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Introduction
Are you one of the many individuals who have been left stunned by inaccuracies in your background check report? You're not alone. Background check report errors can be a source of great distress and frustration for those affected. Hopefully, we can shed some light on why these errors occur and what you can do about them.
Background Check Report Errors
Background check report errors can have a significant impact. From missed job opportunities to legal complications or housing denial, background check errors are serious. But why do these errors occur? Some background check errors are caused by clerical mistakes, unreliable information gathering procedures, outdated information, mixed files such as mistaken identity, and identity theft. Some or all of these can contribute to background check errors and inaccuracies in your background check report.
The Consequences of Background Check ERRORS
How To Correct Background Check Errors
- Obtain a copy of the background check report that contains errors.
- Compile any documentation necessary to refute the erroneous information in the background check report.
- Contact the background check company to dispute the inaccuracies. Provide supporting documentation and request a correction of the background check errors.
- Speak to a background check lawyer. If an erroneous background check has cost you a job or housing, you may be entitled to damages.
REGULAR MONITORING CAN HELP PREVENT BACKGROUND CHECK ERRORS
SPEAK TO A BACKGROUND CHECK LAWYER TODAY
Attorney Nick Hadous is a background check lawyer in Michigan and is licensed in Michigan, Arizona, and California. He has helped countless consumers recover damages for violations of consumer protection laws and inaccurate consumer reporting such as credit report errors. Mr. Hadous is a seasoned consumer litigation attorney who serves on the ICLE Litigation Advisory Board. He is also a published author in consumer protection litigation. If you have background check errors or have been harmed by errors on your background check report, contact us today for a free Zoom or phone consultation by calling us at (313) 415-5559 or by using the contact form below.
Identity theft can affect your credit report
Types Of Identity Theft:
- Fraudulent Accounts: an identity thief can obtain your personal information such as social security number, date of birth, and address(es) and use this information to open one or more fraudulent accounts.
- Fraudulent Charges: an identity thief can obtain your account or banking information and use this information to purchase goods or services or to send money from one of your accounts. This type of fraud is sometimes referred to as account takeover.
What To Do About Identity Theft:
If you are an identity theft victim, there are several things you can do to protect yourself and your credit report such as:
- Notifying the credit reporting agencies about the identity theft and fraud. The credit agencies can place a credit freeze on your credit reports to prevent further misuse of your personal information. The credit freeze restricts access to your credit reports. When you wish to apply for credit, you will be able to request that the freeze be lifted by contacting the credit reporting agency.
- Make a police report. You should report the identity theft to your local police department and obtain a report number.
- Obtain an Identity Theft Affidavit and Identity Theft Report from the FTC. An Identity Theft Report detailing the identity theft will be necessary to effectively dispute fraudulent items on your credit report.
- Consider a credit monitoring service. A credit monitoring service can help alert you to any unusual activity or requests regarding your personal credit information or credit accounts.
- Notify banks or other financial institutions of the identity theft and fraud. It is imperative to notify all banks, credit card companies, or financial institutions where the fraud occurred so that these accounts can be flagged for fraud and shut down.
- Dispute identity theft credit report errors. If there are fraudulent accounts or fraudulent charges being reported on your credit report due to identity theft, you should dispute these credit report errors. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the dispute process requires that you contact the credit reporting agencies to dispute credit report errors. You can dispute information on your credit report in writing or online, but we recommend that you submit your dispute in writing and with as much detail as possible. Be sure to include copies of all supporting documentation, including any police reports, your Identity Theft Affidavit and Identity Theft Report. Be sure to send your dispute with tracking or other delivery confirmation. The credit reporting agencies will usually forward your dispute all furnishers of account information for disputed accounts/information on your credit report. If the credit reporting agencies fail to correct your credit report within 30 days of your dispute, you are able to file a lawsuit in court against the credit reporting agencies and furnishers.
We have helped countless consumers recover damages under the FCRA for inaccurate credit reporting. Our attorneys are accomplished litigators and published authors in consumer protection litigation. If you are the victim of identity theft and your credit report has been affected, please contact us for a free phone or Zoom consultation by using the contact form below.
Identity Theft Lawyers & Credit Reports
Knowledge And Understanding Of Credit Reporting And Identity Theft Laws
Identity theft occurs when someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person's personal information for fraudulent purposes such as opening fraudulent accounts or making fraudulent charges. Identity theft often impacts credit reports since the fraudulent accounts are reported on your credit report. In response to the increasing prevalence of identity theft, there are several state and federal laws to help victims of identity theft recover. An identity theft lawyer is a legal professional who represents individuals who have been victims of identity theft and who can help you dispute identity theft on your credit report.
