There are a few exceptions with this:

• If you dispute an error after receiving your free annual credit report, the credit reporting company has 45 days to investigate.
• If you submit additional information relevant to your dispute during the 30-day investigation period, the credit reporting company can extend the investigation period for 15 additional days.

The credit reporting company might resolve the dispute in your favor if it determines it has sufficient information to do so. However, more often the credit reporting company will notify the company that provided the information and ask it to investigate your dispute.

When a company receives a dispute from a credit reporting company, it must investigate and report the results back to the credit reporting company. If the disputed information is wrong or can’t be verified, the company is required by law to delete or change the information. It also has to notify all of the credit reporting companies to which it provided the wrong information, so the credit reporting companies can update their files with the correct information.

The credit reporting company must send you the results of the investigation within five business days of the completion of the investigation. If your credit report was corrected, you’ll receive an updated credit report for free. This free report does not count as your annual free credit report.

Tip:

If you ask, the credit reporting company must send notices of any deleted information to anyone you designate who received your report for employment purposes during the past two years or for any other purpose during the past six months.

Tip:

Also go directly to the source of the error. When submitting a dispute with a credit reporting company to fix an error in your credit report, it’s a good idea to also directly contact the company that provided the information.