Credit Reporting Errors

Credit Reporting Errors Need Credit Report Lawyers.

At Consumer Justice Law Firm, we help you recover from the harmful consequences of credit reporting errors by upholding and protecting your rights under the law. We do everything the law allows to hold consumer reporting agencies accountable for the reckless way they handle your data.

GET JUSTICE for Credit Reporting Errors!

We fight to make consumer reporting agencies

  1. Fix mistakes, errors, and inaccuracies in your reports
  2. Pay you money for any harm they cause
  3. Pay your legal bills (you pay $0 out of pocket)

4 Common Types of Credit Reporting 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. 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
  4. False bankruptcy data– information that should have “aged off” your credit report (such as an old bankruptcy) keeps getting reported. Credit reporting errors involving the misreporting of accounts that are in bankruptcy can also show up.

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 information about how everyday people in situations just like yours are impacted by credit reporting errors.

How Credit Reporting Errors Harm You

  • Credit Score Drop. All 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 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.
A credit report lays on a desk top. It conveys how credit reporting errors tell an inaccurate story.

3 Steps To Take After Discovering Credit Reporting Errors

STEP 1  Talk to a lawyer

You have the legal right to accurate credit reports and consumer reporting agencies (such as Experian, Equifax, and Transunion) have 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 clearly sets out your rights, guides you through the dispute and recovery process, and gets you compensation.

STEP 2  Dispute the errors

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 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 Reporting Error Attorney Helps

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 fixing the problems for good and getting money for any harm to your life, finances, and mental wellbeing.

6 Key things a Credit Reporting Error Attorney Knows

  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 reporting 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 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 credit 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 reporting errors and you’re entitled to compensation, we know how to maximize it.

Pro Tip! Don’t underestimate the peace of mind that comes from knowing every next move is the right move toward recovery. Working with us is a smart move.

What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act?

Credit reporting errors are the consequence of a fast and furious data industry 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 reporting 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 to protect you- the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

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

Your Rights Under the FCRA

This federal law 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 reporting errors, the lawyers who help fight these mistakes are frequently called FCRA lawyers.

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

How to Dispute a Credit Reporting 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.

One of the most important and least known facts about fighting credit reporting errors 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 reporting errors and demand corrections of your data. You didn’t create the problem, you shouldn’t have to pay to fix. The law makes the companies who made the problem pay to fix it.

At Consumer Justice Law Firm, we respect this fee-shifting provision for the role it plays in our legal system. It is as an equalizer, bringing justice to everyone, including those who otherwise couldn’t afford to work with an attorney. The law has cleverly 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 their 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 someone else’s data. 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 reporting 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 legal intake team of client advocates and attorneys, is incredibly skilled at determining which credit reporting 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.