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Decision guide · Counsel / Byte / Ledger

A collection call for a debt you do not recognise: the order that keeps your options open

A collector says I owe a debt I do not recognise. What do I do first, and what must I not do yet?

The instinct is to make the call stop: pay a small amount, or agree to something in writing. Both are moves that can change what you are still allowed to argue later. This guide puts seven pages from three different desks into the order a person actually has to act in. Every fact, deadline and statute below comes from those pages and the primary sources they publish; what is added here is the sequence, and the reason the sequence matters.

Published November 8, 2026 · 7 network pages · 78 primary sources carried below

Why the order is the whole point

Advice about a collection call usually arrives as a list of rights. Lists are misleading here, because three of these answers are inputs to the others.

Whether the caller is a third-party collector decides whether the 30-day dispute window exists at all. Whether you have paid anything decides what can still be said about an old debt. And whether this is a case of mistaken identity or identity theft decides which set of statutory clocks you should be running — the ones measured in business days, or the ones measured from a written notice. Get those three in the wrong order and you can end up with a perfectly valid dispute that no longer pauses anything.

Each of the seven pages below answers its own question in full. This guide only says when to read which one, and what to carry forward.

Step 1 — Identify the caller before you discuss the debt

Start with Debt Collector Rights Under the FDCPA: The 30-Day Window and 3 Tools You Have. Its first section is the useful one, and it is not about the amount: the FDCPA applies to third parties collecting a debt owed to someone else, including buyers of defaulted debt, and generally not to an original creditor collecting its own account. That distinction is decided by who is on the phone, not by how sure they sound.

This has to come first because almost everything downstream is a right under that statute. Ask for the company name, the original creditor and the account, and ask for it in writing. If the answer is “original creditor”, the federal 30-day machinery described in Step 3 is not the framework you are in, and the page says state consumer protection rules and the Fair Credit Reporting Act are where to look instead.

Note also the page’s own boundary: if you are outside the United States, this federal framework does not apply.

Step 2 — Do not make a payment to end the conversation

Before Step 3, read the section on time-barred debt in that same page, then Statute of limitations: the clock that can end a case before it starts. The second page explains why the length of the clock is a state-and-claim question, why tolling can pause it, and why no general number can be given without naming both.

The reason this is Step 2 is a trap the collector page describes: in many states, a partial payment or a written acknowledgment can restart a limitations clock, reviving the ability to sue on a debt whose deadline had already passed. A “good-faith” payment on a debt you do not recognise is therefore not a neutral act. It is also worth knowing that the reporting window on a credit file and the limitations period on a lawsuit are two separate clocks — paying to fix one does not reset the other in the way people assume.

Nothing here says you should refuse to pay a debt you owe. It says establish what it is and who is asking before making an irreversible move.

Step 3 — Use the written 30-day window while it is still open

Return to Debt Collector Rights Under the FDCPA for the mechanics. A collector must send a written validation notice within five days of first contact, stating the amount, the creditor and your right to dispute. A written dispute within 30 days obliges the collector to stop collection activity until it obtains verification. Missing that window does not destroy the right to dispute — it removes the automatic pause.

That is why the order matters: the window is measured from a notice, not from the phone call, and the pause is the leverage. Send the dispute in writing, keep proof of delivery, and ask for the original creditor, the amount at charge-off and evidence of the right to collect. The page notes a practical reason to do this even when the debt looks real: debts are sold in batches with incomplete records, and fees or interest get added that the original agreement never authorised.

Step 4 — In parallel, decide whether this is identity theft, and freeze

Now open You Got a Data Breach Notice. The First 72 Hours, Sorted by What Leaked, then Credit Freeze, Fraud Alert, or Credit Lock: Which One to Use, and When. The breach page’s framing is the right test: the first question is not what leaked, but whether anyone has used it. If the answer to “do I recognise this debt” is no because someone else opened the account, you are in the identity-theft branch, and a different set of clocks starts.

