FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) Damages Calculator
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 USC 1681) provides $100–$1,000 statutory damages for willful violations plus actual damages, punitive damages, and attorney's fees. Negligent violations recover actual damages only.
| Statutory damages (willful only) | — |
| Credit denied | — |
| Higher interest paid | — |
| Emotional distress | — |
| Lost wages | — |
| Actual damages total | — |
| Punitive estimate (willful) | — |
| Attorney's fees | — |
| Total recovery | — |
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 USC 1681) regulates credit bureaus, furnishers, and users of consumer reports. Willful violations under §1681n allow $100–$1,000 in statutory damages plus actual and punitive damages plus attorney's fees. Negligent violations under §1681o recover only actual damages plus attorney's fees. The Supreme Court in Safeco v. Burr (2007) defined willful as either knowing violations or reckless disregard for the statute.
Common FCRA Violations
Top categories: reporting an account that doesn't belong to you (mixed credit files); failing to remove disputed inaccurate information after the 30-day investigation period; reinserting deleted information without proper notice; reporting outdated negative information beyond the 7-year (or 10-year for bankruptcy) limit; failing to provide an adverse action notice when credit is denied based on a report. Furnishers (the company that supplied the data to the bureau) have parallel obligations and can be sued separately under §1681s-2(b).
Why Damages Can Be Large
FCRA damages compound: lost interest from a denied loan, higher interest paid over the life of a loan obtained at worse terms, denied housing, denied employment, denied insurance, emotional distress from collection harassment over disputed debts, and time spent disputing errors. A single $200K mortgage at 7% versus 5.5% interest produces $80K-$100K in extra interest over 30 years — that's recoverable. Punitive damages in willful cases routinely double or triple the actual damages. Courts in the Ninth Circuit have awarded $1M+ punitive damages for repeated dispute violations.
Last updated May 2026. Sources: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.