Free Inquiry Dispute Letters That Work

1. Identification is required only for letters to the credit bureaus. Do not send ID with letters to the company that requested your credit report.
2. When writing to a credit bureau, include a copy of a government-issued photo ID (driver’s license, state-issued ID, or U.S. passport) and a copy of a document showing your current address, such as a recent utility bill, bank statement, or pay stub. As long as your name appears at the close of the letter, you do not need to sign it.
3. Do not copy these letters without making significant modifications. You will need to tailor the wording of each letter to fit your individual situation. These sample letters are meant to give you ideas on how to structure your own credit dispute letters.

Date

Your Full Name
Address
City, State, ZIP

Company
Address
City, State, ZIP

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing regarding the following hard inquiry appearing on my consumer credit report:

Inquiry Made By: {insert name of company or person making the inquiry}
Date of Inquiry: {insert date of inquiry}
Credit Bureau: {insert Experian, Equifax, and/or TransUnion}

I do not recognize an application, transaction, or account relationship that explains this inquiry. I am therefore requesting information identifying the permissible purpose your company relied upon when obtaining my consumer report.

Please provide records sufficient to identify and support that permissible purpose, including, as applicable:

• The application or transaction associated with the inquiry;
• The date and nature of that application or transaction;
• Any authorization or consent record associated with the credit request;
• Any account relationship or other basis relied upon; and
• Any other records demonstrating the permissible purpose for accessing my consumer report.

If your records establish that the inquiry resulted from a legitimate transaction or other permissible purpose, please provide sufficient information for me to identify it.

If your company cannot connect this inquiry to a permissible purpose applicable to me, please take the steps necessary to have the inquiry removed from the credit bureau or bureaus to which it was reported.

A statement that the inquiry was “verified” or “properly obtained” is not responsive to this request. I am requesting the documentation upon which your organization relied when obtaining my consumer report.

Please respond in writing so that I can maintain a complete record of this matter.

Sincerely,

Your Name

Stop Sending Generic Inquiry Disputes

Most inquiry disputes fail because they’re sent to the wrong company with the wrong argument. SmartDispute.ai identifies who to dispute, when to dispute them, and helps you build the documentation needed before involving the credit bureaus.

Date

Your Full Name
Address
City, State ZIP

SSN: XXX-XX-XXXX | DOB: XX/XX/XXXX

Credit Bureau
Address
City, State ZIP

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to formally dispute an inaccurate, unverified hard inquiry on my credit report and to request its immediate removal:

Company: {insert name of company or person making the inquiry}
Date of Inquiry: {insert date of inquiry}

Before contacting your agency, I wrote to the company responsible for this inquiry on {insert date you mailed Letter 1} and requested documentation supporting its access to my credit report. A copy of that letter is enclosed as Exhibit A.

The company did not respond to my request.

—or—

The company responded but did not provide information sufficient to identify or support the permissible purpose for accessing my consumer report. A copy of its response is enclosed as Exhibit B.

I am therefore disputing the completeness and accuracy of this inquiry and requesting that you conduct a reasonable reinvestigation that addresses whether the company had a permissible purpose to obtain my consumer report.

Please consider all of the enclosed documentation as part of your investigation.

If the permissible purpose for this inquiry cannot be substantiated, please delete the inquiry from my credit file.

Please send me the results of your reinvestigation and an updated copy of my credit report reflecting any changes.

Sincerely,

Your Name

Enclosures:
Exhibit A: Copy of my letter to {inquiring company name}
Exhibit B: Company response, if applicable
Proof of mailing, if available
Copy of government-issued photo ID
Proof of current address

Don’t Give the Bureaus an Easy Way to Say No

When you dispute directly with the company that created the hard inquiry first, you create a record of what they can—or cannot—verify. That documentation can become powerful evidence if the inquiry remains on your credit report.

