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GIZMO !
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Bulletin Board |
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RIGHTS AS A CONSUMER
Your Credit
Report And Rights As A Consumer
Under
the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, you:
·
May obtain a credit report from the
credit bureau for a reasonable fee ($8 to $15).
·
May obtain a credit report from the
credit bureau at no charge within 30 days of being rejected for credit. You must
send a copy of the rejection letter to the credit bureau.
·
May be represented by anyone of your
choice at the credit bureau.
·
May dispute any information on the
credit report that you feel is listed incorrectly. The credit bureau must
re-investigate the information and within a reasonable time, verify the
information. A reasonable time has been construed to be 20 working days by some
credit bureaus.
·
May have derogatory information such as
late payments and judgments taken off the credit report within 7 years.
Bankruptcies will come off in 10 years.
·
May place a 100-word consumer statement
in your file to tell your side of any derogatory information.
·
May have the credit bureau notify those
you name (at no cost to you) who have previously received incorrect or
incomplete information on you and provide them with the corrected credit report.
·
May have your credit report withheld
from anyone, who under the law, does not have a legitimate need for the report.
·
May sue the credit bureau if it
willfully or negligently violates the law.
The
above nine items just list a few of your consumer rights. Consumer
credit reporting agencies (CRAs) collect credit information on you from banks,
department stores, credit card companies, and other types of financial
institutions that may extend you credit. CRAs
make money selling the information they have in their databank, including
information about your credit profile. Because of this, it is only prudent that
you exercise your legal rights as a consumer, know what is in your credit file,
make sure they are accurate and challenge it and have it corrected when
necessary. CRAs
are required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act to tell you the contents of your
file. There are several ways to contact a CRA: IF
DECLINED FOR A LOAN, call the lender who is required by the FCRA to give you the
name, address and phone number of the CRA it used in evaluating your loan
application. IF
YOU'RE JUST CURIOUS, you can find out the contents of your file by calling the
CRA nearest you. They are usually listed in the phonebook under Credit Reporting
Agencies. If
your report contains inaccurate information, you may challenge the inclusion of
it in your file. One option: If a lender has made an error, point it out to the
lender and request that corrected information be sent to the CRA.