 |
| |
|
|
|
|
The Fair Credit Reporting Act
The MMI Online Articles are designed to inform, assist, educate and alert consumers.
| |
|
|
| |
| |
If you have ever checked your credit report and found an error, you will want to know your legal rights. In fact, all consumers should familiarize themselves with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), passed by Congress in 1970 and enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. Legally, the FCRA protects you by requiring credit bureaus to furnish correct and complete information to companies requesting credit histories for evaluation. These reports typically are used to evaluate applicants for loans, credit cards, insurance and employment.
If you suspect that your credit history has been misrepresented, there are several steps you can take. First, you need to write to the credit reporting agency disputing the item. When they receive your letter disputing the bill and the balance shown, they must investigate the item in dispute (usually within 30 days) by presenting the information you submit to the creditor. The creditor must review your evidence and report its findings to the credit bureau. The credit bureau must then give you a written report of its investigation and a copy of your report if the report results in a change.
If the investigation by the creditor does not resolve the dispute, you may add a statement, in 100 words or less, to your file giving your version of the dispute. The credit bureau must normally include a summary of your statement in future reports. For example, if you are divorced and have a defaulted loan on your credit report that was caused by a spouse during a trial separation, briefly describe the situation along with any facts that support your claim that the problem was not your fault. If your application is a close call between approval and denial, this statement could make the difference.
You can also dispute inaccurate items with the source of the information. You need to write to the creditors disputing the bill and the balance shown. The creditors may not then report the information to the credit bureaus without including a notice of your dispute. In addition, once you have notified the source of the error in writing, it may not continue to report the information if it is, in fact, an error.
Finally, if you still cannot resolve disputes with a credit reporting bureau, and you feel a violation of the FCRA may have taken place, it may be worth the effort to contact an attorney because that Information will stay on your record for at least seven years — ten years if it’s a bankruptcy. Sections 616 and 617 of the federal "Fair Credit Reporting Act" permit you to sue for "Willful Noncompliance" or "Negligent Noncompliance" of the FCRA. Also, report it to the Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC 20580. While they cannot act as legal counsel in private disputes, your information may be vital to the enforcement of the FCRA.
Here are the names and internet addresses of the three major credit bureaus where you can obtain further information on how to dispute an item on your credit bureau file: Equifax, www.equifax.com ; Experian, www.experian.com ; Trans Union Corp, www.transunion.com.
|
|
Feedback Forum
Share your comments with us about this information.
Click Here To Use Our Budgeting Calculators
|
|
|
|
