If your credit report shows something wrong, federal law gives you the right to dispute it for free. The credit bureau generally must reinvestigate within 30 days, pass your dispute to the company that reported the item, and correct or delete information that turns out to be inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable.
A wrong item can surface at a bad moment: a loan application, an apartment search, or a routine check that turns up an account the consumer never opened or a late payment they know they made on time. Other examples are a collection account that is not theirs, or a stranger's name in their own file. The questions tend to be the same. Who is responsible for the mistake, what do they have to do about it, and how long can it take?
This page walks through the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the federal law that governs credit reports. It covers the common kinds of errors, how to get your reports, how a dispute works, and what the law makes potentially available when its rules are not followed.
What the FCRA Says About Accuracy in Consumer Reports
The FCRA puts accuracy duties on two kinds of companies. The first is the consumer reporting agency, a company that gathers information about people and sells reports about them to others. The CFPB describes these companies as ones that "compile and sell credit reports," and they are also called credit bureaus (CFPB). The FTC refers to three nationwide credit bureaus. A consumer report is the report such an agency provides about a person, such as a credit report.
The second is the furnisher, the lender, card company, collection agency or other business that sends information about you to a consumer reporting agency.
For the agencies, 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b) says: "Whenever a consumer reporting agency prepares a consumer report it shall follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information concerning the individual about whom the report relates."
For furnishers, 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b) requires a furnisher to investigate after a consumer reporting agency notifies it of a dispute.
The CFPB groups common credit report errors into a few categories (CFPB):
- Identity errors. These include a wrong name, phone number or address, and accounts belonging to someone with the same or a similar name. When two people's information is combined in one file, the result is called a mixed file.
- Account status errors. These include closed accounts reported as open, or being listed as the owner of an account when you are only an authorized user. They also include accounts wrongly reported as late or delinquent, incorrect dates (last payment, date opened, or date of first delinquency), and the same debt listed more than once.
- Data errors. These include an incorrect balance or an incorrect credit limit.
Identity theft is another source. The FTC explains that someone may use your personal information without permission, for example to get new credit cards or open utility accounts in your name (FTC).
Old information can also be wrong to report. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a), a consumer reporting agency generally may not make a report that contains the following items, among others, except that 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(b) makes paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(5) inapplicable to a consumer credit report used for a credit transaction of $150,000 or more, the underwriting of life insurance of $150,000 or more, or employment at an annual salary of $75,000 or more:
- bankruptcy cases more than 10 years old;
- civil suits, civil judgments and arrest records more than seven years old, or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is longer;
- paid tax liens more than seven years after payment;
- accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss more than seven years old, counted from the end of the 180 days after the delinquency that preceded the collection or charge-off (15 U.S.C. § 1681c(c));
- any other adverse item more than seven years old, other than records of criminal convictions.
How to Get a Copy of Your Credit Report
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681j(a), the nationwide consumer reporting agencies must give you your file once in any 12-month period, free, when you ask. For the three credit bureaus, the request must go through the centralized source the law set up. The agency must provide the report within 15 days of receiving the request.
The FTC says AnnualCreditReport.com is the only website authorized to fill those orders. It also says the three bureaus have permanently extended a program that offers free weekly reports there (FTC). The FTC warns about imposter sites that use similar names.
A second free report right follows an adverse action, a term that includes a denial of credit, insurance or employment, or another unfavorable decision, based on a consumer report. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681j(b), the agency must provide your file free if you ask within 60 days after receiving that notice.
Each bureau may get its information from different sources, so the three reports can differ. One bureau's report can be accurate while another's contains an error.
The FCRA Dispute Process: What a Consumer May Do and What the CRA Must Do
A reinvestigation is the review a consumer reporting agency must conduct when a consumer disputes whether an item is complete or accurate. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1), when a consumer notifies the agency of a dispute, the agency must conduct a reasonable reinvestigation free of charge. It must then either record the item's current status or delete it, within 30 days of receiving the dispute. That period may be extended by up to 15 days if the consumer sends relevant information during the 30 days. There is no extension if the item is found inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable within that period. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681j(a)(3), a dispute made after receiving a free annual report must be completed within 45 days.
