The Fair Credit Reporting Act was enacted by Congress in 1970 to promote the accuracy and fairness of credit reports and to help consumers better monitor their credit history. It is amended every year, by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The Fair Credit Reporting Act is generally mandatory for Creditors to complete in all Counties, and is the core of the Credit Bureau bylaw.
The FCRA establishes consumers’ right to know and dispute negative information on their credit reports, and requires creditors and credit reporting agencies to correct inaccuracies (under certain circumstances) and user-specific consumer disputes which are sufficient grounds for a creditor to update consumers’ credit file information. In addition, the Fair Credit Reporting Act also proscribes a creditor is obligated by the consumer to notify of inaccuracies on their credit, and where there has been a negative consequence, the consumer can also ask that a reinvestigation be conducted.
State Laws and Their Effects on Your Credit:
The laws of each State surrounding credit bureaus and the information that they maintain, and in turn consumers’ credit records vary widely. Therefore, you must familiarize yourself with the particular laws of your home state. For example, State of Wisconsin Credit Laws, Federal Trade Commission policies on consumer concerns, and Federal Credit Laws can be easily found on the FTC site.
Two Major Consumer Protection Laws are set out in the Consumer Credit Protection and Loan Consumer Protection Act of 1998. It makes certain that consumers in America with bad or past-due loans are given a chance to have the loans modified.
Another Consumer Protection Law is set out in the Credit Repair Organizations Act, which protects consumers with negative credit information. Consumers are given a certain time to fix their credit report, after which the credit reporting agencies are required to make the necessary corrections by sending the updated report – free of cost to consumers.
recourse rights that provide consumers legalistic back up to financial institutions that have erroneous information about the consumer are also outlined in the FCRA- Fair Credit Reporting Act.
The Credit Repair Organizations Act of 1996 is HR 2514. It states that consumers have a legal one hundred percent right to credit repair. Furthermore, where ” irreparable damage” is caused to a Credit-Rider, a federal bar attorney can take debt collection agencies to state and federal district courts.
Financial and consumer advocates state that the two major Consumer Protection laws of the two agencies (FCRA and CFRA) have accomplished, but are just small slivers of the Federal Trade Commission regulations governing the credit reporting and the rights of consumers.
A consumer needs to be pampered and educated about a company’s debt collection practices. For example, Credibility Newspapers has published a number of liberty Historically Why People Don’t Have Money (October 1st, 1997) that is a try and expose although probably the most important one of the two.
Legislators have promised that the new 112th Congress will move rapidly to establish and pass the comprehensive Credit Reporting Act of 2003.
What can consumers do if they are receivable matters? Although in the past the Federal Trade Commission officials have determined that consumers can have a twenty percent margin of errors relative to their credit reports.
Some may think that their credit privileges will be terminated as a result of the information being provided. Under the FCRA financial institutions cannot treat consumers as the culprit when disputes arise based on the credit bureaus’ reported credit lists. In addition, the credit reporting agencies are not allowed to use the credit reports or public records, to determine a consumer’s eligibility for insurance, employment, or renting, or whether they are eligible for a product or service based solely on their credit report.
In the worst-case scenario, bankrupt consumers find out the level of the errors on their financial records from the credit files available for every level of creditors. Where does a consumer find out that his credit file might contain erroneous information?
Credit bureaus compile data from your credit card accounts or information posted to them by your creditors. The compilation is commonly called a tri-party report. The three major credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union. If you find that your credit file contains errors even though your credit is generally good ask the concerning Credit Agency to tell you what you can do to correct the errors.
Many banks and other financial institutions may report to a credit agency. Banks are required by law to report credit information about customers who are averse to loans. You can find your credit file by calling and telling the credit agency what information is showing on your file.
If you make an application for a loan and are informed that information on your report is false, you should demand to have that information changed.
You must also demand that all negative information on your credit report is correct. There is a wide variety of information on your credit file.