A background-check or tenant-screening company that sells reports for hiring, renting, lending, or insurance decisions is generally a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). When its report on you is wrong, whether it's a record that isn't yours, an address you never lived at, or an item too old to report, the FCRA gives you the right to dispute it with that company and have it reinvestigated. This tool drafts that letter, citing 15 U.S.C. §1681i.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 15 U.S.C. §1681 and following, governs consumer reporting agencies, including companies that assemble background checks for hiring, renting, lending, and insurance decisions, and it holds them to accuracy standards. When a report on you is wrong, §1681i gives you the right to dispute it with the company and have it reinvestigated. This tool drafts that dispute letter and cites the section that fits your request.
A written dispute gives you a dated record of what you disputed and when. The company must reinvestigate, usually within 30 days, and correct or delete anything it can't verify. It must also send you the written results, and if your file changed, a copy of your report as revised.
Many people-search sites say in their terms that they are not consumer reporting agencies and that their listings can't be used for hiring or housing decisions. A disclaimer alone doesn't settle the question: whether a listing is a consumer report depends on how the information is actually sold and used, and on the uses the company expects. In 2014, the FTC announced settlements with two data brokers over charges that they sold consumer data without the protections the FCRA requires; these were settlements of the FTC's allegations, not admissions or court findings (more on FCRA coverage). Where a site's listings aren't consumer reports, an FCRA dispute isn't the usual route: you ask the site to remove the listing through its own opt-out or privacy process, and if you're a California resident, the CCPA request letter can help. A background-check or tenant-screening company that provides your report to an employer or landlord is different: it is generally a consumer reporting agency, and the FCRA dispute process applies. A people-search opt-out doesn't correct a consumer report, and an FCRA dispute doesn't remove a people-search listing. If you're not sure which kind of company you're dealing with, this explainer walks through the difference.
Be clear-eyed about the limits. The FCRA is a tool for fixing what's wrong or outdated, not for erasing a record that's accurate, complete, and lawfully reportable. Federal law sets no time limit on reporting records of criminal convictions. The seven- and 10-year limits also have exceptions in federal law, including for some jobs paying $75,000 or more a year, and state law may set different limits. The letter fits a dispute about accuracy, completeness, or age.
A dispute asks one consumer reporting agency to correct its file. The public records behind a report can also appear on people-search sites, so the same details may show up in more than one place. Opting out of people-search listings is a separate step: it can reduce where your personal data is published, but it doesn't correct a consumer report. The free letter above handles the dispute either way.
A free scan checks people-search sites and data brokers for your personal data. Removal work is part of a paid plan, and you authorize it separately from your free scan. A removal request doesn't correct a background-check report; the dispute letter above is for that.
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