Scope of the work
What is disputable, and what is simply true.
A dispute is an assertion that something specific on the file is wrong. It is not an objection. Half of this page is the list of things we will not file on, because that list is the one that tells you whether hiring anybody is worth it.
Disputable
Specific defects, each of which asserts something checkable.
Every item below names a field that can be shown to be wrong. That is what makes it a dispute rather than a complaint, and it is what a bureau’s reinvestigation is actually able to act on.
Accounts that are not yours
StrongMixed files are common where a father and son share a name, or where a Social Security number differs by one digit. Identity theft is the severe version and has its own, stronger process under FCRA §605B.
Duplicates
StrongThe same debt reported twice — once by the original creditor and once by a buyer, both showing a balance. Only one of them may show an outstanding balance at a time.
A wrong date of first delinquency
StrongThe date that starts the seven-year clock. Moving it forward is re-ageing and is prohibited. This is the single most consequential field on a collection entry and one of the most often wrong.
Balances, limits and payment status
StrongA closed account still showing a balance. A credit limit reported as zero, which makes utilisation compute as infinite. A payment marked 30 days late when the record shows it arrived on day 24.
Obsolete information
StrongAnything reporting past its statutory period. Seven years for most adverse items, ten for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, two for a hard inquiry.
Entries a furnisher cannot verify
Case by caseA collector that bought a debt in bulk may hold nothing but a spreadsheet row. If it cannot verify what it is reporting, the entry must come off — not as a favour, but because §611 requires it.
Unauthorised hard inquiries
Case by caseA pull with no permissible purpose. Rarer than the internet suggests — a soft pull for a pre-screened offer is lawful and is not scored — but real, and worth checking.
Accounts included in a bankruptcy still showing a balance
StrongA discharged debt should report a zero balance and a status reflecting the discharge. Many do not.
Not disputable
Accurate information stays. There is no technique that changes that.
These come up on almost every call. If your file is mostly made of them, the honest answer is that a dispute service has very little to offer you — and we will say so on the first call rather than after the first invoice.
A late payment that was late
If the record shows the payment arrived 30 or more days after it was due, the entry is accurate. A goodwill letter is a request for a favour, not a right, and the creditor is free to ignore it.
A collection for a debt you owe
Paying it changes the status to paid, which some newer scoring models treat more kindly. It does not generally remove the entry, and no company can promise that it will.
A charge-off you recognise
A charge-off is an accounting event on the creditor’s books. It does not cancel the debt and it does not restart or stop the reporting clock, which still runs from the original delinquency.
A bankruptcy you filed
Public record. Chapter 13 reports for seven years from filing and Chapter 7 for ten. Nothing removes it early.
A repossession or foreclosure that happened
Accurate, and it reports for seven years. What is worth checking is the deficiency balance, which is frequently reported incorrectly.
Simply “too many” accurate accounts
There is no dispute for a file that is accurate and thin, or accurate and heavy. That is a coaching problem, not a dispute problem.
What cannot be done
Four things we will never tell you
- That your score will go up. No one can tell you that. Not a number, not a range, not a “typical” figure. Anyone who does is telling you something they cannot know.
- That it will take a specific number of days. The statutory investigation window belongs to the bureau, not to us, and outcomes are not on a schedule.
- That accurate negative information can be removed. It cannot — not by us, not by you, not by anyone. Accurate, current, verifiable entries report until their clock runs out.
- That you need us. You do not. Every right we exercise is yours already, and exercising it costs nothing. See the notice above.
A word about two techniques
Pay-for-delete and goodwill letters.
Neither is prohibited by statute. Neither is reliable, and both are sold as if they were.
Pay-for-delete is an agreement with a collector to remove a tradeline in exchange for payment. A credit bureau is not a party to that agreement and is not bound by it; furnisher data-reporting agreements generally forbid it outright; and once you have paid, your leverage is gone. If you attempt it, get the agreement in writing first, and understand what you are buying.
A goodwill letter asks a creditor to remove an accurate late payment as a courtesy. There is no statute behind it and no obligation to answer. It occasionally works with a long-standing customer and a single isolated late. It is worth five minutes and a stamp. It is not worth a fee.
We will help you write either one. We will not sell either one as a service, because pricing an unreliable favour is how this industry earns its reputation.