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Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)Credit report errors & identity theft
Inaccurate, mixed, or fraudulent information can cost you a loan, a home, or a job. The FCRA gives you the power to fix it — and to recover damages.
Inaccurate information appears in consumers’ credit reports and background checks far more often than people realize. Studies have found that roughly one in four consumers has an error on a credit report that could affect their score — and those errors can mean being denied a credit card, an insurance policy, a job, or a mortgage. Worse, you often don’t discover the problem until you apply for something important and there isn’t time to fix it.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), credit reporting agencies and the companies that furnish information to them have a legal duty to correct inaccurate information. If they don’t do it properly, you may have a claim.
How to dispute the right way
Send a dispute letter to the credit bureaus requesting correction of any inaccurate information, and protect your record while you do it:
- Keep a copy of the letter after you have signed it.
- Mail it by certified mail, return receipt requested.
- Keep the certificate of mailing and the return receipt together with your copy of the letter.
Need the mailing addresses? We keep an up-to-date list of credit-bureau dispute addresses, along with why you should dispute in writing rather than online.
Identity theft
Many of our clients are victims of identity theft trying to recover their good name and good credit. Some are sued by creditors for fraudulent accounts opened in their name. Others are harassed by collectors over accounts they never opened. People who once had excellent credit suddenly find themselves denied — living what they describe as a nightmare. There are laws to protect you. The identity theft can be stopped, your credit recovered, and in many cases our clients also recover damages under the FCRA.
Debts you discharged in bankruptcy
Many people who file for bankruptcy don’t get the clean start they expected: creditors keep reporting that money is still owed. This usually isn’t your bankruptcy lawyer’s error — it’s a credit-reporting problem the FCRA was built to address. We may be able to help you get the credit you deserve restored, and recover damages.
What this costs you
Often no cost to you out of pocket. Because the FCRA and FDCPA can require a company that violated your rights to pay damages — and in some cases punitive damages — plus your legal fees, the firm can take qualifying cases at little or no out-of-pocket cost. We’ll explain how fees and costs work during a free review.
Frequently asked questions
Send a written dispute to the credit bureau by U.S. Mail, certified, return receipt requested — not through the bureau's online form, which can limit your rights and your evidence. Identify the account, explain what is wrong, and include proof. The bureau generally has 30 days to reinvestigate. Keep copies of everything; that paper trail is what protects your right to sue if they get it wrong.
This is exactly when the Fair Credit Reporting Act grows teeth. Once you have made a proper dispute and the bureau or the furnisher failed to conduct a reasonable investigation, you may have a claim for the damage the error caused — a denied loan, a higher rate, a lost job, or the hours and stress of fighting it. That is the point to bring the file to a consumer attorney rather than disputing in circles.
Yes. The FCRA gives consumers a private right of action against bureaus and furnishers. You can recover your actual damages — and where the violation was willful, statutory damages and even punitive damages — plus your attorney's fees, which is why we can often take these cases at no cost to you.
No. Filing a dispute does not lower your score. The account may be marked 'in dispute' while it is investigated, and the real score damage is being done by the error itself — which is the reason to get it corrected rather than live with it.
Usually nothing out of pocket. The FCRA lets us recover attorney's fees from the bureau or furnisher that broke the law, and we handle most credit-reporting cases at little or no out-of-pocket cost. We will explain exactly how fees would work in your case during a free review.
Talk to a Virginia consumer lawyer — at no cost
Tell us what happened and we’ll tell you whether you have rights worth enforcing — and exactly what to do next. The first case review is free and confidential.
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