The freeze page explains why a security freeze is usually the first move there: it is a federal right with enforceable deadlines, not a product, and it blocks new creditors from pulling the file. Two of its details are worth carrying forward into a collection call — a freeze does not change your credit score, and it does not stop you using existing cards. So freezing does not damage the thing you may be trying to protect.

Is Identity Theft Protection Worth Paying For? is the third page in this step, and it is here for the clocks rather than the shopping advice. It lists what the statute already gives at no charge, with the deadlines attached: a freeze placed in one business day, a file delivered within fifteen days, fraudulent entries blocked in four business days, and a reinvestigation of a dispute in 30 days, extendable by 15. Read it before accepting the paid monitoring offer that tends to arrive with a breach notice — the page’s argument is that the lock in the bundle is one you already own.

These clocks run in parallel with Step 3, from a different starting point. That is exactly why they cannot wait until the collection dispute is finished.

Step 5 — Only then read the credit file, and check whether it is medical debt

Two pages, in this order.

Does Medical Debt Still Show Up on Your Credit Report? comes first because the answer changes what “paying it off” does. The page documents that the federal rule that would have removed nearly all medical debt from reports was vacated in 2025, that the three bureaus’ voluntary policies still exclude paid medical collections and small or recent unpaid ones, and that state statutes in more than a dozen states go further. It also flags two thresholds that are easy to misread: the $500 test uses the initial reported balance, and the 365-day waiting period runs from the original delinquency, not from an insurance appeal. If the debt behind the call is medical, those details decide whether Step 2’s caution and Step 3’s dispute should be handled differently.

Then Credit score factors, ranked: three lists, and only one is about everybody else. Its useful contribution here is the second ranking: under 15 U.S.C. § 1681g(f), a score disclosure must come with the key factors that adversely affected your score, capped at four and listed in order of importance. That is the list to read once the disputed entry is resolved, rather than acting on the general FICO category weights, which describe a population and not your file.

Put this last because nothing about optimising a score should be decided while the underlying entry is still unverified.

What this guide does not settle

It does not tell you which state’s limitations period applies, whether the caller is a debt collector under the statute, whether the debt is yours, or whether an entry on your report is accurate. Those are the jobs of the seven pages and the primary sources they cite — all of which are listed below, inherited from those pages rather than written again here.

It also does not replace advice from someone who has read your documents and your file. What it does is keep an early, reassuring action — a small payment, a verbal promise, a paid monitoring subscription — from quietly closing a right you would have wanted three weeks later. If you only have ten minutes, do Steps 1 and 2; they are the two that cannot be undone.

What this guide draws on

Every factual statement above traces to one of these pages. The guide adds the order and the reasoning; the facts belong to the pages and to the sources they cite.

Counsel · Law

Debt Collector Rights Under the FDCPA: The 30-Day Window and 3 Tools You Have

Federal law gives you 30 days to make a collector prove the debt, a one-year deadline to sue over abuse, and tools most people never use. Here is how.

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Statute of limitations: the clock that can end a case before it starts

A statute of limitations is a filing and prosecution deadline. Federal criminal cases default to five years; civil and state deadlines vary by claim and place.

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Three tools, three different legal foundations. A freeze is a federal right, a fraud alert is a warning, and a lock is a product. Pick by what was exposed.

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Is Identity Theft Protection Worth Paying For? What Federal Law Already Gives You

The subscription watches a credit file. Federal law already gives you the lock, the alert, the free report and the removal — with deadlines attached.

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You Got a Data Breach Notice. The First 72 Hours, Sorted by What Leaked

What a data breach notice means: a breach letter lists what was exposed, and what to do first depends on whether it was a password, a card number, or your SSN.

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Does Medical Debt Still Show Up on Your Credit Report?

The federal rule that would have erased it was vacated in 2025. What actually protects you now, what can still be reported, and what to do about an entry.

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Credit score factors, ranked: three lists, and only one is about everybody else

Model weights, four key factors the law makes a lender disclose, and what you can change this month are three different rankings. Which one to use, and when.

