If a credit report, background check or tenant screening report gets something wrong, the Fair Credit Reporting Act lets you dispute it, and the reporting company generally must reinvestigate within 30 days. Whether a company's handling of a dispute may violate the FCRA depends on the facts, and the FCRA's civil-liability provisions set out what a court may award.
This page explains what federal law requires of the companies involved, where their duties stop, and what the law makes available when those duties are not met.
What a Consumer Report Is and Who the Law Covers
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq., is the main federal law on consumer reports, and it applies across the United States. Congress stated its purpose in 15 U.S.C. § 1681(b): to require consumer reporting agencies to adopt reasonable procedures that are fair to the consumer, with regard to the confidentiality, accuracy, relevancy and proper use of the information.
A consumer report, under 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(d), is any communication by a consumer reporting agency bearing on a person's credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics or mode of living, used or expected to be used as a factor in deciding eligibility for credit or insurance for personal, family or household purposes, for employment, or for other purposes the FCRA authorizes. The statute lists exclusions, including a report limited to a company's own dealings with the consumer.
A consumer reporting agency is any person that, for fees, dues or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly assembles or evaluates consumer credit or other information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports, under 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(f). The national credit bureaus fit that description, and so can specialty companies. The CFPB's page on specialty consumer reporting agencies says these reports may draw on employment, rental history including evictions, insurance claims, bank account use, and medical records or payments. That is why background checks and tenant screening report errors fall under the same law.
A furnisher is a company that supplies information about a consumer to a consumer reporting agency, such as a lender, a creditor or a collection agency. A user is a company that obtains a report to make a decision. State law may add protections, and it differs from state to state.
What the FCRA Requires: Accuracy, Reinvestigation, and Your Right to Dispute
Accuracy comes first. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b), whenever a consumer reporting agency prepares a consumer report, it must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information about the person the report concerns.
A consumer may dispute the completeness or accuracy of any item in their file, directly with the agency or through a reseller. A reinvestigation is the agency's second look at the disputed item, together with the furnisher, to decide whether it is accurate and complete. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1), subject to stated exceptions, the agency must conduct a reasonable reinvestigation free of charge and record the current status of the item, or delete it in accordance with 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(5), before the end of the 30-day period beginning when it receives the dispute. That period may be extended by up to 15 days if the consumer sends relevant information during the 30 days, but not if the item is found inaccurate or incomplete, or cannot be verified, within that period. An agency may terminate a reinvestigation if it reasonably determines that the dispute is frivolous or irrelevant, including by reason of a failure to provide sufficient information to investigate, and must notify the consumer of that determination not later than 5 business days after making it, under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(3). Otherwise it must give the consumer written notice of the results not later than 5 business days after completing the reinvestigation, under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(6).
Within five business days of receiving the dispute, the agency must notify the furnisher and pass along all relevant information the consumer provided, under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(2). The furnisher then must investigate, review that information, report its results to the agency, and, if the item is inaccurate or incomplete, report that to the nationwide agencies it reported to, under 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)(1). If an item is found inaccurate or incomplete or cannot be verified after the reinvestigation, the furnisher must promptly modify, delete or permanently block the reporting of that item, for purposes of reporting to an agency only, as appropriate, under 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)(1)(E). It must complete its investigations, reviews and reports before the end of the agency's reinvestigation period, under 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)(2).
A consumer may also dispute with the furnisher itself. The CFPB's dispute guidance says furnishers generally must investigate and respond within 30 days of receiving the dispute. The steps are laid out on the page about wrong information on a credit report.
A mixed file is a consumer report that contains information belonging to another person, often someone with a similar name or Social Security number. Accounts, collections or court records that are not the consumer's appear as if they were. An agency's handling of a mixed file may violate 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b) if its procedures for keeping files apart were not reasonable; the statutory duty is to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy, so the question depends on the facts.
Outdated negative information has limits. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a), an agency generally may not make a consumer report containing: bankruptcy cases that, from the date of entry of the order for relief or the date of adjudication, antedate the report by more than 10 years; civil suits, civil judgments and records of arrest that, from date of entry, antedate the report by more than seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is the longer period; paid tax liens that, from date of payment, antedate the report by more than seven years; accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss that antedate the report by more than seven years; or any other adverse item of information, other than records of convictions of crimes, that antedates the report by more than seven years. For accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss, the seven years begin upon the expiration of the 180-day period beginning on the date of the commencement of the delinquency that immediately preceded the collection activity or charge, under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(c)(1). Those limits do not apply to a consumer credit report used in connection with a credit transaction involving, or reasonably expected to involve, a principal amount of $150,000 or more; the underwriting of life insurance involving, or reasonably expected to involve, a face amount of $150,000 or more; or the employment of an individual at an annual salary that equals, or may reasonably be expected to equal, $75,000 or more, under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(b).
