Credit Reporting Errors

At Consumer Justice Law Firm, we help you recover from the harmful consequences of credit report errors by upholding and protecting your rights under federal and state law. This includes enforcing your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and doing everything the law allows to hold companies accountable for the reckless way they handle your data. 

Justice for credit report errors looks like this: 

Making credit bureaus, other consumer reporting agencies, and data providers (1) fix their mistakes, (2) pay you compensation for the harm they caused, and (3) pay for your legal bills because you had to force them to do the right thing.

The Most Common Types of Credit Report Errors

There is a very good chance that your consumer information will be misreported at some time in your life. The likelihood of discovering wrongful data in your credit report is estimated at 33%. This means that credit report errors will impact 1 out of every 3 people in the U.S.

Credit report errors include any inaccurate, misleading, or false information, including information that should have aged off of your report, like an old bankruptcy. Four common types of credit report errors are (1) clerical errors- your data is input incorrectly at a financial institution, lender, store account, or elsewhere, and the error spreads; (2) mixed credit reports- your data is mixed with data from other people with similar names, birthdates, Social Security Numbers, etc.; (3) deceased credit reports- 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; and (4) false bankruptcy data- information that should have “aged off” of your report, like an old bankruptcy, that keeps getting reported is a credit report error. So is the misreporting of accounts that are in bankruptcy. If you were promised a clean slate on your credit report after bankruptcy, but didn’t get it, you have rights.

How Credit Report Errors Harm You

Credit report errors can harm you in any of the following ways and more: 

  • Credit Score Drop. All of your hard work maintaining a healthy credit score can end with a rapid and unfair 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 unjustly denied. 
  • 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 falsely flagged as a rental risk.
  • 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.

Steps To Take After Discovering Credit Report Errors

Step 1  Talk to a lawyer

The law upholds your right to accurate consumer data and obligates companies to investigate and fix their mistakes, but the system itself is broken. Investigations are frequently inadequate, and stalls, delays, and unfixed errors are common. A lawyer will clearly set out your rights, guide you through the dispute and recovery process, and get you compensation.

Step 2  Dispute the errors

You have a right to receive a copy of your credit report when a credit check is run. Carefully review your credit reports and financial statements and dispute any inaccurate, misleading, false, or unreportable data. If you’re working with us, we’ll handle this process for you. If you’re not, file your disputes via certified mail to preserve all of your legal rights. (If you’re reported deceased by the Social Security Administration, there’s a more involved process.)

Step 3  Make them fix it

If you know the data in your credit report is wrong, never accept their nonsense when they say they’ve investigated and confirmed that it’s right. This is a common outcome of shoddy internal investigations and does not meet their legal obligations to do the right thing. But a lawsuit usually gets the job done.

How A Credit Report Error Attorney Leads You to a Full Recovery

Correcting credit errors shouldn’t have to be a complicated and convoluted process, but it frequently is. Working with an experienced attorney gives you the best shot at a full resolution and maximum compensation. 

Here’s how we help you: 

  1. We know the law. We know the laws that protect you and how to go after these careless mega-corporations 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 reporting mistakes. They’d rather convince you it’s a lost cause. We know otherwise.
  4. We 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 file a lawsuit. If your errors aren’t corrected or the fallout persists, we file a lawsuit to hold companies accountable.
  6. We get you money. If you’ve been harmed by credit report errors and you’re entitled to compensation, we know how to maximize it.

Don’t underestimate the peace of mind that comes from knowing every next move is the right move toward recovery.

The Role of the Fair Credit Reporting Act

Consumer data errors are the consequence of a fast and furious economy that depends largely on the ability of monstrously large corporations to gather, process, and report data for tens of millions of individuals on a rolling basis. In the balance between speed and profit, accuracy is the first thing to go. And you pay the consequences. Because credit report errors are part of a persistent, systemic problem, and because they cause genuine harm to consumers every single day, the federal government passed an important piece of legislation- the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to try to protect you.

We rely heavily on the FCRA to build the best possible cases and get the best possible outcomes. The FCRA gives you critical consumer reporting rights, including 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

How to Dispute a Credit Report Error

  • Review your credit reports for mistakes.
  • Gather any evidence and documentation you have to support your dispute.
  • Write a thorough and clear letter explaining exactly which information in your credit report is wrong and why.
  • 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.
  • Keep a copy of the letter and documents for your file, along with the mail receipt.
  • Track the days. They have 30 days to respond.
  • 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.

One of the most important and least known facts about embarking on the credit error recovery journey is that you don’t have to pay out of pocket for legal help. Under the FCRA, you are not expected to spend your own money or take on debt just to dispute credit errors and demand corrections of your data since you didn’t create the problem in the first place. The ones who made the problem have to pay to fix it. 

At Consumer Justice, we respect this fee-shifting provision for the role it plays in our legal system, especially since it serves as an equalizer, bringing justice to everyone, including those who otherwise couldn’t afford to work with an attorney. We value each and every client and every case, and appreciate that the law has carved out a way to center equity and fairness in legal representation for consumers harmed by big business data errors. 

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. Holders of certain credit cards can also get credit snapshots online or through the credit card app. Fraudulent websites are everywhere. Be very careful to confirm that you are on a legitimate website before entering any of your personal data. 

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 errors that don’t cause any harm 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 data from another consumer. 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 are so egregious, a lawsuit can be filed immediately. 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. The facts of every client and every case differ. At Consumer Justice Law Firm, our intake team, including intake attorneys, are incredibly well-versed in 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.