a copy of our Best Sellers, a listing of the FTC's 
consumer brochures.

SAMPLE FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT DISPUTE LETTER

Date
Your Name
Your Address
Your City, State, Zip Code

Complaint Department
Name of Credit Reporting Agency
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 encircled on the attached copy of 
the report I received.

(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.)  This item 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, court documents) 
supporting my position.

Please reinvestigate this (these) matter(s) and  (delete or 
correct) the disputed item(s) as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Your name

Enclosures: (List of whatever you are enclosing)