Letter builder

How the letters are built

Each letter is a plain template filled with your facts. It cites the section of law that gives you the right you're using, states the deadline that section sets, and asks for one specific thing. It doesn't threaten, quote case law, or cite sections that don't apply. A letter like that is easier for the reader to act on and harder to dismiss.

The law behind each letter

• Bureau dispute: 15 U.S.C. 1681i (FCRA section 611). The bureau must reinvestigate free of charge, generally within 30 days of receiving your dispute, with up to 15 more days if you send relevant information during that time. It must delete or modify an item it finds inaccurate or can't verify, and send you the results within 5 business days of finishing.
• Direct dispute to a lender or collector: 15 U.S.C. 1681s-2(a)(8) and 12 CFR 1022.43. The furnisher must investigate, review what you sent, answer within the period a bureau would have, and correct the record with every bureau it reported to. Disputes prepared by credit repair organizations are excluded, which is one more reason to write your own.
• Method of verification: 1681i(a)(6)(B)(iii) gives you the right to a description of how the bureau checked the item, including the furnisher's name and address, and 1681i(a)(7) requires it within 15 days of your request.
• Goodwill letter: no law requires a lender to remove an accurate late payment. The letter asks politely and makes no legal claim.
• Debt validation: 15 U.S.C. 1692g and Regulation F, 12 CFR 1006.34 and 1006.38. If you dispute in writing within the validation period, the collector must stop collecting until it sends verification. The letter also says you aren't agreeing that you owe the debt, because in some states a written acknowledgment can revive an old debt.
• Identity theft block: 15 U.S.C. 1681c-2 (FCRA section 605B). The bureau must block the items within 4 business days of receiving proof of identity, an identity theft report, the items identified, and your statement that they aren't your transactions. You can get the report at IdentityTheft.gov. A bureau can decline a block it reasonably believes was based on a material misrepresentation, so use this letter only for real identity theft.
• Unauthorized inquiry: a company needs a permissible purpose under 15 U.S.C. 1681b to pull your report, and the bureau dispute process in 1681i covers inquiries. The direct-dispute rule doesn't cover inquiries, so the company version of this letter asks for proof of authorization instead of citing it.

Why there's no "609 letter"

Section 609 (15 U.S.C. 1681g) gives you the right to see what's in your file. It doesn't make a bureau delete anything, and letters built around it tend to get treated as form disputes. The 609 letter guide explains where the myth came from. The FTC's dispute guidance and the CFPB's describe the same approach these letters use: say what's wrong, why, and include proof.

The "answer due by" date

The legal clocks start when the letter arrives, not when you mail it. The tool adds 5 days for delivery to your mailing date and then adds the deadline for that letter type: 30 days (45 at most) for disputes, 15 days for a method of verification request, and 4 business days for an identity theft block, skipping Saturdays and Sundays but not holidays. These are estimates. Your return receipt shows the real delivery date, so use it to count.

Bureau addresses come from each bureau's published dispute instructions, checked October 11, 2026. Our bureau contacts page lists phone numbers and freeze addresses too.