Specifications

Dispute Reinvestigation

Every dispute gets its reinvestigation and its answer inside the clock the law sets.

What it ensures

When a consumer disputes the accuracy of a file, the FCRA gives the agency a defined window — generally thirty days — to reinvestigate and report the results. This control holds the workflow to that sequence and that deadline.

It removes the silent failure of a dispute aging past its window unnoticed. A missed deadline here is a violation in itself, independent of whether the underlying item turned out to be right.

Watch it run

A consumer disputes an item on their report — and the clock the FCRA sets starts running.

Illustrative run — one case moving through the Dispute Reinvestigation specification.

Dispute received Source re-verify Determined Closed
Permitted transition Forbidden move Start Terminal state
A dispute moves in sequence — received, source re-verified, determined, closed — all inside a 30-day window. The moves the law forbids, in dashed red, are the shortcuts that skip the reinvestigation or its outcome.
✕ refused ✕ Record past deadline ✕ Deficient results notice 1 ✓ Dispute 2 ✓ Reinvestigated 3 ✓ Results sent
Ready

A consumer disputes the accuracy of an item. The 30-day clock begins.

  1. Ready

    The dispute

    The consumer says an item is wrong. From this moment the agency is on a deadline — whether or not anyone is watching it.

  2. Blocked

    The shortcut

    Closing the dispute — “verified, no change” — without re-checking is fast and silent. It is also the violation. Results are held to a completed reinvestigation.

    Where it comes from

    §1681i requires a reasonable reinvestigation of the disputed item, free of charge, before the dispute is resolved — not a rubber stamp.

    What it satisfies

    Holding the results until the reinvestigation is complete is what §1681i(a)(1)(A) requires; the same provision sets the 30-day window the clock is tracking.

    FCRA §1681i(a)(1)(A) Statute 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)(A) …the agency shall, free of charge, conduct a reasonable reinvestigation to determine whether the disputed information is inaccurate and record the current status of the disputed information, or delete the item from the file in accordance with paragraph (5), before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date on which the agency receives the notice of the dispute… U.S. Code · Cornell LII ↗
  3. Blocked

    Past the deadline

    A reinvestigation that misses the clock is a standalone violation, even if it was thorough. Refused.

    What it satisfies

    Guarded: §1681i(a)(1)(A) fixes the 30-day reinvestigation window the outcome must land inside.

    FCRA §1681i(a)(1)(A) Statute 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)(A) …the agency shall, free of charge, conduct a reasonable reinvestigation to determine whether the disputed information is inaccurate and record the current status of the disputed information, or delete the item from the file in accordance with paragraph (5), before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date on which the agency receives the notice of the dispute… U.S. Code · Cornell LII ↗
  4. Permitted

    The reinvestigation

    The disputed item is actually re-checked against the source, inside the time the law allows.

    Where it comes from

    The deadline isn’t advisory — a lapsed reinvestigation is a standalone violation, independent of whether the item was right.

    What it satisfies

    Completing the reinvestigation inside the window satisfies the core duty and clock of §1681i(a)(1)(A).

    FCRA §1681i(a)(1)(A) Statute 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)(A) …the agency shall, free of charge, conduct a reasonable reinvestigation to determine whether the disputed information is inaccurate and record the current status of the disputed information, or delete the item from the file in accordance with paragraph (5), before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date on which the agency receives the notice of the dispute… U.S. Code · Cornell LII ↗
  5. Blocked

    The deficient results notice

    A flawless reinvestigation still fails at the last step if the notice to the consumer is incomplete. Refused.

    What it satisfies

    Guarded: §1681i(a)(6)(A) requires written notice of the results to carry the prescribed content.

    §1681i(a)(6)(A) Statute 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(6)(A) A consumer reporting agency shall provide written notice to a consumer of the results of a reinvestigation under this subsection not later than 5 business days after the completion of the reinvestigation… U.S. Code · Cornell LII ↗
  6. Permitted

    The results

    The consumer hears the outcome — and hears it on time.

    Where it comes from

    The FCRA fixes a second, tighter clock: notice of the results follows quickly after the reinvestigation closes.

    What it satisfies

    Sending the results notice within five business days satisfies §1681i(a)(6)(A).

    §1681i(a)(6)(A) Statute 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(6)(A) A consumer reporting agency shall provide written notice to a consumer of the results of a reinvestigation under this subsection not later than 5 business days after the completion of the reinvestigation… U.S. Code · Cornell LII ↗
  7. On the record

    The proof

    Timeliness is the whole game in a §1681i claim. The file shows the dispute, the clock, and the answer — in order.

Why it holds

Why the whole holds

No single step makes a dispute handled. It is handled because the results cannot issue without a real reinvestigation, and neither can outrun the clock. Reliability isn’t diligence on the files someone happens to watch; it’s that there is no path to “resolved” that skipped the investigation or the deadline.

Why it matters

A lapsed reinvestigation deadline is a standalone §1681i violation, and the disputes that arrive late in the window are exactly the ones that slip.