NCR report listed charges that aren't yours?

Who National Credit Reporting is and who relies on its reports

National Credit Reporting, which calls itself NCR, is a screening company headquartered at 6830 Via Del Oro in San Jose, California, with offices it lists in Newbury Park, Seattle, Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Antonio. It says it has been in the tenant screening business since 1984, serves more than 13,000 clients and has screened more than one million rental units.

NCR offers tenant screening for both market-rate and federally assisted housing, employment screening, and FBI fingerprint background checks as an approved FBI channeler. Its FAQ says landlords can order a credit report from Equifax, Experian or TransUnion, unlawful detainer (eviction) searches, and criminal searches that draw on data from all fifty states. NCR itself notes that the completeness of criminal results depends on what each state’s courts make available.

That mix matters. A report that pulls criminal data from many sources at once is fast, but it also raises the risk that a record belonging to someone else with a similar name gets attached to you.

How someone else’s charges end up on your report

Most wrong-person reports come down to matching. Criminal court records often carry only a name and a birth date, or sometimes just a name and a birth year. If a screening company treats a name match as enough, a charge against a different “Maria Garcia” or “James Johnson” can show up on your report. Shared addresses cause the same problem with relatives and former roommates.

The fix is usually in the identifiers. A different middle name, a different date of birth, a different physical description, or proof that you were somewhere else when the offense happened can show the record is not yours. The FCRA requires screening companies to use reasonable procedures to get this right before they report, not just after you complain.

Errors that show up on NCR-type screening reports

• Wrong-person records. Charges of someone with the same or a similar name.
• Name-only matches. Records attached even though the birth date or middle name does not match.
• Shared-address matches. A relative’s or roommate’s case linked to you.
• Missing outcomes. Charges reported without the dismissal or final disposition.
• Incomplete eviction records. An unlawful detainer filing reported without the result. NCR’s FAQ says its searches include filings that never reached, or have not yet reached, judgment.
• Duplicates. One case listed more than once.

How to dispute National Credit Reporting

1. Confirm NCR prepared the report. If you were denied housing or a job, the adverse action notice should name the screening company.
2. Request your report. NCR’s FAQ says that if it processed your application, you can request your report from NCR. You are entitled to a free copy if you ask within 60 days after an adverse action notice. Contact NCR at (800) 441-1661 or at 6830 Via Del Oro, Suite 105, San Jose, CA 95119.
3. Identify every charge that is not yours. Note the name, birth date, case number and court for each one.
4. Dispute in writing. NCR’s website does not list a separate dispute address, so send a written dispute to its San Jose headquarters by a method you can track, and keep a copy. Explain that the charges belong to another person.
5. Attach proof. Your ID, your full date of birth, and the court record showing the other person’s identifiers. If you have them, include fingerprint-based results or a court clerk’s letter.
6. Dispute credit data with the bureau too. If the problem is a credit account, also dispute directly with the credit bureau that supplied it.
7. Track the 30 days. A consumer reporting agency generally must complete its reinvestigation within 30 days of receiving your dispute (15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)).
8. Keep everything. The denial, the notice, the report, your dispute and every response.

How to contact National Credit Reporting

NCR’s contact page lists:

• Online: an information request form at ncrcredit.com. NCR’s FAQ says you can request your report from NCR if it processed your application.
• Phone: (800) 441-1661 (headquarters extension 109).
• Fax: (800) 819-0055.
• Mail: National Credit Reporting, 6830 Via Del Oro, Suite 105, San Jose, CA 95119.

NCR’s website does not list a separate consumer dispute address, email or hours, so send written disputes to the San Jose headquarters and keep tracking.

Your rights under the FCRA

• Accuracy (§ 1681e(b)). NCR must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information it reports about you. Matching records on name alone can fall short of that standard.
• Reinvestigation (§ 1681i). It must reasonably reinvestigate disputed information and correct or delete what is inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable.
• Adverse action notice (§ 1681m). A landlord or employer that takes adverse action based on a report must name the screening company and tell you about your right to a free copy and to dispute.
• Employment rules (§ 1681b(b) and § 1681k). For employment reports, the employer must get your authorization and give you a copy of the report before acting on it, and the screening company must follow extra procedures for adverse public records.
• Free report (§ 1681j) and your file (§ 1681g). You can get a free copy after an adverse action notice and see the information in your file and its sources.
• Reporting time limits (§ 1681c). Arrest records and other adverse non-conviction information generally cannot be reported after seven years.

