You have the right to dispute credit report information online, by mail or over the phone. Online may be the fastest and easiest method, and you can manage the process with Experian in the Dispute Center. But you can’t dispute some items online.
It's important to regularly review your credit reports to make sure everything is accurate. If you notice an inaccuracy, you have the right to dispute the item on your credit report for free online, by phone or by mail. When the information appears on multiple credit reports, you may need to submit a dispute with each of the three consumer credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax).
Here's how to dispute credit report information, what you can and can't dispute, and what happens once you submit your dispute to the credit bureaus.
The three most common ways to dispute information on your credit report are online, by mail or by phone. There isn't necessarily an advantage to one method over another, but filing disputes online may be the fastest and most convenient method. However, you might not be able to dispute certain information online, such as an incorrect name or address.
| How to Dispute Credit Report Items | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Experian | TransUnion | Equifax | |
| Online | Dispute website | Dispute website | Dispute website |
| Experian P.O. Box 4500 Allen, TX 75013 | TransUnion Consumer Solutions P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19016-2000 | Equifax Information Services LLC P.O. Box 740256 Atlanta, GA 30374-0256 | |
| Phone | 855-414-6048 | 800-916-8800 | 888-378-4329 |
You can dispute information on your credit report you believe is incorrect, including:
Note that certain items on your Experian credit report may not be disputable online. You may need to contact a dispute specialist over the phone to resolve inaccurate names, addresses or inquiries on your report.
Also, if you see items on your credit report that may be signs of identity theft—such as accounts that don't belong to you, unauthorized inquiries or addresses you don't recognize—you should report by phone or mail.
To prepare to submit a dispute, start by reviewing your credit report to locate any information that you believe to be incorrect.
Next, gather supporting documents ahead of time to help avoid delays in resolving your dispute. Not all disputes require supporting documents, but you should include any that help back up your claim. Documents that may help to resolve your dispute include:
The quickest and easiest way to dispute your Experian credit report is to check your credit report online and submit corrections through the online Dispute Center.
Here are the steps to take to submit a dispute with Experian:
After you've submitted a dispute, Experian goes to work to investigate and resolve the issue. For example, we may contact the company that reported the information to us—called the data furnisher—to share the documents you submitted and ask the furnisher to verify that their records are correct.
Disputes are generally resolved within 30 days, but may take up to 45 days if you submit additional documentation after the investigation begins. A dispute can lead to information being verified, updated or deleted.
You can track the status of your dispute by logging in to your Experian account and going to the Alerts section. Experian can also send you alerts via email when there's a status update. These updates could include:
When the dispute process is complete, Experian will display the outcome in your account's Alerts section. Here are possible outcomes you may see and what they mean.
| Dispute Outcome | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Added | This item was added to your credit report |
| Updated | The information you disputed has been updated on your credit report |
| Verified and updated | The information you disputed has been verified as accurate; however, information unrelated to your dispute has been updated |
| Deleted | The item was removed from your credit report |
| Processed | The item was either updated or deleted |
| Remains | The company reporting the information to Experian verified that it was accurate, so it wasn't changed |
Filing a dispute doesn't affect your credit scores. However, some credit scores might treat items in dispute differently, which could affect your scores while the dispute is being investigated.
If the dispute causes a change in your credit report, it might have a positive, negative or no effect on your scores.
If you don't agree with the results of your dispute, here are some additional steps you can take.
Correcting information in your credit reports is important, but you don't want to wait until you're in the midst of applying for a loan to review your reports. Instead, check your credit report for free from Experian—you can also get your other two credit reports for free from AnnualCreditReport.com. And use Experian's free credit monitoring to keep an eye on changes in your Experian credit report.
Found information on your Experian credit report that is inaccurate? File a dispute to have it resolved.
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