The signature element
Nobody else in this category has this, and it is the cheapest thing here to build. That tells you something about what the paid tools are actually optimising for.
Why a clock is the whole game. Under 15 U.S.C. §1681i(a)(1)(A) a consumer reporting agency shall complete a reasonable reinvestigation before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date the agency receives notice of the dispute. Not a target. Not a service level. A duty with a deadline.
And §1681i(a)(5)(A) says that if the disputed information is inaccurate, incomplete, or cannot be verified, the agency shall promptly delete it. So the deadline has teeth — but only if you can prove the date they received it. That is what the green card from certified mail is for, and it is why every field below asks for the delivery date rather than the date you dropped it in the mailbox.
Everything stays on this device. Add the delivery date from your return receipt, and the clock starts itself.
This is the date that starts the clock — not the mailing date.
The competitor that prompted this build has a FAQ entry titled “What if the disputes don't work?” — and no answer past Round 1. Here is the answer.
Four rounds is more work than one round. That is the entire point. The automated dispute system is built on the statistical certainty that almost nobody escalates — and it is right, because almost nobody does. Being the person who sends Round 2 puts you in a very small group. Being the person who sends Round 3 puts you in a smaller one.