Equifax: error on a credit report
Get the report, dispute each wrong item online or by mail with proof, and also dispute it with the lender that reported it.
What does this mean?
Grade A (high: almost everything comes from official pages read directly). 100% of 46 sources are the organization's own pages or government sites.
Collect
- Equifax credit report page with the error
- proof of the correct information
- copy of government ID
- proof of current address
Steps
Get a free Equifax report from AnnualCreditReport.com and mark each wrong item.
File the dispute online through myEquifax and upload proof. Save the confirmation number.
If you cannot use myEquifax, mail the dispute form with copies (not originals) of the proof.
MailCredit report dispute by mail Equifax Information Services, LLC, P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30374-0256Dispute the item with the lender or creditor that reported it, too.
Equifax says this is a good first step, especially for name or address errors.
If you disagree with the result, file a new dispute with more documents, or add a consumer statement of 100 words or less.
If Equifax does not fix a verified error, complain to the CFPB.
More contacts for this issue
Facts you can cite
- Deadline
Equifax says it will notify you of the results of its dispute investigation within 30 days of the dispute request.
Source: equifax.com, verified 2026-10-12
- Process
If the dispute results do not satisfy you, you can ask Equifax to add a consumer statement of 100 words or less, by mail to P.O. Box 740256 or by phone at 1-888-378-4329.
Source: equifax.com, verified 2026-10-12
- Process
The bureau must forward your evidence to the business that reported the information, give you the results in writing, and give you a free copy of the report if the dispute changes it.
Source: consumer.ftc.gov, verified 2026-10-12
- Deadline
If a bureau decides a dispute is frivolous or irrelevant, it must notify you within five business days and explain why.
Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12
- Policy
The three bureaus have permanently extended the program that lets you check your credit report from each of them once a week for free at AnnualCreditReport.com.
Source: consumer.ftc.gov, verified 2026-10-12
- Policy
Under various settlements, Equifax makes at least six additional free Equifax credit reports each year available online on annualcreditreport.com until December 31, 2026.
Source: equifax.com, verified 2026-10-12
Tips
- Company tip
Contact the lender or creditor that reported the information directly as a first step, especially for name or address errors.
Source: equifax.com, verified 2026-10-12
- Company tip
Keep the dispute confirmation number; Equifax needs it to give a status update by phone or mail.
Source: equifax.com, verified 2026-10-12
Rules in force
- Fair Credit Reporting Act dispute rights (credit bureaus and furnishers)15 U.S.C. 1681i; 15 U.S.C. 1681j(a)(3); 12 CFR 1022.43 (Regulation V)
A consumer can dispute inaccurate or incomplete information with a credit bureau, which must reinvestigate free of charge within 30 days (up to 15 more days in some cases), notify the furnisher within 5 business days, and delete or correct information that is inaccurate, incomplete or cannot be verified. A consumer can also dispute certain information directly with the company that furnished it.
Source: law.cornell.edu, verified 2026-10-12
9 citable points
- Deadline
The credit bureau must reinvestigate free of charge and finish "before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date on which the agency receives the notice" of the dispute.
Source: govinfo.gov, verified 2026-10-12
- Deadline
The 30-day period may be extended "for not more than 15 additional days" if the bureau receives relevant information from the consumer during the 30 days. The extension does not apply if, during the 30 days, the information is found inaccurate or incomplete or the bureau finds it cannot be verified.
Source: govinfo.gov, verified 2026-10-12
- Deadline
A reinvestigation requested after the consumer receives a free annual report from a nationwide bureau "shall be completed not later than 45 days after the date on which the request is received".
Source: law.cornell.edu, verified 2026-10-12
- Deadline
The bureau must notify the furnisher of the dispute within 5 business days after receiving it, and must give the consumer written notice of the results not later than 5 business days after completing the reinvestigation. If it ends a dispute as frivolous or irrelevant, it must tell the consumer not later than 5 business days after that determination.
Source: law.cornell.edu, verified 2026-10-12
- Policy
Information found inaccurate or incomplete, or that cannot be verified, must be promptly deleted or modified. Deleted information cannot be put back unless the furnisher certifies it is complete and accurate, and the consumer must be told in writing within 5 business days of reinsertion.
Source: law.cornell.edu, verified 2026-10-12
- Process
If the reinvestigation does not resolve the dispute, the consumer may file a brief statement of the dispute. The bureau may limit it to one hundred words if it helps the consumer write a clear summary. On request, the bureau must send notice of a deletion or correction to recipients who got the report for employment purposes within the past two years, or for any other purpose within the past six months.
Source: law.cornell.edu, verified 2026-10-12
- Process
Direct disputes with a furnisher (Regulation V): a furnisher must reasonably investigate a direct dispute about the consumer's liability on an account, the account terms, the consumer's conduct on the account, or other information bearing on creditworthiness. The dispute must go to the furnisher's direct-dispute address (an address on the credit report, an address the furnisher specified, or any business address if none was specified), identify the account and the disputed information, explain the basis, and include supporting documents.
Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12
- Deadline
The furnisher must complete its investigation of a direct dispute and report the results to the consumer within the same period a credit bureau has under FCRA section 611(a)(1). If it finds the information inaccurate, it must promptly notify each bureau it reported to and correct it.
Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12
- Limit
A furnisher need not investigate direct disputes about identifying information (name, date of birth, Social Security number), employers, inquiries, public records, or fraud and active-duty alerts, or disputes it reasonably believes come from a credit repair organization. If it finds a dispute frivolous or irrelevant, it must tell the consumer within five business days, with its reasons.
Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12
- Deadline
If that fails, escalate
Go up one step at a time. Keep the reference numbers and dates from each contact.
Written complaint
Or dispute by mail (dispute-mail). Also dispute with the company that supplied the data.
Federal regulator
State agency
Your state’s attorney general. Find it in the list of state agencies (also as JSON:
states/<code>.json, for example states/ny.json).Small claims court
Watch out
- Online disputes, freezes and fraud alerts need a myEquifax account (age 18 or older), which the account holder must create and sign in to.
- Disputes may need uploaded identity or address documents, such as a driver's license or utility bill.
- The freeze phone line asks the caller to verify identity, so the account holder must call.
- A fraud alert needs an active Equifax credit file.
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