How it works
Seven steps. You do all of them, and you can stop at any point. Step 7 is optional and happens only if you choose it.
Learn what you are dealing with
Credit bureaus collect information from companies that report to them. Those companies are called furnishers. When something is wrong, the error usually starts with a furnisher and gets repeated by the bureaus. Knowing which one to write to is most of the work.
Get your reports
From AnnualCreditReport.com, all three bureaus, saved as PDFs on the day you pull them.
Write down exactly what is wrong
For each item: which bureau, which furnisher, the account, what the report says, what is actually true, and what you want changed. Specific beats emphatic. "This account was included in my Chapter 7 discharged on [date] but reports as past due" works; "this is not mine, fix it" does not.
Gather your proof
Statements, payoff letters, a discharge order, a police report, cancelled checks, correspondence. Send copies and keep every original.
Write and send your letters
Separate letters to each bureau reporting the error, and where it makes sense, a direct dispute to the furnisher. You review, sign, and mail them yourself. Send by a method that creates a delivery record.
Track the responses
Record the date you sent each letter and the date each response arrives. Federal law gives a credit bureau a defined period to reinvestigate and to tell you the result. Keep everything.
Optional: ask a lawyer to look at it
If a bureau or furnisher verified something that is genuinely wrong, or never responded, that may matter under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. You can ask an independent Minnesota law firm to review your documents at no cost. This happens only if you go to that page and fill out the request. Nothing about steps 1 through 6 is shared with anyone.
How long this takes
Getting reports takes an afternoon. Writing good letters takes an evening. After that, a credit bureau's reinvestigation period runs 30 days from the date it receives your dispute, which it may extend by up to 15 additional days in defined circumstances, and it must send you the results not later than 5 business days after the reinvestigation is complete. So realistically: plan on six to eight weeks before you know where you stand, and longer if you have to escalate.
Those periods come from 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)(A), (a)(1)(B), and (a)(6)(A). They are the statutory framework, and they carry conditions and exceptions that can change how they apply to a particular dispute. This is general information about the statute, not a deadline calculated for your situation. Primary source:15 U.S.C. § 1681i on uscode.house.gov, verified August 4, 2026.