Credit Report Errors

Fight Credit Report Errors with Credit Report Error Lawyers

The single most important thing you need to know is that credit report errors are unlawful. Not just annoying. Not just an inconvenience. Not just damaging. Unlawful.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is very clear that you, as a consumer, have the right to accurate data in all consumer reports, including credit reports.

Unfortunately, being unlawful isn’t enough to prevent credit bureaus from making credit report errors in the first place, but it is the key to fixing them for good.

At Consumer Justice Law Firm, we help you enforce your legal right to accurate credit reports. But this doesn’t just mean correcting the record.

It means helping you make a complete credit recovery, reclaim your financial integrity, fight for fair compensation for any harm you suffered, and empowering you to push back against billion-dollar bullies.

Because it’s not just you against these corporate giants anymore. From now on, it’s you and your backup.

4 Common Types of Credit Report Errors

Credit report errors include any inaccurate, misleading, or false information, including information that should have aged off of your credit report, like an old bankruptcy.

1. Clerical errors– Your data is input incorrectly at a financial institution, lender, store account, or elsewhere, and the error spreads through your credit profile.
2. Mixed credit reports– Your credit and financial data is combined with data from someone else who has a similar name, birthdate, or Social Security Number.
3. Being mistakenly marked as deceased– You are wrongfully marked as deceased by a financial institution, lender, store account, or credit bureau, and the error spreads to the Social Security Administration and beyond.
4. False bankruptcy data– information that should have “aged off” your credit report (such as an old bankruptcy) keeps getting reported. Or, credit report errors involving the misreporting of accounts that are in bankruptcy can show up.

Take a deep dive into these specific types of errors on our related practice pages: mixed credit reports, deceased reporting, and bankruptcy credit report errors.

How Common Are Credit Reporting Errors?

Consumer studies estimate the likelihood of discovering wrongful data in your credit report at 44%, and of discovering serious errors in your credit report at nearly 30%.

This means that serious credit report errors impact approximately 1 out of every 3 people in the U.S., giving you a very good chance of having your consumer data misreported in your lifetime.

Check out the Consumer Justice Blog for insights into everyday situations in which credit report errors cause serious harm to U.S. consumers.

What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act?

Credit report errors are the result of a fast and furious data industry that relies on monstrously large corporations to gather, process, and report data for approximately 200 million consumers on a rolling basis.

Due to the massive volume of data being handled and the emphasis on maximizing corporate profit rather than data accuracy, federal lawmakers passed the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to protect consumers.

The FCRA applies to all consumer reporting agencies, which includes the credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion), background check companies, and other companies producing specialized consumer reports.

We rely heavily on the FCRA to build the best possible cases and get the best possible outcomes for you.

Your Rights Under the FCRA

The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to accurate credit reports. Here’s what it says:

“Whenever a consumer reporting agency prepares a consumer report it shall follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information concerning the individual about whom the report relates.”

In addition, it gives you the right to:

• review your credit reports for free
• know which data in a credit report was used to deny you an opportunity
• dispute credit report errors
• file lawsuits against the responsible parties
• seek compensation for harm suffered
• make the wrongdoers pay for your legal costs and fees

In fact, the FCRA plays such a critical role in protecting consumers from credit report errors, the lawyers who help fight these mistakes are frequently called FCRA lawyers.

The FCRA used to guarantee free access to your credit reports once annually, but since approximately 2020, you now have weekly access to your own credit reports.

3 Steps To Fight Credit Report Errors

Under the FCRA, you can typically protect yourself against ongoing, damaging, and repetitive credit report errors by taking three crucial steps: legal guidance, error disputes, and strategic follow-up.

Talk to a lawyer: Get a free consultation early on. Know your rights, what you’ll need to prove your case, where to gather evidence, and when to file a credit report error lawsuit.

Dispute errors: Review your credit report and financial statements. Dispute inaccurate, misleading, false, or unreportable data. If you’re working with a credit report error lawyer, they handle the dispute process for you, including offering personalized guidance on best practices to preserve your rights. If you’re going it alone, it’s smart to file your dispute via certified mail to avoid waiving important legal rights.

Make them fix it: Never accept the credit bureau’s nonsense when they say they’ve investigated and confirmed the data is actually right. This is a common tactic. (A lawsuit usually gets the job done.)

*If you’re reported deceased by the Social Security Administration, there’s a more involved process.*

How to Dispute a Credit Report Error

1. Review your credit reports for mistakes.
2. Gather any evidence and documentation you have to support your dispute.
3. Write a thorough and clear letter explaining exactly which information in your credit report is wrong and why.
4. Mail your letter, along with copies of the supporting documents, via certified mail to the credit bureau reporting the errors. This preserves your rights and leaves an easily traceable trail. Avoid using online dispute platforms if they make you waive your legal rights.
5. Keep a copy of the letter and documents for your file, along with the mail receipt.
6. Track the days. They have 30 days to respond.
7. Don’t give up. If they don’t respond, don’t investigate, don’t fix the errors, or claim that their investigation confirmed the bad data, you need a lawyer NOW.

