Madgett LawMinneapolis · Minnesota

Credit File Corrections

When a credit report says something false and the bureau will not fix it — Fair Credit Reporting Act disputes, reinvestigation failures, and litigation against bureaus and furnishers.

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What This Practice Is

Sometimes a credit file contains something that is simply not true. An account that was never yours. A balance that was paid. A discharged debt still reported as owing. A stranger’s file merged into yours because you share a name. A collection that belongs to someone else entirely.

You dispute it. The bureau sends back a form saying the item was verified. Nothing changes.

That is the case this practice exists for — not improving an accurate credit history, but correcting a false one, and holding the bureaus and furnishers accountable when they will not.

What We Do Not Do

We are a law firm, not a credit repair company, and the distinction is not cosmetic.

Credit repair companies sell a service: rounds of dispute letters, for a monthly fee, aimed at getting negative items removed whether or not those items are wrong. We do not sell that service. We do not offer credit coaching, debt settlement, or programs to re-establish or rebuild credit, and we do not charge monthly fees to send letters on your behalf.

If your credit file is accurate and simply unflattering, no lawyer and no company can lawfully make it say otherwise, and anyone promising to is describing something the Fair Credit Reporting Act does not permit. We will tell you that in the first conversation rather than after you have paid for it.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act does not give you a claim because your credit report has bad news on it. It gives you a claim when the people who assemble and supply that report fail at duties the statute imposes on them.

The reinvestigation duty. When you dispute an item, the consumer reporting agency must conduct a reasonable reinvestigation, generally within 30 days of receiving notice, extendable by up to 15 days if you supply relevant information during that window. If the information turns out to be inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable, the agency must promptly delete or modify it and notify the furnisher. A reinvestigation that consists of forwarding a code to the furnisher and accepting whatever comes back is where these cases usually live.

The furnisher’s duty. The bank, lender, or collection agency that supplied the information has its own obligations once the agency notifies it of your dispute: investigate, review the information the agency provides, report the results, and — if the information is found inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable — modify, delete, or permanently block reporting of it. Importantly, this duty is triggered by a dispute routed through the credit bureau. Disputing directly with the furnisher alone does not carry the same private enforcement.

What the statute allows on the other side. For negligent noncompliance, a consumer may recover actual damages, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees on a successful action. For willful noncompliance, the statute allows actual damages or statutory damages of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000, punitive damages as the court may allow, and again costs and reasonable attorney fees.

Nothing here is a prediction about any particular case. What a file is worth depends on what the reports say, what the bureaus did, what it cost you, and what can be proven.

Identity Theft on Your Credit File

Accounts opened in your name are a credit reporting problem as well as a criminal one. The reporting side — getting fraudulent tradelines off your file and keeping them off — overlaps closely with this practice. The broader response to identity theft and data breaches, including business-side breach response and compliance, is covered on our Identity Theft & Data Protection page.

How a Matter Usually Runs

  1. Review. We look at the actual reports from the actual bureaus, and at whatever disputes and responses already exist. Much of what matters is in the paper trail you already have.
  2. Assessment. We identify which items are inaccurate, which duties were owed, and whether what happened is a statutory failure or an accurate report you do not like. These are different things and only one of them is a case.
  3. Representation. If there is a claim, we pursue it — through demand and, where necessary, through suit against the bureaus and furnishers responsible.

If the review shows there is no viable claim, we say so. That answer is free and it is frequently the honest one.

Talk To Us

If a credit report says something false about you and disputing it has not worked, send us a message or call 612-470-6529. Deadlines under the Fair Credit Reporting Act run from discovery, so the review is worth doing sooner rather than after another round of letters.

Common questions

How long does a credit bureau have to investigate a dispute?

Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, a consumer reporting agency generally must conduct a reasonable reinvestigation before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date it receives notice of the dispute. That period may be extended by not more than 15 additional days if the agency receives relevant information from you during the initial 30 days. A bureau that simply parrots back what the furnisher told it has not necessarily done what the statute requires.

What happens if the credit bureau cannot verify the information I disputed?

If the reinvestigation shows the disputed information is inaccurate or incomplete, or cannot be verified, the agency must promptly delete or modify the item as appropriate and notify the furnisher. In practice, bureaus often mark items as verified after a thin electronic exchange with the furnisher. That is exactly the situation where litigation, rather than another round of letters, tends to change the outcome.

How long do negative items stay on a credit report?

The Fair Credit Reporting Act sets outer limits. Collection accounts and charge-offs, paid tax liens measured from the date of payment, and most other adverse items generally drop off after seven years. Civil suits, civil judgments, and records of arrest run seven years from the date of entry or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is longer. Bankruptcies run ten years from the date of the order for relief or adjudication. Accurate information inside those windows generally cannot be removed — but inaccurate information can be challenged no matter how recent it is.

Can I dispute credit report errors myself, or do I need a lawyer?

You can dispute on your own, and for a straightforward error it is often worth trying first. Get your reports, dispute in writing, and keep copies of everything. Where a lawyer matters is the case that does not resolve — when you have disputed, the bureau has closed it as verified, and the false information is still sitting on your file. That failure is the thing the statute gives you a claim about.

What does this cost?

It depends on the file and on what the reports actually show, which is why the review comes first. In Fair Credit Reporting Act cases, both the negligence and the willfulness provisions allow a successful consumer to recover the costs of the action together with reasonable attorney fees as determined by the court, which can change the economics considerably. We explain the fee arrangement in writing before any work starts, and we will tell you if we do not think we can help.

Is there a deadline to sue over a credit reporting error?

Yes, and it is shorter than most people expect. A Fair Credit Reporting Act action must be brought not later than the earlier of two years after you discover the violation, or five years after the violation occurred. Because the clock can start running from the discovery date, waiting to see whether a dispute eventually works can cost you the claim.

Also under “My credit or identity is at risk”

Identity Theft & Data ProtectionSafeguarding your identity and personal data — breach response, credit report disputes, litigation, and regulatory compliance.Bankruptcy AvoidanceBankruptcy is not always the only solution — debt consolidation, settlement, and creditor negotiation to protect your financial future.