 |
All Is Fair In Love, War, and, Your Credit Report - At Least
It Should Be! Understanding the FCRA
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.
Copyright © Credit and You | All Rights Reserved |
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, what you can do if the credit reporting agencies won't
correct information in your credit report, or to read more about
the Equal Credit Opportunity Act visit http://www.creditandyou.com/creditreports.html
it's free a information website!
MORE RESOURCES:
Credit - Google News
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Learn About Prepaid
Credit Card
Prepaid credit cards also called stored value card can be
ideal for individuals who are unemployed, have bad credit
or difficulty obtaining an unsecured credit card. Prepaid
credit cards are also excellent for individuals who have a
hard time controlling their spending and prevent the
individual from overspending and getting into credit card
debt.
How To Get a Low
Interest Credit Card
Consumers often have the first credit card that they ever
applied for, never really analizing how the interest rate
affects their payments, but many other options exist and
can help consumers decrease their payments and achieve
financial stability.With interest rates on some credit
cards rising to over 23%, even low balance credit card debt
can be crippling.
Credit Report - Look Out
for Your Debit Report, Too
Most consumers are aware that there are companies that keep
track of their personal financial transactions -
installment loans, mortgages, credit card accounts,
bankruptcies and judgements. These items are assembled by
the three main credit bureaus into a credit report, which
is available upon request by lenders, employers and anyone
else with whom a consumer might do business.
First Major Regulatory
and Legislative Victory of 2005 for Creditors and
Consumers
Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, collectors
are not allowed to disclose a consumers past due debt to
anyone other than the debtor and in some cases a spouse.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act would have required
collectors to identify the registered name of their
business in any pre-recorded messages to consumers or
debtors.
Various Types of Credit
Cards - Part 2
Several different types of credit cards offer several
different options, depending on what your needs are. Some
are geared toward individual consumers while others are set
up in ways that work best for small business needs.
Understanding Your
Credit Score
When you apply for credit one of the first things almost
all credit officers do is check your credit score. Although
not all of those officers explained to us what a credit
score is, we are all rated according to it and the offers
we receive were all dependent on that score.
Credit Reports Inside
and Out
The Credit Report is like your scorecard in the lending
world. Every time you prepare yourself to acquire or
purchase something that requires financial assistance from
a lending institution, your credit report will be your
"presentation card".
How To Save Money On
Credit Cards
Some credit cards offer a cash advance option. But how good
a deal is this?Not very.
How a Credit Card Can Be
Your Friend
We have all heard countless stories of people over their
heads with credit card debt-maxing out every card they own,
then only being able to afford the minimum monthly payment.
High interest payments shackle people to their debt for
years, not to mention the significant income drain the
finance charges have on their families.
Identity Theft - How to
Protect Yourself
"Like the tan? I got tons of sun on that Caribbean cruise.
First class tickets to Florida and back! Nope, not an
airline upgrade.
The Three Largest
Factors In Your Interest Rate
There are three major factors that affect how much you pay
for a loan. Understanding these factors can save you time,
money and frustration.
SuperCharged Secret 1 of
5 - Credit Card Utopia
I AM THE CONSUMER. AND I HAVE LOW-RATE SUPER-POWERS!Note:
The following is part 1 of a 5 part series.
How to Get Credit
Reporting Agencies to Help You
The process of clearing credit can be laborious and
frustrating. Understanding your rights empowers you and
saves you time and effort.
Building Business
Credit
Most businesses want to be able to borrow money when they
need it, without the owners having to guarantee the loans
personally. This means less risk to the owners.
Bad Credit? No Credit?
Yeah, Its a Problem.
Many companies use the slogan "Bad Credit? No Credit? No
Problem!" The truth is that it is in fact a problem and
there is no easy way to correct it. It takes a lot of time
and effort to obtain credit when you do not have any and
even longer to fix bad credit.
Credit Cards
Credit cards are a form of unsecured credit. The issuer is
extending you a line of credit, usually tacking on all
sorts of little surprises in the fine print.
5 Ways To Raise Credit
Score
It's not as hard as you think to raise credit score. It's a
well known fact that lenders will give people with higher
credit scores lower interest rates on mortgages, car loans
and credit cards.
UPS Delivers the Goods,
Your Identity
Well now we add CitiGroup and UPS to the Identity Theft
corporations who have allowed Americans identity to be
lost. Each time we have another identity theft case, we
find larger and large numbers being lost.
Useful Tips on Using
Credit Cards
Here are some useful tips on using credit cards. Whether
you shop online, by telephone or by mail, a credit card can
make buying many things much easier; but when you use a
credit card, it's important to keep track of your spending.
Know Your Credit Card
Rights
When you apply for a credit card, the application that you
sign is also a legally binding contract laying out all the
termsbetween you and the bank, such as the interest rate
and how its calculated, the grace period, whether there's
an annual fee, etc.While you have to agree to the terms and
sign if you want the credit card and while the lender will
certainly hold you to the terms, the lender doesn't feel
similarly committed.
|
|