Sources

Reproduced from the pages above, not compiled for this guide. Where a page points to a state agency, a statute or an official release, that pointer is the authority — not this page.

  1. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act — 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq. (validation notice § 1692g; cease communication § 1692c; damages § 1692k; one-year filing deadline § 1692k(d))
  2. Regulation F — 12 C.F.R. Part 1006 (contact times, workplace contact, time-barred debt under § 1006.26)
  3. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — consumer complaint process at consumerfinance.gov/complaint
  4. Federal Trade Commission — reportfraud.ftc.gov, and FTC guidance on debt collection
  5. Rotkiske v. Klemm, 589 U.S. 8 (2019) — the FDCPA one-year clock runs from the violation, not from when it was discovered
  6. Consumer Credit Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1673 — federal limits on wage garnishment for general creditors
  7. 18 U.S.C. § 3282 — the federal default five-year limitation for non-capital offenses — law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/3282
  8. 18 U.S.C. § 3286 — an extended eight-year limitation for specified terrorism offenses, and no limitation under subsection (b) only where the offense resulted in, or created a foreseeable risk of, death or serious bodily injury — law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/3286
  9. 28 U.S.C. § 2462 — the general five-year limit for federal civil-penalty and forfeiture enforcement actions — law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/2462
  10. Note: state-law civil and criminal deadlines vary by state and by type of claim; consult the statute of issue for a specific jurisdiction — law.cornell.edu
  11. Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice — "Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts": the three alert types, their durations, who may place each, cost, and the instruction to contact all three bureaus for a freeze but only one for an alert
  12. 15 U.S.C. § 1681c-1 (Fair Credit Reporting Act) — identity theft prevention; fraud alerts and active duty alerts, including § 1681c-1(i) security freeze placement and removal deadlines
  13. Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, Pub. L. No. 115-174, § 301(a) (May 24, 2018), codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1681c-1(i) — made security freezes free nationwide and extended the initial fraud alert to one year, effective September 21, 2018
  14. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 2023 consent order (File No. 2023-CFPB-0011) against TransUnion — enforcing the § 1681c-1(i)(2) and (i)(3) deadlines: one business day to place a freeze, one hour to remove it
  15. U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-19-469T, "Consumer Data Protection: Action Needed to Strengthen Oversight of Consumer Reporting Agencies" — describes the 2018 freeze requirements and the one-year initial alert
  16. Federal Trade Commission, IdentityTheft.gov — reporting identity theft and generating the identity theft report required for an extended fraud alert
  17. 15 U.S.C. § 1681j(a)(1)(A)-(C) — every consumer reporting agency described in § 1681a(p) and (x) — cited in the statute as (w), which Pub. L. 111-203 § 1088(a)(1) redesignated — must make the disclosures required by § 1681g once during any 12-month period upon the consumer's request and without charge; for agencies described in § 1681a(p) the request must be made through the centralized source established under § 211 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003; § 1681j(a)(1)(C) requires a streamlined process, including a toll-free number, for nationwide specialty agencies
  18. 15 U.S.C. § 1681j(a)(2)-(3) — the report must be provided not later than 15 days after the request is received, and a reinvestigation requested after receiving a report under this subsection must be completed within 45 days
  19. 15 U.S.C. § 1681j(b)-(c) — free disclosure where the consumer requests it within 60 days of a notification under § 1681m or from an affiliated debt collector, or certifies that the consumer is unemployed and intends to apply for employment within 60 days, receives public welfare assistance, or has reason to believe the file contains inaccurate information due to fraud
  20. 15 U.S.C. § 1681j(e)-(f) — a consumer reporting agency may not impose any charge for providing any notification or making any disclosure required by the subchapter, except as authorized by subsection (f); (f)(1)(A) allows a reasonable charge for a disclosure under § 1681g that is not covered by subsections (a) through (d), not to exceed $8 and indicated before the disclosure is made; (f)(2) requires the Bureau to increase that amount on January 1 of each year based on the Consumer Price Index
  21. 15 U.S.C. § 1681j(g)(1)-(2) — any advertisement for a free credit report in any medium must prominently disclose that free credit reports are available under Federal law at AnnualCreditReport.com; in a broadcast advertisement the disclosure must consist only of 'This is not the free credit report provided for by Federal law'
