FCRA Lawyer

PROTECTING YOUR CREDIT REPORT

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law that protects you and your credit report.  The law applies to credit agencies that collect information and also to those who furnish information to them.  Every person who has ever bought anything on credit has a credit report maintained by the three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion).  The credit report maintains information about all your past and present credit transactions.  These reports are used to assign you a credit rating.  This credit score and the information in the credit reports can have serious effects on your ability to qualify for jobs, mortgages, loans, credit cards, and insurance.  Call us if you need an FCRA Lawyer to repair your credit report.

The FCRA gives you rights concerning your credit report.  You are allowed to track your credit reports and have inaccurate information removed.  There is a dispute process you can pursue to get inaccurate information removed from your report.  The law also allows you to sue the credit reporting agencies and furnishers for not properly investigating your disputes and correcting errors on your reports.  You can also sue those who report or access your credit reports improperly, like creditors and debt collectors.

We Bring Lawsuits Under the FCRA to Protect You

If you've been the victim of improper credit reporting, then Contact us for a Free Consultation.  You probably need a good FCRA lawyer to help fix your credit report at this point.  Below is a list of FCRA violations that you are protected from.  The FCRA gives you a right to bring a lawsuit to stop improper credit reporting, win a damage award, and have your attorney's fees paid by the other side.  We can help you bring a lawsuit under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and we can help fix your credit.

Common Violations of the FCRA

Furnishing and Reporting Old Information

Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs) and those who supply them information (Furnishers) are required to keep information up to date and accurate.

• Failing to report a debt discharged in bankruptcy
• Reporting information that is more than seven years old or ten years for civil judgments.
• Reporting old debts as newer than they are (re-aging).
• Reporting an account as active that was voluntarily closed by the consumer.

Furnishing and Reporting Inaccurate Information

• Reporting a debt as charged off when it was settled or paid in full.
• Misstating the amount due or late payments when payment was not late.
• Supplying credit information despite reported identity theft.
• Listing you as a debtor on an account where you were only an authorized user.

Mixed Files

• Mixing credit information of other people into your credit report.

Failing to Follow Debt Dispute Procedures

When you submit a written dispute about the accuracy of items on your report, the credit reporting agencies and furnishers have a duty to conduct a reasonable investigation of your dispute.  This duty requires them to correct inaccurate information or even remove the disputed debt from the report.  There are several ways that they can fall short of this duty and then you have a claim against them for damages.

Debt Dispute Violations by Credit Reporting Agencies

• Not notifying the creditor that you have disputed the reported debt.
• Not conducting a reasonable investigation of your dispute.
• Not correcting or deleting inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information within 30 days of receiving your written dispute.

Debt Dispute Violations by Creditors and Other Furnishers of Information

• Not notifying every CRA that you dispute the debt.
• Not submitting corrected information to the CRA after investigating your dispute.
• Continuing to submit information it knows or should know is incorrect.
• Not conducting an internal investigation of your dispute within 30 days.
• Not providing you with a reasonable procedure to submit your written dispute.
• Not informing you of the results of its investigation within 5 days of its completion of the investigation.

Privacy Violations

CRAs can only release your credit report to authorized persons.  Authorized persons are those with a "valid need," for instance:

• Creditors
• Landlords
• Insurers
• Utilities
• Employers (only if you gave express consent)

Improper Requests for Credit Reports

Authorized persons must have a "permissible purpose" every time they pull your credit report from a CRA.  Some examples of impermissible purposes are:

• your employer pulls a report without your specific permission.
• a Creditor for a debt discharged in Bankruptcy pulls a report after the bankruptcy.

Notice Violations

You are entitled by law to notice of reporting and handling of your credit reports.

• When a creditor reports negative information to a CRA.
• When an authorized person who accesses your report makes a negative decision based on the report.
• A creditor must notify you of your credit score if it was used in its decision.
• A creditor must notify you of your right to dispute inaccurate information and to obtain a free credit report.
• A creditor or authorized person must identify the source of the credit information it obtained on you.

What Can You Do To Fix Your Credit Report?

Depending on the facts of your situation, there are a variety of solutions we can offer.  Typically we seek to hold the companies accountable for their errors and frauds.  We can file a lawsuit to get your credit report corrected and to get you money for your damages.  In all cases our services to you are free.  We are paid only as a portion of the money we recover on your behalf.  Call us today or use the contact form.  We will review your information and set up an appointment to discuss your credit report problems and how we can help.