What is the deadline to sue over credit report errors?

Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681p, suit must be filed by the earlier of two years after you discover the violation or five years after it occurred. The claim usually requires first disputing the error through the credit bureau so the reinvestigation duties are triggered.

Two clocks cap a credit reporting case: 15 U.S.C. § 1681p requires suit within two years after the consumer discovers the violation, and never later than five years after the violation itself. The trap is what starts a claim at all. Against a furnisher — the bank or collector reporting the debt — liability under 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b) generally arises only after the consumer disputes through the credit bureau and the furnisher fails to reasonably investigate; complaining directly to the creditor alone does not open the private claim. So the sequence is: dispute in writing with each bureau reporting the error, keep copies and the certified mail receipts, wait out the roughly 30-day reinvestigation of 15 U.S.C. § 1681i, and pull the results. Each botched reinvestigation can be a fresh violation with its own limitations period. California's Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act, Civil Code section 1785.1 et seq., supplies parallel state remedies. Damages reach actual losses, statutory damages for willful violations, and attorney fees.

Authority: 15 U.S.C. § 1681p