  22. 15 U.S.C. § 1681c–1(a)(1)-(2) — on direct request and proof of identity, an initial fraud alert must be included in the file for not less than 1 year and referred to the other nationwide agencies; the agency must provide all § 1681g disclosures without charge not later than 3 business days after a request
  23. 15 U.S.C. § 1681c–1(b)(1)-(2) — on submission of an identity theft report, an extended fraud alert must be included for the 7-year period beginning on the date of the request, the consumer must be excluded for 5 years from lists provided to third parties for unsolicited credit or insurance offers, and 2 free file disclosures must be available during the following 12 months
  24. 15 U.S.C. § 1681c–1(i)(1)-(3) — 'consumer reporting agency' for the freeze provision means an agency described in § 1681a(p); a security freeze means a restriction prohibiting disclosure of the contents of a report to any person requesting it; placement free of charge not later than 1 business day after a toll-free telephone or secure electronic request or 3 business days after a mailed one; confirmation within 5 business days; removal free of charge not later than 1 hour after a telephone or secure electronic request or 3 business days after a mailed one
  25. 15 U.S.C. § 1681c–1(i)(4)(A)-(J) — the ten uses to which a security freeze does not apply: a person with whom the consumer has or had an account, for reviewing or collecting it; a federal, state or local agency, law enforcement agency, trial court or private collection agency acting under a court order, warrant or subpoena; a child support agency acting under part D of title IV of the Social Security Act; a federal agency or a state investigating fraud or collecting delinquent taxes or unpaid court orders; a person using the information for the purposes described in § 1681b(c); a person administering a credit file monitoring subscription to which the consumer has subscribed; a person providing the consumer with a copy of the report or score; a person using the information in connection with insurance underwriting; a person using it for employment, tenant or background screening; and a person assessing or verifying identity for purposes other than granting credit, or investigating fraud
  26. 15 U.S.C. § 1681c–2(a) — a consumer reporting agency must block information the consumer identifies as resulting from an alleged identity theft not later than 4 business days after receiving appropriate proof of identity, a copy of an identity theft report, identification of the information, and a statement that the information does not relate to a transaction by the consumer
  27. 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)(A)-(B) — the agency must, free of charge, conduct a reasonable reinvestigation before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date it receives notice of the dispute, a period that may be extended by not more than 15 additional days if the consumer supplies relevant information during the 30 days
  28. 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(p) — 'consumer reporting agency that compiles and maintains files on consumers on a nationwide basis' means an agency that regularly assembles or evaluates and maintains, for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports bearing on credit worthiness, credit standing or credit capacity, public record information and credit account information from furnishers, regarding consumers residing nationwide
  29. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 12 C.F.R. § 1022.138 (Regulation V) — 'free credit report' includes a file disclosure from a nationwide consumer reporting agency represented, expressly or impliedly, to be available at no cost if the consumer purchases a product or service or agrees to purchase one subject to cancellation (§ 1022.138(a)(2)); a website offering free credit reports must display the boxed disclosure described in (b)(4)(i) — the centered header 'THIS NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY LAW. Read more at consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.' — (b)(4)(ii) 'You have the right to a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com or (877) 322-8228, the ONLY authorized source under Federal law', and (b)(4)(v), a centered button reading 'Take me to the authorized source', on each page that mentions a free credit report and each page of the ordering process; television, radio and print carry the disclosures in (b)(1) through (b)(3)
  30. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 12 C.F.R. § 1022.3(i)(1)(ii) — an identity theft report is a report that alleges identity theft with as much specificity as the consumer can provide and that is a copy of an official, valid report filed by the consumer with a Federal, state or local law enforcement agency, including the United States Postal Inspection Service, the filing of which subjects the filer to criminal penalties for false information; § 1022.3(i)(3)(ii) — the Bureau's Identity Theft Affidavit is available at consumerfinance.gov/learnmore, and the version of that form developed by the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/idtheft 'remains valid and sufficient for this purpose'
