Bank of America damaging your credit with bad data?

Who Bank of America is and what it reports

Bank of America, N.A. is a national bank based in Charlotte, North Carolina. It offers checking and savings accounts, credit cards, home loans and auto loans to consumers across the country.

Several of those products can appear on your credit report. Card, mortgage and auto accounts are typically reported to Equifax, Experian and TransUnion every month, and a lender that reports this way is a “furnisher” under the FCRA. A checking account closed with a negative balance can also be reported to a deposit screening agency such as ChexSystems or Early Warning Services, which banks check before letting you open a new account.

The CFPB’s 2023 finding on unauthorized accounts

On July 11, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a consent order against Bank of America, N.A. The CFPB found that in certain instances the bank opened credit card accounts without consumers’ consent and, in doing so, obtained consumers’ credit reports without a permissible purpose. The CFPB found that conduct violated the Truth in Lending Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Act. The same order addressed sign-up bonuses the bank advertised but did not provide. It required the bank to pay redress and a $30 million civil money penalty.

That order is a regulator’s finding about the bank’s practices, not about your file. But it describes exactly the kind of harm that shows up on a credit report: a card you never asked for, a hard inquiry you never authorized, and an account history that is not yours.

Errors Bank of America accounts commonly cause

• Accounts you never opened. A credit card opened in your name without your application, whether by the bank or by an identity thief, reported as your debt.
• Unauthorized inquiries. Hard inquiries from credit pulls you did not authorize, which can lower your score and signal new credit-seeking to other lenders.
• Fraud not removed. Accounts or charges you reported as identity theft still showing after you sent proof.
• Late payments that were not late. Payments misapplied, autopay failures, or months covered by an agreed deferral, forbearance or loan modification reported as delinquent.
• Wrong balances after charge-off. A card balance charged off and then sold, settled or discharged in bankruptcy still reported as owed.
• Deposit account reporting. A disputed overdraft or fraudulent withdrawal reported to a deposit screening agency as money you owe.

How to dispute a Bank of America error

Contacting the bank directly is fine, and sometimes fast. But your strongest legal rights depend on disputing through the credit bureaus.

1. Get all three reports. Pull your Equifax, Experian and TransUnion reports from AnnualCreditReport.com. Save dated copies and note every Bank of America tradeline and inquiry.
2. Dispute through each bureau. Use each bureau’s official dispute process; our guides to Equifax, Experian and TransUnion explain how. Say exactly what is wrong: “I never applied for this account,” “this payment was made on [date],” “this debt was discharged.”
3. Attach proof. Bank statements, payment confirmations, a hardship or modification agreement, a bankruptcy discharge, or an FTC identity theft report from IdentityTheft.gov.
4. Use the identity theft block if it applies. If the account was opened by someone else, send each bureau your identity theft report and ask it to block the account under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c-2.
5. Save the results. Keep every confirmation and results letter. If the bank “verifies” information you proved wrong, talk to a lawyer before disputing again.

Why the bureau dispute matters. Once a bureau receives your dispute it must notify the bank (§ 1681i(a)(2)). That notice triggers the bank’s duty under § 1681s-2(b) to conduct a reasonable investigation, review what you sent, and correct or delete inaccurate or unverifiable information. That duty can be enforced in court. The bank’s general accuracy duties under § 1681s-2(a), including its duty to investigate disputes sent directly to it, cannot be enforced by a consumer lawsuit.

Your FCRA rights

• Permissible purpose (§ 1681b(f)). No one may pull your credit report without a reason the statute allows. Pulling it to open an account you did not apply for can violate that rule.
• Furnisher investigation (§ 1681s-2(b)). After a bureau dispute, the bank must investigate and fix what is wrong.
• Bureau accuracy and reinvestigation (§§ 1681e(b), 1681i). A bureau that keeps reporting the error after your dispute may be separately liable.
• Identity theft (§ 1681c-2). The bureaus generally must block identity theft information within four business days of receiving a proper request. The bank’s own identity theft duties under § 1681s-2(a)(6) are enforced by regulators, not private lawsuits.

What you may recover

For a negligent violation, you may recover actual damages, such as credit denials, higher interest costs and emotional distress, plus attorney’s fees and costs (15 U.S.C. § 1681o). For a willful violation, you may recover actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages as the court allows, and fees and costs (§ 1681n).

Get a free case review before your deadline

FCRA claims generally must be filed within two years after you discover the violation and no later than five years after it occurred (15 U.S.C. § 1681p). If Bank of America is reporting an account you never opened, a payment it never credited or a balance you do not owe, gather your reports and dispute records and request a free case review. FCRA Attorneys has offices in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta, files FCRA cases in federal court nationwide, directly or with local counsel, and works on contingency. There is no fee unless we win.

Questions about suing Bank of America

Can I sue Bank of America over my credit report?

Possibly. Bank of America is a furnisher of credit information. If you dispute an error through Equifax, Experian or TransUnion and the bank fails to reasonably investigate and correct it, 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b) allows a lawsuit. A complaint made only to the bank generally does not create that right.

Bank of America opened a card I never applied for. Is that an FCRA problem?

It can be. Opening an account without consent usually means the bank pulled your credit report without a permissible purpose, which the FCRA prohibits (15 U.S.C. § 1681b(f)) and which can support a claim under §§ 1681n and 1681o. If the unauthorized account is then reported on your file and not fixed after a bureau dispute, there may be a § 1681s-2(b) claim as well.

What does it cost to hire FCRA Attorneys?

Nothing up front. We handle FCRA cases on contingency, so there is no fee unless we win. The FCRA also allows a successful consumer to recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs from the company under 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681n and 1681o.

How long do I have to sue Bank of America?

Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681p, an FCRA lawsuit generally must be filed within two years after you discover the violation and no later than five years after the violation occurred. If an account was opened in your name years ago, the clock may depend on when you found out, so get advice promptly.

Related reading

• How to Dispute Credit Report Errors With Equifax, Experian and TransUnion
• Examples of FCRA Violations, Matched to the Section of the Law They Break
• How to Remove a Late Payment From Your Credit Report, and When You Can't
• Charged-Off Account Still Showing a Balance? When It's Accurate and When It's Not

Sources

• CFPB enforcement action: Bank of America, N.A. (sales practices, credit card rewards), consent order July 11, 2023
• BankofAmerica.com: consumer products (checking, savings, credit cards, home loans, auto loans)

Updated November 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice.