How to Dispute Your Credit Report at All 3 Bureaus

6 Min Read | Last updated: November 30, 2023

A woman seated on steps, focused on her laptop, researching how to dispute her credit report at all three bureaus.

This article contains general information and is not intended to provide information that is specific to American Express products and services. Similar products and services offered by different companies will have different features and you should always read about product details before acquiring any financial product.

If you discover inaccurate details on your credit reports, you can dispute them. See how to dispute credit reports and what to expect after disputing.

At-A-Glance

  • Your credit report can influence whether you get a new car loan, a credit card, a job, and more.
  • However, some credit reports may have serious-enough errors to change your credit score.
  • Here’s how to find and dispute credit report errors.

Your credit report may be among your most important life documents, like your driver’s license, passport, or marriage license. But credit reports contain far more information than those documents—and, research shows, they can be prone to error. Fortunately, you can review and dispute your credit report at all three credit reporting agencies, as well as with any business that gives them information.

Why Dispute a Credit Report?

What other document can influence whether you get a new car loan, a credit card, a job, a rental apartment, or a home mortgage? Or reveal potential identity theft attempts? Credit reports are commonly used for all these purposes. That may be enough to prompt you to review reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—the nation’s three major credit reporting agencies—and dispute credit report information that isn’t current, accurate, or complete.

How Often do Errors Require Disputing Credit Reports?

Unfortunately, anything from a reporting error to identity theft can negatively impact a credit score, so regularly checking your credit report for errors is essential. It’s important to not get complacent as credit report errors could negatively impact your score, affecting your ability to get competitive rates – or even qualify for a new loan or credit card.
 
If you see an error on your credit report, you should begin a dispute. Keep in mind that there may be multiple errors requiring multiple disputes. You may even need to file multiple disputes in a year to resolve new errors as they arise.

 

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Did you know?

As an added security measure to help protect against fraud, American Express reports a reference number to credit bureaus – instead of your actual account number.

How to Dispute an Error on Your Credit Report

The good news is that it’s relatively easy to dispute your credit report.
 
If you find an error on your credit report, you can start by disputing it with the credit reporting company: Experian, Equifax, and/or TransUnion. You can explain, in writing, what you think is wrong and why. You should also include copies of documents that support your dispute. You can also visit consumerfinance.gov for instructions, information, and templates.1
 
Note that the process may vary, depending on the credit reporting company. The three credit reporting agencies offer dispute services, tools, and advice. Each bureau’s site explains its error-dispute processes, including:

  • Information to include in your dispute letter
  • What supporting documentation to include
  • How to file your completed dispute package
  • How to find updates as your dispute progresses

The agencies urge online filing to assist with rapid resolution. Each bureau offers information for postal mail and telephone-based filings as well. You can begin the dispute process by obtaining a copy of your credit report from each bureau at annualcreditreport.com. If you detect errors, it may be a good idea to mark them on the report, which you can then copy and include in your credit report dispute package.
 
Equifax’s site offers a comprehensive list and examples of documents that could help support your case, including personal information, account-related information, and “other.”2 The examples include:

  • Driver’s license
  • Birth certificate
  • Utility bill
  • Current bank statements
  • Letters from a lender that support your dispute
  • Proof of identity theft related to a specific account
  • Cancelled checks
  • Student loan disability letters
  • Bankruptcy schedules or other court documents

These materials, together with your dispute letter stating the facts and requesting corrections or deletions (several examples are available online), are your dispute package.
 
You can file credit report disputes with one or multiple bureaus, depending on where you’ve found inaccuracies. Experian’s Dispute Center, for example, offers interactive tools to make reports from workstations or smartphones.3 With postal mail, it may be a good idea to send it certified mail with return receipt, to assure delivery. And, it’s a good idea to record dates and all communications, whatever filing method used.4

What Usually Happens After You Dispute Something on Your Credit Report?

Once you file your dispute, credit reporting agencies must tell information provider(s) about it. Information providers (banks, credit card issuers, etc.) will take steps to verify the data in question—or, if it’s found inaccurate, to inform all three bureaus and have the data corrected or deleted. The credit bureaus’ sites offer you links to check on the status of a dispute, and FAQs that describe possible outcomes and next steps.
 
Once a dispute investigation is complete, credit bureaus are required to inform you of the results in writing and provide a new free report if there are changes. Further, the bureau must provide information on the “data furnisher” involved. “Data furnisher” is the legal term for any entity that provides information to a credit reporting agency. You can request that the bureau notify anyone who received your report over the last six months.
 
If you are unsatisfied with the results, you can:

  • Refile your dispute, potentially with additional documentation.
  • File a “statement of dispute,” about 100 words, that will be affixed to your file and any future reports. You can ask the bureau to get the statement to entities that recently obtained your report. A fee may be involved.5

How do You Dispute an Inquiry?

In addition to errors, like inaccurate bill payment data, accounts belonging to someone else, or outdated account balances, credit reports may show several “hard inquiries,” or requests for full reports, including from sources you don’t know. Unauthorized hard inquiries could be report errors or in some cases, could even signal potential identity theft. Importantly, too many hard inquiries can hurt credit and decrease your score. So it’s a good idea to dispute any hard inquiries that you don’t recognize.6

Can Disputing Hurt Your Credit?

TransUnion’s FAQ puts it this way: “Don’t worry, there’s no impact to your credit score because you start a dispute. However, if your dispute results in items being changed or removed from your credit report, your score may change due to that.”7 This could be a positive change for you, of course, or negative.

Your Legal Rights to Dispute Credit Reports

Because inaccurate credit reports can impact you financially, it’s worth knowing all your dispute-related rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
 
These include the following, a summary of some of your rights under the FCRA:

  • You must be told if information in your file has been used against you.
  • You have the right to know what is in your file.
  • You have the right to ask for a credit score.
  • You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information.
  • Consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information.
  • Consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information.
  • Access to your file is limited.
  • You must give your consent for reports to be provided to employers.
  • You may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your credit report.8

How to Dispute a Credit Report FAQs

The Takeaway

Credit reports have become essential documents, affecting life decisions in the U.S. But because of their information volume, they may sometimes have errors. By regularly reviewing your credit report and disputing and resolving errors, you can increase report accuracy.

Headshot of Laurel Nelson-Rowe

Laurel Nelson-Rowe is a longtime writer and editor focusing on business technology, cybersecurity, media, corporate culture, and quality management.
 
All Credit Intel content is written by freelance authors and commissioned and paid for by American Express.

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