How to add the hundred-word statement, step by step

Section 1681i(b) gives you the right to add a brief statement of dispute to your file when a reinvestigation doesn't resolve it. Subsection (c) makes the bureau carry it, or a clear summary, in every later report containing the item. Subsection (d) lets you take it back. Three duties, one procedure.

When the right attaches

After the results letter says verified and you still dispute the item. Not before. A statement filed mid-reinvestigation gets folded into the dispute and lost.

Step 1 — write it

Facts and dates, under one hundred words; the bureaus set that limit. Jenavieve's June piece has the model. Which means: no adjectives, no adverbs, one account number, one date paid, one line about what you've done.

Step 2 — send it

To the same dispute address, certified, green card, with the item identified as in the results letter. Ask in the letter for written confirmation that the statement has been added.

Step 3 — verify

Pull the report thirty days later. The statement, or the bureau's summary of it, should appear with the item. If the bureau summarized it badly, you can send a corrected version; keep it under the limit.

Step 4 — the six-month notice

On request, the bureau must send the statement to anyone who received your report in the prior six months (two years for employment). Ask, in writing, once.

Step 5, withdraw it when the item resolves or expires

Subsection (d): the bureau must delete the statement at your request. A statement outliving its item draws the eye. Calendar the item's seven-year expiry from the date of first delinquency and send the withdrawal that week.

Step one, before Friday: find the results letter that said verified. The statement goes to the address on it.