If you have noticed a debt on your credit report, and it appears incorrect because it is not past due, or it is inflated, you need to file a written dispute to the credit reporting agency and the original creditor too. DO NOT file an online dispute with the credit reporting agencies because this may subject your claim to arbitration, which you do not want. Your remedies lie under the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act), FDCPA (Fair Debt Consumer Practices Act) or the FCCPA (Florida Consumer Collection Practice Act). These state and federal laws require the violator to pay your attorney fees and costs for successful claims.
FCRA makes it unlawful for any person to “furnish any information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the information is inaccurate,” § 1681s-2(a)(1)(A). It is also equally illegal that such misrepresentations fall well within the plain language of the FDCPA. Davis v. Trans Union, LLC, 526 F.Supp.2d 577, 586-87 (W.D.N.C.2007); Akalwadi v. Risk Mgmt. Alternatives, Inc., 336 F.Supp.2d 492, 503 (D.Md.2004); Finnegan v. Univ. of Rochester Med. Ctr., 21 F.Supp.2d 223, 229 (W.D.N.Y.1998).
