It wasn't all that long ago that
American's faced great financial crisis. As a nation, we struggle
with debt, and it keeps us from achieving a better life. Debt
Education is here to help you change all that ... just ask!
REAL PEOPLE ... CARING ABOUT REAL
ISSUES
Fair Credit Reporting Act
The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is designed to promote
accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of
every consumer reporting agency (CRA).
Most CRAs are credit bureaus that gather and sell information
about you (such as if you pay your bills on time or have filed
bankruptcy) to creditors, employers, landlords, and other businesses.
The FCRA gives you specific rights, as outlined below. You may
have additional rights under state law. You may contact a state
or local consumer protection agency or a state attorney general
to learn those rights.
You must be told if information in your file has been used against
you. Anyone who uses information from a CRA to take action against
you, such as denying an application for credit, insurance, or
employment, must tell you and give you the name, address, and
phone number of the CRA that provided the consumer report.
ALso, you can find out for yourself what is in your credit report.
The law says that a CRA must be given you if you request it, and
also a list of everyone who has requested it recently.
There is no charge for the report if a person has taken action
against you because of information supplied by the CRA, but you
request the report within 60 days of receiving notice of the action.
You also are entitled to one free report every twelve months
upon request if you certify that:
- You are unemployed and plan to seek employment within 60
days
- You are on welfare
- Your report is inaccurate due to fraud.
Otherwise, a CRA may charge you up to eight dollars.
The law gives you the right to dispute inaccurate information
with the consumer reporting agency. If you tell a CRA
that your file contains inaccurate information, the CRA must investigate
the items (usually within 30 days) by presenting to its information
source all relevant evidence you submitted; unless your dispute
proves to be frivolous.
The source of your compalint must review your evidence and report
its findings to the CRA. (The source also must advise national
CRAs, to which it has provided the data, of any error.) The CRA
must give you a written report of the investigation and a copy
of your report if the investigation results in any change. If
the CRA's investigation does not resolve the dispute, you may
add a brief statement to your file. The CRA must normally include
a summary of your statement in future reports. If an item is deleted
or a dispute statement is filed, you may ask that anyone who has
recently received your report be notified of the change.
Inaccurate information must be corrected or deleted. A CRA must
remove or correct inaccurate or unverified information from its
files, usually within 30 days after you dispute it. However, the
CRA is not required to remove accurate data from your file unless
it is outdated or cannot be verified. If your dispute results
in any change to your report, the CRA cannot reinsert into your
file a disputed item unless the information source verifies its
accuracy and completeness. In addition, the CRA must give you
a written notice telling you it has reinserted the item. The notice
must include the name, address and phone number of the information
source of the filing.
You can dispute inaccurate items with the source of the information.
If you tell anyone, such as a creditor who reports to a CRA, that
you disputed an item, they may not then report the information
to a CRA without including a notice of your dispute.
Outdated information may not be reported. In most cases, a CRA
may not report negative information that is more than seven years
old, and ten years for bankruptcies.
Access to your file is limited. A CRA may provide information
about you only to people with a need recognized by the FCRA, usually
to consider an application with a creditor, insurer, employer,
landlord or other business.
Your consent is required for reports that are provided to employers,
or reports that contain medical information. A CRA may not give
out information about you to your employer or prospective employer
without your written consent. A CRA may not report medical information
about you to creditors, insurers or employers without your permission.
You may choose to exclude your name from CRA lists for unsolicited
credit and insurance offers. Creditors and insurers may use file
information as the basis for sending you unsolicited offers of
credit or insurance. Such offers must include a toll-free number
for you to call if you want your name and address removed from
future lists. If you call, you must be kept off the lists for
two years.
You may seek damages from violators. If a CRA, a user or in some
cases a provider of CRA data, violates the FCRA, you may sue them
in state or federal court.
For more information contact the Federal
Trade Commission.
The above information should be understood to be a general discussion
of the subject matter and does not constitute a legal opinion
about the situation. For further information please consult a
qualified attorney.
There's a lot of information to read through on
the Debt Education website, but we feel this is extremely important
material. We strongly recommend that you bookmark
this page right now. This will allow you to read
at your leisure, and should you need to attend to other matters,
easily return back here at your convenience.
The Debt Education website was built for you. Please explore
our website. You'll find resources and information on virtually
every aspect of financial planning and money management. These
debt delp resources are designed to help you get out of debt and
stay out of debt. You can achieve financial independence.
© Copyright 2002, All Rights Reserved.
Debt Education PO Box 5156, Santa Cruz, CA 95063