Date

Your Full Name
Address
City, State ZIP

SSN: XXX-XX-XXXX | DOB: XX/XX/XXXX

Credit Bureau
Address
City, State ZIP

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing regarding my previous dispute of the following hard inquiry:

Company: {insert name of company or person making the inquiry}
Date of Inquiry: {insert date of inquiry}

I previously disputed this inquiry and provided documentation showing that I had contacted the company responsible for accessing my credit report and requested information identifying and supporting its permissible purpose.

Your investigation concluded that the inquiry was verified. However, the underlying issue remains unresolved.

The company responsible for the inquiry still has not responded to my requests for information identifying its permissible purpose.

—or—

The company has responded but still has not provided information sufficient to connect this inquiry to a credit application, transaction, account relationship, authorization, or other permissible purpose applicable to me.

I am enclosing the relevant correspondence again for your review.

Please conduct a reasonable reinvestigation that considers the documentation I have provided and addresses whether the company had a permissible purpose to obtain my consumer report.

If the permissible purpose for this inquiry cannot be substantiated, please delete it from my credit file.

Please provide the results of your reinvestigation and an updated copy of my credit report reflecting any changes.

Sincerely,

Your Name

Enclosures:
Previous dispute correspondence
Copy of my letter to {company name}
Company responses, if applicable
Previous credit bureau investigation results
Proof of mailing, if available
Copy of government-issued photo ID
Proof of current address

Date

Your Full Name
Address
City, State, ZIP

Company
Address
City, State, ZIP

To Whom It May Concern:

I am following up on my previous correspondence dated [DATE OF FIRST LETTER] regarding the following hard inquiry:

Inquiry Made By: {insert name of company or person making the inquiry}
Date of Inquiry: {insert date of inquiry}
Credit Bureau: {insert Experian, Equifax, and/or TransUnion}

I previously requested documentation showing the permissible purpose your company relied upon when obtaining my consumer report.

I have not received a response.

—or—

The information you provided did not establish that I authorized this inquiry or otherwise explain the basis for your access to my credit file.

I do not recognize this inquiry, and I am not aware of any account or business relationship with your company that would justify access to my consumer report.

If you believe you had a permissible purpose to obtain my consumer report, please provide the application, authorization, account records, electronic consent records, or other documentation supporting your access to my credit file.

A statement that the inquiry was “verified” or “properly obtained” is not responsive to my request. I am requesting the actual documentation your company relied upon when obtaining my consumer report.

If you are unable to provide such documentation, I request that you notify the credit reporting agency listed above and request deletion of the inquiry.

I look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,
Your Name

Date

Your Full Name
Address
City, State ZIP

SSN: XXX-XX-XXXX | DOB: XX/XX/XXXX

Credit Bureau
Address
City, State ZIP

Re: Disputed Hard Inquiry — [REQUESTER NAME] — [INQUIRY DATE]

To Whom It May Concern:

I am disputing the hard inquiry listed above because I cannot verify that it was authorized or obtained for a permissible purpose.

My credit report identifies [REQUESTER NAME] as having accessed my credit file on [INQUIRY DATE], but it does not provide sufficient contact information for me to identify or contact the company responsible for the inquiry. I therefore have no practical way to determine why my credit report was accessed or to challenge the inquiry directly with the requester.

Please investigate this inquiry and verify that the party requesting my credit report was properly identified and had a permissible purpose to obtain it.

I am also specifically requesting, pursuant to FCRA §609(a)(3), 15 U.S.C. §1681g(a)(3), the full name or trade name, address, and telephone number of the person or company that procured my consumer report.

If you cannot identify the requester, provide the requested contact information, and verify that the inquiry was obtained for a permissible purpose, please remove the inquiry from my credit report.

Please send me the results of your investigation and any requester information obtained or relied upon in verifying this inquiry.

Sincerely,

Enclosures:
Copy of the credit report page showing the inquiry
Copy of government-issued photo ID
Proof of current address