All is
fair in love, war, and your Credit Report
Fact: Over 150 million Americans have credit
report with the three major credit reporting agencies. Approximately
50 million of these credit reports contain errors, many of which are
inaccurate. Do you know what’s on your credit report?
If you’ve ever applied for a charge account, a personal loan,
insurance or a job, there’s a credit report about you. This credit
report contains information on where you work and live, how you pay
your bills, and whether you’ve been sued, or filed for bankruptcy.
About The Fair Credit Reporting Act? (FCRA)
The Fair Credit Reporting Act was the first federal law to regulate
the use of personal information by private business. It was all the
way back in 1899 that the first major credit reporting agency was
started. Over time, credit reporting grew into a huge industry and, by
the late 1960’s, became surrounded by controversy.
Credit reports from the Credit Reporting Agencies were being used to
deny services and opportunities. At that time, you would have had no
right to see what was in your credit report. The FCRA was passed in
1970 and fortunately now you have that right.
On December 4, 2000 President George Bush signed into law the first
phase of the Fair And Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act),
which amends the FCRA. The FACT Act establishes the Financial Literacy
and Education Commission and calls for a national financial literacy
campaign.
The act addresses consumer’s rights to understand and protect the
information in their credit report and to get help when their
financial information has been stolen. It also restricts the use of
medical information in determining a consumer’s eligibility for
credit, and also limits the sharing of medical information with
affiliated companies under certain circumstances.
Here are some questions consumers commonly ask about credit reports,
Consumer Reporting Agencies and the answers. Note that you may have
additional rights under state laws. You can contact your state
Attorney General or local consumer protection agency for more
information. You also have information and resources at your disposal
24/7 at:
www.creditandyou.com.
Q. What can I do about inaccurate or incomplete information?
A. Under the new law, both the Consumer Reporting Agencies and the
information provider have responsibilities for correcting inaccurate
or incomplete information in your credit report. To protect all your
rights under this law, contact both the Consumer Reporting Agencies
and the information provider. See credit repair article by credit and
you.com
Q. Can my employer get my credit report?
A. Only if you say it’s okay. A consumer reporting agencies may not
supply information about you to your employer, or to a prospective
employer without your consent.
Q. Can creditors, employers or insurers get a report that contains
medical information about me?
A. Not without your approval.
Q. How can I stop a consumer reporting agencies from including me on
lists for unsolicited credit and insurance offers?
A. Creditors and Insurers may use consumer reporting agencies file
information as a basis for sending you unsolicited offers. These
offers must include a toll free number for you to call if you want to
remove your name and address from lists for two years, completing a
form that the consumer reporting agencies provides for this purpose
will keep your name off lists permanently.
Q. Do I have the right to sue for damages?
A. You may sue a consumer reporting agency, a user or in some cases a
provider of consumer reporting agency data in state or federal court
for most violations of the FCRA. If you win, the defendant will have
to pay damages to reimburse you for attorney fees to the extent
ordered by the court.
Q. Are there other laws I should know about?
A. Yes. If your credit application was denied, the Equal Credit
Opportunity Act (ECOA) requires creditors to specify why if you ask.
For example, the creditor must tell you whether you were denied
because you have no credit report with a consumer reporting agency or
because the consumer reporting agency says you have delinquent
obligations. The ECOA also requires creditors to consider additional
information you might supply about your credit history. You may want
to find out why the creditor denied your application before you
contact the consumer reporting agencies. See Equal Credit Opportunity
Act article by credit and you.com
Stay On Top Of Your Credit …
Before financing anything, car, furniture, or a home, it’s a god idea
to make sure your credit report is clean. Errors can often be quickly
removed. And no sales person should ever know more about your credit
report than you.
About the Author:
To find out: additional rights you have, who can
get a copy of your credit report, how long negative information can be
reported, easy steps anyone can take to repair there credit report
visit:
http://www.creditandyou.com/creditreports.html
it’s a free information website! |