Can you sue National Credit Reporting?

Possibly. As a consumer reporting agency, NCR has its own duties under the FCRA, and you may have a claim when it reports information about you that is wrong, outdated or belongs to someone else.

• Accuracy (§ 1681e(b)). NCR must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy. This claim does not depend on a prior dispute: a report that is inaccurate because of poor matching or stale data can be enough.
• Reinvestigation (§ 1681i). After you dispute, NCR must reasonably reinvestigate, generally within 30 days, and correct or delete what it cannot verify.
• Obsolete records (§ 1681c). Most civil judgments, collections and arrest records older than seven years cannot be reported. Criminal convictions are not subject to that limit.
• Employment reports (§§ 1681k, 1681c). For a job screening, a company reporting public records that are likely to hurt you must either notify you at the time or use strict procedures to keep the records complete and up to date (§ 1681k), and most arrests and other non-conviction records older than seven years cannot be reported (§ 1681c).
• What you can recover. Actual damages, fees and costs for negligent violations (§ 1681o), and statutory and punitive damages for willful ones (§ 1681n), as explained below.
• Deadline. An FCRA claim generally must be filed within two years after you discover the violation and no later than five years after the violation occurred (15 U.S.C. § 1681p).

What you may recover

If NCR negligently violated the FCRA, you may recover actual damages, such as lost housing, application fees, lost wages and emotional distress, plus attorney’s fees and costs (15 U.S.C. § 1681o). If the violation was willful, you may recover actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages, and fees and costs (§ 1681n).

FCRA Attorneys handles these cases on contingency. No fee unless we win.

Get a free case review

An FCRA lawsuit generally must be filed within two years after you discover the violation and within five years after it occurred (15 U.S.C. § 1681p). If a National Credit Reporting report listed charges that belong to someone else, save the report, the notice and your dispute, and request a free case review. FCRA Attorneys has offices in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta, and files FCRA cases in federal court nationwide, directly or with local counsel.

Questions about suing National Credit Reporting

Is National Credit Reporting a credit bureau?

Not one of the three nationwide bureaus. Despite its name, National Credit Reporting is a tenant and background screening company. It says it can include an Equifax, Experian or TransUnion credit report in its screening, along with criminal and eviction searches.

Can I sue National Credit Reporting?

Yes, if the facts support it. NCR sells screening reports to landlords and employers, which makes it a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA. You may have a claim if it reported someone else's charges without reasonable procedures to assure accuracy, or failed to reasonably reinvestigate your dispute.

I applied for public or assisted housing. Does that change anything?

NCR says it screens for both market-rate and federally assisted housing, and that FBI fingerprint checks are becoming required when applying for housing or employment. If a housing authority denied you based on a report, ask for a copy of the report and the reason in writing. Your FCRA rights against the screening company apply either way, and housing program rules may give you added rights to contest the decision.

What does a case cost?

Nothing out of pocket. FCRA Attorneys works on contingency, with no fee unless we win, and the FCRA lets a successful consumer recover attorney's fees and costs from the company.

Related reading

• Denied an Apartment Because of a Background Check: What to Do in the First Week
• How to Dispute a Tenant Screening Report: Evictions, Sealed Records and Wrong-Person Errors
• Got a Pre-Adverse Action Notice? What It Means and What to Do Next
• Background Check Dispute Letter: What to Write, What to Attach

Sources

• National Credit Reporting: About (tenant screening since 1984; San Jose headquarters; employment and FBI checks)
• National Credit Reporting: FAQ (credit, unlawful detainer and criminal searches; requesting your report)
• National Credit Reporting: Contact (6830 Via Del Oro, Ste. 105, San Jose, CA 95119; (800) 441-1661)
• National Credit Reporting: FBI background checks (approved FBI channeler)

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