Experian Sued for Sham Investigations

Did you send Experian a sincere letter asking for an investigation or disputing a negative item on your credit report? And did Experian send you back a form letter of denial with no specific reason regarding your account? You aren’t the only one!

The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) has filed a lawsuit against Experian for what they are calling “sham investigations.” Fake investigations. Not doing their job.

This has been going on for a long time, and I wrote about it in Repair Your Credit Like the Pros. This lawsuit is long overdue!

Here is what my colleague, Mr. Erik Kaplan, owner of the ethical credit repair service, THD Credit Consulting, wrote about it:

Why this lawsuit matters to you:

Your credit report should accurately reflect your financial history. When mistakes happen, you have the legal right to dispute them — and credit bureaus are obligated to conduct a reasonable investigation. If Experian or any bureau cuts corners, here’s how it can effect you:

• False negative information, such as incorrect missed payments or defaults, can lower your score.
• Errors that show higher balances or duplicate accounts can artificially inflate your credit utilization ratio, negatively affecting your score. 
• Mistakes that shorten your credit history or misreport public records like collections or bankruptcies make you appear riskier to lenders. 

In your next dispute letter, you might choose to mention this lawsuit and that you expect to receive a satisfactory response that includes (what you asked for, such as a deletion) or a specific explanation of the investigation, including the contact information for the decision-maker and how they arrived at their conclusion.

Remember, there is updated and new information in Book 2: Repair Your Credit Like the Pros DEEPER DIVE that you don’t want to miss.

For more information about the lawsuite, see here.