  31. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 'Submit a complaint' (consumerfinance.gov/complaint) — the Bureau's intake states that it accepts complaints about credit reports and other personal consumer reports, alongside checking and savings accounts, credit cards, debt collection, debt and credit management, and money transfers
  32. Internal Revenue Service, 'Get an identity protection PIN' — an IP PIN is a six-digit number that prevents another person from filing a tax return using the consumer's Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number; anyone with an SSN or ITIN who can verify identity is eligible, and parents or guardians may request one for dependents; the PIN is valid for one calendar year and a new one is generated each year; it must be used when filing any federal return during the year, including prior-year returns; an incorrect or missing IP PIN results in rejection of an e-filed return or a delay of a paper return; a consumer who enrolled online retrieves the PIN from the online account each year rather than receiving a CP01A notice
  33. 15 U.S.C. § 1679a(3) — 'credit repair organization' means any person who uses any instrumentality of interstate commerce or the mails to sell, provide or perform, or represent that the person can or will sell, provide or perform, any service for the payment of money or other valuable consideration for the express or implied purpose of improving a consumer's credit record, credit history or credit rating, or providing advice or assistance with such a service, excluding 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, a creditor restructuring debt owed to it, and depository institutions and federal or state credit unions and their affiliates
  34. 15 U.S.C. § 1679b(b) — no credit repair organization may charge or receive any money or other valuable consideration for the performance of any service it has agreed to perform for a consumer before that service is fully performed
  35. 15 U.S.C. § 1679e(a)-(b) — a consumer may cancel a contract with a credit repair organization without penalty or obligation at any time before midnight of the 3rd business day beginning after the date the contract is executed, and the contract must be accompanied by a duplicate 'Notice of Cancellation' form
  36. Federal Trade Commission, IdentityTheft.gov — "Data Breach" response guide, including the initial question "Did someone use your information?", the check-freeze-monitor first step, and the data-type-specific branches for Social Security numbers, passwords, card numbers, bank accounts, driver's licenses, passports, Medicare and Medicaid, and children's information
  37. Social Security Administration — "Identity Theft and Social Security Numbers" and the SSA Office of the Inspector General fraud reporting guidance: the position that an exposed-but-unused Social Security number does not require an FTC identity theft report, the eServices block and Direct Deposit Fraud Prevention block, and the SSA OIG fraud hotline 1-800-269-0271
  38. Internal Revenue Service — "Get an Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN)": the six-digit PIN, eligibility for any taxpayer with a Social Security number or ITIN who can verify identity, the one-calendar-year validity and annual regeneration, the forms it applies to, the rule that applicants under 18 cannot use the online tool, and the warning that the IRS never asks for your IP PIN
  39. Internal Revenue Service — "Data Breach Information for Taxpayers": the guidance to identify which type of personal information was exposed, the judgment that a tax account is most at risk when both a Social Security number and financial data such as wage records are involved, and the instruction to file Form 14039 only once
  40. U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration, E-Verify — "Self Lock": the myE-Verify feature that locks a Social Security number against use in E-Verify cases, the resulting Tentative Nonconfirmation for anyone who tries to use it, and the requirement that the account holder unlock it before starting a job with an E-Verify employer
  41. U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs — "Report a Lost or Stolen Passport": the requirement to report immediately to guard against identity theft, the rule that a reported passport is canceled and unusable for travel even if recovered, the three reporting methods including Form DS-64 and the online form filler, the 1-877-487-2778 number and 1-888-874-7793 TTY for the National Passport Information Center, and the statement that a passport number alone cannot be used for travel because the physical document is required
