Inaccurate Credit Reporting
The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires the Credit Reporting Agencies and the businesses that furnish information to them to maintain complete accuracy when it comes to the information listed in a consumer’s credit file. It is possible that your credit score is being adversely affected by inaccurate information that is being published in your credit report.
The typical kinds of inaccuracies include:
Information belonging to a different person with a similar name (known as mixed or merged credit files)
Information resulting from identity theft
Debts discharged in bankruptcy showing as owing
Debts not being properly updated after the completion of a Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
The same account being reported in 2 or more places in your credit report
Showing an authorized user of the account as someone who is legally obligated on it
Many others
Your St. Louis Credit Reporting Lawyer
At Healey Law LLC, we have represented consumers with credit reporting problems and inaccuracies for the last 12 years. Call us for a free consultation. We bring claims for consumers who have false or inaccurate information in their credit files under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FCRA is a federal law which:
Requires reporting agencies to use reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy whenever they prepare consumer reports, including traditional credit reports, employment background reports, and tenant screening reports;,
Requires reporting agencies to perform reasonable “reinvestigations” of information disputed by a consumer;
Requires reporting agencies, after a reinvestigation, to delete information that is determined to be inaccurate or that cannot be verified, and prohibits those agencies from reinserting the deleted information unless the furnisher of that inforamtion certifies its accuracy and the reporting agency notifies the consumer that the deleted information is being reinserted into the credit file;
Requires companies that furnish information to reporting agencies to perform reasonable investigations of consumer disputes that are forwarded to them by the credit reporting agencies;
Generally requires reporting agencies to block information that is the result of identity theft if the consumer/victim gives proper notice;
Bars credit reports from being issued to businesses, banks and other entities unless there is a permissible purpose for issuing it; and
Allows consumers to get free copies of their credit reports at least once a year.
The FCRA is what is known as a fee shifting statute, which means if we pursue a claim on your behalf and make a recovery, the Credit Reporting Agencies or the furnisher of the inaccurate information will be liable for your attorney’s fees. There are no up front fees or payments for our clients. If a credit bureau, a user of credit reports, or a company that reports to credit bureaus has broken the law, we’ll go after them and make them pay.
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Reach out to schedule your free consultation.