Credit Report Errors: Your Rights Under the FCRA

A Federal Trade Commission study found that one in four consumers identified errors on their credit reports, and one in twenty had errors serious enough to result in less favorable terms on loans and other financial products. With roughly three billion credit reports generated every year, that means an enormous number of Americans are affected by inaccurate credit reporting at any given time.

These are not just statistics. In January 2025, the federal government fined Equifax $15 million for conducting improper investigations of consumer disputes, ignoring documentation consumers submitted with their disputes, and allowing previously deleted errors to reappear on credit reports. That same month, a separate federal lawsuit accused Experian of conducting “sham investigations” of credit report errors. And in New York, Attorney General Letitia James secured a $725,000 settlement from Equifax after a coding error falsely lowered credit scores for over 77,000 New Yorkers, causing them to pay more for loans and insurance.

If your credit report contains inaccurate information, you are not powerless. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) gives you the legal right to demand corrections, and if the credit bureaus or the companies that report your data fail to fix verified errors, you have the right to sue them in federal court. The law even requires the other side to pay your attorney’s fees if you win, meaning you can typically pursue a case at no out-of-pocket cost.

Schlanger Law Group represents consumers nationwide who are dealing with credit report errors that the bureaus and furnishers refuse to fix. This page explains the types of errors we see, the legal rights the FCRA provides, what you can do on your own, when it makes sense to involve a credit report errors lawyer, and how our firm can help.

What Kinds of Errors Appear on Credit Reports?

Credit report errors take many forms, and some are more damaging than others. These are the categories our credit reporting attorneys see most frequently.

Mixed or Merged Credit Files

A mixed file occurs when a credit bureau merges information from two different people into a single report, often because the individuals share a similar name, Social Security number, or address. When someone else’s delinquent accounts, bankruptcies, or judgments appear on your credit report, the damage can be severe and immediate.

Identity Theft Entries

When someone opens accounts in your name using stolen personal information, those fraudulent accounts may appear on your credit report as legitimate debts. Even after you report the identity theft, credit bureaus sometimes fail to remove the fraudulent entries or allow them to reappear after they have been deleted. Learn more about identity theft on your credit report.

Student Loan Reporting Errors

Student loans are among the most frequently misreported accounts on credit reports. Errors commonly arise during servicer transfers, consolidation, income-driven repayment plan adjustments, and discharge processes. Borrowers in good standing may find themselves incorrectly reported as delinquent or in default after a servicer change. Learn more about student loan credit report errors.

Incorrect Account Information

This broad category includes accounts reported with wrong balances, incorrect payment histories, debts shown as open when they were closed, paid accounts reported as unpaid, and accounts with incorrect dates or credit limits. These errors often originate with the furnisher, the bank, lender, or debt collector that reports your account information to the bureaus. Learn more about inaccurate account information.

Deceased Indicators

In some cases, a living person’s credit file is flagged with a deceased indicator, effectively freezing them out of the credit system. This can happen because of a data entry error, a Social Security Administration mix-up, or confusion with a deceased family member. The consequences are immediate: applications for credit, housing, and even employment can be denied on the spot. Learn more about being erroneously reported as deceased.

Other errors we encounter include outdated information that should have aged off the report, duplicate accounts, and incorrect personal identifying information such as wrong addresses or employer data. Credit reporting errors can also affect background checks used for employment and housing decisions. For more on those issues, see our pages on background check errors and adverse action and denials.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act: What It Requires

The FCRA is the federal statute that governs the credit reporting industry. It imposes specific obligations on two categories of companies: the credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) and the furnishers (banks, lenders, debt collectors, and other entities that supply account data to the bureaus).

Credit reporting agencies must follow reasonable procedures to ensure maximum possible accuracy in the reports they produce. This is the standard set by Section 1681e(b) of the FCRA, and it means the bureaus cannot simply pass along whatever data they receive without any quality controls.

When you dispute an error, the bureaus have a duty to conduct a reasonable reinvestigation within 30 days under Section 1681i. This is not optional: the bureau must actually investigate the credit report dispute, not just forward your complaint to the furnisher and rubber-stamp whatever response comes back.

Furnishers have their own obligations. Under Section 1681s-2(b), once a credit bureau notifies a furnisher that a consumer has disputed information, the furnisher must conduct its own investigation and report the results back to the bureau. Furnishers that ignore disputes or conduct sham investigations can be held liable.

If these obligations are violated, the FCRA gives you a private right of action — the legal right to sue a credit bureau or furnisher in federal court. Available remedies include actual damages (which can encompass denied credit, higher interest rates, lost opportunities, employment consequences, and emotional distress) and attorney’s fees and costs. For willful violations, the FCRA also provides statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 per violation and punitive damages. The fee-shifting provision is significant: because the FCRA requires violators to pay your lawyer, most FCRA attorneys, including our firm, typically represent clients on a contingency basis with no upfront cost. We advance all litigation costs, including court filing fees. If your case is not successful, you owe us nothing, and our firm absorbs the costs we have advanced in your case.

