Credit Reporting Law, Law, Cento Law, Understanding the FCRA
Cento Law
Understanding the FCRA: What Consumers Need to ...

Understanding the FCRA - Credit Reporting Law

Understanding the FCRA: What Consumers Need to Know About Credit Reporting Agencies
Credit Reporting Law, Credit Reporting History
Cento Law
Credit Bureaus Unveiled: The Power, ...
Credit Bureaus Unveiled: The Power, Consolidation, and Consumer Struggles from 1970 to Today
Credit Reporting Law, Cento Law
Cento Law
FCRA - The Fair Credit Reporting Act
FCRA - The Fair Credit Reporting Act
Credit Errors, Credit Report
Cento Law
HOW TO DISPUTE INACCURATE INFORMATION ON YOUR ...

Disputing Inaccuracies

HOW TO DISPUTE INACCURATE INFORMATION ON YOUR CREDIT REPORTS
Credit Report
Cento Law
How to Begin a Credit Repair Process Yourself

A start to fixing credit yourself

How to Begin a Credit Repair Process Yourself

Consumer Reporting Agencies

What is a Consumer Reporting Agency?

The term "consumer reporting agencies" is a statutory term defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (the "FCRA"). Consumer reporting agencies are often referred to as "credit bureaus" or "credit reporting agencies." Under the FCRA, a consumer reporting agency is a company that collects information and provide reports on consumers that are most often used to decide whether to provide consumers credit, insurance or employment. The following is a list of companies that identify themselves as consumer reporting agencies:

National Consumer Reporting Agencies

  • Equifax
  • Experian
  • Trans Union

 

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Class Action Against Green Tree Challenging Accuracy of Joint Account Holder Bankruptcy Credit Reporting

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Lawsuit Filed Against Green Tree for Reporting a False Bankruptcy

June 7, 2013

Today, Cento Law, LLC attorney G. John Cento filed a class action lawsuit against Green Tree Servicing, LLC alleging numerous violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In the suit, Plaintiff alleges Green Tree inaccurately reported his mortgage account to the consumer reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax and/or Trans Union) that he had included his mortgage in bankruptcy even though Plaintiff had never filed bankruptcy.

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Class Action Against Experian, Wells Fargo and Citimortgage Challenging Accuracy of Reporting of Consumer Short Sales

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Cento Law, LLC attorney G. John Cento, through local California counsel, filed a class action lawsuit against Experian Information Solutions, Inc., Wells Fargo Bank and Citimortgage alleging numerous violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In the suit, Plaintiff alleges the consumer reporting agency, Experian, and credit data furnishers, Wells Fargo and Citimortgage, inaccurately reported his short sale on his credit report

Credit Reporting Law - Presentation Hosted by the Indianapolis Bar Association

Credit reporting problems can affect any consumer. Join G. John Cento of Cento Law LLC on May 30 as he presents an introduction to credit reporting law, including a review of the many important provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), an outline of the credit reporting industry key players and common claims brought under the FCRA.

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Background Checks | Employment Screening

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Background Checks and the Federal Law

Employers obtain background checks (or consumer reports, commonly known as credit reports) to aid decision making when it comes to evaluating a consumer for employment, promotion, reassignment, or retention as an employee. Intelli Corp, HireSafe, HireRIght, Clarifacts, EmployeeScreenIQ, and Proforma are just a few of the many background check/employee screening companies that offer employers their services. When an employer conducts a background check, they may be provided with any of the following information about you:

  • Credit reports;
  • Criminal and civil records;
  • Social security number (trace and validation);
  • Employment verification;
  • Education verification;
  • Professional license verification;
  • Motor vehicle and driving records;
  • Military record verification; and
  • Workers’ compensation history.

Out-of-Date Entries on Your Credit Report

Negative information such as: delinquencies, bankruptcies, charge-offs, loan defaults, foreclosures, lawsuits and judgments, and tax liens are barred from forever appearing on your credit report. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires credit reporting agencies to remove most negative information from your credit reporting after the credit reporting time limit has expired. Reporting old, out-of-date information is against federal law.

According to the FCRA, credit reporting agencies cannot report negative information for an undetermined amount of time. In fact, negative information can only be reported for a specific amount of time.

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40 Million Americans Have Mistakes on Their Credit Reports | Is your credit report accurate?

