The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): Your Rights & How to Sue

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law.

INTRO

The Fair Credit Reporting Act is the federal law that governs how credit bureaus, background check companies, and other consumer reporting agencies collect, maintain, and report information about you. When they get it wrong — and they do — the FCRA gives you the right to dispute those errors and, if they aren't fixed, to sue for damages.

Attorney Joseph P. McClelland has spent 25 years litigating FCRA cases in federal court on behalf of consumers nationwide. If you have a credit reporting error, a background check mistake, or have been wrongly reported deceased or mixed with another person, we want to hear from you. Representation is contingency-based — you pay nothing unless we recover.

WHAT THE FCRA REQUIRES

The FCRA places obligations on two types of parties:

Credit reporting agencies (CRAs) — Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, and specialty agencies like background check companies — must follow reasonable procedures to ensure maximum possible accuracy in the reports they produce. When a consumer disputes an error, the CRA must conduct a reasonable reinvestigation and correct or delete inaccurate information.

Furnishers of information — creditors, debt collectors, lenders, and employers who report information to CRAs — must report accurate information and investigate disputes when notified by a CRA that a consumer has challenged the information they reported.

When either type of party fails to meet these obligations, you may have the right to sue.

YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THE FCRA

• The right to a free credit report — you're entitled to a free report from each major bureau annually and upon adverse action
• The right to dispute inaccurate information — CRAs must investigate disputes within 30 days
• The right to know when your credit report is used against you — through adverse action notices
• The right to sue for damages — including actual damages, statutory damages up to $1,000, punitive damages for willful violations, and attorney's fees
• The right to free legal representation — because the FCRA requires wrongdoers to pay attorney's fees, our representation costs you nothing unless we win

WHAT CAN YOU SUE FOR?

If a CRA or furnisher negligently fails to comply with the FCRA, you can recover actual damages, costs, and attorney's fees. If the violation was willful — meaning they knew they were violating the law or acted in reckless disregard of it — you can also recover statutory damages of up to $1,000 per violation and punitive damages.

COMMON FCRA VIOLATIONS WE LITIGATE

• Wrongly reported deceased on your credit report
• Mixed credit file — another person's information on your report
• Background check errors — denied employment due to inaccurate report
• Identity theft — fraudulent accounts on your credit report
• Credit report errors — wrong balances, payments, accounts
• Failure to follow adverse action notice procedures
• Failure to conduct a reasonable reinvestigation after dispute

FAQ

What is the 7-year rule under the FCRA? Most negative information — late payments, collections, charge-offs — can only remain on your credit report for 7 years from the date of first delinquency. Bankruptcies can remain for 10 years. If outdated information is still on your report, you have the right to dispute it and potentially sue if it isn't removed.

Does the FCRA affect my credit score? The FCRA governs the accuracy of the underlying data in your credit file. Inaccurate negative information — even one account — can drag your score down significantly. Correcting FCRA violations often results in meaningful score improvements.

What triggers FCRA requirements? Any time a consumer reporting agency prepares a report about you for employment, credit, housing, or insurance purposes, FCRA requirements apply — both to the CRA producing the report and to the company requesting it.

What is a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA? Any company that regularly assembles or evaluates consumer information for the purpose of providing reports to third parties. This includes the major credit bureaus, background check companies, tenant screening companies, and specialty reporting agencies.

What agency enforces the FCRA? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) share federal enforcement authority. Individual consumers also have a private right of action — meaning you can sue directly without waiting for a government agency to act.

Does state law add any additional protections? Yes. Many states have enacted their own credit reporting laws that supplement the FCRA. See our state-by-state survey below.

State by State Fair Credit Reporting Act Survey