What Is A Credit Reporting Violation? Seven Signs To Look For
Imperial Ethics Credit Repair · Glendale, Arizona · 6 min read
A credit reporting violation is when a creditor, collector or bureau reports your account in a way federal law does not permit. In the majority of reports we review, we find at least one, and most people had no idea.
The law behind it
The Fair Credit Reporting Act governs how your credit information is collected and reported. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i, you have the right to dispute anything inaccurate on your report, and the bureau must conduct a reasonable investigation, normally within 30 days, then correct or delete what it cannot verify. The companies that supply the data, meaning your creditors and collection agencies, have their own duty to report accurately and to investigate when a dispute is passed to them.
When they fail at that duty, it is not merely an error to be corrected. Depending on the facts, it can carry statutory damages, and the consumer can be entitled to recover.
Seven signs on your report
1. An account you do not recognize
Either identity theft or a mixed file, where someone else’s data has been merged into yours. Common with shared names and with a junior and senior at the same address.
2. The same debt listed twice
Once from the original creditor and again from a collector, both showing an outstanding balance. One debt should not be able to damage you twice.
3. A balance that is wrong
A charge-off that was sold should show a zero balance with the original creditor. A settled account should not still be reporting the full amount.
4. A delinquency date that moved
Re-aging. Moving the date the account first went unpaid forward keeps an account on your report past the seven-year limit. It is a clear violation and often visible if you compare bureaus.
5. A dispute answered with "verified" and nothing else
The law requires a reasonable investigation. A form response with no explanation of what was checked suggests nobody actually looked.
6. An account that came back after deletion
If a bureau removed an entry and it reappears without proper notice, that is a problem in itself.
7. Reporting continuing after you proved it was wrong
You sent documentation, they acknowledged it, and the entry is still there next month. Continuing to report information known to be inaccurate is among the more serious failures.
What to do if you find one
Document everything, in writing, with dates. Dispute with each bureau reporting the entry and keep proof of what you sent and when. Keep every response. The paper trail is what turns a complaint into a case, and it is the thing people most often fail to build.
When we find certain violations, our partner attorneys take them on at no out-of-pocket cost to the client. In those cases the goal is not only removing the entry. It is holding the party that reported it responsible.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Imperial Ethics Credit Repair is not a law firm. Outcomes depend on the facts of each file.
Think something on your report is not legal?
Send us the report. We will tell you what we see, in plain language, before you owe us anything.
