Tag Archives: credit reports

How does a credit reporting agency violate the FCRA?

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Two core provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act require credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) to adopt reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy and to investigate consumer disputes of credit information.   Violations can occur if the credit reporting agency creates an inaccurate mixed credit file by placing another person’s information on your credit file, notes a judgment on a consumer’s credit file that a court vacated, or provided any other inaccurate or misleading information on a credit report. 

One of the most common  FCRA violations for a credit reporting agency is based upon the failure to conduct a reasonable investigation of inaccurate information in a credit file after receiving a credit dispute letter from a consumer, which violates 15 U.S.C. 1681i.  After receiving notice of a consumer dispute, the credit reporting agency has a legal duty to review information provided with the dispute and conduct a detailed systematic investigation into the information that is reporting.  Experian was found liable for a negligent investigation of a consumer credit dispute, and the court stated, “When conducting a reinvestigation pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 1681i, a credit reporting agency must exercise reasonable diligence in examining a court file to determine whether an adverse judgment has, in fact, been entered against a consumer.  A reinvestigation that overlooks documents in the court file expressly stating that no adverse judgment was entered falls far short of this standard.” Dennis v. BEH-1, LLC 520 F.3d 1066 (9th Cir. 2008).  There are many other instances when a credit reporting agency can be held liable for violating the FCRA, and a consumer with inaccurate information on a credit report should not hesitate to contact a consumer credit report law specialist. Our office in Reston, Virginia has handled numerous cases involving inaccurate credit reports, and we have litigated inaccurate credit report cases in the Alexandria, Richmond, and Pittsburgh federal district courts.

As for maintaining reasonable procedures for maximum possible accuracy, 15 U.S.C. 1681e(b), requires a credit reporting agency not to just establish reasonable procedures, but to follow reasonable procedures for credit report accuracy.  The remedial purpose of the FCRA to protect consumers would not be achieved if the credit reporting agency simply maintained pro forma procedures without any meaningful effort to follow those procedures to assure accurate credit information.  Credit reporting agencies violate the FCRA when inaccurate information appears on a consumer credit report and the consumer presents evidence that the credit reporting agency failed to follow a procedure maintained to assure that type of inaccuracy does not occur on a credit file.  Because these procedures are confidential in nature, a highly specialized consumer lawyer that has reviewed credit reporting agency procedures for several years will typically be a consumer’s best resource to have inaccurate information removed from their credit report.

As with any credit report problem, I would be happy to speak with you at (571) 313-0412 regarding your inaccurate credit report for potential representation or referral to a specialist in your particular area.

Why am I not getting my credit report after my request?

Disputing Credit Reports,

Previous topics have discussed how to obtain a free copy of your credit report, and how to review your credit report.  However, in some instances consumers have an initial credit report problem because they cannot get a copy of their credit report upon request.  Simple reasons like entering incorrect data, transposition errors, and incorrect responses to security questions could be the reason that a consumer does not receive a copy of their credit report, but a larger problem could exist because of the manner in which credit reporting agencies store data.

Credit reporting agencies receive information about consumers in bulk from furnishers, and they maintain that information as data in their computer system.  When a potential creditor or consumer requests a credit report, the credit reporting agencies place the information provided into a matching algorithm system that compares the data input with all the data that the CRAs maintain.  Because the matching algorithms are proprietary, we do not know exactly how they work, but it has been revealed in trial testimony that a nine for nine match of social security numbers is not a requirement for a particular piece of credit data to match to a credit file.  As a result, if pieces of furnished data are incomplete or inaccurate, the data will not match to an existing file which can cause mixed files, merged files, or multiple files.  Please see my previous post on mixed and merged credit files.

When consumers try to get a copy of their credit report and they are unable to receive the report, the cause could be that the credit reporting agency has a mixed or multiple credit file concern about the data.  The credit reporting agencies do not want to release the wrong consumer file about a consumer that did not request the information, so they typically ask for additional identifying information and release no credit file.  Credit reporting agencies do not want to release the wrong credit file containing another consumer’s information because they could be in violation of the FCRA at 15 U.S.C. 1681b, which regulates how consumer reports can be disclosed.

The problem for the consumers that I have seen is that even after providing verifying information regarding their identity, like driver’s license, social security card, or utility bill information, the credit reporting agencies are still not providing a consumer file disclosure as required under the FCRA at 15 U.S.C. 1681g.  Consumers have real problems in this scenario because they are unable to review the information that may be inaccurate and the source of credit denials.  If you have suffered through multiple attempts to obtain a copy of your credit file without receiving the report, I recommend that you talk to a FCRA lawyer about your situation.  Please feel free to contact me for ideas or suggestions to help you resolve your problem.