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Reviewed By:
Ashley Davison
Ashley Davison
Editor
Ashley is currently the Chief Compliance Officer for Credit Saint, previously the Chief Operating Officer. Ashley got into the Financial world by working as a Logistics Coordinator at Ernst & Young. Coming from a previous career in education, she is eager to teach the world every...
To dispute your Equifax credit report, you can file yourself, for free, online through a myEquifax account, by mail to Equifax Information Services LLC, P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30374-0256, or by phone at 1-888-378-4329. Explain what’s wrong and include copies of your proof. The investigation can take up to 45 days, and Equifax must correct or delete information that’s inaccurate, incomplete or can’t be verified.
Below is what the do-it-yourself process looks like, step by step, and why some people choose to have a credit repair company handle their disputes instead. Each bureau keeps its own file, so check your Experian and TransUnion reports too. Our main guide to disputing items on your credit report covers the general dispute process.
Key Takeaways
You can dispute Equifax errors yourself, for free, online, by mail or by phone.
By mail, write to Equifax Information Services LLC, P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30374-0256, with copies of your supporting documents. By phone, call 1-888-378-4329.
An Equifax investigation can take up to 45 days. It must correct or delete information that’s inaccurate, incomplete or can’t be verified. Accurate, verified information stays.
Doing it yourself takes time and follow-through, especially when errors show up on more than one report.
A credit repair company can review your reports, send disputes and track follow-up for you. It can’t do anything you don’t have the right to do yourself.
What Does the DIY Equifax Dispute Process Look Like?
Disputing on your own comes down to six steps.
1. Get Your Equifax Report
Start with a current copy so you’re disputing exactly what your report shows. You can get free reports from all three bureaus every week at AnnualCreditReport.com.
2. Spot the Errors
List each item you believe is wrong and why. Common errors include accounts that aren’t yours, late payments you didn’t make, a wrong balance or account status, names, addresses or employers that aren’t yours, hard inquiries from applications you didn’t make, and negative items older than the reporting period allows (see the 7-year rule).
3. File Online, by Mail or by Phone
Online: Equifax’s credit dispute page says to sign in to or create a free myEquifax account, go to the dispute center and select “File a Dispute.” You can check your dispute status in the same account.
By mail: Equifax’s mail-in dispute page links to a dispute form you can print. If you write your own letter instead, include your full name, current address, date of birth and Social Security number, plus the company that reported each item, the account number and what’s wrong.
By phone: Equifax’s contact page lists 1-888-EQUIFAX (1-888-378-4329). Call with your report in front of you. Write down the date, who you spoke with and any confirmation number.
Mail your dispute to:
Equifax Information Services LLC
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, GA 30374-0256
Certified mail with a return receipt gives you proof that your dispute arrived. Our guide on how to write a credit dispute letter shows how to lay out your letter.
4. Include Your Proof
Send copies, not originals, of anything that supports your dispute. Equifax says it may ask for documents such as a driver’s license or utility bill for personal information, or recent statements, a letter from the lender confirming a correction, or proof of identity theft for account information. Keep a copy of everything you send. If you think someone opened accounts in your name, our guide to repairing credit after identity theft covers the extra steps.
5. Wait for the Investigation
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s dispute procedure, Equifax passes your dispute to the company that reported the item. The investigation can take up to 45 days, and Equifax sends you the results in writing. Filing a dispute doesn’t hurt your credit score.
6. Review the Results
If the item is inaccurate, incomplete or can’t be verified, Equifax must correct or delete it. If the company confirms it’s accurate, it stays. If you disagree, Equifax’s page on disagreeing with dispute results says you can dispute directly with the lender that reported it, file a new dispute with more information, or add a short statement to your Equifax report. If you believe your dispute wasn’t handled properly, you can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Our guide to your credit report rights covers your other rights.
Why Use a Credit Repair Company Instead of Disputing Yourself?
Everything above is something you have the right to do yourself, for free. Federal law lets you dispute inaccurate information directly with the credit bureaus, and a credit repair company can’t do anything in a dispute that you can’t do on your own. No one, including a credit repair company, can have accurate, current and verifiable information taken off your report.
What a company gives you is time, organization and follow-through. One dispute with one bureau is manageable. But errors often show up on more than one report, each bureau and each creditor responds on its own timeline, and keeping track of letters, documents, deadlines and replies across all three bureaus takes steady work. Some people would also rather have someone experienced read their reports with them.
That’s the work a credit repair company like Credit Saint takes on. When you work with us, our team:
Reviews your credit history with you and identifies the items you believe are inaccurate
Sends challenges to your creditors and all three credit bureaus on your behalf
Gives you an online account page where you can watch progress
About Credit Saint: 350,000+ people helped and 4.8★ from 16,000+ Google reviews. Credit service companies cannot promise a result or credit score increase. If you’d like a team to handle the disputes with you, start a free credit review.
Equifax Information Services LLC, P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30374-0256, according to Equifax’s mail-in dispute page. Check the page before you mail in case the address changes.
The investigation can take up to 45 days. Equifax sends you the results when it’s done.
1-888-EQUIFAX (1-888-378-4329). Have your Equifax report in front of you when you call. Online and mail disputes let you attach documents and keep a clearer record.
No. You have the right to dispute inaccurate information yourself, for free. A credit repair company does the same kind of work for you: reviewing your reports, preparing and sending disputes, and tracking the follow-up. People use one to save time and stay organized, not because it has rights you don’t.
The Bottom Line
You can dispute Equifax errors yourself, for free. Get your report, find what’s wrong, file online, by mail or by phone with copies of your proof, and watch for the written results. If you’d rather not manage disputes across all three bureaus on your own, a credit repair company like Credit Saint takes on that work with you, from reviewing your credit history to sending challenges to your creditors and the bureaus.
Reviewed By:
Ashley Davison
Editor
Ashley is currently the Chief Compliance Officer for Credit Saint, previously the Chief Operating Officer. Ashley got into the Financial world by working as a Logistics Coordinator at Ernst & Young. Coming from a previous career in education, she is eager to teach the world everything she knows and learn everything that she doesn’t! Ashley is a FICO® certified professional, a Board Certified Credit Consultant, a Certified Credit Score Consultant with the Credit Consultants Association of America, UDAAP certified, and holds a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) Compliance Certificate.
