When a creditor keeps reporting information that is wrong, federal law gives a consumer two dispute routes: a dispute with the credit bureau, which generally must reinvestigate within 30 days, and a direct dispute with the creditor. A creditor generally may not report information it knows is inaccurate, or information a consumer has told it is inaccurate when that information is in fact inaccurate.
Most people facing this have already done the hard part. They pulled their credit report, found a late payment that never happened, a balance that is off or an account that is not theirs, and they disputed it. Then the same line came back, or never left. They are trying to work out whether the company is allowed to keep doing that, and what the law actually requires of it.
This page walks through the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the law that governs credit reports nationwide, as it applies to that situation: who owes what duty, how disputes work, and what the statute says about information that keeps returning.
What the FCRA Requires of the Companies That Report Your Credit Information
The FCRA puts duties on two different kinds of companies, and it helps to keep them apart.
A consumer reporting agency (CRA) is a company that gathers information about people and sells it as reports. The CFPB explains that credit reporting companies, "also known as credit bureaus or consumer reporting agencies, are companies that compile and sell credit reports" (CFPB).
A furnisher is a company that sends information about a consumer to a CRA: a creditor, a lender, a debt collector or another business. The CFPB lists a bank, a landlord and a credit card company as examples.
The furnisher's core rule appears in 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a): "A person shall not furnish any information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the information is inaccurate." "Reasonable cause" means specific knowledge, "other than solely allegations by the consumer," that would give a reasonable person substantial doubts. That rule generally does not apply to a furnisher that clearly and conspicuously gives consumers an address for dispute notices; that furnisher is instead bound by the notice rule discussed below.
The same section requires a regular furnisher that learns its information is incomplete or inaccurate to promptly notify the CRA and send corrections. Under 12 C.F.R. § 1022.42, each furnisher must also keep reasonable written policies on the accuracy and integrity of what it reports. The CRA's duties are separate, and they come next.
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)(A), when a consumer tells a CRA that an item in their file is incomplete or inaccurate, the CRA must, "free of charge, conduct a reasonable reinvestigation." A reinvestigation is the bureau's second look at the disputed item to decide whether it is wrong. The CRA must complete it, and record the current status of the disputed information or delete the item, before the end of the 30-day period that begins on the date it receives the notice of the dispute.
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)(B), that period may be extended by up to 15 more days if the consumer sends relevant information during the 30 days. The extension does not apply if, within the 30 days, the item is found inaccurate or incomplete or the CRA decides it cannot be verified. A reinvestigation requested after the consumer received a free annual disclosure from a nationwide consumer reporting agency must instead be completed not later than 45 days after the request is received.
Within five business days of receiving the dispute, the CRA must notify the furnisher and pass along all relevant information the consumer gave it, under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(2). If the item is found inaccurate or incomplete, or cannot be verified, 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(5) requires the CRA to promptly delete or modify it and tell the furnisher. A CRA may end a reinvestigation it reasonably finds frivolous or irrelevant, but must tell the consumer why not later than five business days after making that determination.
A consumer may submit a dispute online, by mail or by phone. The CFPB's page on how to dispute a credit report error lists what a mailed dispute letter includes, and it notes a consumer can choose certified mail with a return receipt.
What the Furnisher Must Do After a Dispute Is Filed
Once a bureau forwards a dispute, the creditor has its own work to do. The FTC describes it this way: the credit bureau forwards the consumer's evidence to the business that reported the information, and "the business must investigate and report the results back to the credit bureau. If the business finds the information they reported is inaccurate, it must notify all three nationwide credit bureaus so they can correct the information in your file" (FTC). The CFPB adds that if the information is wrong or cannot be verified, the furnisher must update or remove it.
That process begins with the bureau's notice. A separate route starts with the consumer. Regulation V, the CFPB's rule carrying out parts of the FCRA at 12 C.F.R. part 1022, lets a consumer send a direct dispute, a dispute sent straight to the creditor. Under 12 C.F.R. § 1022.43(a), a furnisher must reasonably investigate a direct dispute about the consumer's liability for the account (including identity theft), the account's terms, the consumer's performance or other conduct concerning the account (such as current payment status) or other account information in a report, except as that section provides. Among other conditions, the dispute must be sent to an address listed in 12 C.F.R. § 1022.43(c) and contain the information 12 C.F.R. § 1022.43(d) requires.
