“(a) If the completeness or accuracy of any item of information contained in his file is disputed by a consumer, and such dispute is directly conveyed to the consumer reporting agency by the consumer, the consumer reporting agency shall within a reasonable period of time reinvestigate and record the current status of that information unless it has reasonable grounds to believe that the dispute by the consumer is frivolous or irrelevant. If after such reinvestigation such information is found to be inaccurate or can no longer be verified, the consumer reporting agency shall promptly delete such information. The presence of contradictory information in the consumer's file does not in and of itself constitute reasonable grounds for believing the dispute is frivolous or irrelevant.

(b) If the reinvestigation does not resolve the dispute, the consumer may file a brief statement setting forth the nature of the dispute. The consumer reporting agency may limit such statements to not more than one hundred words if it provides the consumer with assistance in writing a clear summary of the dispute.

(c) Whenever a statement of a dispute is filed, unless there is reasonable grounds to believe that it is frivolous or irrelevant, the consumer reporting agency shall, in any subsequent consumer report containing the information in question, clearly note that it is disputed by the consumer and provide either the consumer's statement or a clear and accurate codification or summary thereof.

(d) Following any deletion of information which is found to be inaccurate or whose accuracy can no longer be verified or any notation as to disputed information, the consumer reporting agency shall, at the request of the consumer, furnish notification that the item has been deleted or the statement, codification or summary pursuant to subsection (b) or (c) to any person specifically designated by the consumer who has within two years prior thereto received a consumer report for employment purposes, or within six months prior thereto received a consumer report for any other purpose, which contained the deleted or disputed information. The consumer reporting agency shall clearly and conspicuously disclose to the consumer his rights to make such a request. Such disclosure shall be made at or prior to the time the information is deleted or the consumer's statement regarding the disputed information is received.”

1. Relation to Other Sections

This section sets forth procedures consumer reporting agencies must follow if a consumer conveys a dispute of the completeness or accuracy of any item of information in the consumer's file to the consumer reporting agency. Section 609 provides for disclosures by consumer reporting agencies to consumers, and section 610 sets forth conditions of disclosure. Section 612 permits a consumer reporting agency to impose charges for certain disclosures, including the furnishing of certain information to recipients of prior reports, as provided by section 611(d).

2. Proper Reinvestigation

A consumer reporting agency conducting a reinvestigation must make a good faith effort to determine the accuracy of the disputed item or items. At a minimum, it must check with the original sources or other reliable sources of the disputed information and inform them of the nature of the consumer's dispute. In reinvestigating and attempting to verify a disputed credit transaction, a consumer reporting agency may rely on the accuracy of a creditor's ledger sheets and need not require the creditor to produce documentation such as the actual signed sales slips. Depending on the nature of the dispute, reinvestigation and verification may require more than asking the original source of the disputed information the same question and receiving the same answer. If the original source is contacted for reinvestigation, the consumer reporting agency should at least explain to the source that the original statement has been disputed, state the consumer's position, and then ask whether the source would confirm the information, qualify it, or accept the consumer's explanation.

3. Complaint of Insufficient File, or Lack of File

The FCRA does not require a consumer reporting agency to add new items of information to its file. A consumer reporting agency is not required to create new files on consumers for whom it has no file, nor is it required to add new lines of information about new accounts not reflected in an existing file, because the section permits the consumer to dispute only the completeness or accuracy of particular items of information in the file. If a consumer reporting agency chooses to add lines of information at the consumer's request, it may charge a fee for doing so.

4. Explanation of Extenuating Circumstances

A consumer reporting agency has no duty to reinvestigate, or take any other action under this section, if a consumer merely provides a reason for a failure to pay a debt (e.g., sudden illness or layoff), and does not challenge the accuracy or completeness of the item of information in the file relating to a debt. Most creditors are aware that a variety of circumstances may render consumers unable to repay credit obligations. Although a consumer reporting agency is not required to accept a consumer dispute statement that does not challenge the accuracy or completeness of an item in the consumer's file, it may accept such a statement and may charge a fee for doing so.

