Credit Reporting Attorneys (2024)

FAQs

Can you sue for incorrect credit reporting? ›

You have the right to bring a lawsuit.

Credit reporting companies that break the law can be held liable for damages and attorney fees. In the case of a willful failure to comply with the law, the company can be liable for actual or statutory damages and punitive damages.

What happens after you dispute with a credit bureau. However you filed your dispute, the credit bureau has 30 days to investigate it. If the credit bureau considers your request to be “frivolous” or “irrelevant,” they will stop investigating, but they need to notify you of that and give the reason.

You can dispute credit report errors by gathering documentation about the error and sending a letter to the credit bureau that created the report. All three credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, have an online dispute process, which is often the fastest way to fix a problem.

Damages for a Willful Violation

-Basic Damages (pick one): actual (provable) damages (no limit), or. statutory damages between $100 and $1,000 (to get these you don't have to prove that the violation harmed you).

If your rights have been violated under the FCRA, you are entitled to seek actual or statutory damages, recover attorney's fees and court costs and request punitive damages.

What happens if you falsely dispute a credit card charge? Purposely making a false dispute is punishable by law and could lead to fines or imprisonment.

You might not always get a fair outcome when you dispute a chargeback, but you can increase your chances of winning by providing the right documents. Per our experience, if you do everything right, you can expect a 65% to 75% success rate.

Disputing a credit card charge does not hurt your credit. However, if the information on your credit report changes because of the dispute, your score may change accordingly. Credit agencies can also note the dispute by placing the “XB” code on your account, which simply means the dispute is under investigation.

4) 623 credit dispute letter

A business uses a 623 credit dispute letter when all other attempts to remove dispute information have failed. It refers to Section 623 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and contacts the data furnisher to prove that a debt belongs to the company.

What is a red flag on a credit report? ›

What's a red flag? The FTC defines a red flag as a pattern, practice or specific activity that indicates the possible existence of identity theft. FTC guidelines include 26 examples of patterns that should be considered in an identity theft prevention program.

If you discover errors on your credit report, gather any supporting documents and include them with a letter disputing the error. Then send it to: The credit reporting agency whose report you are disputing. The company that provided the incorrect information.

Dispute in writing, and include any evidence that supports your claims (such as copies of cancelled checks showing you paid the debt or a police report in the case of identity theft). If the debt collector knows that you don't owe the money, it should not try to collect the debt.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) (15 U.S.C. § 1681 and following), you may sue a credit reporting agency for negligent or willful noncompliance with the law within two years after you discover the harmful behavior or within five years after the harmful behavior occurs, whichever is sooner.

In the case of obtaining a consumer's report from a consumer reporting agency under false pretenses or knowingly obtaining it without any permissible purpose shall be liable to the consumer reporting agency for actual damages sustained by the consumer reporting agency or $ 1,000, whichever is greater.

If you discover errors on your credit report, gather any supporting documents and include them with a letter disputing the error. Then send it to: The credit reporting agency whose report you are disputing. The company that provided the incorrect information.

Winning a damaged credit score claim is not easy. But it can be done, and people have won these cases against credit bureaus, lenders, credit reporting agencies, and other related companies. You have rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and protection under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Fixing credit report errors

To ensure mistakes are corrected as quickly as possible, contact both the credit bureau and organization that provided the information to the bureau. Both these parties are responsible for correcting inaccurate or incomplete information in your report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.