The Role of an Identity Theft Lawyer
An identity theft lawyer can help victims of identity theft navigate the complex legal process of reclaiming their stolen identity and fixing errors on their credit report. An identity theft lawyer’s role is to carry a big hammer, so to speak. Identity theft lawyers are well-versed in the laws and regulations governing identity theft and can provide expert guidance and representation to their clients. An identity theft lawyer can help you dispute fraudulent accounts on your credit report and even sue banks and creditors who refuse to correct your credit report. The threat of a lawsuit under the Fair Credit Reporting Act is one of the biggest benefits to having a lawyer on your side. At Hadous|Co. we handle identity theft on a continent fee basis. This means we do not charge uofront for attorneys’ fees, and you will not owe us any attorneys’ fees unless we recover damages on your behalf.
Benefits of Hiring An Identity Theft Lawyer
There can be several benefits to hiring an identity theft lawyer to help you if you have been a victim of identity theft and your credit report has been impacted by identity theft. Identity theft attorneys can help you understand your rights as a victim of identity theft, and help you gather and complete the necessary paperwork to provide to the credit agencies and furnishers such as banks and lenders who report information on your credit report. Typically, once you notify the credit agencies of the identity theft, dispute errors on your credit report, and provide supporting documentation to the credit agencies such as the Identity Theft Report, which is comprised of information from an Identity Theft Affidavit and police report, the credit agencies will have 30 days to investigate of your credit dispute. If the credit agency verifies that the information is accurate, or otherwise refuses to correct your credit report, an identity theft lawyer can help you file a lawsuit in court under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
How to Choose the Right Identity Theft Lawyer
When choosing an identity theft lawyer to represent you in your credit dispute or identity theft lawsuit, it is important to look for an attorney with experience in handling identity theft cases. A good identity theft lawyer will have a track record of success in representing victims of identity theft and the trial and appellate level. Attorney Nick Hadous has represented consumers in hundreds of lawsuits alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, including victims of identity theft victims. Mr. Hadous has also successfully appealed numerous FCRA cases on behalf of other law firms, including FCRA lawsuits involving post-bankruptcy credit reporting and the credit reporting obligations of furnishers (lenders). In addition, Mr. Hadous is also a contributor and published author for the Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE) and has written extensively on consumer protection issues and the Fair Credit Reporting Act
If you have been a victim of identity theft, don't hesitate to contact us to schedule a free phone or Zoom consultation by using our contact form below.
Recognizing Signs Of Identity Theft:
If you notice unfamiliar accounts or transactions on your credit report, it could be a sign of identity theft. Monitoring your credit report regularly is key to detecting any suspicious activity early on.
Taking Immediate Action - Fraud Alert On Your Credit Report:
If you discovery any discrepancies on your credit report, it is crucial to act. Contact the credit bureaus to report the identity theft and request a fraud alert on your account. This alert notifies creditors to verify your identity before extending credit, adding an extra layer of security while you are dealing with identity theft on your credit report.
Close Accounts That Have Been Tampered With Or Opened Fraudulently: Call and speak with someone in the security or fraud department of each company notifying them of the identity theft. Follow up in writing and include copies of supporting documents such as police reports and an Identity Theft Report from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It’s important to notify credit card companies, banks, and other creditors/lenders in writing. Send your letters by certified mail, return receipt requested, so you can keep a record of what you sent to each company.
Create An Identity Theft Report By Reporting Identity Theft To The Federal Trade Commission:
An Identity Theft Report is a document that will help you deal with the credit reporting companies, debt collectors, banks, or other businesses where accounts were opened in your name due to identity theft. You can use the Identity Theft Report to help:
- get fraudulent information removed from your credit report
- stop a company from collecting debts that result from identity theft, or from selling the debt to another
company for collection - place an extended fraud alert on your credit report
- get information from companies about accounts the identity thief opened or misused
- Submit a complaint about the identity theft to the FTC. When you finish providing all the details, print a copy of the report. The report will print out as an "Identity Theft Affidavit."
- Make a police report about the identity theft, and get a copy of the police report or the report number. Take your FTC Identity Theft Affidavit when you file a police report.
- Attach your FTC Identity Theft Affidavit to your police report. This is considered an Identity Theft Report.
Be Ready To Fight To Dispute The Identity Theft:
Some companies may refuse to correct your credit report or may not deem the Identity Theft Report sufficient. These decisions can depend on the policies and procedures of the credit reporting company. If you are having difficulty, it is imperative to involve professional help such as an identity theft victims' lawyer.
Gather Evidence:
To support your case when disputing the identity theft and fraudulent information, gather all relevant documents such as your identification, proof of address, and details of the identity theft. Providing this evidence strengthens your position during the credit dispute process.