5. Reinvestigation of a Debt

A consumer reporting agency must reinvestigate if a consumer conveys to it a dispute concerning the validity or status of a debt, such as whether the debt was owed by the consumer, or whether the debt had subsequently been paid. For example, if a consumer alleges that a judgment reflected in the file as unpaid has been satisfied, or notifies a consumer reporting agency that a past due obligation reflected in the file as unpaid was subsequently paid, the consumer reporting agency must reinvestigate the matter. If a file reflects a debt discharged in bankruptcy without reflecting subsequent reaffirmation and payment of that debt, a consumer may require that the item be reinvestigated.

6. Status of a Debt

The consumer reporting agency must, upon reinvestigation, “record the current status” of the disputed item. This requires inclusion of any information relating to a change in status of an ongoing matter (e.g., that a credit account had been closed, that a debt shown as past due had subsequently been paid or discharged in bankruptcy, or that a debt shown as discharged in bankruptcy was later reaffirmed and/or paid).

7. Dispute Conveyed to Party Other Than the Consumer Reporting Agency

A consumer reporting agency is required to take action under this section only if the consumer directly communicates a dispute to it. It is not required to respond to a dispute of information that the consumer merely conveys to others (e.g., to a source of information). (But see, however, discussion in section 607, item 3A, of consumer reporting agencies' duties to correct errors that come to their attention.)

8. Dispute Conveyed to the Consumer Reporting Agency by a Party Other Than the Consumer

A consumer reporting agency need not reinvestigate a dispute about a consumer's file raised by any third party, because the obligation under the section arises only where an “item of information in his file is disputed by the consumer.”

9. Consumer Disclosures and Adverse Action Not Prerequisites to Reinvestigation Duty

A consumer reporting agency's obligation to reinvestigate disputed items is not contingent upon the consumer's having been denied a benefit or having asserted any rights under the FCRA other than disputing items of information.

10. Reasonable Period of Time

A consumer reporting agency is required to reinvestigate and record the current status of disputed information within a reasonable period of time after the consumer conveys the dispute to it. Although consumer reporting agencies are able to reinvestigate most disputes within 30 days, a “reasonable time” for a particular reinvestigation may be shorter or longer depending on the circumstances of the dispute. For example, where the consumer provides documentary evidence (e.g., a certified copy of a court record to show that a judgment has been paid) when submitting the dispute, the creditor may require a shorter time to reinvestigate. On the other hand, where the dispute is more complicated than normal (e.g., the consumer alleges in good faith that a creditor has falsified its report of the consumer's account history because of a personal grudge), the “reasonable time” needed to conduct the reinvestigation may be longer.

11. Frivolous or Irrelevant

The mere presence of contradictory information in the file does not provide the consumer reporting agency “reasonable grounds to believe that the dispute by the consumer is frivolous or irrelevant.” A consumer reporting agency must assume a consumer's dispute is bona fide, unless there is evidence to the contrary. Such evidence may constitute receipt of letters from consumers disputing all information in their files without providing any allegations concerning the specific items in the files, or of several letters in similar format that indicate that a particular third party (e.g., a “credit repair” operator) is counseling consumers to dispute all items in their files, regardless of whether the information is known to be accurate. The agency is not required to repeat a reinvestigation that it has previously conducted simply because the consumer reiterates a dispute about the same item of information, unless the consumer provides additional evidence that the item is inaccurate or incomplete, or alleges changed circumstances.

12. Deletion of Accurate Information That has not Been Disputed

The consumer reporting agency is not required to delete accurate information that could not be verified upon reinvestigation, if it has not been “disputed by a consumer.” For example, if a creditor deletes adverse information from its files with the result that information could not be reverified if disputed, it is still permissible for a consumer reporting agency to report it (subject to the obsolescence provisions of section 605) until it is disputed.

13. Consumer Dispute Statements on Multiple Items

A consumer who disputes multiple items of information in his file may submit a one hundred word statement as to each disputed item.

14. Conveying Dispute Statements to Recipients of Subsequent Reports.

A consumer reporting agency may not merely tell the recipient of a subsequent report containing disputed information that the consumer's statement is on file but will be provided only if requested, because subsection (c) requires the agency to provide either the statement or “a clear and accurate codification or summary thereof.”