Credit Report Disputes - Furnishers of Information Must Investigate!

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is the federal law with regard to disputing incorrect information on a person’s credit report. Please see my previous blogs on this topic and how to dispute information.

The FCRA requires a consumer reporting agency (CRA) to notify a furnisher when a consumer disputes the accuracy or completeness of an item of information provided by the furnisher to the CRA. On September 4, 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a notice that the furnisher of information must investigate disputes and review “all relevant” information provided by the consumer. In most instances, a furnisher, when notified that a consumer disputed an incorrect entry on a credit report, would not conduct any type of investigation with regard to information it was provided, even though it is required to do so under the FCRA. This bulletin by the CFPB, bulletin number 2013-09, now specifically states that it expects the consumer reporting agency's and furnishers to comply fully with these FCRA requirements and it specifically addresses the furnishers’ obligations to “review all relevant information” they receive in connection with disputes forwarded by CRAs. Please see the attached bulletin here at this link. The CRPB states in its bulletin that “in general, with respect to disputes received by furnishers from CRAs, the CFPB expects each furnisher to comply with the FCRA by:

(1) Maintaining a system reasonably capable of receiving from CRAs information regarding disputes, including supporting documentation:

(2) Conducting an investigation of the disputed information including reviewing:

a.     ‘all relevant information’ forwarded by the CRA and;

b.     the furnisher’s own information with respect to the dispute;

(3) Reporting the results of the investigation to the CRA that sent the dispute;

(4) Providing corrected information to every nationwide CRA that received the information if the information is inaccurate or incomplete; and

(5) Modifying or deleting the disputed information, or permanently blocking the reporting of the information if the information is incomplete or inaccurate, or cannot be verified.”

Our offices have been handling credit report dispute and error cases for several years under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). If you are experiencing trouble with your credit report, please contact our office nearest to you for assistance with your credit report issues.