Submit A Credit Dispute The Credit Bureaus Regarding The Identity Theft:
Submit a written dispute letter to the credit bureaus detailing the inaccuracies on your report due to identity theft. You will need to clearly identity the fraudulent accounts or transactions and provide any supporting documentation, details, and narrative to validate your claim. Be sure to mail your dispute with tracking or delivery confirmation in case you need to prove that the bureau received the dispute later on. This type of credit dispute is better off in writing as opposed to an online dispute.
Follow-Up On Your Identity Theft Credit Dispute:
After submitting your dispute, you should hear back from the credit bureaus within 30 days. Stay proactive by following up with the credit bureau to ensure that your credit dispute is being investigated. Being persistent is the key to resolving identity theft issues on your credit report.
We have helped identity theft victims dispute fraudulent information and file lawsuits under the Fair Credit Reporting Act when companies refuse to remove fraudulent and inaccurate information from consumer credit reports. If you are a victim of identity theft please contact us to request a free phone or zoom consultation.
Introduction - identity theft
What is Identity Theft?
The Role of Your Credit ReporT
How to Monitor Your Credit Report for identity theft
Utilizing Credit Monitoring Services
key takeaways
Attorney Nick Hadous has helped numerous consumers dealing with identity theft issues and has helped consumers file lawsuits under the Fair Credit Reporting Act when furnishers and credit reporting agencies fail to correct credit report errors. If you are the victim of identity theft, please reach out using our contact form below for a free phone or Zoom consultation.
Check your credit report for errors
The FTC has found that an estimated 1 in 5 consumers has an error on their credit report, which could be causing you to pay higher interest rates and insurance premiums, or to be denied credit.
When checking your credit report for errors, you should look for some of the most common credit report errors such as incorrect personal information, accounts that do not belong to you, potential identity theft accounts, closed accounts that report as open, duplicate accounts, inaccurate payment history, or incorrect balances on your credit report.
If you have filed for bankruptcy, checking your credit report after bankruptcy can also help you discover credit report errors that could be harming your credit. After filing bankruptcy, you should check your credit report to ensure discharged debts are reported as closed, included in bankruptcy and with $0 balances. If an account is reported as open, or with an existing balance after bankruptcy, this could mislead creditors and lenders and make you appear to be a riskier candidate for credit. If your debt was charged-off or assigned to collections prior to filing bankruptcy, you should also ensure that these accounts report as closed, with $0 balances, and remarks that indicate the account was included in or discharged in bankruptcy.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR CREDIT REPORT
Credit reports contain personal information such as names, date of birth, addresses, public records, and financial information, including past or existing credit card accounts or loans. Checking your personal information is important to ensure that your credit report does not contain information belonging to someone else. If you see an address you do not recognize on your credit report, this could signal potential identity theft.
Public records on your credit report typically include things such as bankruptcy, and in the past, civil judgments.
Each individual account or tradeline appearing on your credit report typically includes the following categories of information reported by furnishers of this information such as creditors or collectors to the credit bureaus:
- Name of Creditor: the name of the bank, lender or credit card company.
- Account Number: the unique account number associated with your account or loan.
- Account or Loan Type: these include (1) "installment" accounts such as automobile loans, mortgage loans, and student loans, (2) "revolving" accounts such credit cards or home equity lines of credit, and (3) "open" accounts such as a utility bill or cellular telephone bill.
- Account Balance: the current amount owed.
- Past Due: whether there is a past due amount.
- High Balance: the highest reported balance on the account.
- Account Status: this can indicate whether the account is open, current, past due, charged-off, in collections, settled for less than the full balance, or included in or discharged in bankruptcy.
- Date Updated: the date the account information was updated by the furnisher.
- Date Opened: the date the account was opened.
- Responsibility: this indicates whether you are individually responsible for the account or whether there is a joint accountholder.
- Payment History: this will indicate whether past payments have been made on time or late. Most late payments reported on credit reports will report the days past due, such as 30, 60, 90, 120, and beyond. Alternatively, late payments can be reported by codes such as 1, 2, 3, 4, and beyond denoting a certain length of time (for example 1 can mean 30 days late).
- Remarks: like the Account Status, this can indicate whether the account is open, current, past due, charged-off, in collections, or included in or discharged in bankruptcy.
- Original Creditor: the name of the original bank, creditor, or lender.
- Original Balance: the balance prior to collections.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT CREDIT REPORT ERRORS
If you find a credit report error, you should contact an attorney familiar with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Attorneys that help with credit report errors typically market or advertise services as consumer attorneys, or consumer protection attorneys. A consumer lawyer can help you dispute credit report errors by writing effective credit disputes to the credit bureaus.
Some attorneys will help you dispute your credit report with the credit bureaus for free. This is because if your credit dispute is denied, you may be a good candidate for an FCRA lawsuit, in which case the attorney will typically work on a contingency basis because of the fee-shifting provisions in the FCRA.
