Step 3: Dispute the debt and other information that you think is incorrect with the consumer reporting agency that is reporting it.

Once you have the police report, send a copy of it (with the Identity Theft Form, if you filled one out) to the consumer reporting agencies via certified mail, return receipt requested. Send the report(s) along with your dispute letter.

Your dispute letter needs to say:

• You are a victim of identity theft;
• Which accounts are fraudulent (describe the account in enough detail so that the agency can easily recognize it, for example listing the account number, the balance reported, and date that it was opened);
• Any other information that is inaccurate (like phone numbers, addresses, etc.);
• That you want the account/information blocked from your credit report; and
• That you are also disputing that you owe the debt because it was the result of identity theft.

You can also enclose a copy of the report with all of the inaccurate information circled or highlighted and mention in the dispute letter that all of this information should be blocked or removed.

The Sample Form Letter for Disputing a Fraudulent Debt with a Consumer Reporting Agency gives you a sample letter that you can use to dispute errors on your report with the consumer reporting agency.

When you have made a dispute, the consumer reporting agency must investigate. They generally have 30 days to investigate and then inform you of the results. They must then block the disputed information from showing up on your reports. The exceptions to this are if the consumer reporting agency finds that:

1. The block was requested in error (you made a mistake);
2. The block was requested based on a material misrepresentation of fact (you lied); or
3. The consumer obtained possession of goods, services, or money as a result of the blocked transaction (you benefitted from the identity theft).

If the information is blocked, it won’t show up on your credit report.  

At the same time that you send your dispute letter to the consumer reporting agencies, also send a copy of the same letter directly to the furnisher, which is the company that is sending information about the debt to the consumer reporting agency.  Step 4 talks about what a furnisher is and gives more detail about disputing debts with a furnisher.  Always make sure you dispute the debt with the consumer reporting agency, because it preserves certain legal rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Tips if a credit reporting agency refuses to block a disputed debt.

If your request to block a disputed debt is accepted by one of the consumer reporting agencies and rejected by another, it may be worthwhile to resubmit the block request to the agency that denied it, along with the documentation from the consumer reporting agency that accepted the block.  It is also important to dispute the debt both with the consumer reporting agency and directly with the furnisher.  It may be helpful to seek legal assistance if the consumer reporting agencies refuses to block a coerced debt.