Credit report errors can affect your ability to obtain credit, buy a home, finance a vehicle, rent an apartment, obtain affordable insurance, or even qualify for certain jobs. Whether your credit report contains inaccurate late payments, collection accounts, identity theft, or debts that should no longer be reported, knowing your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is the first step toward protecting your financial future.
What Are Credit Report Errors?
A credit report error is any information on your credit report that is incorrect, incomplete, outdated, or simply does not belong to you.
Some mistakes are relatively minor, such as an incorrect address or a misspelled name. Other errors can have a much greater impact on your financial life, including being denied a mortgage, paying higher interest rates, paying more for insurance, or even losing out on employment opportunities.
Credit report errors are more common than many people realize. Banks, credit card companies, lenders, debt collectors, and other businesses regularly send information to the three major credit bureaus—Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Because millions of updates are processed every day, mistakes happen.
In fact, a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) study found that one in five consumers had an error on at least one of their credit reports, and one in four consumers identified errors that could affect their credit scores. Those numbers are a reminder that inaccurate credit reporting is not a rare problem—it affects millions of Americans.
The important thing to remember is this:
Just because something appears on your credit report does not mean it is accurate.
If you discover information that is incorrect, you have the right to dispute the error with the credit bureaus. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the credit bureaus generally must conduct a reasonable investigation to determine whether the disputed information is accurate. If they determine that the information is inaccurate or cannot be verified, the information should be corrected or removed from your credit report.
Common Types of Credit Report Errors
Some of the most common credit reporting problems include:
- Accounts that do not belong to you
Identity theft
Incorrect late payments
Collection accounts reported in error
Debts that should have been updated after bankruptcy
Duplicate accounts
Incorrect account balances
Personal information that is inaccurate
Information that belongs to another person with a similar name (commonly referred to as a “mixed file“)
Throughout this guide, we’ll explain each of these issues in more detail, discuss how they happen, and explain the steps you can take if you discover inaccurate information on your credit report.
How We May Be Able to Help
Many credit report errors can be corrected through the dispute process. However, if inaccurate information remains on your credit report after you have properly disputed the error, you may have important rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
One thing many consumers don’t realize is that the Fair Credit Reporting Act contains a fee-shifting provision. In successful cases, the law may require the credit bureau, lender, debt collector, or other company that violated the FCRA to pay the consumer’s reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.
That means many consumers are able to pursue valid Fair Credit Reporting Act claims without paying attorney’s fees out of their own pocket.
Every case is different. If you’ve disputed inaccurate information and it still hasn’t been corrected, we’d be happy to review your situation, explain your legal rights, and determine whether we may be able to help.