Credit repair laws in Tennessee: what protects you

The federal law: CROA

The Credit Repair Organizations Act (15 U.S.C. § 1679) applies to anyone who, for a fee, offers to improve your credit record. It requires:
– A written contract with the services, the total cost, how long they’ll take, and any guarantee.
– A separate disclosure of your rights, “Consumer Credit File Rights Under State and Federal Law,” before you sign. Ours is published in full on our Your Rights page.
– No payment, in any form, before the services are fully performed.
– A three-business-day right to cancel without penalty, with a cancellation form provided.
– No false or misleading statements to credit bureaus or creditors, and no advice to create a new credit identity.
– No guarantees that items will be removed or scores will rise.

You can sue a credit repair organization that violates CROA for actual damages, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees.

The Tennessee law

Tennessee’s Credit Services Businesses Act (Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-1001 and following) layers state requirements on top of CROA, including registration with the state, a surety bond, and disclosure and contract provisions that mirror and in some places extend the federal ones. Violations are also unfair and deceptive acts under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, which carries its own remedies. [Laura: confirm current registration/bond status and add the registration number here.]

The laws that govern your reports themselves

• Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): your right to accurate reports, to dispute, to a 30-day investigation, to free annual reports, and to have most negatives removed after seven years.
• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA): limits on how collectors can contact you, your right to written validation, and your right to tell them to stop.
• Regulation F (2021): the CFPB’s detailed rules for collectors, including the validation notice they must send and limits on call frequency.

How to check a company before you hire them

1. Ask for the CROA disclosure and contract before any discussion of money. If they want a card number first, walk away.
2. Confirm they’re registered and bonded in Tennessee.
3. Read the guarantee language. “Guaranteed deletions” or “guaranteed 100-point increase” is illegal and a sign the rest is unreliable too.
4. Ask how they handle accurate negative items. The right answer is goodwill requests, negotiation, or “it stays.” The wrong answer is “we dispute everything.”
5. Search the company name with “CFPB complaint” and “BBB.”

Where to complain

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumerfinance.gov/complaint), Federal Trade Commission (reportfraud.ftc.gov), and the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs (tn.gov/consumer). Complaints are read and are often the fastest way to get a company’s attention.

How we comply

The Credit Firm provides the CROA disclosure and a written contract before enrollment, bills monthly only for work already performed, honors the three-day cancellation, never advises a client to dispute accurate information as inaccurate, and makes no guarantees. Every client’s results are different, and we say so on every page of this site.