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A new government study reports that over 40 million Americans have mistakes on their credit reports; and 20 million Americans have serious mistakes on their credit reports. Just before the government study was released, 60 Minutes aired a story about their investigation into the credit reporting industry. As explained by 60 Minutes, both the government study (which was conducted by the Federal Trade Commission and was the largest and most comprehensive such study ever done on the credit reporting industry) found these mistakes are often almost impossible to remove from your credit file.

Highlights From FTC Recent Study On Credit Report Inaccuracy

The Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) recently released its fifth interim report on a national study of credit report accuracy. This was the first national study to include participation from consumers, lenders/data furnishers, FICO and the national consumer reporting agencies (the “CRAs”). The FTC found that:

  • “26% of the 1,001 participants in the study identified at least one potentially material error on at least one of their three credit reports.”
  • Only 21% of participants had

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Employer Agrees to $3M Employment Background Screening Class Action Settlement

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K-Mart, in Pitt v. K-Mart Corp., Case No. 11-cv-00697, has reached a $3 million settlement in a class action lawsuit pending before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The class consisted of more than 64,000 job applicants who sued K-Mart for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (the “FCRA”).  Specifically, Plaintiffs alleged they lost out on jobs without having a chance to challenge negative information reported to their prospective employers in background checks and that K-Mart failed to notify the job applicants they were rejected for employment because of the background checks.

Are Consumers Ordering Credit Reports Online From Experian Being Billed For Monthly Credit Report Service Without Their Consent?

Possible Unauthorized Charges By Experian Cento Law is currently investigating claims that Experian, a national consumer reporting agency, directly or indirectly through its various other websites, such as FreeCreditReport.com, ProtectMyId.com, LowerMyBills.com, ClassesUSA.com, Pricegrabber.com, may be charging consumers for credit reports or credit reporting services without their authorization and consent. 

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to Hold Two Field Hearings in January, 2013

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has announced that it will hold two field hearings in January on mortgage policy. In addition to hearing testimony from consumer groups, industry representatives, and members of the public, the field hearings will feature remarks from CFPB Director Richards Cordray. I

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Limitations of the e-OSCAR System | Credit Report Disputes

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In a study released this month by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the CFPB found that there are specific limitations on the e-OSCAR system; the electronic system used by the national consumer reporting agencies (Trans Union, Experian and Equifax) (CRAs) to process consumer disputes of the accuracy of their credit reports.  Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the CRAs are required to send data furnishers a notice of a consumer dispute that includes “all relevant information regarding the dispute that the agency has received from the consumer.” 

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Credit Reports and Employment Background Screening

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One of the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) roles is to protect job applicants and employees against inaccurate information being reported to employers; because employers can access your credit report to make decisions regarding hiring, firing, promotion, reassignment, or retention. In addition to financial history, the consumer reports provided to employers consist of arrests, convictions, judgments, and bankruptcies. Recently, settlements have been reached in legal actions that have been brought against companies like Spoekeo, Inc. and HireRight Solutions, Inc. for failure to take reasonable measures to ensure the accuracy of consumer reports. Such failures resulted in inaccurate criminal history, belonging to someone other than the actual consumer being reported as if it was relating to the individual the report was requested for. Other failures included noncompliance with the FCRA rules and not ensuring the reports were used for only purposes provided by the law.

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CRA Reinvestigation Obligations Under the FCRA

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When a consumer disputes the completeness or accuracy of any information contained in his/her credit report, the consumer reporting agency (CRA) must conduct a "reinvestigation."  The term "reinvestigation" is a statutory term under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). If the reinvestigation reveals that the information is inaccurate or cannot be verified, the CRA must promptly delete the information. 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a). Failure to conduct a reasonable reinvestigation violates the FCRA. Cushman v. Trans Union Corp., 115 F.3d 220, 223–24 (3d Cir.1997). The burden to conduct the reinvestigation is on the credit reporting agency. It cannot be shifted back to the consumer.

A credit reporting agency's reinvestigation obligation is to verify the accuracy of its original source of information. This duty may include going beyond the original source. Whether the credit reporting agency must go beyond the original source depends on a number of factors, including: (1) whether the consumer has alerted the CRA that the original source may be unreliable; (2) whether the CRA itself knows or should know that the original source is unreliable; and (3) the comparative costs of verifying the accuracy of the original sources versus the potential harm the inaccurate information may cause the consumer. Dixon-Rollins v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., 753 F.Supp.2d 452 (2010).

