Find out which report affected the decision
Ask the landlord whether a tenant screening or other consumer report contributed to the decision and which company supplied it. According to the CFPB’s rental-denial guidance, an adverse-action notice must identify the reporting company and explain your rights to a free report and to dispute inaccuracies. The notice can be oral, written or electronic; ask for a written copy for your records.
Request your free report from that company within 60 days of the adverse action. This is the window for that free-copy right, not a statement that every possible dispute or legal claim expires after 60 days. A higher deposit or a required cosigner based on a report can also trigger adverse-action rights.
Save the application date, property address, notice date and the screening company’s contact information. If you are waiting for the landlord to send a copy, you can still request it directly from the identified company.
Identify what is actually wrong
The FTC describes common screening errors, including another person’s information, duplicate records and incomplete case outcomes. Compare the report with your own documents before choosing a dispute reason.
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
| Report issue | Useful supporting evidence |
|---|---|
| A record belongs to someone else | Documents that distinguish your identity or address history from the person in the record. |
| An eviction case is shown without its outcome | The court docket or order showing how that particular case ended. |
| The same case appears as multiple cases | Case numbers and dates showing that the entries refer to one proceeding. |
| A balance is inaccurate or has been paid | Receipts, a ledger, a settlement or an account statement showing the correct information. |
A dismissed eviction filing and a judgment ordering eviction are not the same outcome. Explain the discrepancy precisely. Do not assume that a dismissal automatically erases every record of the case; reporting limits and local protections require their own review.
If the court’s underlying record is wrong, ask the court or a local legal-aid office about correcting it as well. A dispute with a screening company does not change a court order.
Send a specific dispute with copies of your evidence
Use the screening company’s official dispute instructions. Identify the report and each entry you challenge, explain what is wrong and attach copies of supporting records. Keep the originals and save proof of submission.
If the error comes from a credit report included in the screening report, the CFPB’s credit-report dispute instructions explain contacting the credit reporting company and the business that supplied the information. Correcting only one copy of an error may leave another source unresolved.
Use this example to organize the facts in your own words:
“In report [reference and date], the entry for case [number] shows [what the report says]. The attached [document] shows [the correct fact]. Please investigate this entry and correct the inaccurate or incomplete information. Please send the investigation result and an updated report.”
This is an organizational example, not an official form. Include the identification and contact details the company requires through its verified submission channel. Do not dispute accurate facts merely because they are unfavorable.
Download the screening-dispute organizer to track the entries, evidence, submission dates and responses for your own records.
Follow up with both the screening company and the landlord
The CFPB says investigations generally take 30 days, with up to 45 days in some circumstances; some state deadlines are shorter. Save the company’s response and compare the corrected report with the error you raised.
Tell the landlord a dispute is underway and ask whether the application can be reconsidered after correction. Provide the updated report or ask the screening company to send it. Keep searching if the property cannot wait: an investigation deadline is not a guarantee that a particular apartment will remain available.
Keep a dated record of what you sent and what each recipient said. If a response does not address your evidence, identify that specific problem when following up instead of submitting an unexplained duplicate dispute.
Separate a report dispute from other housing decisions
A landlord’s screening decision, an agency’s voucher eligibility decision and an eviction court case are different processes. If a housing authority also issued a notice, read its review or hearing instructions and deadline. Do not assume a dispute with a private screening company preserves a separate agency deadline.
If the issue is missing income evidence, use the income-document guide. For New York City housing-court history, see the existing NYC eviction-record guide; New York-specific rules should not be applied to every state.
You can submit a consumer-reporting complaint to the CFPB. For help with a legal deadline, discrimination concern or inaccurate court record, contact a local legal-aid or fair-housing organization with the notice and documents in hand.