Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia

Re: Federal Laws on Billing Error Disputes

Sadly, there is NO federal law that governs billing disputes, and basically no State laws either, except perhaps in very specialized areas. There is a federal law that governs debt collectors, which is the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. It is fairly severe for debt collectors who violate the terms. There is also a federal law that governs reports on your credit report by credit bureaus, which unfortunately is all bark and no bite. It is toothless and mostly useless.

However, I do have this advice on credit reports: You dispute the debt with the credit bureau. They will "verify" the debt which is a complete joke and will mean nothing except that they waste your time, and re-issue the same report.

THEN you have a right to have a short statement INCLUDED with your credit report to explain why you do not owe the debt. Every time anyone requests a copy of your credit report, they must be shown your statement.

If you write a statement that makes the creditor look foolish (be polite, don't be childish, be devastatingly clear), watch how fast the creditor drops the negative report. When the creditor knows that the entire world is going to read your statement about how they screwed up, they will drop the report to make sure no one reads your statement. But the negative report will be deleted, as well.

Of course, ultimately, a creditor has to PROVE that you owe money. So they have to go to court where they have the burden of proof.

What is it you have in mind? What are you trying to accomplish?