Disputing directly with the company that reported it

Send it to the address the furnisher specifies

This matters more than it sounds. The direct-dispute provision is built around an address the furnisher has designated for receiving disputes. A letter to the general customer service address, or to a payment remittance address, may not trigger the same obligations. Look for a dispute address on your credit report's furnisher listing, on the furnisher's website, or on correspondence they have sent you. If you cannot find one, send it to the most specific address you can identify and keep the proof of what you did to find it.

What the notice must contain

Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a)(8)(D), a consumer who disputes the accuracy of information provides notice to the furnisher at the specified address, and that notice:

• "identifies the specific information that is being disputed";
• "explains the basis for the dispute"; and
• "includes all supporting documentation required by the furnisher to substantiate the basis of the dispute."

Quoted from § 1681s-2(a)(8)(D)(i)–(iii).

That third clause is the one people miss. If the furnisher publishes what documentation it requires, send it. If it does not, send what any reasonable person would need in order to see that you are right, and say in the letter what you enclosed.

What the furnisher must do

Under § 1681s-2(a)(8)(E), after receiving a qualifying notice the furnisher must conduct an investigation with respect to the disputed information, review all relevant information provided by the consumer, complete the investigation and report the results to the consumer before the expiration of the period under § 1681i(a)(1) — the same 30-day framework that applies to a credit bureau reinvestigation — and, if the information is found to be inaccurate, promptly notify each consumer reporting agency to which it provided the information and give them the correction.

There is a second, separate duty. When a credit bureau notifies a furnisher of a dispute you filed with the bureau, § 1681s-2(b) requires the furnisher to investigate, review the information the bureau provided, and report the results back to the bureau — within the same § 1681i(a)(1) period. This is why filing with the bureau and filing directly are not redundant: they trigger different obligations, and they generate two independent records of the furnisher being told.

Practical notes

• Do both. Send the bureau dispute and the direct dispute. Keep them consistent — the same facts, the same requested correction, the same enclosures.
• Name the bureaus. Say which bureaus are reporting the item, so the furnisher knows where the correction has to go.
• Certified mail, return receipt. The date of receipt starts the clock and is the first thing anyone will ask you for later.
• Do not call. A phone call leaves you with nothing. If you do call, follow it with a letter that recites what was said and when.
• Watch for the re-report. Some items get deleted and then reappear the next cycle because the furnisher keeps sending them. Pull a fresh report 60 and 90 days out.

Editable letter templates →

Sources

• 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2 — responsibilities of furnishers of information.uscode.house.gov
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1) — the period referenced by § 1681s-2(a)(8)(E) and (b)(2).uscode.house.gov

Verified against the primary sources August 4, 2026.