Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”)
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) promotes the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies. There are many types of consumer reporting agencies, including credit bureaus.
You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. If you identify information in your file that is incomplete or inaccurate, you may report it to the consumer credit reporting agency and the creditor.
Consumers may recover Actual damages—also called compensatory damages— which are amounts of money granted to the consumer to compensate him or her for their loss or injury resulting from a violation. Under the FCRA, a consumer can receive actual damages for violations of the FCRA if they were committed “willfully and knowingly” and if they happened because of negligence. Consumers can receive damages if there is a violation of the FCRA, whether the violation was intentional or not. The damages that a consumer may receive are not subject to any limit; however, damages are generally between $100 and $1,000 without any proof that the consumer suffered harm from the violation. If it is found that the consumer’s credit report is obtained under false pretenses or knowingly without a valid purpose, the consumer will be entitled to the amount of actual damages suffered or $1,000, whichever of the two amounts would be greater.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are damages that are awarded in addition to actual damages as punishment where the court finds that the violator’s actions are especially harmful.
This kind of damages is not often granted by the court, but if the violator’s actions are particularly harmful, it is possible that the court will award them in addition to actual damages. As the FCRA does not provide a specific amount that the court may grant, the court may impose punitive damages on a violator as they see fit to fairly compensate a consumer for the violator’s harmful actions.
The most common violations are:
- Failing to follow proper debt dispute procedure
- Furnishing and reporting inaccurate information
- Furnishing and reporting old information
- Mixing files of different persons
- Reporting a debt as charged off, when it was settled or paid off.
- Reporting late payments when your payments were timely.
- Reporting old debts as new ones.
- Reporting that an account was active after it was voluntarily closed by a consumer.
- Failure to report that a debt was discharged in bankruptcy.
- Reporting information that is more than seven years old (when Chapter 13 bankruptcy notices should lapse) or 10 years old (Chapter 7 bankruptcy).
- Inaccurate statement of balance due.
- Failing to have a reasonable procedure for you to report identity theft (or supplying credit information on an account where identity theft was previously reported).
To learn whether any creditor has violated your rights under the FCRA, please write to us through the “contact us” page for a complimentary evaluation.