The October 2026 Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) update centers on a proposed $100 million Equifax settlement for March-April 2022 credit-score errors, plus federal appeals decisions that narrow how consumers win FCRA class cases. It matters because Equifax claimants face a December 28, 2026 filing deadline while medical-debt reporting rules face court and preemption fights to watch next. The FCRA is the federal law that controls how credit bureaus collect, investigate, and share consumer report information. For settlement readers, the practical split is clear: one large payment opportunity with a fixed deadline, and tighter legal limits on other inaccurate-report and impermissible-pull claims.
Table of Contents
- What the $100 million Equifax proposal covers
- Why big FCRA verdicts are getting harder to keep
- What regulators are still pushing on disputes
- Where medical-debt reporting stands now
- What to do before December 28
What the $100 million Equifax proposal covers
The proposal would resolve In re Equifax Fair Credit Reporting Act Litigation over a coding error that misreported scores. USA Today reported that class members must claim by December 28, 2026, in USA Today's eligibility breakdown. The error period was March-April 2022.
Co-lead counsel described the deal as the largest FCRA class settlement ever, according to Consumer Attorneys and Ginsburg Law Group. It covers consumers whose inaccurate scores were sent to lenders. Loan decisions were affected for people in that group.
Why big FCRA verdicts are getting harder to keep
The Ninth Circuit reversed a jury award exceeding $140 million against CenturyLink. Thompson Hine reported that the pulls on shoppers who stopped short of ordering were not willful under Safeco because the company's reading was objectively reasonable, in Thompson Hine's case analysis. That willfulness test matters for class cases built on permissible-purpose disputes. An objectively reasonable interpretation can defeat a willful-violation claim even if a court later reads the statute differently.
Defendants will cite this logic in other pull and access cases. A separate limit comes from standing law. The Eleventh Circuit added another barrier to Article III standing for FCRA claims, as reported by The Legal Intelligencer in October 2025. Cases based on inaccurate reports face dismissal pressure when plaintiffs lack concrete downstream harm.
What regulators are still pushing on disputes
The CFPB sued Experian on January 7, 2025, over dispute handling. The CFPB alleged sham reinvestigations, failure to delete unverified data, inadequate notices, and improper reinsertion of deleted information, in the CFPB's January announcement. That theory concerns reinvestigation failures rather than one-time scoring mistakes. A sham investigation means the bureau did not take reasonable steps to verify disputed information.
Reinsertion and notice claims focus on what happens after an item is removed. The Central District of California denied a credit bureau's renewed motion to dismiss the CFPB's amended FCRA complaint on October 22, 2025. Orrick InfoBytes reported that reinvestigation-failure claims could proceed. The ruling keeps a federal enforcement path alive while private standing narrows.
Where medical-debt reporting stands now
On July 11, 2025, the Eastern District of Texas vacated the CFPB's Regulation V rule banning medical debt on reports. CFPB and NPR reporting placed the restored lender access at about $49 billion affecting 15 million consumers. Medical balances can therefore still appear in underwriting inputs unless another binding rule blocks them. On October 28, 2025, the CFPB issued an interpretive rule saying FCRA generally preempts broad state credit-reporting laws.
Orrick InfoBytes and ABA Banking Journal reported that it replaced the narrower 2022 rule. The shift threatens about 15 state medical-debt limits. The preemption view is not self-executing in court. State bans remain contested until judges rule on the new interpretation. Colorado litigation over its medical-debt reporting ban is the near-term test to follow.
What to do before December 28
Equifax denies FCRA liability under the proposal, and payments are estimated at $95-$280 depending on valid claims. The ABA Banking Journal described the Colorado challenge that will help decide whether state medical-debt bans survive, in the ABA Banking Journal's December report. For readers, the useful checks are narrow: File the Equifax claim first because that deadline is fixed while the other disputes have no payout date.
- Confirm you had an Equifax score sent to a lender in March-April 2022.
- Keep loan records showing the timing and lender decision.
- File the Equifax claim before December 28, 2026, rather than waiting for final-approval news.
- Track Colorado and preemption rulings separately if medical debt is your main concern.
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