How to Do a Simple 623 Dispute

Section 623 of the Federal Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to protest items that show up on your credit report. The basic idea is that you have the right dispute your credit tradelines directly with the furnisher. You can request to see the documentation that supports the way your credit is reported. A Section 623 dispute is a dispute submitted to the original creditor.

Instructions

1

Once you see an erroneous entry on your credit report, send a letter of dispute to the creditor. Use the address published in the tradeline, or the line that reports the creditor's entry on your credit report. Send this letter by certified mail with return receipt requested. You can quote section 623. Keep your letter specific and personalized. Ask for records of the specific things you are disputing, like late payments.

2

Wait 30 days for a reply.

3

If you get no response by then, you need to send a letter to the credit reporting agencies that report this tradeline. This is called method of validation. You are asking the credit reporting agency to explain how they validated this tradeline when the tradeline furnisher has not responded to your legal request for investigation. Send a copy of your original letter to the creditor, along with copies of any documentation you have to verify your case.

4

File a complaint. It depends on who the creditor is. Your failsafe will be complaining to your state's attorney general, but you will have more results with a specific attack. Contact a bank regulator like OCC, OTS, FDIC or the Federal Reserve if the creditor is a bank. Write to the relevant state licensing board if the creditor is something like a dentist.

5

Failing to respond to a 623 dispute is a violation of federal law; you can sue the tradeline furnisher if they fail to respond in a timely manner, or if they fail to respond at all.

6

The desired result can be removal of a late payment report or deletion of the whole tradeline. The result is typically accompanied by a snooty letter that says "we did nothing wrong, but will delete this as a one-time courtesy."