The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), codified at 15 U.S.C.S. § 1681 et seq., was enacted to protect consumers from inaccurate information in consumer reports and at the establishment of credit reporting procedures that utilize correct, relevant, and up-to-date information in a confidential and responsible manner. While the FCRA’s primary purpose is to regulate consumer-credit reporting agencies, it also covers the conduct of individuals requesting credit information.
According to the FCRA, information a consumer reporting agency may not report are: (1) A Bankruptcy older than 10 years; (2) Civil suits, civil judgments, and records 7 years or older; (3) Paid tax liens 7 years or older; (4) Accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss older than 7 years; (5) Any other adverse item of information, other than records of convictions of crimes by more than 7 years; (6) The name, address, and telephone number of any medical information with exceptions. These cases are very hard to pursue unless you have suffered damages due to the reporting agencies reporting of a debt that is inaccurate or improper.
The Fair Debt Collection Act, (FDCPA), codified at 15 U.S.C. 1692, prohibits illegal debt collecting practices by a debt collector (generally, if it is a debt owned by the original creditor you normally do not have a case). It is a strict liability statute, meaning that if it is violated the debt collector is liable at $1,000 a penalty, attorney fees and under the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act, $200 a violation.
In order to review if you have a case for violations of the FDCPA: 1) you must be a consumer; 2) the debt must be a consumer debt (“ purpose must be for personal, family or household use”); 3) a debt collector of the debt is reporting it; 4) they must be violating the FDCPA (e.g. the debt is not yours, amount is incorrect, to old, etc.). If you believe you have a case you can call and have a free case evaluation.
The FDCPA and FRCA share similar purposes and compliment each other. Both are consumer protection statutes, “designed not to overly burden valid credit reporting or debt collection practices”. A violation of the FDCPA has been determined by court’s in Ohio to be a violation of the Ohio Consumer Practices Act (“CSPA”), codified under Ohio Revised Code Section 1345.01 et. seq. The CSPA is an Ohio statute which permits attorney fees to be awarded in a successful prosecution for violations of the FDCPA. If you have found inaccuracies in your credit report regarding an improper debt and the debt collector or credit reporting agency has not provided you with a written contract or verification of same, please call to schedule a free consultation at your earliest convenience.
