How Does The Fcra Protect My Credit Report?
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) promotes the accuracy, fairness and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies. There are many types of consumer reporting agencies, including credit bureaus and specialty agencies (such as agencies that sell information about check writing histories, medical records, and rental history records). Here is a summary of your major rights under the FCRA. For more information, including information about additional rights, go to www.ftc.gov/credit or write to: Consumer Response Center, Room 130-A, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave.
N.W., Washington, DC 20580.
You must be told if information in your file has been used against you. Anyone who uses a credit report or another type of consumer report to deny your application for credit, insurance, or employment – or to take another adverse action against you – must tell you, and must give you the name, address and phone number of the agency that provided the information.
You have the right to know what is in your file. You may request and obtain all the information about you in the files of a consumer reporting agency (your “file disclosure”). You will be required to provide proper identification, which may include your Social Security number. In many cases, the disclosure will be free.
You are entitled to a free file disclosure if:
A person has taken adverse action against you because of information in your credit report;
You are the victim of identify theft and place a fraud alert in your file;
Your file contains inaccurate information as a result of fraud;
You are on public assistance;
You are unemployed but expect to apply for employment within 60 days.
In addition, by September 2005 all consumers will be entitled to one free disclosure every 12 months upon request from each nationwide credit bureau and from nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies. See www.ftc.gov/credit for additional information.
You have the right to ask for a credit score. Credit scores are numerical summaries of your credit worthiness based on information from credit bureaus. You may request a credit score from consumer reporting agencies that create scores or distribute scores used in residential real property loans, but you will have to pay for it. In some mortgage transactions, you will receive credit score information for free from the mortgage lender.
You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. If you identify information in your file that is incomplete or inaccurate and report it to the consumer reporting agency, the agency must investigate unless your dispute is frivolous. See www.ftc.gov/credit for an explanation of dispute procedures.
Consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable information. Inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable information must be removed or corrected, usually within 30 days. However, a consumer reporting agency may continue to report information it has verified as accurate.
Consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information. In most cases, a consumer reporting agency may not report negative information that is more than seven years old, or bankruptcies that are more than 10 years old.
Access to your file is limited. A consumer reporting agency may provide information about you only to people with a valid need - usually to consider an application with a creditor, insurer, employer, landlord, or other business. The FCRA specifies those with a valid need for access.
You must give your consent for reports to be provided to employers. A consumer reporting agency may not give out information about you to your employer, or a potential employer, without your written consent given to the employer. Written consent generally is not required in the trucking industry. For more information, go to www.ftc.gov/credit.
You may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your credit report. Unsolicited “prescreened” offers for credit and insurance must include a toll-free phone number you can call if you choose to remove your name and address from the lists these offers are based on. You may opt-out with the nationwide credit bureaus at 1-888-567-8688.
You may seek damages from violators. If a consumer reporting agency, or, in some cases, a user of consumer reports or a furnisher of information to a consumer reporting agency violates the FCRA, you may be able to sue in state or federal court.
Identity theft victims and active duty military personnel have additional rights. For more information, visit www.ftc.gov/credit
States may enforce the FCRA, and many states have their own consumer reporting laws. In some cases, you may have more rights under state law. For more information, contact your state or local consumer protection agency or your state Attorney General.
The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA), which is a subset of the more comprehensive Truth in Lending Act, which essentially tells original creditors how they should behave. http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcb/fcb.pdf
Have you ever been billed for merchandise you returned or never received? Has your credit card company ever charged you twice for the same item or failed to credit a payment to your account? While frustrating, these errors can be corrected. It takes a little patience and knowledge of the dispute settlement procedures provided by the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA).
The law applies to “open end” credit accounts, such as credit cards, and revolving charge accounts - such as department store accounts. It does not cover installment contracts - loans or extensions of credit you repay on a fixed schedule. Consumers often buy cars, furniture and major appliances on an installment basis, and repay personal loans in installments as well.
About The Author: Drew Canole, is President of Waterfield Credit a credit education, and repair company that has been in business for 5 years. Drew, has just recently published The 57 Day Challenge To A 720 Credit Score. For some more Free information check out http://www.57daychallenge.com
Questions and Answers
Article Tags:
credit
,range
,rate
,credit scores
,rates
,scores
,score
,dollars
,increased interest
,drew
,credit score
,interest
,lower
,loans
,improve
,car
,bad credit
When you apply for a mortgage, your lender will request a credit report from a credit reporting company. Along with the information, the local credit reporting company receives a numerical score. The score represents a composite of the borrower’s credit history, employment, inquiries, bankruptcy, judgments, etc. The most famous of these scores is known as the FICO score.
First, make a copy of your credit report to mail along with your disputes to the credit bureaus. Keep one copy where you indicate with a marker the items that are to be disputed. I recommend you use a highlighter on one copy to mark the negative information you find. It is always helpful to write yourself a note if the negative information is not clear. When you get the reports, there will be an information page telling you how to read your report so review that.
Errors are quite common on credit reports and the FTC tasks the CRAs to reporting accurate information with the 1997 enacted Fair Credit Reporting Act. The investigation must be completed within 30 days, Once an investigation is completed, consumers are sent written confirmation within five days of its completion. If the credit file has been changed, you will be sent a new corrected report.
If you've ever had your wallet stolen or lost, you understand the trickle of fear that such a discovery produces. Most consumers realize that it's imperative to call the bank and credit card issuers immediately in order to close those accounts and avoid fraudulent charges. Unfortunately, a great majority of individuals don't realize that their credit history and rating may be at risk every day.
Registering a company is no longer a time-consuming and tedious business. With the new online company formation services available you will be able to register your new company in just a few clicks of a button.
Establishing large credit card debts in college develops poor money management skills. Also, high interest rates keep students in debt well after school.
Typically, small company proprietors rely on financial loans to invest in their companies. But when you're a small company, remember to think about other kinds of economic financing like a business credit line.
If you're planning a holiday with your family, don't forget to include your credit score with you. Monitoring your credit score while you're away can be a big help. If the thought of thieves running up a huge debt on your credit card scares you, then online monitoring is what you need. Read article to know more.
Lots of people want to know how to clean up their credit report. While there are plenty of agencies out there who will do the work for you for a price, it's also possible to clean up your credit report yourself if you're willing to put in the time and effort.
Errors are quite common on credit reports and the FTC tasks the CRAs to reporting accurate information with the 1997 enacted Fair Credit Reporting Act. The investigation must be completed within 30 days, Once an investigation is completed, consumers are sent written confirmation within five days of its completion. If the credit file has been changed, you will be sent a new corrected report.
The stress, emotional trauma, and damaged reputation that many people experience following an episode of identity or credit theft can't be measured. Consumers can protect their credit rating from damages caused by identity theft and fraud by taking the time to routinely verify charges, check online accounts for unusual or unauthorized activity, and notify creditors or banks immediately (often within 24 to 48 hours).
If you've ever had your wallet stolen or lost, you understand the trickle of fear that such a discovery produces. Most consumers realize that it's imperative to call the bank and credit card issuers immediately in order to close those accounts and avoid fraudulent charges. Unfortunately, a great majority of individuals don't realize that their credit history and rating may be at risk every day.
First, make a copy of your credit report to mail along with your disputes to the credit bureaus. Keep one copy where you indicate with a marker the items that are to be disputed. I recommend you use a highlighter on one copy to mark the negative information you find. It is always helpful to write yourself a note if the negative information is not clear. When you get the reports, there will be an information page telling you how to read your report so review that.
Discuss this Article
