Every person who has ever bought anything on credit is tracked by consumer reporting agencies which keep an extensive record of past and present financial activity. This information is used to determine a person’s credit score, which can have a huge impact on their ability to qualify for jobs, mortgages, loans, credit cards, and even insurance. The Fair Credit Reporting Act protects consumers by ensuring accuracy and privacy of this data. When companies violate the FCRA, consumers have the right to sue for substantial damages and attorney fees.
Our fcra attorneys have the experience and firsthand knowledge to ensure that any entity in the business of collecting, evaluating, or selling consumer information is fully compliant with the law. Our attorneys can help to develop best practices and policies for businesses in this industry, as well as represent them in litigation when needed.
When there are errors on your credit report, it can have a significant negative impact on your life. Inaccuracies on your report can include everything from accounts that you have paid off showing up as unpaid to criminal records, like misdemeanors, being reported as felonies when they were actually sealed or expunged. If any of these errors are affecting your life, our fcra attorneys can work with the consumer reporting agencies to have them corrected.
If the CRA or the information provider does not correct the inaccurate information in your file, you can request that they do so by telling them in writing what you believe is incorrect. The CRA must then reinvestigate the items in question within 30 days unless it considers your dispute frivolous. Once the CRA has completed its reinvestigation, it must notify all nationwide CRAs so that they can make the necessary changes to your report. If the CRA or the information provider is still not correcting your information, you can ask for a complete free copy of your credit report.
The fcra allows you to sue a company for violating the law when they do not properly investigate a dispute or correct errors on your report. In cases where the violation is considered to be willful, you can recover punitive damages as well.
An FCRA lawyer can review your credit report to see if there are any violations. They can then work with the credit bureaus to have these mistakes corrected, and if necessary, file a lawsuit on your behalf against any parties that have wrongly hurt you or failed to follow the FCRA regulations.
An experienced fcra attorney can also help you to calculate the amount of any losses you’ve suffered as a result of the errors on your report. If you have been rejected for a job or loan because of deceased indicators on your report, an attorney can work with the CRAs to have these removed as well. An attorney can also help you to obtain copies of your reports from the CRAs and to find out who is providing the inaccurate information in your report.