Protect Your Credit Reports from COVID-19 Harms

If you are a DC resident and have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 emergency (for example you delayed or missed payments on loans or bills due to loss of income), DC law prohibits certain “users” of your credit reports (including landlords and non-bank lenders) from considering this adverse information against you when they view your credit report, but only if you file a personal statement with each of the three major credit reporting agencies. This covers negative items on your credit report from March 11, 2020, through July 25, 2021, and from January 11, 2022, until February 15, 2022, that were the result of the public health emergency. The prohibition will expire on January 29, 2023, although we hope the DC Council will extend this protection.

You must file your personal statements soon to TAKE ADVANTAGE of this new right.

You will need to file a separate personal statement of up to 100 words with each of the three major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You can follow the guidelines in the links below to file your personal COVID-19 statement with each agency.

Your statement should say something to the effect of:

Be advised that the negative accounts on my credit report are related to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. I intend to make these up as soon as I can.

File by Mail

You can file your statement with each agency by mail or online. We recommend that you file by mail and you can use the following forms of letters. If you do not have a printer, you can hand-write each letter, but be sure that it is clear and readable. Be sure to make a copy or take a photo of each letter before sending it!

File Online

Alternatively, you may be able to file online using the guidance below.