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Dispute Basics

Common credit report errors and how to spot them

7 min read · General education, not legal advice

Tax forms laid out on a folder beside a phone calculator, a pen, an envelope and a cup of black coffee

Credit reports are assembled from information sent in by many different companies, and mistakes creep in along the way. A name gets mistyped, a payment gets posted to the wrong month, a paid-off balance never updates. Some errors are small. Others can affect whether you are approved for a loan, an apartment or a job, and what you pay.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) gives you the right to dispute information that is inaccurate or incomplete, for free. To use that right well, it helps to know what errors usually look like. This guide follows the categories the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) tells consumers to look for, adds one more that trips people up, and explains what evidence to gather for each.

First, what counts as an error

An error is information that is wrong, incomplete or out of date. A late payment that you really made, reported with the right date and amount, is not an error, even if you wish it were not there. Disputing accurate information is unlikely to change anything and uses up time you could spend on real problems.

Keep that distinction in mind as you read your reports. The goal is a report that is correct, not one that is blank.

Category 1: Identity errors

These are mistakes about who you are. The CFPB lists three kinds.

Wrong name, phone number or address

A misspelled name or an old phone number may not seem important. On its own, it often is not. But personal details are how bureaus match incoming information to the right file, so errors here can lead to bigger problems.

Accounts that belong to someone with a similar name

When information about another person is placed in your file, often because of a similar name or a mistyped Social Security number, the result is called a "mixed file." Signs include accounts you do not recognise, addresses where you have never lived and names you have never used, often appearing together.

Accounts opened through identity theft

Accounts you never opened, or hard inquiries from lenders you never applied with, can be a sign that someone has used your identity. If you suspect identity theft, the CFPB and the FTC point you to IdentityTheft.gov, which helps you report it and make a recovery plan. Identity theft has its own extra protections, so it is worth treating differently from an ordinary data error.

Evidence to gather: proof of your correct name and address (such as a utility bill or bank statement), and for suspected identity theft, the report and recovery plan you create at IdentityTheft.gov.

Category 2: Incorrect account status

These errors involve accounts that are yours but are being reported wrongly. The CFPB lists several.

A closed account reported as open

If you closed an account, the report should reflect it. An account still showing as open can be a simple update error, but it is worth correcting.

Owner instead of authorized user

If someone added you to their credit card as an authorized user, you are not responsible for the debt. A report that lists you as the owner, or as a joint account holder, is reporting your responsibility incorrectly.

Accounts wrongly marked late or delinquent

This is one of the most important errors to catch, because payment history matters to lenders. Read the month-by-month payment grid on each account and compare any late marks with your bank records. A payment made on time but posted late, or a late mark in a month when there was no payment due, are both worth disputing.

Wrong dates

The CFPB specifically mentions incorrect dates for the last payment, the date the account was opened and the date of first delinquency. The date of first delinquency is especially important. Most negative information can be reported for seven years, and bankruptcy information for ten, so a wrong delinquency date can keep an old item on your report longer than the law allows.

The same debt listed more than once

When a debt is sold or sent to a collection agency, it can appear under both the original creditor and the collector. The CFPB lists the same debt reported more than once, sometimes under different names, as a common error. If two entries both show a balance owed for what is really one debt, that is worth disputing.

Evidence to gather: account statements, bank records showing payment dates, letters confirming an account was closed, documents showing you were an authorized user, and any letters about a debt being sold or transferred.

Category 3: Data management errors

These are errors in the numbers. The CFPB lists two.

Incorrect current balance

A balance that does not match your latest statement, or a paid-off account still showing money owed, is a common problem. Check the "date reported" next to the balance first: a balance can look wrong simply because the creditor has not reported since your last payment. If the date is recent and the balance is still wrong, it is an error.

Incorrect credit limit

On credit cards, a limit reported lower than your real limit can make it look as if you are using more of your available credit than you are.

Evidence to gather: recent statements showing the correct balance and credit limit, and payoff letters or final statements for accounts you have paid off.

One more to check: outdated negative information

Negative information does not stay on your report forever. According to the FTC, a credit bureau can report most negative information for seven years and bankruptcy information for ten years. If you see a late payment, collection or other negative item that appears to be older than these limits, check its dates carefully. Information past its reporting period is something you can dispute.

How to work through your reports

A methodical approach saves time and makes your disputes clearer:

  1. Get all three reports. Equifax, Experian and TransUnion each keep their own file, and an error may be on only one of them. Our guide to getting your free credit reports explains how.
  2. Read every section. Use our line-by-line reading guide so you do not skip the parts where errors hide.
  3. List each error separately. For each one, note the bureau, the company reporting it, the account number, what is wrong and what the correct information is.
  4. Match each error to evidence. Gather copies of the documents that show the correct information. Never send originals.
  5. Decide where to dispute. You can dispute with the bureau, with the company that supplied the information (the "furnisher"), or both. Our article on bureau vs. furnisher disputes explains the difference.

Which errors to tackle first

If you find several errors, it can help to start with the ones most likely to matter to a lender: accounts that are not yours, payments wrongly marked late, collections that are duplicated or not yours, and negative items past their reporting period. Personal information errors are worth fixing too, especially if they seem connected to accounts you do not recognise.

You can dispute several items at once, but keep each item clearly separated in your dispute so the bureau can investigate each one.

What happens when you dispute

Once a bureau receives your dispute, it generally has 30 days to investigate, sometimes up to 45. It must pass your dispute to the company that reported the information, and it must send you the results in writing. If an item cannot be verified or is found to be inaccurate, it must be corrected or deleted. Our article on the 30 days after a dispute covers each step.

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