One item, the specific thing that is wrong about it, and the evidence. Sent so the date it arrived can be proved, because that date starts the clock.
The file
Everything is written down, and it is yours
The thing you are actually left with at the end is not a score. It is a file: every letter that went out, every reply that came back, and the date on each. That is what you hand to the next person who asks, and it is why the dates are kept properly from day one.
Ask for it at any time, including in the middle. Ask us to delete it at any time and we will.
What is on the file
the letterExactly what was sent, in the form you approved it.the date it wentAnd the tracking number, which you also get.the date it arrivedThe one that matters. The thirty days runs from here.the due dateWorked out from the arrival date and written down the same day.the replyWhole, unedited, including the ones that went against you.what changedItem by item. Deleted, corrected, or verified as correct.what you were toldThe date of every call and what was said on it.what you were chargedWhich item, and the date its outcome arrived.
Nothing is edited after the fact. If something was recorded wrongly, the correction is a new line that points at the old one, so the file shows what happened rather than what we would prefer it had.
The written result of the reinvestigation. It arrived inside the window, which is what should happen and often does.
The date of last activity was corrected. The account itself is still reported, because it is real. The file says what happened, not what we hoped for.
You get all three at the end, whatever the answer was.
Why it matters a year later
Most of the value of a file is not during the dispute. It is afterwards, when somebody asks you a question you cannot answer from memory.
An item comes back
Deleted information can be reinserted. They must tell you in writing within five business days if it is, and your file proves what the original outcome was.
A lender asks
An underwriter querying an old entry is much easier to answer with the agency’s own letter than with a recollection.
You go to a lawyer
If the process was handled badly by somebody, the dates are the case. Without them there is nothing to show.
You do it again
Two years on, having the previous round in front of you saves repeating a dispute that already came back verified.
Ask for the whole file whenever you want it, or ask for it to be deleted. Both are free, both take a day, and neither needs a reason. What is held, and for how long.