Fair Credit Reporting Act

The Consumer Advocacy Center is here to help if you need to dispute a credit report. Credit report errors are a very common problem and you need to make sure that you are not having your rights violated because of these errors. Credit card errors include public record errors, identify theft, mixed credit files, inaccurate employment reports and inaccurate collection amounts. Credit reporting agencies have a responsibility to have the highest amount of accuracy when reporting items from your credit report and if something was reported incorrectly, the Fair Credit Reporting Act allows for ways to dispute the mistakes.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) allows that once a consumer has issued a credit report dispute, the agency has to conduct a reasonable investigation into your dispute. The Act also says that the agency needs to:

  • Delete any information that was inaccurate from your report or remove information that could not be verified
  • Give you results of the investigation within 30 days of receiving the dispute
  • Notify the creditor of the fact that you are disputing the claim
  • Provide relevant information that you gave the credit reporting agency as part of your dispute to the creditor

In addition, if you have asked for a description of the procedure that the credit reporting agency uses in order to establish the accuracy of their report, they need to provide that to you along with the name and address of who you can contact about the investigation. If they do not follow these steps in order to repair your credit, if they have not conducted an investigation and if they have not removed the information that is not correct from your credit file, contact the Consumer Advocacy Center.

If you are disputing your credit report, you need to make sure you take the appropriate steps in order to fully protect your rights. The dispute you issue should:

  • Be concise
  • Be in writing
  • Clearly state what the dispute is
  • Clearly state who you are and include your address and social security number
  • Enclose a letter from the creditor if you were given one
  • Include a police report and a completed FTC affidavit if the claim involves identify theft
  • Provide any proof or support of your claim

If an error was made on your credit report, you are able to take action to have the mistake fixed. Contact The Consumer Advocacy Center at 312-782-5808 and find out how we can help you.