  42. 15 U.S.C. § 1643 (Truth in Lending Act) — liability of a credit card holder for unauthorized use, capped at $50, with no liability for charges made after the issuer is notified
  43. 15 U.S.C. § 1693g (Electronic Fund Transfer Act) — consumer liability for unauthorized electronic fund transfers, including the $50 tier for reporting within two business days, the $500 tier for later reporting within 60 days of the statement, and the absence of a federal cap beyond that
  44. 15 U.S.C. § 1681c-1 (Fair Credit Reporting Act) — identity theft prevention; fraud alerts and active duty alerts, including the one-year initial fraud alert, the seven-year extended fraud alert requiring an identity theft report, and the security freeze definitions and placement deadlines
  45. 15 U.S.C. § 1681j (Fair Credit Reporting Act, as amended by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003) — the free annual file disclosure, and the centralised source at AnnualCreditReport.com through which requests must be made
  46. California Civil Code § 1798.82, as amended by Senate Bill 446 (2025), effective January 1, 2026 — an example of a state notification deadline: 30 calendar days to notify affected residents and 15 calendar days to notify the Attorney General when more than 500 residents are affected. Breach notification duties vary by state and this is one state's rule, not a national standard
  47. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — final rule removing medical bills from credit reports, announced January 7, 2025, and the agency's own guidance on medical debt reporting
  48. U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas — Cornerstone Credit Union League v. CFPB, July 11, 2025, vacating the rule on a joint motion of the parties
  49. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — "Have Medical Debt? Anything Already Paid or Under $500 Should No Longer Be on Your Credit Report"
  50. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Data Spotlight on the early impacts of removing low-balance medical collections (roughly a 20-point FICO Score 8 difference between consumers just below and just above the $500 threshold)
  51. Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — joint policy announcements of July 1, 2022 (paid medical collections; the 365-day waiting period) and April 2023 (the $500 initial-balance threshold)
  52. National Consumer Law Center — tracking of state medical-debt credit-reporting statutes
  53. Fair Credit Reporting Act — 15 U.S.C. § 1681i (procedure in case of disputed accuracy) and § 1681c (time limits on adverse information)
  54. Federal Trade Commission — credit reports, free annual reports and dispute procedures; AnnualCreditReport.com as the federally authorized source
  55. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — No Surprises Act, effective January 1, 2022
  56. Internal Revenue Service — Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt; Form 982; and the insolvency exclusion under 26 U.S.C. § 108
  57. Internal Revenue Code § 501(r) — financial assistance policy requirements for nonprofit hospitals
  58. 15 U.S.C. 1681c — Requirements relating to information contained in consumer reports. The time limits used here: bankruptcy ten years from the order for relief (a)(1); civil suits, judgments and arrest records seven years or the governing statute of limitations, whichever is longer (a)(2); collections and charge-offs seven years (a)(4); any other adverse item seven years, other than convictions of crimes (a)(5); the exemptions for credit of $150,000 or more, life insurance of $150,000 or more and employment at $75,000 or more (b); and the rule that the seven-year period for a collection begins when the 180-day period after the commencement of the delinquency expires (c)(1). govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title15/html/USCODE-2023-title15-chap41-subchapIII.htm
  59. 15 U.S.C. 1681e(b) — the accuracy standard a consumer reporting agency must meet: reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information concerning the individual. Same chapter file as above.
  60. 15 U.S.C. 1681g — Disclosures to consumers. (a)(1)(B) states that nothing in the file-disclosure right requires an agency to disclose credit scores; (f)(1) requires, on request for a credit score, the current score or most recent score calculated for a credit purpose, the range of possible scores under the model, all key factors that adversely affected the score capped at four, the date the score was created and the source; (f)(2)(B) defines key factors as listed in order of their importance based on their effect; (f)(8) allows a fair and reasonable fee; (f)(9) requires an inquiry-based key factor to be disclosed without regard to the four-factor limit; and (g)(1) imposes the same disclosure on lenders making closed-end or open-end loans secured by one to four units of residential real property. govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title15/html/USCODE-2023-title15-chap41-subchapIII.htm
