Credit Reporting Problems
Attorney in Fairhope AL
What is a Credit Report?
If you’ve ever applied for a charge account, a personal loan, insurance, or a job, there’s a file about you. This file contains information on where you work and live, how you pay your bills, and whether you’ve been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy.
Companies that gather and sell this information are called Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs). The most common type of CRA are the credit bureaus, such as Equifax, Experian and Trans Union. The information CRAs sell about you to creditors, employers, insurers, and other businesses is called a consumer report.
Your Protection: The Fair Credit Reporting Act
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, is designed to promote accuracy and ensure the privacy of the information used in consumer reports. Recent amendments to the Act expand your rights and place additional requirements on CRAs. Businesses that supply information about you to CRAs and those that use consumer reports also have new responsibilities under the law.
How to Dispute Inaccurate Information on your Credit Report
- Order your most recent credit report from the government website or directly from the CRAs and determine exactly how the inaccurate information is reporting.
- Once you have identified the information, draft a dispute letter to the CRA’s – make sure to be detailed in your dispute, include all account names and numbers that you are disputing and make sure the letter is clear to understand. For a sample dispute letter, click here – Sample_Dispute_Letter
- Include your personal information so the CRAs can identify you and include copies of all documents related to your dispute, including police reports or affidavits if you are a victim of Identity Theft. Also, include a copy of your driver license and social security card.
- If you are a victim of Identity Theft, contact your local police and file a report or fill out a Federal Trade Commission Identify Theft Victims’ Complaint and Affidavit. For a copy, click here – Affidavit
- Once you have finished your letter, make copies of everything you are sending and mail the letter and supporting documents to the dispute address of the CRA you are sending it to. Make sure to mail the letter by certified mail and keep a copy of this for your records.
- Wait 30 days for their response, and if the information is not removed, do this all over again. Sometimes, 3 or 4 disputes are needed if the CRA fails to remove the information the first or second time.
- Do not send a dispute online. There is a limited amount of information that you can provide about your dispute on the online forms. Also, the CRA’s will not have a clear understanding of your problem and you will have only an email notice that your dispute was sent. It is no coincidence that the CRA’s have set this process in a way that makes it more difficult for you to dispute inaccurate information.
- Be patient and good luck. If after your disputes, the CRA’s have failed to remove the information that you believe is inaccurate, contact our office to discuss your case and your rights under the FCRA.
Here are some questions consumers commonly ask about consumer reports and CRAs — and the answers. Note that you may have additional rights under state laws. Contact your state Attorney General or local consumer protection agency for more information.
Credit Reporting FAQ’s*
*Referring to Credit Reporting Agencies as CRA and Fair Credit Reporting Act as FCRA
A lady called today and said I owed them $ 8000. They threatened to take my home and said they had a big file on me at the police office. This is the first time I ever heard from them.
No. This is a typical threat from collection agencies. This is also a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) violation. They cannot threaten you with actions that they cannot legally make. You should contact an attorney in your area that handles those types of cases or feels free to contact my firm.
The contract I signed said if I paid on time for my three-month trial I would get the modification. Isn’t this breach of contract and do I have recourse?
They accelerated the loan and I paid it from retirement funds to prevent foreclosure. Isn’t this a breach of contract? Do I have any legal recourse?
You may have a breach of contract claim and fraud against Wells Fargo. My firm has filed numerous cases similar to your situation for the past year in Federal and State court and continuing to do so. The mortgage companies are using in-house modifications and the HAMP government modification program to foreclosure on your home. Some of my clients have sent in their mortgage modification paperwork 10-15 times and are told its lost or cant be found. Some have even been modified and still face a foreclosure. Please contact my office immediately to discuss your options as we may be able to help you with this matter.
They accelerated the loan and I paid it from retirement funds to prevent foreclosure. Isn’t this a breach of contract? Do I have any legal recourse?
The mortgage company told me we didn’t qualify for HAMP, but after we lost the house I did some research and found out that we did qualify for HAMP. My question is can we sue the mortgage company for lying and denying us the right to help we qualified for?
Possibly. My firm has been filing many complaints and Answers and counterclaims for clients the past year based on violations under the HAMP program or similar modification programs being offered by the mortgage companies such as Bank of America or Wells Fargo. You would have to contact my firm or a firm in your area handling these cases to do a closer review to determine if you may have a claim.
..and she moved out and he has been late on the payment, so the mortgage co. won’t let her get her name taken off the house. Is there anything she can do to not let this wreck her credit?
Unfortunately, no. If the mortgage company won’t remove her then she will be responsible for the debt and the charges on the account as well as her ex-boyfriend. So, if he misses a payment, it’s going to report on her credit as well. If he gets behind, they will come after her and if they foreclose on the property, it will report on her credit as well. Her best option to rid herself of the debt is for him to sell the property and have the mortgage paid off.