Disputing credit report inaccuracies doesnât affect your credit, but some changes made in response to disputes can help your credit scores. The removal of inaccurate late payments, new-credit inquiries or bankruptcies could result in credit score increases. While revising personal information such as name, address or employer never affects credit scores.
Requesting a change or update to your credit reportâa process known as filing a dispute, which you have the right to doâhas no direct impact on your credit. But certain changes made in response to disputes can affect your credit scores. Read on to learn how disputes work and why they may or may not impact your credit.
Having errors on your credit report can definitely hurt your credit score, That’s why it’s important to periodically check your credit reports and dispute any inaccuracies But does the actual process of disputing information on your credit report negatively impact your score? Let’s find out,
How Credit Report Disputes Work
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) you have the right to dispute any errors on your credit reports. This process is known as filing a dispute.
Here are the key things to know:
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You can obtain free credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion every 12 months via AnnualCreditReport.com. Review your reports for any errors.
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If you find an inaccuracy, you can file disputes online or by mail directly with the credit bureau(s). Each bureau has a dispute process.
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The credit bureau must investigate within 30 days. They will contact the source that provided the information in question.
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If the investigation finds the information is inaccurate, it must be corrected or removed. If verified as accurate, it will remain unchanged.
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You will receive notification by mail about the dispute results and can also check online. If your credit report is modified, you can request a free updated copy.
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The entire dispute process normally takes less than a month.
Does Disputing Hurt Your Credit Score?
The good news is the act of disputing information itself has no direct negative impact on your credit scores.
However, if the disputed item gets updated or deleted from your credit report as a result of the investigation, your credit score may change accordingly.
Here are some examples:
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Incorrect late payments removed: Since late payments hurt your credit score, removing inaccurate ones can increase your score.
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Fraudulent accounts deleted: Getting unauthorized accounts taken off your report improves your score.
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Verification of accurate info: If a disputed item is verified and remains unchanged, your score is unaffected.
So in many cases, disputing actually helps your credit score by correcting errors. But occasionally, you may dispute valid negative items that remain on your report after verification. This will leave your score unchanged. Nonetheless, it’s still important to dispute questionable items.
When to Avoid Disputes
Most of the time, disputing inaccuracies helps or does not hurt your scores. But in some cases, you may want to temporarily avoid disputes:
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If you plan to apply for new credit soon, hold off on disputes until after your applications. That way, your credit report will reflect the outcome of any disputes before lenders review it.
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If you have limited credit history, getting legitimate negative marks totally removed could slightly lower your average account age which helps your score. You may want to wait for the items to naturally fall off your reports.
Outside of these scenarios, move forward with disputing errors. The credit scoring models recognize this as your right and do not penalize you for it.
Tips for Effective Disputes
Follow these tips to ensure an effective dispute process:
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Review reports carefully: Comb through your credit reports line-by-line so you catch all errors. Make note of any discrepancies.
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Act promptly: Initiate disputes as soon as possible after discovering inaccuracies. This helps get errors corrected faster.
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Dispute online: Use the credit bureau websites to dispute online. It offers tracking and is faster than mail.
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Be thorough: Clearly describe each disputed item and why you believe it is inaccurate. Provide any supporting documents.
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Follow up: Log into your credit bureau account to check dispute outcomes. If any errors remain, you may need to re-dispute with additional details.
What to Do if Your Dispute is Rejected
If the credit bureau investigation verifies an item as accurate and it remains unchanged, you still have recourse:
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Contact the creditor: Work directly with the creditor or collector to resolve discrepancies in their records related to the disputed account.
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Re-dispute: You can dispute again with additional evidence of the inaccuracy.
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Add dispute statement: A note will be added to your credit report indicating you dispute the item.
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Wait it out: Inaccurate items will eventually age off your credit reports. Most negative items fall off after 7 years.
The Takeaway
Checking your credit reports for errors and disputing inaccuracies can be an important part of maintaining your credit health. Contrary to what some may think, disputes do not directly hurt your credit scores. In fact, by getting mistakes corrected, the dispute process often helps improve your credit standing.
Just be sure to always check your disputes status and follow up if needed. Be persistent, as this is your right under the FCRA. With some time and diligence, you can get your credit report cleaned up.
Does Filing a Dispute Hurt Your Credit?
Filing a dispute has no impact on credit scores. But if certain information on your credit report changes as a result of your dispute, your credit score can change.
The nature of that changeâwhether your score goes up, down or stays the sameâdepends on what you are disputing and the outcome of the dispute.
- Disputing personal information thats used mainly to confirm your identityâsuch as an incorrect name or an address at which you never livedâhas no bearing on your credit scores because that information is not used to calculate a credit score.
- Revisions to your payment history, however, can have an impact on your credit scores. For example, late payments have a negative effect on credit scores. If a late payment is mistakenly reported on your credit report and you have it corrected through a dispute, your credit scores will likely improve.
Before you dispute credit report information, consider when to file the dispute based on if you plan to apply for new credit soon. If you want your credit report to reflect updated information based on the dispute process, its better to wait until after the dispute is resolved to apply.
Disputes typically take less than 30 days and may be subject to verification with the lender or other entity that furnished the information to Experian. After your dispute is completed, you can log in to your Experian account to see the outcome of your dispute and how it affected your FICO® ScoreΠfrom Experian, if at all.
Possible Outcomes of Disputes
Results of a dispute depend partially on the nature of the information in question. Outcome descriptions that may appear on your Experian credit report or in your Experian account notifications once the dispute is completed include the following:
Can disputing hurt your credit?
FAQ
Is it a good idea to dispute a credit report?
If you identify an error on your credit report, you should start by disputing that information with the credit reporting company (Experian, Equifax, and/or Transunion). You should explain in writing what you think is wrong, why, and include copies of documents that support your dispute.
Does it hurt your credit to file a dispute?
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.
Do disputes make your credit score go down?
Filing a Dispute Will Not Affect Your Score
Simply informing a bureau that there is a mistake on your report will not affect your score, so this should not dissuade you from filing a report. In fact, it’s important that you get the misinformation corrected or removed so that it doesn’t affect your score down the road.
Does disputing a charge hurt you?
Is disputing a transaction bad? Not inherently, no. As a cardholder, you have a right to dispute a charge resulting from criminal fraud, or if the merchant committed an error. However, you should contact the merchant first before disputing the charge.
What should I do if I have a credit dispute?
If you have a credit dispute, the specific steps you take may vary depending on your personal situation. It’s important that your credit report is an accurate reflection of your history with credit. Be sure to save supporting documents and archive correspondence with lenders before and after you’ve submitted your dispute, in case you need to reference them later.
Can I dispute my credit report?
Yes. Like any other information you feel is being misreported, you can dispute it with the three main credit reporting agencies. It’ll take a little work and some time for the changes to be reflected, but may be worth it if there’s something you really don’t want showing up.
Can a dispute affect my credit score?
Promise a “new credit identity” or a fresh start for your credit history There’s no fee for filing a dispute, and your credit score won’t go down simply because you started a dispute – even if the negative information on your credit score turns out to be accurate.