  61. 15 U.S.C. 1681i — Procedure in case of disputed accuracy. The 30-day reinvestigation period (a)(1)(A), the extension of not more than 15 additional days when the consumer supplies relevant information during that period (a)(1)(B), notice of the dispute to the furnisher within five business days (a)(2)(A), the frivolous-or-irrelevant determination and the five-business-day notice of it (a)(3), and the requirement to delete or modify information that is inaccurate, incomplete or cannot be verified (a)(5)(A). Same chapter file.
  62. 15 U.S.C. 1681j(a)(1) — every nationwide consumer reporting agency must make the disclosures required by section 1681g once during any 12-month period, without charge, when the request is made through the centralized source established under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act. Same chapter file.
  63. 15 U.S.C. 1681n and 1681o — civil liability. Willful noncompliance carries actual damages or statutory damages of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000, punitive damages as the court allows, and costs and attorney's fees (1681n(a)); negligent noncompliance carries actual damages plus costs and fees (1681o(a)). govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title15/html/USCODE-2023-title15-chap41-subchapIII-sec1681n.htm and govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title15/html/USCODE-2023-title15-chap41-subchapIII-sec1681o.htm
  64. 15 U.S.C. 1681m(a) — duties of a user of a consumer report who takes an adverse action based in whole or in part on the report: notice of the action, disclosure of the numerical credit score used and of the information in 1681g(f)(1)(B) through (E), the identity of the agency that furnished the report, and notice of the right to a free report within 60 days and to dispute under 1681i. govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title15/html/USCODE-2023-title15-chap41-subchapIII.htm
  65. 15 U.S.C. 1681s(c)(1) — state action for violations: a state's chief law enforcement officer may sue on behalf of residents, including under (B)(ii) for damages the person would owe but for section 1681s-2(c), and under (B)(iii) for damages of up to $1,000 for each willful or negligent violation. This is the exception referred to in 1681s-2(c). govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title15/html/USCODE-2023-title15-chap41-subchapIII-sec1681s.htm
  66. 15 U.S.C. 1681s-2 — responsibilities of furnishers of information. (a) prohibits furnishing information the furnisher knows or has reasonable cause to believe is inaccurate, and (c) provides that sections 1681n and 1681o do not apply to any violation of subsection (a), except as section 1681s(c)(1)(B) allows a state official to sue, with enforcement of those provisions otherwise left to the federal and state officials identified in section 1681s. govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title15/html/USCODE-2023-title15-chap41-subchapIII-sec1681s-2.htm
  67. 15 U.S.C. 1681t — relation to state laws. Subsection (a) preserves state law except to the extent it is inconsistent, and is expressly subject to subsections (b) and (c); subsection (b)(1)(B) and (b)(1)(E) bar state requirements on the subject matter of 1681i and 1681c except for state laws in effect on September 30, 1996; subsection (b)(3) covers the 1681g disclosures required under (c), (d), (e) and (g) and, for credit granting purposes, (f); and subsection (b)(3)(C) provides that the paragraph does not limit, annul or supersede any state law regulating the use of a credit-based insurance score in an insurance activity. Same chapter file as 1681c.
  68. 15 U.S.C. 1012(a) — the business of insurance, and every person engaged in it, is subject to the laws of the several states relating to its regulation or taxation. This is why whether an insurer may use a credit-based insurance score varies by state. govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title15/html/USCODE-2023-title15-chap20-sec1012.htm
  69. 15 U.S.C. 1679b(b) and 1679c(a) — Credit Repair Organizations Act. No credit repair organization may charge or receive money for a service before the service is fully performed (1679b(b)); before any contract is executed the organization must give the consumer a written statement of rights, which includes the right to cancel the contract for any reason within three business days of signing (1679c(a)). govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title15/html/USCODE-2023-title15-chap41-subchapII-A.htm
  70. FICO — 'What's in your credit score?' The five categories and their stated weights: payment history 35 percent, amounts owed 30 percent, length of credit history 15 percent, new credit 10 percent and credit mix 10 percent; the statement that the importance of the categories may vary from one person to another; the list of personal and financial information a FICO Score does not consider; the note that only the UltraFICO Score uses consumer-permissioned banking data; the statement that a few late payments are not an automatic score-killer; that credit mix is not something you need one of each of; and that FICO Scores consider only inquiries from the last 12 months although inquiries stay on the report for two years. myfico.com/credit-education/whats-in-your-credit-score
