Victims of identity theft and inaccurate credit errors are substantially impacted in various areas of everyday life due to the effect it has on credit scores. Credit scores affect the ability to lease an apartment, buy a home, obtain lower interest rates on loans, and even gain employment. Unfortunately, inaccurate information is often reported to the credit reporting agencies and difficult to remove. To keep the agencies in line, Congress has passed the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which requires fair, accurate, and private handling of credit information. If an agency fails to meet these requirements, grounds may exist for a lawsuit.
The purpose of the FCRA is to protect consumers from misinformation that can be used against them, essentially guaranteeing privacy and the right to accurate credit reporting. It sets forth guidelines and responsibilities for agencies regarding the methods used to gather and distribute personal information. Specifically, the FCRA provides for the right to:
- Request a credit score and access the information in your file
- File disputes to inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated information
- Remove inaccurate information within 30 days
- Limit access to credit reports (including employers)
- Freeze a credit report
- Seek damages for violations of the FCRA
Emphasis is often placed on the three major credit reporting agencies (i.e., Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion). However, there are other sources of information as well. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau publishes a list of other companies that identity as reporting agencies that operate in specific industries.
As discussed above, victims of identity theft and reporting errors are not without options. A prime example is a recent case upheld on appeal with the 11th Circuit. In Williams v. First Advantage LNS Screening Solutions, 947 F.3d 735 (11th Cir. 2020), the plaintiff received an award of $250,000 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages for First Advantage attributing the criminal background information of another third party to plaintiff on two separate occasions. Thus, in utilizing the FCRA, lawsuits may be able to clear credit reports of inaccurate information caused by identity theft or inaccurate reporting and recover compensation for losses sustained as a direct result (e.g., denied loans and employment).
コメント