What Credit Report Errors Cost You
When Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion report false information, you pay the price. Inaccurate credit reports lead to denied mortgages, rejected auto loans, and higher interest rates. You are being penalized for corporate mistakes you did not make.
Why Do Credit Bureaus Keep Rejecting My Dispute?
You did everything right. You filed a dispute, attached the proof, and waited. Yet the bureaus sent back a generic letter claiming the false information was "verified as accurate." This often happens because disputes are processed through automated systems built for the bureaus' efficiency, not your financial reputation. Submitting another online dispute frequently will not fix the problem.
What Does the FCRA Require Credit Bureaus to Do?
You do not have to accept a ruined credit score. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a powerful federal law that requires credit bureaus to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy, and requires both bureaus and the creditors who furnish data to conduct a genuine, reasonable investigation into your disputes. When they ignore your evidence, we move beyond the dispute portals and into federal court. The firm draws on years of corporate defense experience to pursue the correction of inaccurate reporting and recover financial damages for the harm it caused.
Common FCRA Violations We Handle
You may have a strong federal claim if the bureaus or furnishers refused to correct any of the following errors after a formal dispute:
- False Account Statuses: Reporting an account as 'charged off,' late, or in collections when you paid on time, settled the account, or closed it in good standing.
- Inaccurate Balances & Limits: Banks or debt collectors reporting inflated balances or incorrect credit limits that artificially distort your credit utilization ratio.
- Duplicate Collections: The same debt reported multiple times by different third-party collection agencies.
- Ignored Identity Theft: Financial institutions refusing to delete fraudulent accounts even after you have provided an identity theft affidavit or police report.
- 'Zombie' Debts (Post-Bankruptcy): Debts legally discharged in bankruptcy still reporting with active balances or past-due statuses.
- Obsolete Information: Bureaus reporting derogatory information after the statutory reporting time limit has expired — generally seven years for most negative items, with longer periods for certain items such as some bankruptcies.
- Unauthorized Credit Pulls (Impermissible Purpose): Car dealerships, employers, or debt collectors pulling your credit report without your consent or a valid legal reason, resulting in unauthorized 'hard inquiries.'
How to Dispute a Credit Report Error
If you find an error on your credit report, federal law gives you a process to correct it — and following it properly protects your rights. Dispute the error in writing, not just through an online portal. Send your dispute to the credit bureau reporting the error, and also to the furnisher — the bank, lender, or debt collector that supplied the information — because under the FCRA both have a duty to investigate. Include copies (never originals) of any documents that support your dispute, such as payment records or an identity theft report, and keep a copy of everything you send.
Once a bureau receives your dispute, the FCRA generally requires it to complete a reasonable investigation within 30 days, extended to 45 days if you provide additional information during that period. A "reasonable investigation" means more than a generic confirmation — the bureau and the furnisher must genuinely review the evidence. When they return a boilerplate "verified" response without meaningfully investigating, that failure can itself be a violation of federal law. The tool below estimates your investigation deadline based on the date you filed your dispute.