  71. FICO — 'What is Amounts Owed?' The five things the category looks at; the statement that the amount of debt is less significant than utilization; that a low utilization ratio can help more than using no credit at all; and that even a card paid in full each month may show a balance because the reported figure is generally the balance on the latest monthly statement. myfico.com/credit-education/credit-scores/amount-of-debt
  72. FICO — 'What is New Credit?' New credit as 10 percent of the score; the three things the category looks at; that inquiries usually have a small impact, that many types are ignored completely, and that the score allows for rate shopping; and that checking your own report does not affect your scores when it comes from the agency or an authorized provider. myfico.com/credit-education/credit-scores/new-credit
  73. FICO — 'FICO Score versions'. The version table that lists FICO Score 8 and FICO Score 9 as widely used and pairs the mortgage versions one per bureau — FICO Score 2 at Experian, FICO Score 5 at Equifax and FICO Score 4 at TransUnion — together with the page's borrower guidance that mortgage lenders typically pull a tri-merge report and use the middle of the three scores, or the lower middle score on a joint application; what was new in FICO Score 9, including that paid third-party collections no longer have a negative impact, that unpaid medical collections have less of a negative impact, and that rental history factors in when it is reported; and that FICO Score 10T assesses trended bureau data covering the previous 24 months or longer. myfico.com/credit-education/credit-scores/fico-score-versions
  74. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — 'How do I get a free copy of my credit reports?' Last reviewed October 15, 2026. Names AnnualCreditReport.com as the centralized source, states that a consumer can get a free report from each of the three nationwide companies once a week there as well as the statutory right to one free report every 12 months, lists the extra free reports available after an adverse action (requested within 60 days of the notice), and states that otherwise a company may charge no more than $16 for a report. consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-get-a-free-copy-of-my-credit-reports-en-5
  75. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — 'How do I get and keep a good credit score?' The guidance that most credit scores treat repayment history as the number one factor, that experts advise keeping use of credit at no more than 30 percent of your total credit limit, that you do not need to carry a balance, that paying in full each month helps get the best scores, that closing accounts and moving balances onto one card can hurt if it raises your utilization, and that applying for a lot of credit in a short period can read as a sign of financial strain. consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-get-and-keep-a-good-credit-score-en-318
  76. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — 'What is the difference between a credit report and a credit score?' The statement that a consumer has many different credit scores and that a score can differ depending on which credit reporting agency supplied the data, the scoring model, the loan product, and the day it was calculated. consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-is-the-difference-between-a-credit-report-and-a-credit-score-en-2069
  77. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — 'How do I dispute an error on my credit report?' The recommended contents of a dispute letter, the instruction to dispute with both the credit reporting company and the furnisher, the note that a company may decline a dispute it reasonably finds frivolous or irrelevant and must explain that within five business days, that furnishers generally must investigate and respond within 30 days, and that a consumer who still disagrees can ask for a statement of the dispute to be added to the file. consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-dispute-an-error-on-my-credit-report-en-314
  78. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — 'What can I do if my credit application was denied because of my credit report?' The adverse-action requirements: the specific reasons or notice of the right to learn them within 60 days, the numerical score used and the key factors that affected it, the name and contact details of the credit reporting company, the right to a free report from that company within 60 days, and the process for fixing mistakes; plus the list of characteristics on which a creditor may not discriminate under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/my-credit-application-was-denied-because-of-my-credit-report-what-can-i-do-en-1253

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