For a more detailed overview of the statute, see our consumer guide to the FCRA. For more on what you can recover in an FCRA case, see our breakdown of FCRA damages.

How to Dispute Errors on Your Credit Report

The dispute process is the critical first step, both for getting errors corrected and for building the legal foundation for an FCRA claim if the bureaus or furnishers refuse to act. Getting it right matters.

To file an effective dispute, you should submit a written dispute letter directly to each credit reporting agency that is reporting the inaccurate information: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The letter should identify the specific inaccurate information on your credit report and explain why it is wrong. Include copies of any supporting documentation, such as account statements, correspondence, payment receipts, or police reports for identity theft cases. Send your dispute by certified mail with return receipt requested so you have proof of when the bureau received it.

Once the bureau receives your dispute, it has 30 days to investigate and respond. During this period, the bureau is required to forward your dispute to the furnisher, and the furnisher must investigate and report back. If the investigation confirms the error, the bureau must correct or delete the information and notify you of the result.

A caution about online dispute portals: the portals offered by the credit bureaus may seem convenient, but in our experience they typically do not give you any record of what you submitted. This leaves many consumers unable to prove what information they provided to the bureau or, in some cases, unable to document that they submitted the dispute at all. Written disputes sent by certified mail provide a clear paper trail and far better legal protection.

For a detailed walkthrough, see our step-by-step dispute guide. For information on typical timelines, see our article on how long credit reporting disputes take.

What to Do When the Credit Bureau Won’t Fix Your Report

For many consumers, the dispute process works as intended: the error gets investigated, corrected, and the matter is resolved. But for many others, it does not.

Common ways the dispute process fails include the bureau “verifying” the inaccurate information without conducting a genuine investigation, the bureau correcting one error while leaving related errors intact, the bureau deleting an entry only for it to reappear weeks later, or the furnisher responding to the bureau’s inquiry with the same inaccurate information it originally reported.

When this happens, many consumers assume they have hit a dead end. They do not realize that the bureau’s failure to correct a known error is not just a customer service problem. It is a potential legal violation with real consequences for the bureau.

If you find yourself in this situation, don’t panic: the law has strong protections against inaccurate credit reporting. The key is to find an attorney who knows and practices in this area of law and has experience bringing these claims on behalf of consumers.

FCRA litigation can seem daunting, but a consumer law attorney whose practice focuses on this type of work can explain your options, properly present your claims, avoid common pitfalls, anticipate and address common defenses, and maximize the value of your claim. With government enforcement of credit reporting laws significantly curtailed in recent years, private lawsuits under the FCRA remain the most reliable way for individual consumers to hold these companies accountable.

You may also want to understand how credit report errors can lead to higher interest rates, one of the most common forms of financial harm our clients experience.

One additional note: you may have encountered credit repair companies that promise to fix your credit report for a monthly fee. These companies cannot file lawsuits, cannot take your case to federal court, and cannot compel a credit bureau to fix an error through litigation. For a fuller comparison, see our page on credit repair vs. hiring a lawyer.

For more on the transition from dispute to legal claim, see our article on when credit report errors become FCRA violations.

Related Practice Areas

• → Identity Theft on Your Credit Report
• → Student Loan Credit Report Errors
• → Mixed Credit Reports
• → Erroneously Reported as Deceased
• → Inaccurate Account Information
• → FCRA Lawyer — Full Overview

Why Clients Choose Schlanger Law Group for Credit Report Errors

Schlanger Law Group is a consumer rights firm laser-focused on credit reporting and identity theft litigation. This is not one practice area among many; it is what we do. That level of focus means our credit reporting attorneys have deep experience with the specific legal and procedural issues that arise in FCRA cases, from the initial dispute process through federal court litigation.

Our attorneys bring outstanding credentials to this work. Our founder is a graduate of Harvard Law School and a former federal appellate clerk. Our team includes a graduate of Cornell Law School who also served as a federal clerk. That combination of elite legal training and a focused consumer advocacy practice is reflected in the results we achieve for our clients.

