The cost of doing nothing
Every month an error stays on your report, it charges you interest.
A 100-point credit score difference — the gap between a suppressed score and a fair one — can illustratively add $40,000–$70,000 in extra interest over a 30-year mortgage at current rate bands. Errors that don’t belong on your report don’t stay silent: they charge you a premium on every loan, every card, every month they remain. The FCRA dispute right is free. The audit is where most people stop.
Interest estimates are illustrative — based on published rate-band differences between score ranges. Actual savings depend on your specific profile, lender, and market conditions. Athena does not promise any specific score change or loan outcome.
Illustrative rate impact by product
Illustrative estimate; actual rates vary by lender, market, and borrower profile
Based on published CFPB rate band data; individual results vary
Based on CFPB Consumer Credit Card Report rate band data
Common reasons people don’t dispute — and why they’re myths
"My errors will fall off eventually."
Under FCRA §605, most negative items have a 7-year reporting period. An inaccurate item that gets corrected now stops suppressing your score immediately — waiting 7 years means paying the rate penalty for every month until then.
"Disputing errors damages my score."
Filing a dispute has no direct impact on your credit score. The bureau notes an active dispute, but this has no scoring effect. If the item is removed or corrected, the score impact is from that correction — which is what you want.
"The bureaus will fix their own mistakes."
Bureaus are required to maintain accurate records under FCRA §611 — but they don't proactively audit your report. The obligation to investigate starts when you file a dispute. Without your dispute, the error stays.
"I'd have to pay to dispute."
Disputing with a bureau directly is free under the FCRA. You can mail a dispute letter yourself at any time — no service required. Athena's audit identifies what to dispute and writes the statute-cited letter; the dispute right itself costs nothing.
The FCRA clock is ticking
Reporting errors don’t wait for you to be ready.
Under FCRA §605, most negative items have a 7-year maximum reporting period. An item that’s inaccurate isn’t protected by that period — it can and should be disputed regardless of age. But an accurate item that you didn’t dispute because you didn’t realize it was inaccurate? It stays until the reporting period ends — accruing cost the entire time.
The window to file a free dispute is always open. Every month you delay is a month the suppressed rate applies. Athena doesn’t promise a specific outcome from disputing — what it does is make sure you see everything on your report that may be disputable, free, today.
7 years
Max negative reporting period (FCRA §605)
30 days
Bureau must investigate your dispute (FCRA §611)
$0
Cost to file a dispute directly with the bureaus