Does Your Credit Report Have Errors?

What should you do if you learn that your credit report has errors? You can either contact us about how to proceed or send a dispute to the consumer reporting agency (CRA) on your own. There are several ways to initiate the dispute process with the CRAs, including using the dispute form which you may have received when you ordered your credit report; using the CRAs online dispute form; sending a dispute letter by mail (certified mail is recommended but not required); or by telephone. Whichever method you choose, you should remember to keep an accurate record of your dispute, including a copy of your dispute form or letter. If you use the online dispute form, you should take a screen shot of your dispute before sending it. 

CFPB Releases Results of Study of Differences Between Consumer and Creditor Purchased Credit Scores

What should you do if you learn that your credit report has errors? You can either contact us about how to proceed or send a dispute to the consumer reporting agency (CRA) on your own. There are several ways to initiate the dispute process with the CRAs, including using the dispute form which you may have received when you ordered your credit report; using the CRAs online dispute form; sending a dispute letter by mail (certified mail is recommended but not required); or by telephone. Whichever method you choose, you should remember to keep an accurate record of your dispute, including a copy of your dispute form or letter. If you use the online dispute form, you should take a screen shot of your dispute before sending it. 

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Class Action Suit Against Experian & CSC

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Indiana Consumer Files Class Action Suit Against Experian and CSC | Challenging the Accuracy of Bankruptcy Credit Reporting 

Today, Cento Law, along with Eric Pavlack, filed a class action lawsuit against two consumer reporting agencies, Experian Information Services, Inc. and CSC Credit Services alleging numerous violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In the suit, Plaintiff alleges the consumer reporting agencies inaccurately reported her bankruptcy on her credit report as dismissed when it was in fact withdrawn and failed to report that her bankruptcy was withdrawn before any bankruptcy plan was approved.  Earlier this year, Plaintiff filed a similar lawsuit against Trans Union, LLC.

If you have any questions regarding this lawsuit, then please feel free to contact us.

Findings & Purpose of the Fair Credit Reporting Act

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (commonly known as the “FCRA”) is codified at 15 U.S.C 1861, et seq. In enacting this legislation, the United States Congress made several findings: (A)  The banking system is dependent upon fair and accurate credit reporting. Inaccurate credit reports directly impair the efficiency of the banking system, and unfair credit reporting methods undermine the public confidence which is essential to the continued functioning of the banking system.

How to Dispute a Credit Report

How to Dispute Credit Report

How to Dispute Credit Report

Obtaining your credit report is the first step in disputing any inaccurate or wrong information which may appear on it. Federal law requires the three national credit reporting companies, Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union, to provide you with a free credit report every year. Get your free credit report at AnnualCreditReport.com; which is the official site to help consumers obtain their free credit report. Inaccuracies on your credit report may negatively affect you. If you find wrong information on your credit report start here:

Contact the credit reporting company in question. The disputing procedure can be initiated online.

  • To dispute a credit report from Experian,click here.

  • To dispute a credit report from Trans Union, click here.

  • To dispute a credit report from Equifax, click here.

Credit reporting companies must investigate disputes made by consumers. Thirty (30) days after the dispute is initiated, credit reporting companies are required to provide consumers with the results. The results should be accompanied by a free credit report. If the disputed information has not been corrected following the credit reporting companies dispute procedures, consider seeking legal action.

You May Have More Than One Credit File

At any given time, the national consumer reporting agencies maintain hundreds of millions of consumer "credit files" in their databases. According to some estimates these files relate to approximately 250 million credit active consumers across the United States. This means that many consumers have more than one file in a consumer reporting agency's system. Having more than one file on any one consumer serves as a catalyst to incomplete and inaccurate data being relied upon in the creation of a consumer report (commonly known as a “credit report”).

Numerous credit files may exists on a single consumer for the following reasons:

  • Consumer reporting agencies may not have enough information to say with the highest degree of certainty that each of the credit files should "merge."
  • The various creditors' records do not always identify an individual consumer in the same way.
  • Consumers may use two or more names in their credit activities (such as nick names, maiden and married names, names with and without generational suffixes).
  • Consumers may have two or more addresses (such as home/school, work/home or vacation or second homes).
  • Creditor's records may misspell or invert letters in names, street addresses, or social security numbers.