Disputes & reinvestigation

Open a dispute on a furnished record, follow the 30-day clock, and get the outcome.

Base URL https://api.offendersearch.app

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Open a dispute

When a consumer disputes a record you received from us, open a reinvestigation on the order. Name the records, the reason, the consumer’s statement, and when the dispute reached you — the 30-day clock runs from that moment (15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)).

POST /v1/fcra/orders/{id}/disputes

curl -X POST https://api.offendersearch.app/v1/fcra/orders/fo_7c1e9b2a4d3f/disputes \
  -H "X-API-Key: $OFFENDERSEARCH_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "recordIds": ["crim:IL-SANGAMON:2021CR004417"],
    "reason": "not_me",
    "consumerStatement": "I have never lived in Sangamon County.",
    "receivedAt": "2026-10-03T09:12:00Z"
  }'

Field	Required	Description
`recordIds`	yes	One or more furnished `recordId` values from this order.
`reason`	yes	`not_me`, `inaccurate`, `incomplete`, `outdated` or `other`.
`consumerStatement`	no	What the consumer told you, in their words.
`receivedAt`	yes	When the dispute reached you. `dueAt` is 30 days later.

The dispute object

GET /v1/fcra/disputes/{id}

{
  "id": "fd_9a0e44",
  "orderId": "fo_7c1e9b2a4d3f",
  "origin": "partner",
  "recordIds": ["crim:IL-SANGAMON:2021CR004417"],
  "reason": "not_me",
  "consumerStatement": "I have never lived in Sangamon County.",
  "status": "investigating",
  "receivedAt": "2026-10-03T09:12:00Z",
  "dueAt": "2026-11-02T09:12:00Z",
  "extendedAt": null,
  "overdue": false,
  "notes": null,
  "changes": null,
  "resolvedAt": null
}

Status	Meaning
`received`	Logged; the clock is running.
`investigating`	The record is being checked with the authority that holds it.
`verified`	The record was confirmed as furnished. Nothing changes.
`modified`	The record was corrected. `changes` lists what changed.
`deleted`	The record was removed, or found not to be the consumer’s.
`unable_to_verify`	It could not be verified in time. It is treated as deleted.

If the consumer sends new information during the investigation, add it with POST /v1/fcra/disputes/{id}/information and { "statement": "…" }. That is the one 15-day extension (15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)(B)): dueAt moves and extendedAt records when. It returns 409 dispute_not_extendable once the dispute is resolved, already extended or past due. overdue is true for an open dispute past dueAt.

What an outcome does

deleted and unable_to_verify suppress the record from every later order about the same consumer (disputed_suppressed).
modified applies the correction to every later order.
A record.corrected event goes to every partner that received the record, not only the one that opened the dispute.

Disputes from the consumer portal

A consumer can also dispute directly through the consumer portal. That creates the same dispute object with origin: "consumer_portal", and you receive dispute.created for your order. A dispute that reaches us through our consumer request form and concerns one of your orders appears with origin: "consumer_request". GET /v1/fcra/disputes?status=&orderId= lists every dispute on your orders.