For years, you have taken good care to ensure that your bills are paid on time and your financial accounts are handled in a responsible manner. It may come as a complete shock to discover, however, that your credit report reveals negative information about you that can cause significant harm. This information may not even be accurate, or it may be so outdated that it has no business showing up in your file. Unfortunately, your financial, professional, and personal worlds can all be turned upside down with even just one negative report in your credit file, regardless of whether or not it is supposed to be there.

Know Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

As consumers, we often feel powerless and lost when it comes to dealing with credit reporting agencies or credit information suppliers. The good news is that you are entitled to certain protections. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you have the right to:

  • Be told if information in your file is used against you.
  • Know what is in your file.
  • Request a credit score.
  • Dispute incomplete or inaccurate information.
  • Have your credit report corrected if it contains inaccurate or unverifiable information.
  • Withhold consent for your report being provided to employers.
  • Demand that old information be removed from your report.
  • Seek damages from violators of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

 

There are several rights in addition to those outlined above that you are entitled to as a consumer under the Act. It is important to understand these rights when dealing with negative information on your report that is causing you harm.

Signs You May Have a Claim Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

In order to restore your good credit, you may need to pursue legal action. The following are signs that you may need to pursue a claim:

  1. An information supplier has reported incorrect, inaccurate, or outdated information to the credit reporting agencies within the last two years.
  2. You notified the credit reporting agencies of the incorrect, inaccurate, or outdated information and they failed to remove or correct it. You may have even sent this information through a certified letter and provided a copy of the dispute to the information supplier.
  3. Negative information on your credit report is impacting your ability to obtain a job or a promotion, find an apartment, obtain a mortgage, or obtain good financing terms for a purchase.
     

Start Your FCRA Claim With the Help of Our Attorneys Today

Fortunately, we are here to help you by evening the playing field between yourself as the consumer and the big companies serving as credit reporting agencies and information suppliers. If your letters are going unnoticed or unanswered, we are here to help you be heard. From our headquarters in Richmond, we proudly serve all of Virginia. To get started on the path towards restoring your credit, we encourage you to contact us today at (804) 282-7900.