The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) Attorneys in Ocean Springs

 

Clean Up Your Credit Reports

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (“the FCRA”) provides a process to remove inaccurate items from your credit report. This includes consumer reports from TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax but also includes any other report that employers or creditors may use to track your history. For example, Drive-A Check (“DAC”) Reports are used in the trucking industry to detail information on truck drivers and are governed by the FCRA. As such, you can legally obtain a copy of your DAC Report at no cost to you, once per year and you have the right to dispute inaccurate information on the DAC Report the same way that you do on a credit report.

To obtain a free copy of your credit report or DAC Report, search for the Credit Reporting Agency and request a copy from their website or through mail. In many cases, it may be better to request a copy through the mail because otherwise, you may risk signing away your right to sue. For consumer reports, you can also access your TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax reports here.

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Disputing Bad Information

Credit Reports are reports that are maintained by companies called Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs). CRAs get the information directly from creditors who furnish the information regarding your payment history, loan balance, etc. In FCRA cases, creditors are called “furnishers”. If the furnisher provides incorrect information to the CRAs, you must file a dispute to start the process of removing this inaccurate information. A dispute tells the CRAs that the information is wrong and that it should be verified with the furnisher. The CRA then contacts the furnisher to notify them of the dispute and provide them with 30 days to correct the information or remove it entirely.

If the furnisher does not respond within thirty days, the account will be removed. If they respond incorrectly that the account should stay on the report, you can sue them under the FCRA for your actual damages, additional damages of up to $1,500, and attorneys’ fees. Our attorneys can handle these cases at no cost to you because the law provides that the furnisher will pay for our attorneys’ fees.

Remove old Debts From Your Credit Report

Under the FCRA, debts that are over seven years old should not be reported against you. However, under Mississippi law, after three years of inactivity, most debts are extinguished. This means that they are legally uncollectable and may not be reported on your credit report as being owed. If you have old debts that are still haunting your credit report, please contact us today to see what we can do to fix your credit report and get you back on track.

If you need help filing a dispute or if your dispute has not fixed your credit report, DAC report, or other report please contact us for a free consultation with a lawyer to discuss your options.

Is Someone Else’s Information on Your Report?

If you have a common name or if you share a name with a relative (i.e. Jr, Sr., III), then Credit Reporting Agencies will sometimes mix up your files. This also happens if your social security number is a close match to someone else. These situations are so common that they have a name: mixed files. With mixed files, it is the Credit Reporting Agency’s responsibility to correct this information promptly and take steps to avoid confusion in the future. Many times, the Credit Reporting Agencies like TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax fail to take reasonable steps to avoid this common problem. If your file keeps getting mixed up, it may be time to take these companies to court.

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