District of Columbia Credit Repair Law

Credit repair law in District of Columbia — what consumers need to know

If you're considering hiring a credit repair company in District of Columbia, you have legal protections at both the federal and state levels. Federal law — the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1679–1679j — applies to every credit-repair organization that operates in the United States. District of Columbia has gone further with its own credit-services act, codified at D.C. Code §§ 28-4601 to 28-4608, which adds state-specific requirements on top of CROA.

The District of Columbia credit-services act

District of Columbia's law (D.C. Code §§ 28-4601 to 28-4608) requires credit-repair companies operating in the state to comply with several specific consumer protections, in addition to federal CROA. The exact text is published in the state code — (https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/titles/28/chapters/46).

Key state requirements:

• Written contract. Required, with full disclosure of services, fees, and your right to cancel.
• 3-day right to cancel. You can rescind the contract within three business days, no questions asked.
• Cannot collect before work is performed. Up-front fees for unperformed work are prohibited.

If a credit-repair company asks for payment before services are completed, refuses to provide a written contract, or cannot produce a registration number, walk away. Those are red flags for a CROA violation in District of Columbia.

How to verify a credit-repair company is legally operating in District of Columbia

Before you sign a contract, take five minutes to confirm:

1. Check District of Columbia's registration database. Ask the company for its District of Columbia registration number and verify it through the state's licensing portal.
2. Check the BBB rating. Look up the company at bbb.org. Anything below a B-grade or with a high volume of unresolved complaints is a yellow flag.
3. Search the CFPB complaint database. Visit consumerfinance.gov/complaint and search the company's name.
4. Read the contract carefully. It must list every service, total cost, payment schedule, and your right to cancel within three business days. If anything is missing, ask before you sign.
5. Watch for prohibited promises. No legitimate company will promise to remove accurate items, guarantee a specific score increase, or claim it can create a "new credit identity" using an EIN or CPN.

What credit repair can and can't do in District of Columbia

A credit-repair company in District of Columbia can:

• Pull and review your three credit reports (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion).
• Identify potentially inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable items.
• Send dispute letters to the credit bureaus on your behalf under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
• Send debt-validation letters to original creditors under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) when collections appear on your file.
• Provide education on credit-utilization, payment-history optimization, and credit-mix strategy.

A credit-repair company cannot legally:

• Remove accurate, verifiable negative information.
• Create a new credit identity for you.
• Promise a specific point-increase or timeline.
• Charge you before work is performed.

Filing a complaint in District of Columbia

If you believe a credit-repair company has violated District of Columbia or federal law, you have multiple paths:

• District of Columbia attorney general's office — handles consumer-protection complaints, including alleged CROA violations.
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — file at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. The CFPB forwards complaints to the company and tracks responses.
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) — reports go to a national fraud database. File at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
• State licensing authority — if the company is registered in District of Columbia, the licensing body can investigate and revoke the registration.

Your rights under federal law in District of Columbia

Even where state law adds further protections, every consumer in District of Columbia has these baseline federal rights:

1. Free credit reports. You can pull one report from each bureau every week at AnnualCreditReport.com — the only federally authorized source.
2. Free disputes. You can dispute inaccurate items directly with the bureaus online, by phone, or by mail, for free.
3. Bureau investigation timelines. The credit bureaus have 30 days to investigate a dispute (45 if you supply additional documents).
4. Original-creditor disputes. You can also dispute directly with the company that reported the item.
5. Litigation rights. If the bureaus or a furnisher willfully violate the FCRA, you can sue for actual damages, statutory damages of $100–$1,000, attorney's fees, and (in egregious cases) punitive damages.

Bottom line

Credit repair in District of Columbia is a regulated industry, and consumers have meaningful protections. District of Columbia's credit-services act layers state-specific requirements on top of federal CROA, giving you fee caps, and a written contract with cancellation rights. Pick a company that complies with the law, gets results within the realistic 3–6 month window, and treats CROA as a baseline rather than a ceiling.

Legal data verified: 2026-05-28. Statute: D.C. Code §§ 28-4601 to 28-4608.