7 Common FCRA Violations (and How Much Each Can Pay)

Understanding Willful vs. Negligent Violations

Before diving into specific violations, the most important distinction in FCRA law is willfulness. A negligent violation means the party failed to follow reasonable procedures but did not intentionally break the law. Negligent violations allow you to recover only actual (provable) damages plus attorney fees. A willful violation means the party knowingly or recklessly disregarded the law. Willful violations trigger statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 per violation — no proof of harm required — plus potential punitive damages.

Courts have held that a bureau's continued reporting of an item after being notified it is inaccurate is strong evidence of willfulness. The more times you dispute and the longer the error persists, the stronger the willfulness argument becomes.

Violation 1: Failure to Conduct a Reasonable Investigation

Under § 1681i, when you dispute an item, the bureau must conduct a “reasonable reinvestigation.” In practice, many bureaus send an automated form (the ACDV) to the original creditor asking them to verify the account. If the creditor confirms the item without actually reviewing underlying records, and the bureau accepts that response without further inquiry, courts have found this insufficient.

The violation is especially clear when you provide documentary evidence — a payment receipt, a bankruptcy discharge notice, a fraud affidavit — and the bureau “investigates” by simply re-asking the creditor the same question. Courts in multiple circuits have awarded $1,000 in statutory damages per occurrence, with successful plaintiffs recovering $3,000 to $15,000 across multiple disputes.

Violation 2: Reporting Outdated Information (Re-Aging)

The FCRA under § 1681c limits how long negative information can appear on your credit report. Most negative items must be removed after seven years. Bankruptcies can remain for ten years. When a debt collector or bureau resets the clock — reporting an old debt as if it were recently delinquent — this is called re-aging, and it is illegal.

Re-aging is surprisingly common when debts are sold from one collector to another. Each sale sometimes results in the new collector reporting the account as if the delinquency just started. If your credit report shows a collection account with a recent “date of first delinquency” that does not match your actual records, you likely have a re-aging violation. Statutory damages typically range from $500 to $1,000, with actual damages potentially much higher if the outdated item cost you loan approvals.

Violation 3: Mixed File Errors

A mixed file occurs when one consumer's information appears on another consumer's credit report. This most commonly affects people who share a name or Social Security number with a family member or who have common names. The resulting report can include accounts, judgments, bankruptcies, or criminal records belonging to someone else entirely.

Mixed file cases tend to be highly valuable because the harm is severe and obvious, and because the bureau's failure to maintain accurate procedures is difficult to defend. Courts have awarded actual damages in the range of $50,000 to $150,000 in egregious mixed file cases, particularly when the plaintiff was denied housing, employment, or credit as a direct result.

Violation 4: Reporting Discharged Debt as Still Owed

When a bankruptcy court discharges a debt, it is legally extinguished. The creditor can no longer collect it, and reporting it as “balance owed” or “past due” after discharge is a violation of both the FCRA and the bankruptcy automatic stay. Yet this happens constantly, especially with medical debt and older credit card accounts.

If you have a bankruptcy discharge and any of those discharged debts still appear on your credit report as active, open, or with a balance, dispute them immediately citing both the FCRA and the discharge order. Include a copy of your discharge order. A failure to correct after proper notice is a strong candidate for willful violation status.

Violation 5: Failure to Notify the Furnisher

When you dispute an item with a credit bureau, § 1681i(a)(2) requires the bureau to promptly notify the furnisher (the creditor or collector who provided the information) of your dispute. This notification must include all relevant information you provided. Bureaus that filter out your supporting evidence before sending the ACDV — a practice that has been documented in litigation discovery — violate this provision.

This violation is often discovered only during litigation when plaintiffs obtain the actual ACDV records through discovery. If the form sent to your creditor omitted your payment evidence or fraud documentation, the investigation was defective from the start. Damages in these cases track willful violation rates because the filtering appears intentional.

Violation 6: Permissible Purpose Violations

Under § 1681b, only parties with a legally defined “permissible purpose” may access your credit report. Employers need your written consent. Landlords need it for housing decisions. Creditors need an application. Accessing your credit report to evaluate you for a purpose not listed in the statute — such as a creditor pulling your report after you have sent a cease-and-desist letter on an account — is a willful violation.

These violations can stack quickly. Each unauthorized hard inquiry is a separate violation. If a debt collector pulled your report five times without permissible purpose, that is potentially $5,000 in statutory damages plus attorney fees.

Violation 7: Ignoring an Identity Theft Report

The FCRA contains specific provisions for identity theft victims. Under § 1681c-2, when you provide a bureau with a valid identity theft report (filed with a law enforcement agency or the FTC), the bureau must block the fraudulent information within four business days. Failure to do so, or re-inserting blocked information without proper notice, is a violation.

Identity theft cases can be among the most valuable FCRA claims because the harm is substantial — potentially dozens of fraudulent accounts, each a separate violation. Courts have awarded six-figure judgments in cases where bureaus ignored multiple identity theft notifications and continued reporting fraudulent accounts for months or years.

How to Identify Violations on Your Report

Start by pulling all three credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com. Review every account carefully for: accounts that are not yours, incorrect balances, incorrect payment history, accounts that should be beyond the seven-year reporting window, and collection accounts with recent delinquency dates that do not match your timeline. Then use Sue Smart to generate dispute letters tailored to each specific violation type.