How Credit Report Errors Harm You

• Credit Score Drop. All your hard work maintaining a healthy credit score can end with a rapid and unfair credit score drop.
• Mortgage denials. At any phase of the home-buying process, including after you’ve searched for and found the perfect house, you can be unfairly denied a mortgage.
• Rental denials. Whether you’re looking for a long-term rental for housing, a vacation rental for fun, or a car rental for commuting, you can be flagged as a rental risk and denied.
• Car loan rejections. Even if you’ve saved for months, selected within your budget, and paid every single bill, loan, and debt on time, you can be unfairly turned down.
• Job loss. Whether you’re a new candidate or a current employee, if a healthy credit report is part of your assessment, you can be let go or passed up due to bad data.
• Credit denials. Home equity loans, personal loans, and lines of credit through a bank or lender can be denied without any fault of your own.
• Store account refusals. If you apply for a store card or account with a favorite retail brand, you can be refused rather than rewarded.
• Insurance denials. When you seek insurance or other financial products, a solid credit rating is usually critical, and you can be denied for falsely failing to meet the standard.
• Worse loan terms. Even if you’re approved for a loan, inaccurate or misleading data can mean that you get stuck with worse interest rates and bad loan terms.
• Added to the Death Master File. If you’re falsely reported as deceased, you can be added to the SSA’s Death Master File, losing access to ALL of your finances, benefits, and accounts with one simple keystroke.
• Mental and emotional distress. From missing out on long-awaited opportunities to losing sleep due to worry, or being plagued by anxiety, the toll these errors take is real.

“Do I Need a Lawyer for Credit Report Errors?”

The short answer is no. No one needs a lawyer for anything. You can even defend yourself in a criminal trial without a lawyer. So, you’re always free to dispute and fight the credit bureaus alone.

However, even though it shouldn’t be, correcting credit report errors is frequently turned into a complicated and convoluted process.

So, the better question is, “Can working with a lawyer to fight and fix credit report errors benefit me?” And to this we say, yes!

A credit report error lawyer navigates the entire process with you, from the first minute you realize there’s a credit report error until the final moment when you get fixes and money.

Our lawyers help you identify important documents and evidence, draft legally solid dispute letters, provide personalized guidance and advocacy, and file a lawsuit if you get ignored, dismissed, suffer harm, or face errors that seem to be on repeat.

Working with an experienced attorney gives you the best shot at fixing the problems for good and getting money for any harm to your life, finances, and mental wellbeing.

The FCRA fee-shifting provisions mean that you pay nothing out of pocket for top legal help. Believe it or not, the credit bureaus pay our legal costs and fees when we win.

What Does a Top Credit Report Lawyer Do?

1. We know the law. We know the laws that protect you, so we go after the credit bureaus using every possible legal option available.
2. We know the problems. We’ve seen, heard, and handled every type of credit report error and put our full knowledge and resources into everything we do.
3. We know the tricks. We know the tactics used by these companies to delay doing anything to fix credit report errors. They’d rather convince you it’s a lost cause. We know otherwise.
4. We know how to provide legal guidance. We help you gather necessary data and evidence, craft and file legally sound disputes, and advise you of your rights and best practices along the way.
5. We know how to file a strategic lawsuit. If your credit errors aren’t corrected or the fallout persists, we file a lawsuit to hold the credit bureaus accountable.
6. We know how to get you money. If you’ve been harmed by credit report errors and you’re entitled to compensation, we know how to maximize it.

How Much Does a Credit Report Lawyer Cost?

If you work with Consumer Justice Law Firm, the answer to this is simple: it costs you nothing out of pocket to work with a top credit report lawyer.

From your FREE consultation all the way through to the resolution of your claim, whether it involves disputes, lawsuits, or anything else, you don’t pay us a dime up front or out of pocket.

The companies we sue pay our legal bills when we win.

No Justice, No Fee.^TM

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I check my credit report?

If you’re going through a credit check process, you’re entitled to receive a copy of your credit report at the time that it’s run. If you just want to stay current, you are able to check your credit report for free once per week at each of the credit bureaus- Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

The authorized website annualcreditreport.com is a great resource for this.

Holders of certain credit cards can also get credit snapshots online or through the credit card app.

Is there a reason not to dispute errors on a credit report?

No. There is no reason to avoid disputing errors on a credit report. In fact, even minor credit report errors should be disputed once you’re aware of them. You have an absolute right to accuracy and they have an obligation to investigate and correct their mistakes.

Plus, small errors can snowball. A slight misspelling in your name can turn into a future credit report that pulls in someone else’s data entirely. We recommend regularly reviewing your credit reports and disputing inaccuracies before they end up blocking you from a job, mortgage, loan, or other opportunity you may want in the future.

Is every credit report error worth filing a lawsuit over?

No. There are some errors that only warrant a lawsuit if they cause significant harm. There are some errors that, while annoying and in violation of the law, aren’t the kind that get handled through a lawsuit. And there are some errors that are so egregious, a lawsuit can be filed immediately. The facts of every client and every case differ.

At Consumer Justice Law Firm, our intake team of legal advocates and attorneys, is incredibly skilled at determining which credit report errors need legal help. Answering this question is exactly what the consultation and intake process is all about. And, a fun fact about the law is that even if we don’t think your situation requires a lawsuit, it’s possible that another law firm will.

FREE CONSULTATIONS! We only get paid when we win. No Justice, No Fee.^TM