Professionalism, Quality, Responsiveness, Value

Sherman & Ticchio PLLC under the leadership of Brett Sherman is an excellent law firm that represents the best interest of each and every client. Brett is an experienced and knowledgeable lawyer who gets the job done seeking the best results for his client base. His distinguished career is notable and I would highly recommend […]

What is a Credit Inquiry (and what is the difference between hard inquiries and soft inquiries)?

Broadly speaking, a credit inquiry is a request by a financial institution or other company (like a potential landlord) for information about a consumer’s creditworthiness from a consumer reporting agency (CRA), which are commonly called credit bureaus. The big three credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. A fourth credit bureau currently making a push […]

Suspect Identity Theft? You Can “Freeze” Your Credit Reports

Today, with data breaches, telephone scams, and bogus links in emails and texts with offers or warnings that seem legitimate but are, in reality, part of click-bait cons, identity theft is rampant. And a major consequence of identity theft can be the opening of credit cards and other loans in your name without your knowledge […]

How can I obtain my credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion?

Normally, you are entitled to obtain one free copy per year of your credit report withEquifax, Experian, and TransUnion by visiting the website annualcreditreport.com, linked here. Because of the pandemic, you can obtain a free report from each of the big three credit bureaus each week through late April of 2022. In some instances, such […]

The FCRA: You may be entitled to financial compensation for credit report errors

FCRA §1681o applies to negligent violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act Pursuant to FCRA §1681o, any person (under the law, the term person includes entities such as, among others, (a) consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) — Equifax, Experian, Innovis, TransUnion, and others, (b) furnishers of information to CRAs — lenders, credit card servicers, student loan […]

Identity Theft – a Guide for Consumers

Identity theft happens when one individual uses the personal identifying information of another person without permission. Often, perpetrators of identity theft fraudulently open credit card accounts, obtain loans, and even open accounts with service providers like utilities.; An identity thief with access to your personal information and knowledge of a credit card number that does […]

Credit Report Errors: Disputes and Lawsuits Under the FCRA

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) defines two different types of disputes of inaccurate information on your credit report — “direct disputes” and “indirect disputes” — and it may surprise you which one provides the consumer with more rights. When you dispute incorrect information on your credit report directly to the company that is the […]

Reasonable FCRA dispute investigation… Who decides?

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is intended to protect consumers from the consequences of inaccurate credit reporting. Among other things, the FCRA requires both credit bureaus and furnishers to conduct reasonable investigations of consumer credit disputes and delete, modify, or appropriately update disputed credit report information that cannot be affirmatively verified as accurate. The […]

False criminal record on background check report

False criminal records on background check reports are far too common. This year, Sherman & Ticchio has observed a substantial uptick in the number of people who call us after losing out on jobs (or losing existing jobs) because of inaccurate background check reports. We have also seen a big jump in the number of […]

Alive, but described as deceased on your credit report?

Are you very much alive BUT being described as deceased by a credit bureau (like Equifax, Experian, and/or TransUnion)? You may be surprised to hear that this happens pretty much every day. Why? Because the credit bureaus do not have reasonable procedures to prevent you from being incorrectly classified as deceased.There are two primary scenarios […]

Potent remedies available for FCRA violations

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a fee-shifting statute, offers potent remedies to consumers who prevail at trial. We will take a brief look at those remedies in today’s post. Negligent and Willful FCRA Violations There are two types of violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. When a jury finds a credit bureau (a/k/a […]