Evaluating Credit Injury

If you believe your credit has been damaged by a lender or credit reporting agency, you may have a claim for damages under the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA") or other applicable laws. If you believe you have a claim for credit injury after reading this information, click here.

• "Credit Injury - Credit Damage"
• Error on Credit Report
• Denial of Credit
• Attempt to Correct Error
• Documentation Needed
• Credit Reporting Agencies ("CRA'S")

1.  "Credit Injury - Credit Damage"

Examples of credit injury include denial of credit, increased interest rate or "points" on a mortgage and the expenses incurred in trying to correct errors in your credit report. In some situations, you may also be able to recover for emotional distress that is evidenced by sleeplessness, nervousness, embarrassment or other emotional distress.

2.  Error on Credit Report

An error on your credit report will lower your credit score. Examples of errors that might appear as negative errors on your report include a wide variety of credit issues, such as:

• Delinquencies reported for accounts that are current
• Improper claim that payments were late
• Unauthorized charges on account
• Identity theft
• Information from some other person's account

3.  Denial of Credit

Denial of credit means that you attempted to purchase something on credit and were either denied or were charged a higher interest rate or more fees because of your credit score. If this happens, the company that denies you credit or charges higher rates must provide you with a denial of credit letter. A denial of credit letter will tell you which information contained in the credit report resulted in the denial of credit. If you are denied credit and do not receive a letter explaining why you were denied, you should request that a denial of credit letter be sent to you.

4.  Attempt to Correct Error

If there is an error on your credit report, you should send a dispute letter to the credit reporting agency.  To request a sample dispute letter, click here.

5.  Documentation Needed

To make a claim for credit injury, you should be able to document your case. The documents you should have include:

• Credit Report
• Letter sent to Credit Reporting Agency contesting an error.  Click here to request a sample.
• Return letter from Credit Reporting Agency stating the results of their investigation
• Documentation establishing that a particular item on your credit report is an error.

6.  Credit Reporting Agencies ("CRA'S")

The three primary credit reporting agencies are:

• Equifax
  (800) 685-1111
• Experian National Consumer Assistance Center (formerly TRW)
  (800) 397-3742
• Trans Union
  (800) 888-4213

If you believe you have a claim for credit injury and would like to tell us about it, click here.