What Should I Do if I Find Errors in My Credit Report?

One in four consumers found an error on their credit report that could impact their credit score. Credit report errors make consumers look riskier than they are and can cost Americans thousands in losses due to lenders charging higher interest rates, denial of mortgages, and denial of employment.

To understand and enforce your consumer rights, speak with an experienced consumer law attorney in your area.

What Is a Credit Score?

A credit score is a number showing the likelihood that a person will repay debt based on their credit history. This score is based on all reported credit interactions. It looks at whether the person paid their debts on time and how many outstanding debts they have. Common types of debts include car loans, mortgages, student loans, and credit card debt.

Banks, lenders, and credit card companies will look up this score to determine whether they should lend a borrower money, raise a credit limit, or open new lines of credit. There are various organizations that compute your credit score, such as Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Each of these credit bureaus may have different score outcomes. FICO is the most common credit scoring system.

You should obtain copies of your credit reports from the three large credit reporting agencies. AnnualCreditReport.com offers consumers a free copy of their credit report weekly from each of the major credit reporting agencies (CRAs).

Find top Consumer Law lawyers easily

Connect with a qualified attorney today.

Find a lawyer today

What Can I Do if My Credit Report is Suspicious?

If something fishy is going on with your credit report, you may want to reach out to an attorney. “We make sure everything that is going on our client’s credit report is accurate. We make sure that, if you have a dispute error, it shows as disputed. We fight people impermissibly pulling people’s credit,” says Alexander Taylor, a consumer law attorney at Atlas Consumer Law in Lombard, Illinois.

Some of the trouble with a credit score is that you must obtain it. It isn’t often sent or mailed to you, and since there are three or more of them, they can be difficult to find.

“Make sure you’re on top of your credit reports,” says Taylor. “There are very large corporations that are in litigation over impermissibly pulling consumers’ credit reports.”

The other difficulty is that your credit score is not monitored by anyone other than you. So, if you don’t act, it can affect your score and won’t be fixed until you do something. “Some collectors will place a debt two or three times on your report, which, if you don’t dispute this and make sure that the credit reporting agency takes it down, it could affect your ability to own a house or car,” says Taylor.

To be on top of your credit, check on your score periodically through one of the many free means available online. Look out for payment history, including late payments, new credit accounts, closed accounts, scoring models, and all lines of credit. Also, be on the lookout for possible identity theft.

Your Consumer Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) also protects consumers against errors in their credit history.

The CRAs provide credit reports to users of the information, including credit card companies, lenders, insurance companies, and employers. Users must promise the CRA that the information will only be used for “permissible” purposes.

CRAs must also exclude certain information from a credit report after a certain amount of time. For example, consumer bankruptcies can be reported for 10 years, and the maximum reporting time for most other negative information, such as civil suits or paid tax liens, is seven years.

CRAs must follow reasonable procedures to assure the maximum possible accuracy of the consumer’s information contained in their credit file. Inaccurate information within a credit report could be a violation of the FCRA, but the individual must know how or why the mistake was made in order to determine if the CRA failed to follow a reasonable procedure.

If a consumer notifies the CRA that they are disputing the completeness or accuracy of information contained in a file, the CRA requires reinvestigation. In a reinvestigation, a CRA must:

• Conduct a reasonable investigation
• Determine whether the disputed information is inaccurate
• Notify the “furnisher” of the incomplete information
• Record the current status of the disputed inaccuracies or delete the item
• Complete within 30 days from the date it receives notice of the dispute from the consumer

If, after the reinvestigation, the negative information remains on the consumer’s credit file, the consumer will be notified and given the opportunity to get a free copy of their credit report.

What Will the CRA Do?

Under consumer law, the CRA must investigate your dispute letter, and it has 30 days to complete its investigation. They will send your dispute form to the provider of the disputed information, and this provider must verify that the information they provided is accurate and complete.

The credit reporting companies must provide you with the results in writing and include a copy of your credit report. The CRA must send you a written notice of the identity of the information provider as well. For incorrect information, the CRA must change or delete the information. If requested, the CRA will send corrected credit reports to anyone who received a copy of the consumer’s credit report within the last six months.

If the credit bureaus do not properly respond to your credit report dispute, you can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Getting an Experienced Attorney Involved

Consumers who are having trouble with their credit report or debt collectors need not worry about the cost of an attorney. “No money comes out of a consumer’s pocket in these cases,” says Taylor. They work entirely on contingency fees collected after the close of their services.

“If something is wrong on your consumer credit report, dispute it,” says Taylor. “If, after the dispute process, there is still an error, call a consumer rights attorney.”