A guide, with live counts from the courts' own feeds
Suing a credit bureau over a credit report error
When a credit bureau keeps reporting something wrong after you dispute it, the Fair Credit Reporting Act lets you sue. These cases are filed in federal court every day, by consumers on their own and by small consumer-protection practices.
109 new credit reporting suits naming Equifax or TransUnion filed in federal court between September 21, 2026 and September 26, 2026, across 25 districts, counted from the district courts' own filing feeds.
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How the case runs
What the law requires of the bureau
A credit bureau must follow reasonable procedures to ensure maximum possible accuracy (15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b)) and must reinvestigate an item you dispute, generally within 30 days (15 U.S.C. § 1681i).
The deadline to sue
Suit must be brought by the earlier of two years after you discover the violation or five years after it happened (15 U.S.C. § 1681p).
What can be recovered
For a willful violation: actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees (15 U.S.C. § 1681n). For a negligent one: actual damages and fees (15 U.S.C. § 1681o).
After filing
A defendant served with the summons has 21 days to answer, or 60 days if it agreed to waive formal service (Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(a)(1)(A)). Many of these cases resolve early, and the docket is where a settlement notice or dismissal appears.
Know the day your docket moves
Against a national bureau with its own counsel, the other side files on its own schedule. CaseMagic Watch reads your case every day and emails you when a new entry lands, so an answer, a motion or a settlement notice reaches you the day it is filed.
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Where they were filed
A case is counted once, on the date its opening filing was made, when the defendant the court typed into the caption is one this kind of case is brought against. Districts that publish no filing feed are not counted. No names are listed here on purpose.
Questions people ask before they start
Do I have to dispute the error before suing?
The reinvestigation duty in 15 U.S.C. § 1681i is triggered by your dispute, so a claim under that section needs one. A claim that the bureau’s procedures were unreasonable under § 1681e(b) does not depend on a dispute in the same way.
Can I get my lawyer’s fees paid?
A successful plaintiff can recover reasonable attorney’s fees under 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681n and 1681o, which is why many consumer lawyers take these cases.
CaseMagic is an independent service, not a law firm, and nothing on this page is legal advice. The rules cited are the ones in force as this page was written; check your court's local rules and any order in your own case.
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