CheckDispute Guides

A recent payment is missing: check the reporting date first CheckDispute · Sources checked September 20, 2026 A credit report is a compilation — it shows what furnishers had sent as of the report's own date, not what your accounts look like today. So a missing recent payment is usually a question about timing before it is a question about accuracy: find the date on your report, find the date on your payment confirmation, and compare those first. Here is how to tell a timing gap from a describable error. How long does it take for a payment to update on your credit report? No federal source states a universal number, and any page that gives you one is guessing. The honest answer is the checklist instead of the figure: Read the report's own date. The report is a snapshot; a payment made after it was compiled cannot be on it. Check the furnisher's record. Your confirmation or account page shows what the creditor recorded and when it posted. Re-pull the report. The FTC...

Settled, paid, and charged off: reading the reported status CheckDispute · Sources checked September 20, 2026 "Paid," "settled" and "charged off" are different things on a credit report because balance and status are different fields: the balance field records whether money is still owed, and the status field records what happened to the account. The useful question is not which label is better — it is whether each field matches your documents. Here is what each one records. What does a "paid" or "settled" collection actually record? The CFPB's answer on paid collections defines the field: a paid collection is an account that went into collections because it was past due and was then paid in full — or one where the collector accepted a partial payment to settle the entire debt. Both are "paid collections"; the distinction between them lives in whether the payment was full or partial. For either, the CFPB says the pai...

How to compare a payment history grid with your statements CheckDispute · Sources checked September 20, 2026 A payment history grid is the month-by-month record of what a furnisher reported — one cell per month. Comparing it is a mapping exercise: pick one month on the grid, find the statement covering that period, and check whether the cell matches what you actually paid. This guide covers the record, not the score — there is no verified answer here to what the history does to a number. What does the payment history section actually contain? Per the CFPB's description of report contents , a credit report's account entries often include the account type, the credit limit or amount, the account balance, the account payment history, the dates the account was opened and closed, and the creditor's name. The payment history is that month-by-month sequence attached to each account. What the sources do not give you is a universal legend. Each bureau renders the grid in its ...

Late payment reported incorrectly: an evidence checklist CheckDispute · Sources checked September 20, 2026 A late-payment entry is an account-status error in the CFPB's own list, and the evidence that checks it is a specific pair: the due date on your statement and the posting date on your payment record. Getting both is what turns "I paid on time" into something a reinvestigation can act on. One complication worth knowing first: a payment problem on a card statement and a late mark on a credit report are two different processes with different rules. What should I do if I have an incorrect late payment on my credit report? Dispute it in writing, with both sides. The CFPB's guidance is to contact both the credit reporting company and the company that provided the information , and to include your contact information, the account number, a clear explanation of why the entry is disputed, a request that it be corrected or removed, the report page with the item circle...

Paid account still showing a balance: documents to compare CheckDispute · Sources checked September 20, 2026 If a debt was reported to the credit reporting companies, the CFPB says the paid debt should also generally be reflected as a zero balance — so a paid account showing money still owed is worth a second look. But a balance right after payment can also be ordinary interest arithmetic. The difference is settled by two documents, and here is which two. Why does my credit card have a balance after I paid it off? Usually because of when interest stops. When you carry a balance, most card companies charge interest from the billing date until they receive your payment — and the CFPB notes that once a company starts charging interest, it generally keeps charging until the payment arrives . Many issuers compute that interest daily on the average daily balance. Two consequences. First, the amount you last saw on the statement is not necessarily the amount you owed on the day you paid...