If “American Credit Acceptance” appears on your credit report, it is an auto loan account or an inquiry from a car loan application. American Credit Acceptance, LLC (ACA) finances vehicles sold through car dealers. When what ACA reports about you is wrong, federal law gives you the right to dispute it and, in some cases, sue over it.
What American Credit Acceptance is
American Credit Acceptance, LLC lists its address as 961 E. Main Street, Spartanburg, South Carolina 29302, and federal court filings give the same principal place of business. ACA says it serves the “emerging credit consumer” through more than 2,500 dealer partners in all 50 states. It lists its customer service number as 866-544-3430 and its NMLS ID as 345863, and says the NMLS Consumer Access website can be used to verify its licensing.
American Credit Acceptance is not Credit Acceptance Corporation. The multistate settlement the New York Attorney General announced on September 17, 2026 names Credit Acceptance Corporation, not American Credit Acceptance. If your entry reads “Credit Acceptance” without “American,” see Credit Acceptance on your credit report.
How an ACA account appears on your credit report
ACA’s consumer credit dispute form asks which bureau is showing the information you dispute and lists Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, and federal court filings reproduce ACA accounts on reports from all three. In those filings the entry reads “American Credit Acceptance,” as an installment account.
ACA says it “generally submits updates to the credit bureaus on a monthly basis,” so a payment or payoff may not show until the next cycle. Each nationwide bureau must give you a free report once in any 12-month period on request (15 U.S.C. § 1681j(a)(1)), and the FTC says you can check each one free once a week through AnnualCreditReport.com. The report also lists who pulled it, including any ACA inquiry (§ 1681g(a)(3)).
Where an ACA entry can go wrong
An accurate entry that is yours can lawfully stay: the FCRA requires deletion only of information that is inaccurate, incomplete or cannot be verified (15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(5)(A)). In a 2024 report on its examinations of auto lenders and servicers (it does not name the companies), the CFPB found furnishers reporting inaccurate amounts past due on charged-off accounts, inaccurate scheduled payments on paid or closed accounts with zero balances, inaccurate dates of first delinquency, and inaccurate payment amounts after a payoff or settlement. Errors to check for on an ACA entry:
- A loan you paid off, still showing a balance or past due. The CFPB lists closed accounts reported as open and accounts with an incorrect current balance among common errors. Keep your payoff letter. See paid off but still on your credit report.
- A payment made on time, reported late. The CFPB lists accounts incorrectly reported as late or delinquent, and federal rules name current payment status and payment dates among the details a furnisher must investigate. See disputing a late payment you never made.
- A charged-off account with a later delinquency date. The CFPB lists an incorrect date of first delinquency among common errors, and a furnisher reporting a charged-off account must report the month and year the delinquency began (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a)(5)). A later date makes old trouble look new; see the re-aged debt pattern.
- An account that is not yours. The CFPB lists accounts resulting from identity theft and the “mixed file,” where two consumers’ information is combined. See identity theft on a credit report and mixed credit files.
Repossession and the balance after the sale
The FTC says that even with a voluntary repossession, a creditor may report the late payments or the repossession, and the CFPB says a repossession could stay on your credit reports for up to seven years. An account charged off or placed for collection generally cannot be reported once seven years have run from a date 180 days after the delinquency that led to it (15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(4), (c)(1)).
If the lender sells the vehicle for less than you owe, the difference is the deficiency: the FTC’s example is $15,000 owed and an $8,000 sale, leaving $7,000 plus other fees owed under the contract.
The reported balance should match that arithmetic. A balance that does not credit the sale, or counts charges you do not owe, is incorrect. In the same 2024 report, the CFPB found servicers that failed to refund unearned premiums for add-on products after a loan ended early, a practice it said “results in inflated payoff and deficiency balances.” Keep the notice of sale and any letter stating the deficiency.
How to dispute an ACA entry
With the credit bureau. Write to each bureau showing the entry, say exactly what is wrong, and send copies, not originals, of your proof: the payoff letter, statements, the notice of sale or an identity theft report. The credit dispute letter guide walks through it. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i, the bureau must conduct a reasonable reinvestigation free of charge, generally within 30 days, notify the furnisher within five business days, delete or modify anything inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable, and send you the results in writing.
Once the bureau forwards your dispute, ACA must investigate, review what the bureau sends, report the results, and modify, delete or block an item that is inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)). That duty starts with the bureau’s notice, so send the bureau dispute even if you also write to ACA.
With ACA. ACA’s FAQ says you can dispute by mail with its Consumer Credit Dispute Form and supporting documents, sent to American Credit Acceptance, LLC, ATTN: Credit Disputes, 961 E. Main Street, Spartanburg, SC 29302, or through the bureaus, and asks for a written dispute before you call. For identity theft, ACA says to report it at IdentityTheft.gov, call 866-544-3430, and send a copy of your driver’s license, your identity theft report and affidavit, and any police report to the same address.
Federal rules require a furnisher to reasonably investigate a direct dispute sent to the address it specifies and report the results to you within the period a bureau would have (12 C.F.R. § 1022.43). A furnisher that knows you dispute an item may not report it without noting the dispute (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a)(3)).
If ACA turned down your application
A lender that takes adverse action based in whole or in part on a consumer report owes you notice naming the bureau that supplied it, stating that the bureau did not make the decision, and telling you that you can get a free copy within 60 days and dispute anything inaccurate (15 U.S.C. §§ 1681m(a), 1681j(b)). An applicant who is turned down is also entitled to a statement of the specific reasons (15 U.S.C. § 1691(d)). ACA’s FAQ says to request it in writing within 60 days of the adverse action letter, at ATTN: Credit Inquiry Dept, P.O. Box 1899, Spartanburg, SC 29304, and that it will respond within 30 days.
When an ACA error becomes a legal claim
If an ACA entry was not yours or not accurate, you disputed it with the bureau, and it came back verified, the FCRA may give you a claim:
- Accuracy (15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b)). A consumer reporting agency must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information in a report.
- Reinvestigation (15 U.S.C. § 1681i). The bureau must conduct a reasonable reinvestigation of your dispute.
- The furnisher’s investigation (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)). The company that furnished the entry must investigate a dispute the bureau forwards to it.
Section 1681s-2(a) and the direct-dispute rule are enforced by federal and state officials, not by private suit (§ 1681s-2(c), (d)); the bureau dispute is what brings in § 1681s-2(b).
For a negligent violation, the FCRA provides actual damages plus attorney’s fees (§ 1681o). For a willful violation, it provides actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages as the court allows, and attorney’s fees (§ 1681n). Suit must be filed by the earlier of two years after you discover the violation or five years after it occurs (§ 1681p).
I handle these cases on contingency. The cases I have filed include auto loans that kept reporting a past-due status or a balance after they were paid off through a refinance or by insurance. ACA sits alongside Westlake Financial, Exeter Finance, World Omni, Ally Financial and the rest of the auto lender directory; auto loan errors on your credit report covers the broader picture.
Have your ACA entry reviewed
Send me the report page showing the American Credit Acceptance entry, your payoff letter, statements or notice of sale, and whatever came back after your dispute, and I will tell you whether I see a claim. The FCRA attorney page covers how these cases work. Contact the firm to have your report reviewed.
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This page is about credit reporting accuracy. The Kim Law Firm is not affiliated with American Credit Acceptance, LLC, Credit Acceptance Corporation, Westlake Financial, Exeter Finance, World Omni, Ally Financial, Experian, Equifax, TransUnion, or any dealer or lender named on this page, and this page is not a complaint about any of them. It describes how auto loan, repossession and inquiry entries can appear on credit reports and the rights consumers have when an entry is wrong.