Tennessee Credit Repair Law

Credit repair law in Tennessee — what consumers need to know

If you're considering hiring a credit repair company in Tennessee, 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. Tennessee has gone further with its own credit-services act, codified at Tenn. Code §§ 47-18-1001 to 47-18-1011, which adds state-specific requirements on top of CROA.

The Tennessee credit-services act

Tennessee's law (Tenn. Code §§ 47-18-1001 to 47-18-1011) 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://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2010/title-47/chapter-18/part-10/).

Key state requirements:

• Registration required. A credit-repair company cannot legally operate in Tennessee without registering with the state authority. Always ask for a registration number before paying.
• Surety bond required. Registered companies must post a surety bond of $100,000. The bond protects consumers if the company fails to perform.
• 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 Tennessee.

How to verify a credit-repair company is legally operating in Tennessee

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

1. Check Tennessee's registration database. Ask the company for its Tennessee 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 Tennessee

A credit-repair company in Tennessee 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 Tennessee

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

• Tennessee 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 Tennessee, the licensing body can investigate and revoke the registration.

Your rights under federal law in Tennessee

Even where state law adds further protections, every consumer in Tennessee 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 Tennessee is a regulated industry, and consumers have meaningful protections. Tennessee's credit-services act layers state-specific requirements on top of federal CROA, giving you verified registration, a posted surety bond, 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: Tenn. Code §§ 47-18-1001 to 47-18-1011.