CROA Disclosure
Your rights under the Credit Repair Organizations Act, and what a credit repair organization can and cannot do.
event Last updated: September 9, 2026This page needs attorney review before use, not just before publishing. Federal law (15 U.S.C. § 1679c) requires credit repair organizations to give consumers a specific written disclosure, titled "Consumer Credit File Rights Under State and Federal Law," before any contract is signed, and several states layer on their own credit services organization disclosure and formatting requirements (font size, standalone document, separate signature, etc.). What follows is a plain-language summary of that federal disclosure's substance, drafted for this website. It is not a substitute for the exact statutory text, and it is not your official pre-contract disclosure document. Have an attorney confirm the required wording, format, and delivery method for every state you operate in before you rely on this page or use it in a client-facing contract.
The Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) is a federal law that protects consumers who work with companies like ours. This page explains, in plain language, the rights CROA gives you and the rules it puts on credit repair organizations.
1. Your Credit File Rights
- You have the right to obtain a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus, and in many cases you can get one free of charge.
- You have the right to know what's in your credit file, and to know who has requested your file recently.
- You have the right to have inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information corrected or removed by the credit bureau.
2. You Can Dispute Information Yourself, Free of Charge
You do not need to hire a credit repair organization to dispute inaccurate information. You have the right to dispute directly with the credit bureau, in writing, at no cost. The bureau must investigate your dispute, generally within 30 days, and remove information it cannot verify as accurate.
Accurate, timely, and verifiable negative information generally cannot be legally removed from your credit report before it naturally expires, no matter who requests it.
3. What a Credit Repair Organization Cannot Do
Under CROA, a credit repair organization is prohibited from:
- Making any untrue or misleading statement about your creditworthiness or credit history.
- Charging or collecting any fee before it has fully completed the services it promised.
- Performing any services until you have signed a written contract and any legally required waiting period has passed.
- Advising you to make any untrue or misleading statement to a credit bureau or creditor.
- Guaranteeing that it can remove accurate, verifiable, and timely negative information from your credit report.
4. What a Credit Repair Organization Must Do
- Provide you with a written contract describing the services to be performed, the total cost, and the estimated timeline before you're charged anything.
- Give you this disclosure of your rights before you sign a contract.
- Honor your right to cancel described in Section 5.
5. Your Right to Cancel
You may cancel your contract with a credit repair organization, without penalty or obligation, at any time before midnight of the third business day after the date you signed it. Cancellation must be honored even if you don't give a reason.
6. Your Right to Sue
If a credit repair organization violates CROA, you may sue for actual damages, and in some cases for statutory or punitive damages, plus attorney's fees and costs. You cannot waive your rights under CROA, and any contract clause that attempts to do so is not enforceable.
7. Where to File a Complaint
If you believe a credit repair organization has violated your rights, you can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or your state Attorney General's office, in addition to any legal action you're entitled to take.
Questions about how this applies to your file? Reach out through our Contact page and we'll walk through it with you.