How to Dispute Equifax: Letter Template + 30-Day Timeline

If you've spotted an error on your Equifax credit report — a wrong balance, a paid account marked late, or an account that isn't yours — the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) gives you a free, federally protected way to dispute it. This guide walks the whole process end to end: what to gather, the exact mailing address, a letter template you can copy, what Equifax must do within 30 days, and the follow-up step most people skip.

Disputing does not remove accurate, timely, verifiable information. What it does is force Equifax to investigate a specific claimed defect and delete or correct anything it cannot verify as accurate and complete.

What you need before you start

• Your current Equifax report, saved as a PDF (not a score-only app screenshot).
• A government-issued photo ID and one proof of address, such as a utility bill — Equifax rejects mailed disputes it cannot match to a file.
• Evidence for each item: payoff letters, bank statements, settlement agreements, the FTC identity theft report, or a court discharge order.
• Your Equifax report confirmation number if you pulled the report online, plus the account numbers exactly as Equifax prints them.

1. Pull your free Equifax report

Go to AnnualCreditReport.com and download your current Equifax report. Federal law guarantees a free weekly copy from each bureau. Save the PDF and date it — you'll reference exact account numbers and dates, and you'll want a before-and-after copy to compare once the investigation closes. Pull Experian and TransUnion at the same time: the same error is often furnished to all three, and each bureau has to be disputed separately.

2. Inventory every error in writing

Walk every account line by line and write down the creditor name, partial account number, balance, date opened, date of first delinquency, and status. Then flag the defect. Common ones:

• Accounts that aren't yours — identity theft, or a mixed file with someone of a similar name.
• Wrong balance, wrong credit limit, or a late payment on a month you paid on time.
• A paid or settled account still reporting a balance, or a closed account still reporting as open.
• Duplicate collections: the original creditor plus a collector, or two collectors after the debt was resold.
• Old debt past the 7-year window (measured from the date of first delinquency, not the date it was sold).
• A debt discharged in bankruptcy still reporting as owed or past due.
• Hard inquiries you never authorized.

Dispute one clearly stated defect per item. A letter that says only "not mine" invites a mechanical e-OSCAR verification; a letter that says "this account was paid in full on March 4, 2025, and is reporting a $1,240 balance — see enclosed payoff letter" gives the furnisher something specific it has to answer.

3. Choose online or certified mail

Online disputes through the Equifax portal are faster to file and easy to track, and they are a fine choice for a simple factual correction. Mailed letters take longer but create a documented paper trail, let you attach full evidence, and give you certified-mail proof of the date the 30-day clock started — which matters if you ever need to escalate. For anything involving identity theft, bankruptcy, or a second-round dispute, mail it.

Mail to: Equifax Information Services LLC, P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30374. Use USPS Certified Mail with Return Receipt. Send copies of your evidence, never originals, and keep a complete copy of everything you mailed.

Equifax dispute letter template

Copy this, replace the bracketed fields, and enclose your ID, proof of address, and evidence copies:

• Your full legal name, current mailing address, date of birth, and last four digits of your SSN, at the top of the letter.
• Opening line: "I am writing to dispute inaccurate information in my Equifax credit file under Section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681i)."
• For each item: "Creditor: [NAME]. Account ending: [LAST 4]. The following information is inaccurate: [SPECIFIC DEFECT]. The correct information is: [CORRECT FACT]. Enclosed: [EVIDENCE]."
• Closing request: "Please investigate this item, contact the furnisher, and delete or correct any information you cannot verify as accurate and complete. Please send me a written description of the results of your investigation and an updated copy of my credit file."
• Enclosures list, then your signature and the date.

Keep the tone factual and short. Do not include the phrase "I demand deletion of everything" or a list of unrelated grievances — bulk letters that read as templated can be flagged as frivolous under Section 611(a)(3), which lets a bureau decline the investigation.

4. Equifax has 30 days to investigate

Once Equifax receives your dispute, the FCRA requires an investigation within 30 days, extended to 45 if you supply additional information mid-investigation. Equifax must forward all relevant information to the furnisher, and the furnisher has a parallel accuracy duty under Section 623. If the item cannot be verified as accurate and complete, it must be deleted or corrected. You are entitled to written results and a free updated copy of your file.

Typical outcomes: deleted, updated or corrected, verified as accurate, or — occasionally — no response at all. Diary the deadline. A missed 30-day window is itself an FCRA violation you can cite in a follow-up.

5. Follow up — most consumers stop too early

If Equifax verifies an item you still believe is wrong, send a Method of Verification request: ask who they contacted at the furnisher, the name and title of the person who confirmed the data, the date of contact, and a description of the procedure used. Section 611(a)(7) supports this request, and thin verifications frequently collapse when a bureau has to describe them in writing.

Other escalation paths, in order of effort: dispute directly with the furnisher under Section 623 with the same evidence; add a 100-word consumer statement to your file so lenders see your side; file a complaint with the CFPB and your state attorney general, which produces a documented company response; and for repeated failures on a demonstrably inaccurate item, consult a consumer-protection attorney — the FCRA provides for damages and fee-shifting.

6. Repeat for Experian and TransUnion, then re-check

A deletion at Equifax does not touch your other two files. Send the same evidence to Experian and TransUnion, then re-pull all three reports 45 days later and compare them against the copies you saved. Two things to watch for: an item that reappears later (re-insertion, which requires the bureau to notify you within five business days), and a corrected balance that quietly leaves the original delinquency history intact.

Skip the manual work

CredFixAI™ reads your full credit report, identifies every disputable item, generates a personalized FCRA-grade letter for each one with your details and evidence references already filled in, tracks the 30-day deadline, and can mail the packet certified for you — so you spend your time on the evidence, not the paperwork.