How to Report and Fix Errors in Your Credit Report

Lenders, credit card issuers, employers, landlords, insurance companies and utility companies might use information from your credit report when reviewing your application or managing one of your accounts.¹ Your credit reports are also the basis for your credit scores.²

If there are errors in your credit reports, you might have trouble getting approved for new credit accounts and receive offers with higher interest rates, fees or security deposits. However, you have the right to file a dispute and ask the credit bureaus to correct errors on your credit reports for free.³

What Is a Credit Report?

Consumer credit bureaus collect, store and organize information about people and their history with different types of debt. The bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — compile the information into a credit report about the consumer.¹

Companies sometimes send incorrect information to the bureaus, resulting in errors on your credit reports. Identity theft can also lead to errors if fraudsters use your information to open a credit card or get a loan in your name. Additionally, the bureaus might mix up information if two people have similar personal information.⁴

Most Common Errors on Credit Reports

Regularly reviewing your credit reports and disputing errors can help you make sure the credit history that other people and companies see is correct. Here are some of the most common errors:

Incorrect personal information

Look for errors related to the identifying information that’s in the first section of your credit report:⁵

• Name
• Addresses
• Phone numbers
• Employers
• Other personal information

Your personal information doesn’t affect your credit scores, but you may still want to dispute and correct errors.⁶

Mistakes in this section could also be a warning sign that someone used your information to commit identity fraud.⁵ If you think someone is using your personal information, you can report the identity theft on the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) IdentityTheft.gov website.

The FTC will create a customized recovery plan depending on what happened and may give you an identity theft report, which you can include with your disputes.⁷

Incorrect account information

Look over the accounts, collections and credit inquiry sections in your credit report for errors, such as:⁵

• Accounts you didn’t open
• Multiple open accounts for the same debt
• Closed accounts that are reported as open
• Late payments when you paid the bill on time
• Incorrectly reported balances or payment amounts
• A hard credit inquiry from when an identity thief applied for credit in your name
• Incorrect dates, such as the date an account was opened or the date of a late payment

The credit bureaus can include closed and paid-off accounts in your credit reports. Late payments and other negative marks can also stay in your report for up to seven years, even if you’ve brought the account current. Those aren’t necessarily mistakes or errors.⁸

However, you could look for incorrect information and negative information that should have been removed from your credit report.

How to Fix a Mistake on Your Credit Report

You have the right to dispute information on your credit reports for free, and you can file disputes with the credit bureaus by phone, by mail or online.⁸ Credit bureaus must investigate disputes unless they think the dispute is frivolous, such as multiple disputes about the same information.⁹

If the errors appear on credit reports from different bureaus, you could file a dispute with the company reporting the error. Once the company investigates and fixes the error, it could send an update to all three credit bureaus to correct your reports.⁹

Alternatively, you could file disputes directly with a bureau — and you may need to if the error doesn't stem from a different company’s reporting. Here’s how it generally works:¹⁰

• File a dispute with the bureaus. The process can be slightly different depending on the credit bureau and how you’re sending the dispute. But you'll want to clearly identify the information you’re disputing and include copies of supporting evidence, such as proof of payment or a monthly statement that shows the correct information.
• Wait for the investigation. The bureau generally has 30 days to investigate your dispute. It could forward the dispute and evidence you submitted to the company that reported the disputed data to the bureau. That company could then investigate your dispute and respond to the bureau.
• Review the results. After the credit bureau investigates your dispute, it might update and correct the disputed information, delete it entirely or verify that it’s correct.

If you disagree with the result and you filed the dispute with a credit bureau, you can add a statement to that credit report explaining why you think there’s an error. You also may have the right to hire an attorney and bring a lawsuit against the credit bureau.¹¹

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you still have questions about fixing a mistake on your credit report? Here are some answers to commonly asked questions on this topic.

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Author Bio

Louis DeNicola is a freelance writer who specializes in consumer credit, finances and fraud. He has several credit-related certifications and works with many lenders, publishers, credit bureaus, Fortune 500s and fintech startups.