Page 12: Articles from Daniel Cohen

Background check errors happen way more often than the screening industry would have you believe. Here’s a number that feels quite uncomfortable: a 2024 study published in Criminology found that 60% of participants had at least one false-positive error on a regulated background check report. Sixty percent. That’s not some rare glitch in the matrix. That’s the baseline.

Most people don’t think much about their credit report until something goes wrong. Then they discover that a wrong balance, an account that was never theirs, or someone else's bankruptcy is sitting in their file, and that it has already affected a loan, an apartment, or a job offer. By the time they realize what happened, the damage is done. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) exists specifically for situations like this. It gives consumers legal rights against the companies that compile and report consumer information, and it provides a path to both correction and financial recovery when those companies fail to follow the rules. If you’re trying to figure out whether the errors on your credit report cross into legal territory, how they can be corrected, and if you’re entitled to compensation, talking to a Fair Credit Reporting Act lawyer is the right starting point.

If you’re dealing with a credit problem, it’s natural to search for a credit repair company or a credit fix attorney and expect to find someone who can truly help. The problem is that those terms cover two very different types of services, and knowing which one you actually need makes a big difference in what happens next. One is a paid service that disputes items on your behalf (credit repair service). The other is a legal practice that pursues claims under federal law when your rights have been violated (FCRA attorney). This page explains how the two work, where they overlap, and where they don’t.

Many things besides paying your bills on time affect your credit score. Here’s how to control the ones you can control.