You’ve spent weeks, months or even years of your life staying on top of your credit reports and disputing inaccurate information. Perhaps you’ve been successful and Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion have deleted the information you’ve disputed. But now, for some unknown reason, that previously deleted information is reappearing in your credit reports. You should know that you have legal rights in this situation.
If you’ve disputed information on your credit reports with Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion and they’ve deleted it, that same information can appear on your credit report only in limited situations. The Fair Credit Reporting Act is the federal law that governs credit reporting, and it requires a specific procedure to be followed if a consumer reporting agency is going to reinsert previously deleted information into a credit report.
First, Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion must notify you within five business days that the information has been reinserted.
Second, they must notify you of the name, address, and phone number of the furnisher of the information.
Third, they must notify you that you have a right to add a statement to your file disputing the accuracy or completeness of the disputed information.
When consumer reporting agencies such as Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion do not follow these procedures, they may be liable for damages under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. If you’ve disputed information in your credit report, had it deleted, and now are seeing it reappear, feel free to reach out to the FCRA attorneys at Weiner & Sand LLC to discuss your legal options.