Reinvestigation failures follow the timing rules above. An agency that does not complete a reasonable reinvestigation within the period 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a) sets, where no exception applies, may violate the FCRA. For a disputed item that keeps returning or a wrong balance on a report, the question is the same: what the agency and furnisher actually did.
Furnishers carry separate duties. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a)(1)(A), a person shall not furnish information relating to a consumer to a consumer reporting agency if the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the information is inaccurate. That term means having specific knowledge, other than solely allegations by the consumer, that would cause a reasonable person to have substantial doubts about the accuracy of the information, under 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a)(1)(D), and a person that clearly and conspicuously specifies to the consumer an address for notices is not subject to subparagraph (A), under 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a)(1)(C). Except as 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(c) provides, sections 1681n and 1681o do not apply to any violation of subsection (a), and under 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(d) such a violation is enforced exclusively by the federal agencies and officials and the state officials the FCRA identifies. A furnisher that does not carry out the investigation 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b) requires after notice from an agency may violate the FCRA.
An adverse action is defined in 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(k) and includes, among other things, a denial of employment or any other decision for employment purposes that adversely affects a current or prospective employee, and certain adverse actions on insurance and credit. The CFPB's summary of FCRA rights says anyone who takes adverse action based on a report must tell the consumer and give the agency's name, address and phone number. Separately, 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(h) requires a notice when credit is offered on materially less favorable terms based on a report, with stated exceptions. Whether any particular situation violates the law depends on its facts.
What the FCRA Makes Available When a Violation Occurs
When a report has already cost someone a job or an apartment, the natural question is what the law does about it. The FCRA answers in two sections, and each depends on a court finding about the company's conduct.
For willful noncompliance, 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a) makes a person who willfully fails to comply with an FCRA requirement liable to the consumer for the sum of: actual damages sustained as a result, or damages of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000; such punitive damages as the court may allow; and, in a successful action, the costs of the action together with reasonable attorney's fees as determined by the court. For a natural person's liability for obtaining a consumer report under false pretenses or knowingly without a permissible purpose, the measure is actual damages sustained by the consumer or $1,000, whichever is greater, under 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a)(1)(B).
For negligent noncompliance, 15 U.S.C. § 1681o(a) makes the person liable for actual damages sustained as a result of the failure and, in a successful action, the costs and reasonable attorney's fees as determined by the court. Statutory and punitive damages are not part of this section.
Both sections also provide that, on a finding that an unsuccessful pleading, motion or other paper filed in connection with an action was filed in bad faith or for purposes of harassment, the court shall award the prevailing party attorney's fees reasonable in relation to the work expended in responding to it, under 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(c) and § 1681o(b). Timing matters too: under 15 U.S.C. § 1681p, an action must be brought by the earlier of two years after the plaintiff discovers the violation or five years after it occurs.
None of this means every error or every violation creates liability. Whether a situation gives rise to a civil action, and what a court might award, depends on the specific facts, the evidence of harm, and the applicable law.
The Questions and Records That Matter in an FCRA Dispute
An FCRA dispute turns on a few legal questions. Did the agency's procedures meet the accuracy standard of 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b)? Was the reinvestigation reasonable and timely under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)? Did the furnisher conduct the investigation 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b) requires? Was the conduct negligent, willful, or neither? The records that bear on those questions include the dispute letters, the agency's response, the report before and after, and any denial notice.
The options the law provides sit side by side: a written dispute to the agency, a dispute to the furnisher, a complaint to the CFPB, which the CFPB's dispute page lists under "Submit a complaint", and a civil action under 15 U.S.C. § 1681n or § 1681o. The fee provisions in those two sections let a court award reasonable attorney's fees in a successful action; that is what the statute provides, not a prediction about any case. The credit reporting dispute attorney page covers the bureau side in more detail.
This page covers consumer report disputes under the FCRA. It does not cover debt collection conduct, which the FDCPA governs, unwanted calls or texts, which the TCPA governs, identity theft remedies beyond the FCRA dispute process, or whether any debt should be paid.
How to Submit a Request Through Federal Consumer Rights
Federal Consumer Rights is a website that provides information and facilitates inquiries concerning consumer-protection matters. A reader who believes a consumer report contains an error, or that an agency or furnisher may not have met its FCRA duties, may submit a request through this site describing the problem.
Requests may be passed to attorneys, who decide for themselves whether to respond.
This site does not provide legal advice, and sending a request does not create an attorney-client relationship. Answers to common general questions appear in the consumer law FAQ.
Requesting a Consumer Rights Case Review
This page does not cover debt collection, calls and texts, or any state's own reporting rules.
A consumer may request a consumer rights case review about a consumer report dispute through Federal Consumer Rights.
