Credit Bureaus Offer Permanent, Free Weekly Credit Report Access

There are some steps to take if you get your report and find a mistake, and it may take some work.

Take it from Steven Saxon, 69, in Sonoma County, Calif., who says he grappled with a major error he found five years ago when shopping around for a home improvement loan. During that time, he says his score dropped by an appreciable amount, and upon reviewing his credit report, he discovered a medical bill sent to collections that wasn’t his—but from a provider he’d been to more than a decade earlier. 

Saxon filed a dispute with the credit bureau, where he’d found the error, and placed more than a dozen calls to the doctor’s office, debt collector, and credit bureau. “I put an awful lot of effort into getting this fixed,” he says, and it paid off. “Doing so raised my score substantially.” 

Indeed, when a credit report lists a debt in collections as late, it could lower your credit score by up to 100 points, says CR’s Reynolds. (Credit scores are determined by formulas that rely on information found in your credit report.) 

Other errors, such as debt that has been paid off but is reported as unpaid, or accounts that should be reported as closed but are listed as still open, can also lower a credit score, Reynolds says. 

If you find an error in your report, here are six steps to take to help remedy the situation.

File a dispute with each credit bureau. The three major credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—don’t communicate with one another, so it’s smart to contact each one. Filing a dispute with each credit bureau, instead of the lender or bank, offers protections governing how quickly it must be handled. It also provides a legal pathway to sue the credit bureaus and creditors or collectors, if necessary. 

Gather evidence. If you are filing a dispute about debt that’s reported incorrectly, include account statements or payment records. Credit bureaus can dismiss claims without enough backup information as “frivolous.” And resubmitted claims can be denied if they’re considered similar to previous ones.

Create a paper trail. Write a letter explaining the problem. Avoid using standardized online forms provided by the credit bureaus, which might oversimplify your dispute by requiring you to choose among predetermined check boxes. 

Send all materials by certified mail. Keep copies for yourself. This makes it easier to ensure that the credit bureaus follow the lawful timelines. Credit bureaus have five days to get the disputed information to the financial institution or debt collector that supplied the information. If that company doesn’t investigate and respond to the dispute in time, the credit bureaus are legally required to delete the information.

If that doesn’t work, submit a complaint to the CFPB. Explain the error and lack of resolution. Include important dates, amounts, and communications with the credit bureaus and attach any supporting documentation. You can submit a complaint to the CFPB.

If you lose your dispute, consider working with an experienced attorney. You can sue a credit bureau or financial institution over credit report errors. Find an attorney through the National Association of Consumer Advocates.