Approximately 50 cases have been filed recently in Nevada state and federal courts against furnishers of information and credit reporting agencies (CRAs) for alleged Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) violations. It appears that consumer rights attorneys have teamed up with consumer bankruptcy firms to monitor credit reports over the course of a debtor’s bankruptcy case and then sue creditors and CRAs after discharge if the debtor’s credit report inaccurately reports debts after the bankruptcy.

The FCRA broadly requires credit card issuers, lenders, insurers, and other furnishers of credit information to report accurate consumer credit information. While only federal or state agencies can enforce many of the specific statutory duties, there is an exception. The FCRA expressly creates a private cause of action for a furnisher’s failure to reasonably investigate and/or correct inaccurate consumer information after the furnisher receives a notice of dispute from a CRA.

This new wave of litigation in Nevada underscores the fact that furnishers of credit information must be vigilant about whether their systems are accurately reflecting debts discharged in a bankruptcy.