Credit Report Attorney Corrects Errors on Credit

A credit report attorney practices consumer protection law focused on helping clients handle and fix errors in credit reports.  “Consumer” means anyone who buys goods and services, which is all of us! Credit reports are important because companies called creditors use them to decide whether to approve an application for a mortgage, car loan, job opportunity, rental property, vacation property, home equity loan, insurance coverage, credit card, benefits programs, etc.

Mistakes in credit reports happen every day, negatively impacting the lives of thousands of people. Independent research found that slightly over one-third of people have mistakes in a report. When errors cause you harm, a credit reporting lawyer applies federal and state laws to your issues to help dispute the errors on your credit, fix your credit file, improve your credit score, sue the credit bureaus, and get you compensation if you are entitled to it.

An attorney that specializes in credit reporting does the same work as lawyers that handle credit reports for people harmed by errors.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act

The federal government enacted the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to protect consumers.

The FCRA ensures that people have certain legal rights and protections and that the companies in charge of gathering, reviewing, and reporting data do so accurately and carefully. Those companies are called consumer reporting agencies (CRAs). The largest and most well-known CRAs are the credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). Sometimes people think CRA stands for credit reporting agencies, so we use this term interchangeably.

The FCRA gives you certain rights, such as the right to:

• know which information in a credit report caused a denial;
• review your credit reports for free;
• dispute errors in credit reports, including mixed credit files, non-reportable data, false deceased designations, and false data caused by identity theft;
• file lawsuits against the companies that harm you;
• seek compensation when errors show up in credit reports.

The FCRA also obligates credit agencies to:

• produce accurate credit reports;
• investigate and respond within 30 days;
• fix credit reporting errors;
• pay compensation to people harmed by errors;
• pay for your legal costs and fees if you file a lawsuit and win.

What Do Credit Reporting Lawyers Do?

A credit report lawyer helps to protect consumers who are harmed by inaccurate, misleading, or false information in a credit report. The lawyers do this by fighting credit bureaus to restore your good credit. 

1. Know the law. A credit report attorney knows the federal laws, like the FCRA, that protect you, but also knows the specific state laws where you live. Because of this, they are sometimes called a Fair Credit Reporting Act lawyer or FCRA lawyer.
2. Identify the problem. A credit lawyer reviews the reports and data from other sources to identify the problem with your report. All kinds of mistakes can happen, including a mixed or merged credit file, deceased reporting, identity theft problems, etc. Then creditors deny you access to opportunities.
3. Provide legal advice and guidance. A credit report lawyer guides you through the dispute process. Without an attorney, it may involve stalls, delays, inadequate investigations, and failure to correct errors adequately. A lawyer advises best practices for when and how to file, sets expectations, leads the process, and knows when and if it’s time to sue.
4. File a credit dispute. Whether it’s a mixed credit report, identity theft, or some other credit reporting errors, a credit reporting attorney knows how to file a dispute to quickly and completely resolve the mistakes. The lawyer advises on all the documents you’ll need, drafts the letter, marks up all supporting documentation, and submits the entire package.
5. Sues reporting agencies for FCRA violations. When credit report errors are not easily, quickly, or satisfactorily resolved, suing CRAs becomes necessary. A credit lawyer knows the specifics of how to do this and how to restore your credit score.
6. Gets you compensation. If you’re entitled to compensation because of the type or extent of the harm you suffered, then your lawyer can ensure that you get the maximum amount possible.

Disputing Errors on Your Credit Report

We recommend working with a credit attorney to dispute errors on your credit report, but you can give it a shot on your own. The basic procedures you’ll follow to fix mistakes are:

• review your credit reports from all three credit bureaus.
• clearly mark all inaccurate, misleading, or false information. This includes information that should not have been reported due to time limits on the reporting of certain data. Be aware that mixed data may be present, so confirm all details, including dates, names, spellings, etc.
• review the credit dispute procedures and addresses on each website.
• draft and prepare the package (letter, marked-up credit report, supporting documents).
• submit the dispute package via certified mail. The CRAs have online platforms available, but we advise against using these because it may require you to waive your right to sue the companies. Filing via certified mail preserves your ability to sue.

Suing Credit Reporting Agencies

An FCRA attorney can sue the credit agencies on your behalf. Whether to file a lawsuit depends on the nature and extent of the inaccurate information, the harm it caused, or the pace of the corrections. In other words, if the mistakes are especially awful, the harm is especially bad, the dispute process is inadequate, or they fail to correct your credit history, these are all reasons that you might sue to enforce FCRA compliance.

The law firm will know when it is time to file a lawsuit. It will also draft and handle all of the legal documents, timing, communication, requests, document gathering, negotiation, settlement, trial, etc.

Our Credit Reporting Attorneys Can Help You

At Consumer Attorneys, our team of credit lawyers knows the law, including the FCRA and all state-specific laws, which means we know your legal rights and how to protect you from a credit reporting agency that doesn’t comply with their legal obligations.

Many of the issues are due to mixed reports, but regardless of the source, these errors can show up in many ways on your credit history.

• Repossession that never occurred.
• Paid credit cards reported as outstanding debts with a creditor.
• Discharged accounts in bankruptcy reported as delinquent.
• Bankruptcy that never occurred.
• Incorrectly reporting accounts as charged off or in collections.
• Discharged tax lien reported as current debt.
• Reporting derogatory accounts older than seven years.
• Reinsertion of previously deleted accounts.
• Duplicate reporting of the same account.
• Forbearance or deferment on loans reported as delinquent.

Our credit attorneys can help with any of these issues or any other variation of inaccurate reporting that arises. So, if you are currently searching for an “FCRA lawyer near me,” you can stop searching and feel good about your choice to contact Consumer Attorneys.

Trust Our Credit Reporting Attorneys

With over seventy-five years of combined experience, we’ve helped thousands of clients challenge credit reporting issues and win. Our attorneys are skilled, experienced, and knowledgeable about FCRA compliance and other consumer protection legislation at the state and federal levels.

And, as true consumer advocates, we not only sue credit agencies, but we are also active in the National Association of Consumer Advocates and the National Consumer Law Center.