Suing credit bureaus - 7 tips you should know before going to court

Suing credit bureaus - 7 tips you should know before going to court

Before taking on the task of bringing a lawsuit against the credit bureau or a collection agency, there are many things you should know to be successful when you get your day in court.  In this article, I will discuss 7 tips you should be aware of before you file a claim in small claims court.

Suing credit bureaus Tip 1

What you must show during the lawsuit?

You must show that you were harmed in some way due to the bureau’s willful non- compliance. For example, if you were turned down for a home loan, if your interest rates on your other credit cards went up, or if you were denied a job based on the negative marks in your report, their refusal or negligence in cooperating to remove the negative marks will have led to harmful developments.

Tip 2

Try to settle first?

Sending a demand letter to the bureau and trying to settle your claim before going to court presents you in a very respectable light before the judge. Allow the bureau 10 days to respond to your letter, and if there is no response, file a copy of the letter and the certified return receipt with the court as proof that you tried to settle. In your letter, you should ask for changes to your credit report and for punitive damages for violating the law.

Suing credit bureaus Tip 3

Look for cases to support your argument

You can either go to your public law library or use online legal research databases like westlaw or lexisnexis or versuslaw or jurisearch. Once you are at your public law library, ask the librarian for assistance on researching cases similar to your argument. A legal encyclopedia is the best place to start your research because they are indexed, organized, covers a broad spectrum of problems, and a good source to see how courts responded to cases like yours. 

Tip 4

Prepare before filing the claim?

You should take a trip down to your small claims court and sit in on a few cases just to see the procedure. Take notes on how long it takes to present each case, type of interaction with the judge, the type of proof presented, even the appropriate manner of dress for court. 

Suing credit bureaus Tip 5

Filing the claim?

Every court has different procedures, so go online to your small claims court and review their filing instructions. There will be a fee, which is based off of the amount you are suing for. This fee is due at the time of your filing. You can pay by cash, credit, debit card, money order, or cashier check. The claim can be filed in person, or at the after hour drop box or by mail, and all documents should be typed or written clearly. 

Tip 6

After the claim is filed?

After the claim is filed, you are assigned a case number and a court date which will be set out to be heard in 90 to 120 days from the filing date.

Suing credit bureaus Tip 7

Know the basis of the claim?

You should have the following elements covered explicitly in your claim: 

• Who is your defendant? (The credit bureau, collection agency, or creditor?)
• Describe the circumstances. (What happened?)
• What law was violated? (FCRA or the FDCPA?)
• What is the value of your losses? (How much money did you lose?)
• How were you injured? (By not being able to qualify for a loan? Through increased credit card interest rates?)

As you can see, you will have to do the leg work if you decide to pursue legal actions against the big bad agency.  Now that you are empowered with more information, go out there, and take action.