Credit Report Disputes

A credit report contains important information about your history and the status of your credit accounts. This information usually includes how often you make your payments on time, how much credit you have available, how much credit you are using, and whether a debt collector is collecting on any debt you owe.

Credit reports can also contain important information such as where you live, and public records such as whether you’ve been arrested or sued, if you’ve filed bankruptcy, if a judgment has been entered against you, and if a lien has been entered against your property.

For most Americans, credit standing and credit reports are an important part of their lives. Negative items on a person’s credit report can result in that person being denied future credit (such as for a house or a car loan), being denied employment, and even being denied housing.

Because the information contained in your credit report can affect you in so many ways, it is essential to make sure that the information is accurate and complete.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. (FCRA), is a federal statute that regulates the activities of consumer reporting agencies and those who furnish information to consumer reporting agencies, and provides important rights to consumers affected by credit reporting errors. The purpose of the FCRA is to require that consumer reporting agency adopt reasonable procedures for meeting the needs of commerce for consumer credit, and ensuring the fairness, accuracy, privacy, and proper utilization of such information.

The FCRA provides consumers with many rights, including, but not limited to:

• The right to know what is in your credit file;
• The right to be told if information in your credit file has been used against you;
• Your right to ask for a credit score;
• The right to limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance based on your credit file;
• Your right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information; and
• Your right to demand that consumer reporting agencies correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information.

If you are experiencing negative or inaccurate credit reporting there are certain steps required by the FCRA to correct that negative reporting, and we may be able to assist you in that process.