The CFPB describes a written dispute as one that explains what is wrong and why, with copies of supporting documents (CFPB). A consumer may also keep copies of everything sent.
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(2), the agency must notify the furnisher within five business days and include all relevant information it received. The furnisher must then do several things under 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b):
- investigate and review that information;
- report the results back to the agency;
- if the item is wrong, report that to every nationwide agency it furnished the item to;
- promptly modify, delete or permanently block an item found inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable.
The furnisher must finish this work within the agency's reinvestigation period.
A consumer may also dispute directly with the furnisher. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a), a furnisher may not report information it has been told, at its specified address, is inaccurate, if the information is in fact inaccurate. The CFPB says furnishers generally must investigate within 30 days of receiving a direct dispute. When a collection agency is the furnisher, separate debt-collection rules may also apply.
What Happens After a Dispute: Results, Reinsertion, and Statements of Dispute
Once a reinvestigation is done, the agency must report the results back to you, according to the CFPB. The CFPB's summary of FCRA rights says inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable information must be removed or corrected, usually within 30 days. It adds that an agency "may continue to report information it has verified as accurate" (CFPB summary of rights). Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(5)(B), information deleted from a file may not be reinserted unless the person who furnishes it certifies that it is complete and accurate, and the agency must then notify the consumer in writing not later than 5 business days after the reinsertion.
Not every dispute is reinvestigated. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(3), an agency may end a reinvestigation if it reasonably determines the dispute is frivolous or irrelevant. A dispute without enough information to investigate is one example. The agency must then notify the consumer within five business days of that determination. The notice must give its reasons and identify the information it needs.
A disputed item may stay on the report. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(f), when a furnisher notifies the agency that a consumer disputes an item, the agency must note that dispute in each report that includes it. The FTC describes the same result after a direct dispute with the business.
Filing a Complaint with the CFPB or FTC
The CFPB takes complaints about credit reporting companies. Its page says it will forward the issue to the company, give the consumer a tracking number, and keep them updated on the status (CFPB). A complaint is a separate path from a dispute, and no outcome is assured.
The FTC's consumer pages explain dispute rights and warn about credit report scams (FTC).
The CFPB's summary of rights adds that states may enforce the FCRA, and many have their own consumer reporting laws that may give more rights. It names a state or local consumer protection agency, or the state Attorney General, as contacts.
What the FCRA Makes Potentially Available When Its Requirements Are Not Met
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a), a person who willfully fails to comply with an FCRA requirement for a consumer is liable for the sum of three things:
- actual damages, or damages of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000;
- punitive damages as the court may allow;
- in a successful action, costs and reasonable attorney's fees as the court determines.
For a natural person who obtained a report under false pretenses or knowingly without a permissible purpose, the first part is actual damages or $1,000, whichever is greater.
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681o(a), a person who is negligent in failing to comply is liable for actual damages the consumer sustained as a result. In a successful action, the court may also award costs and reasonable attorney's fees. Under both sections, a court must award fees against a party that filed a paper in bad faith or to harass.
These sections do not reach every duty in the Act. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(c), 15 U.S.C. § 1681n and 15 U.S.C. § 1681o "do not apply to any violation of" the furnisher duties in 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a), which are enforced by the agencies and officials named in the Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(d)). A furnisher's duties after a dispute reaches it through an agency are in 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b).
Whether a particular error may violate the FCRA depends on its facts. Those facts include whether the agency followed reasonable procedures, whether the furnisher investigated, and whether any failure was willful or negligent. What remedies may apply depends on the same facts. The page on consumer lawsuits under federal law covers the broader picture. This page covers the FCRA's framework for consumer report errors, not every consumer protection statute or every type of credit-related dispute.
If You'd Like a Consumer Rights Case Review
A credit report error can involve which bureau reported the item, which furnisher supplied it, what the dispute said and when it was sent, and what came back. This page does not cover other credit-related disputes such as debt relief or credit repair services. For an overview of the federal consumer laws involved, see consumer rights attorney coverage.
A reader may request a consumer rights case review through Federal Consumer Rights.
