A credit repair company is a business that, for a fee, offers to dispute items on a consumer's credit report. Credit repair organizations are regulated under the federal Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) and, in New York, under the General Business Law. Those laws restrict certain practices, such as charging fees before services are performed and making misleading claims. A credit repair company is not a law firm. It cannot file a lawsuit or represent a consumer in court.
FCRA legal action is the enforcement of a consumer's rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act through the courts. A law firm reviews the credit file, identifies where the law has been violated, and litigates the claim. Where the law provides, an FCRA case may seek damages and attorney's fees. The consumer is represented by an attorney, in court, rather than by a service acting outside the legal system.
Many consumers start by disputing items themselves or by using a credit repair service. Sometimes that resolves the problem. Often it does not. An item is removed and then reappears, a dispute is closed without a real change, or the same inaccurate information keeps coming back. At that point the issue may no longer be a simple error. It may be a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and that is a legal question, not a service question.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives a consumer the right to dispute inaccurate information. When a dispute is filed, the law sets a reinvestigation process, generally within 30 days, and requires that information that cannot be verified be corrected or removed. New York consumers may also have rights under the New York Fair Credit Reporting Act (General Business Law Article 25). When those rights are violated, the law, not a service, is what provides a remedy.
Petroff Amshen LLP is a New York law firm that litigates Fair Credit Reporting Act claims. It is not a credit repair company. The firm reviews the credit file and any prior dispute, identifies where the law has been violated, and takes legal action in state and federal courts. For a consumer who has already tried disputing on their own, or through a credit repair service, and seen no lasting result, that is the difference between a service and a case.
“A credit repair service and a law firm are not the same thing. When a consumer has done the disputes and the inaccurate information is still there, the question becomes whether the law was followed. That is what we litigate.”
Serge F. Petroff, Founding Partner, Petroff Amshen LLPAuthoritative sources: 15 U.S.C. § 1681 (FCRA) · FTC consumer resources