While every case is different (and past results, of course, do not guarantee future outcomes), here are some examples of what we have been able to achieve for our individual FCRA clients:

• $700,000+ — Settlement with credit reporting agencies and financial institution regarding loan servicing error
• $436,500 — Settlement with credit reporting agencies and national banks regarding credit reporting errors and identity theft
• $291,000 — Settlement with credit reporting agencies and credit card companies regarding credit reporting errors and identity theft
• $265,000 — Settlement with credit reporting agencies and credit card company regarding credit reporting of unauthorized charges
• $189,000 — Settlement with credit reporting agencies and national bank regarding credit reporting errors and identity theft
• $155,000 — Settlement with credit reporting agencies and financial institution regarding credit reporting errors and fraudulent transactions
• $118,000 — Settlement with credit reporting agencies and financial institutions regarding identity theft and unauthorized charges
• $105,000 — Settlement with credit reporting agencies and national bank regarding credit reporting on mortgage
• $97,500 — Settlement with credit reporting agencies and national banks regarding credit reporting errors and identity theft
• $93,500 — Settlement with credit reporting agencies and banks regarding student lending and credit reporting issue

These are examples, not an exhaustive list. For more on our firm’s results, see our case results page.

What to Expect When You Work With Us

The process starts with a phone call with our intake team to go over your situation, including the type of credit reporting error you are dealing with, the basic timeline, and other pertinent information. If the problem you are describing is something we think we can help with, we gather your basic documentation: credit reports, copies of any disputes you have sent, the responses you received, and any additional supporting materials relevant to your situation such as police reports or transaction records.

You then receive a free consultation with one of our attorneys, who will review your documents, assess your claims, walk you through the litigation process, and explain the anticipated timeline and financial arrangement. If the case is a good fit, we send you a retainer agreement for your review and signature, and your attorney is available to go over any questions you may have.

Once retained, we collect any additional documentation, discuss your case in detail, and draft a complaint on your behalf. You review the complaint to confirm its accuracy before we file it.

Our firm has also been recognized by media outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and ABA Journal for our work in consumer financial protection.

For a deeper look at the credit report lawyer’s role in credit reporting cases, see our dedicated page on FCRA lawyers and what they do.

Get a Free Case Review

Schlanger Law Group has represented victims of credit reporting errors since 2007, and FCRA claims are one of our core practice areas. We typically represent victims on a contingency fee basis, and because the FCRA requires violators to pay your attorney’s fees, there is typically no cost to you. We handle cases nationwide.

If your credit report contains errors that the bureaus or furnishers have refused to fix, contact us today to discuss your options. New York consumers may also benefit from additional protections under the New York Fair Credit Reporting Act (General Business Law § 380 et seq.), which supplements the federal FCRA.

Frequently Asked Questions About Credit Report Errors

How do I dispute errors on my credit report?

Write a dispute letter to each credit bureau reporting the inaccurate information. Identify the specific errors, explain why the information is wrong, include supporting documentation, and send the letter by certified mail. The bureau has 30 days to investigate and respond. For a complete walkthrough, see our step-by-step dispute guide.

How do I fix errors on my credit report that won’t go away?

If you have disputed an error and the credit bureau has failed to correct it, you may need legal help. An experienced FCRA attorney can evaluate your situation, explain your legal options, properly present your claims to maximize their value, and if necessary, litigate your case in federal court. The first step is a consultation with a credit report lawyer whose practice focuses on credit reporting litigation. Contact us for a free case review.

What percentage of credit reports have errors?

According to a study by the Federal Trade Commission, one in four consumers identified errors on their credit reports, and one in twenty had errors serious enough to affect the terms of credit they were offered. Recent government enforcement actions against the major bureaus have confirmed that these accuracy problems persist. These figures reflect a systemic accuracy problem across the credit reporting industry.

Can I sue Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion for reporting false information?

Yes. The FCRA provides a private right of action that allows consumers to sue credit reporting agencies and furnishers in federal court. If you can show that a bureau or furnisher violated the FCRA — for example by failing to conduct a reasonable reinvestigation of a dispute — you may be entitled to actual damages, statutory damages and punitive damages (for willful violations), and attorney’s fees.

How much does it cost to hire an FCRA lawyer?

In most cases, nothing upfront. The FCRA includes a fee-shifting provision that requires the losing party to pay the prevailing consumer’s attorney’s fees and costs. Because of this, most FCRA attorneys, including Schlanger Law Group, typically represent clients on a contingency fee basis. We advance all litigation costs. If your case is not successful, you owe us nothing, and our firm absorbs the costs we have advanced in your case. You can contact us for a free consultation to discuss your case.

How long does an FCRA lawsuit take?

FCRA cases vary in duration depending on the complexity of the issues, the number of defendants, and whether the case settles or goes to trial. Many cases resolve through settlement in the six-to-twelve-month range after filing. For more detail, see our article on credit reporting dispute timelines.

What damages can I recover in an FCRA lawsuit?

Consumers who prevail in FCRA cases may recover actual damages, which can include compensation for denied credit, higher interest rates, lost employment or housing opportunities, and emotional distress. For willful violations, the FCRA also provides statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 per violation, plus punitive damages. In all cases, the FCRA requires the defendant to pay your attorney’s fees and litigation costs. For a full breakdown, see our page on FCRA damages.