Know Your Rights
Fair Credit Reporting Act
The FCRA is a federal law that protects your right to accurate, fair, and private credit information. Understanding it is the first step to taking control of your financial future.
What Is the FCRA?
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law enacted in 1970 and enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). It regulates how consumer reporting agencies — including Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion — collect, store, and share your credit information.
The FCRA gives you powerful rights as a consumer: the right to see your credit file, the right to dispute inaccurate information, and the right to have outdated negative items removed. Expert Credit Services leverages every provision of the FCRA to challenge errors and fight for a clean, accurate credit report on your behalf.
Your Rights Under the FCRA
Right to Access Your Credit Report
You are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major bureaus once every 12 months via AnnualCreditReport.com, and any time you are denied credit, employment, or housing based on your report.
Right to Dispute Inaccurate Information
If you find errors on your credit report — wrong accounts, incorrect balances, fraudulent entries — you have the right to dispute them. The bureau must investigate within 30 days and correct or remove any information it cannot verify.
Right to Have Outdated Items Removed
Most negative items — late payments, collections, charge-offs — must be removed after 7 years. Bankruptcies may remain for up to 10 years. No negative item can stay on your report indefinitely.
Right to Know Who Accessed Your Report
Your credit report must include a list of everyone who has accessed it within the past two years. You have the right to know who is pulling your credit and why.
Right to Limit Prescreened Offers
You can opt out of unsolicited credit and insurance offers that use your credit file for prescreening by calling 1-888-5-OPT-OUT or visiting OptOutPrescreen.com.
Right to Sue for Violations
If a credit bureau, lender, or employer violates your FCRA rights, you may be entitled to sue for actual damages, statutory damages up to $1,000 per violation, punitive damages, and attorney's fees.
Negative Item Timelines
Under the FCRA, negative items cannot remain on your credit report indefinitely. Here's how long each type can stay.
View Your Credit Scores
Before you can dispute errors, you need to see your full credit picture. Get your FICO scores from all three bureaus — Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion — in one place.
Get My FICO ScoresPowered by MyScoreIQ — monitor your scores and get alerts when your credit changes.
Ready to Exercise Your FCRA Rights?
Expert Credit Services knows the FCRA inside and out. We dispute inaccurate, unverifiable, and outdated items on your behalf — across all three bureaus — so you don't have to navigate the process alone.