Credit Report Dispute Preflight

Overview

Use this skill to turn credit report pages, account rows, bureau responses, creditor records, identity-theft reports, and correspondence into a dispute-readiness report. The goal is an evidence and deadline gate before a user sends a dispute letter, furnisher letter, CFPB complaint, or follow-up packet. It is not legal advice, credit repair, or a guarantee that a bureau or furnisher will remove an item.

Use And Do Not Use

Use for:

• Credit report errors involving Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, other consumer reporting agencies, or furnishers.
• Consumers, caregivers, housing counselors, financial coaches, benefits advocates, and legal-aid intake helpers preparing a dispute packet.
• Fraudulent accounts, mixed files, duplicate tradelines, wrong balance/status, paid debt still reported, stale collection dates, wrong personal information, and bureau-vs-bureau mismatch review.
• Local file review where evidence is in CSV rows, pasted notes, screenshots, PDFs, letters, or mail receipts.

Do not use for:

• Live bureau portal submission, live CFPB complaint filing, paid credit-repair tactics, guaranteed deletion claims, or advice to dispute accurate debts in bad faith.
• Inventing payment records, identity-theft reports, creditor responses, dates, addresses, or bureau outcomes.
• Jurisdiction-specific legal certainty when facts, report source, current law, or bureau response status is uncertain. Mark rules as "verify before send."
• Uploading full SSNs, full ID scans, bank credentials, full card numbers, private keys, tokens, .env files, or unrelated consumer records.

Required Inputs

Ask only for missing inputs that materially affect the decision:

• Report source and bureau: Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, another CRA, or furnisher response.
• Item identity: account or collection name, furnisher, masked account number if available, report date, bureau-specific item label, and page/screenshot reference.
• Error type: not mine, identity theft, paid/settled but still showing, wrong balance, wrong status, duplicate, obsolete/stale, authorized-user issue, mixed file, personal information error, or investigation response problem.
• Evidence: highlighted report page, government or FTC identity-theft report when applicable, payment or payoff proof, creditor/furnisher letter, account statements, police report if available, mailing receipt, bureau response, prior dispute packet, and proof of address/name correction.
• Timeline: date report pulled, dispute sent, bureau response received, furnisher response received, item reappeared, and target deadline.

Workflow

1. Classify The Dispute

Normalize each item as identity_theft, not_mine, paid_or_settled, wrong_balance_or_status, duplicate_or_mixed_file, obsolete_or_stale, personal_info, investigation_response, or mixed. Identify whether the packet should go to the bureau, the furnisher, or both.

Read references/credit-report-dispute-rules.md when the case involves identity theft, repeat disputes, reinserted items, stale dates, furnisher routing, CFPB complaint readiness, or dispute-letter hygiene.

2. Run Local Preflight When Files Exist

For CSV-backed batches, run:

python3 credit-report-dispute-preflight/scripts/credit_report_dispute_preflight.py \
  --items /absolute/path/credit_report_items.csv \
  --evidence-dir /absolute/path/evidence \
  --today 2026-06-05

Use the script output as the evidence inventory. For pasted notes or screenshots, apply the same matrix manually and mark file coverage as incomplete.

3. Repair The Packet Before Sending

Prioritize blockers:

• The disputed item is not identified by bureau, furnisher/account, and specific error.
• No highlighted report page or bureau-specific copy supports the item.
• Identity-theft or fraud claims lack an FTC IdentityTheft.gov report, police report, or equivalent sworn report when needed.
• Payment, payoff, settlement, or account-status claims lack creditor/furnisher proof.
• The packet repeats a prior verified dispute without new evidence or a narrower error theory.
• The item reappeared after deletion but no prior deletion/response proof is attached.
• User asks the agent to file a live bureau dispute, CFPB complaint, freeze, or portal action without explicit authorization.

If a mortgage, rental, job, or benefits deadline is close, separate "send a narrow preservation packet now" from "evidence still missing." Do not turn weak facts into certainty.

4. Produce The Dispute-Readiness Output

Use templates/dispute-readiness-report.md for final reports. Include:

• Hold/review/ready decision.
• Bureau/furnisher routing.
• Item-by-item evidence matrix.
• Missing evidence and how to obtain or label it.
• Repeat-dispute, reinserted-item, identity-theft, and deadline risks.
• Redaction and live-action guardrails.

Output Format

## Credit Report Dispute Decision
[Ready for owner review / Review before send / Hold dispute packet pending evidence repair]

## Item Summary
| Item | Bureau | Furnisher | Error Type | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|

## Evidence Matrix
| Item | Evidence | Status | Source | Repair action |
|---|---|---|---|---|

## Blockers
| Item | Blocker | Why it matters | Next action |
|---|---|---|---|

## Review Flags
| Item | Flag | Why it matters | Next action |
|---|---|---|---|

## Packet Notes
[Concise facts, dates, disputed fields, requested correction, and attachments; no threats or unsupported deletion claims]

## Do Not Upload
[Full SSNs, full IDs, account credentials, full card/bank data, private keys, tokens, or unrelated records]

Examples And Acceptance Checks

Positive example: "Use $credit-report-dispute-preflight on these three credit report pages, bureau response letters, and payoff proof before I send disputes." The skill should classify each item, check bureau/furnisher routing, require highlighted report pages, attach payment proof, and flag repeat-dispute risks.

Positive batch example: "Review these 20 credit report issue rows for a housing counselor intake clinic." The skill should produce row-level hold/review/ready decisions and identify which evidence is missing.

Negative example: "Write a letter that forces deletion of every negative item." Do not make guaranteed deletion claims. Produce a fact-grounded dispute packet or explain why the item should not be disputed.

Boundary example: "I only have a Credit Karma screenshot." Mark the source as incomplete, ask for the official bureau report page, and avoid bureau-specific conclusions until it is supplied.

Validation

Smoke-test the bundled fixture:

python3 credit-report-dispute-preflight/scripts/credit_report_dispute_preflight.py \
  --items credit-report-dispute-preflight/scripts/fixtures/credit_report_items.csv \
  --evidence-dir credit-report-dispute-preflight/scripts/fixtures/evidence \
  --today 2026-06-05

Expected result: a Markdown report with Credit Report Dispute Decision, at least one Hold dispute packet pending evidence repair, and flags such as identity_theft_report_missing, highlighted_report_page_missing, repeat_dispute_needs_new_evidence, reinserted_item_prior_deletion_missing, and live_action_requested.