You can also dispute credit report errors for free by filing a dispute directly with the credit bureaus yourself. We recommend that you dispute credit report errors in writing with the credit bureaus. Although credit bureaus allow you to dispute your credit report online, there are often benefits to writing your own dispute and including the details of your credit dispute and any supporting documentation.
You should be cautious when dealing with non-attorneys such as credit repair companies, or persons asking you to pay money up front who make promises guarantees. Remember: the bureaus do not charge you to dispute your credit report, in other words, you can dispute your credit report for free.
Disputing YOUR CREDIT REPORT
When preparing a credit report dispute, you should provide a detailed explanation of the credit report error. A detailed description of the reason your credit report is inaccurate will help you resolve credit report errors. You can also include supporting documents with your dispute.
Your dispute should contain the following information:
- Full Name
- Current Address
- Date of Birth
- Social Security Number
- The File Number or Report Number contained on your credit report (this may not always be applicable)
- Identify the disputed item(s) by Account Name and Account Number
The dispute should be mailed to the credit bureaus, and not the bank, creditor, or lender that reports inaccurate information (also known as the "furnishers" of information).
You should mail your credit report dispute to the credit bureaus at the addresses listed on their websites (please be sure to check for up-to-date addresses):
To dispute your credit report with Experian, mail your credit report dispute to:
Experian Information Solutions, Inc.
P.O. Box 4500
Allen, TX 75013
To dispute your credit report with Equifax, mail your credit report dispute to:
Equifax Information Services, LLC
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, GA 30374
To dispute your credit report with TransUnion, mail your credit report dispute to:
TransUnion, LLC
Consumer Dispute Center
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19016
Please be sure to mail your credit report dispute by certified mail so that you can prove that the dispute was mailed if necessary.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I DISPUTE MY CREDIT REPORT?
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the credit bureaus must complete their review of your dispute dispute within 30 days (unless you have supplemented your existing credit report dispute with additional information during this time. At the conclusion of this review, the bureaus will notify you of the results of your credit dispute.
If your dispute is resolved, you are typically not required to do anything else.
If your credit dispute is not resolved, you have certain rights, including, appealing the results of your credit dispute with the bureaus, sending another credit dispute, or filing a lawsuit under the FCRA.
If your credit report dispute is denied by the credit bureaus, you should speak to a knowledgeable FCRA lawyer. You may be a good candidate for an FCRA lawsuit.
We offer free phone consultation and credit reviews by phone. If we accept your case, we will handle your matter on a contingency fee basis, meaning we will not charge you any attorneys' fees unless we recover money from the defendant(s).
You may contact us using our contact form below.
Most consumers receive a large number of collection calls when they miss a credit card payment. Collection calls can last for months and there can be multiple collection calls times per day.
Many consumers receive collection calls from creditors such as credit card companies or collection calls from debt collectors. Excessive collection calls can interfere with your peace of mind, and abusive or harassing debt collection practices by unscrupulous debt collectors can lead you to believe the collector might take action the collector does not intend to take or not authorized by law.
If you are receiving unwanted collection calls, you have the right to instruct the collector not to call you anymore. Most consumers who miss a credit a card payment or default on credit card payments will receive a large number of collection calls, usually to their mobile telephone. There are several collection laws that protect consumer rights and permit you to instruct the collector not to call you anymore, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
If you have recently defaulted on credit card obligations, speak to a knowledgeable consumer attorney who can help you protect your rights and deal with credit issues. Our consumer attorneys help individuals in Arizona and Michigan and can help you stop collection calls. There are consumer protection statutes like the FDCPA and TCPA which allow you to sue the collector for violating collection laws. You may also be a candidate for debt settlement or bankruptcy. Please contact us by using our contact form at the bottom of our website.
After filing bankruptcy and securing a discharge, you should ensure that all discharged debts appear on your credit report as "included in," or "discharged in bankruptcy" and report a $0 balance. Since creditors and lenders assess your credit risk, this notifies them that the debts were discharged (i.e., you do not owe any money on these accounts).
If the credit bureaus report an outstanding balance on a discharged debt after bankruptcy, or do not indicate that the account was "included in," or "discharged in bankruptcy," you could be denied credit for a loan or mortgage.
It is also important to ensure that the pay status of a discharged debt does not report as charged-off or in collections. This can be confusing and misleading and also lead to the denial of credit.
If your credit report contains errors following bankruptcy, such as by reporting a balance after bankruptcy, you should contact an attorney to help you dispute this error on your credit report. Our attorneys routinely help consumers dispute credit report errors following bankruptcy. Please contact us by using our contact form at the bottom of our website.
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