After receiving a dispute notice that meets 12 C.F.R. § 1022.43(c) and (d), 12 C.F.R. § 1022.43(e) requires the furnisher to conduct a reasonable investigation, review all relevant information the consumer provided, report the results to the consumer before the period within which a CRA would have had to complete its action ends, and, if the information was inaccurate, promptly notify each CRA to which it provided inaccurate information and provide any correction needed. Under 12 C.F.R. § 1022.43(f), a furnisher is not required to investigate a direct dispute it has reasonably determined is frivolous or irrelevant, and must notify the consumer of that determination not later than five business days after making it.
When a Creditor Keeps Reporting After a Dispute: What the Law Says
Watching a corrected item come back can feel like the dispute never counted. Several FCRA rules speak to that.
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a)(1)(B), a furnisher may not report information if the consumer has notified it, at the address the furnisher specifies for such notices, that specific information is inaccurate, and the information is in fact inaccurate. Both conditions matter: the notice, and actual inaccuracy.
Even when a dispute is unresolved, 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a)(3) says a furnisher may not report disputed information without noting that the consumer disputes it. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(f), a CRA told of that dispute must show it in each report containing the information.
Reinsertion has its own rule. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(5)(B), a CRA may not put deleted information back unless the furnisher certifies it is complete and accurate. If it is reinserted, the CRA must tell the consumer in writing within five business days, give the furnisher's name and address (and phone number if reasonably available), and note the right to add a statement disputing it. CRAs must also keep reasonable procedures to stop deleted information from reappearing.
Continued reporting after a dispute may raise questions under these rules, but whether a particular situation violates the FCRA depends on its facts.
Remedies the FCRA Makes Potentially Available
The FCRA's civil remedies turn on how a company failed to comply, not simply on whether an error appeared.
For willful noncompliance, 15 U.S.C. § 1681n says a person who willfully fails to comply with a requirement of the FCRA is liable for "any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure or damages of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000," plus "such amount of punitive damages as the court may allow," and, "in the case of any successful action," costs and reasonable attorney's fees as determined by the court.
For negligent noncompliance, 15 U.S.C. § 1681o provides for "any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure" and, in a successful action, costs and reasonable attorney's fees. There is no statutory-damages range or punitive award in this section.
Both sections also provide that, on a finding that an unsuccessful pleading, motion or other paper 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. § 1681s-2(c), subject to the exception stated there, sections 1681n and 1681o do not apply to a violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a), including regulations issued under it, and under 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(d) those provisions are enforced exclusively by the federal agencies and officials and the state officials the FCRA identifies. A furnisher's duties after a bureau's notice of a dispute, in 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b), are not within that limit. Not every reporting error creates liability. Whether a situation supports a civil action, and what it could involve, depends on the facts, including what the company knew and did and what harm resulted. This site's page on federal consumer lawsuits explains the broader framework.
Filing a Complaint with the CFPB or FTC
An agency complaint is a separate path from any lawsuit. The CFPB's dispute page states that "if you have a problem with your credit report, you can also submit a complaint with the CFPB" (CFPB). Where a disputed item stays after the furnisher stands by it, the CFPB notes a consumer can ask the bureaus to add a statement explaining the dispute, which is then given to whoever requests the report later.
The FTC's guidance on disputing credit report errors covers checking reports after a dispute to confirm an item was removed, or that a dispute notice was added if the business keeps reporting it. Where the wrong entry stems from someone misusing a person's information, the FTC points to IdentityTheft.gov to report it and get a recovery plan.
A complaint does not decide a legal claim, and neither agency page promises a particular result. Some readers also wonder whether state law helps. State law may add protections, and it differs from state to state.
If You'd Like a Consumer Rights Case Review
Repeat reporting can turn on a sequence: what was reported, when each dispute went out and to whom, what each bureau and creditor answered, and whether the item was deleted and came back. This page does not address debt collection conduct, identity theft recovery or a particular company's reporting.
A reader may request a consumer rights case review through Federal Consumer Rights, a website that provides information and facilitates inquiries and is not a law firm.
