Fair Credit Reporting Act
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal act that deals specifically with credit bureau and credit reporting agencies. Before the FCRA consumers were left in the dark as to their credit status or what was even listed on their credit report. We were completely at the will of the credit bureaus with no recourse to clear up errors or inaccurate information.
As consumer rights increase we are now able to obtain or purchase a copy of our credit report and we are now entitled to one free credit report per calendar year. If you need more than one credit report per year, the FCRA provides the fee structure for obtaining additional reports.
A report must be requested within sixty days when denied credit or employment. The Act also provides that if you should find incorrect information or errors on your credit report, you can contact or write the reporting agency. The credit bureaus then have to investigate the item or items at no charge to you. You must receive a response from them within a thirty-day period. The information must be corrected or deleted if it is wrong or incorrect.
Credit bureaus or agencies are required by law to include on your credit report a record of all inquiries that are soft, medium, and hard about you received within the last six months. The credit bureaus must also include anyone who has purchased a credit for you within the last two months, for employment purposes, and within the last year for other reasons like credit you may have applied for.
Credit bureaus or agencies are not required to disclose your credit scores or credit risk rating. This is an internal evaluation within the credit agency itself that makes the creditworthiness decision for you, but it is furnished to your employers and creditors. Some credit bureaus do release this information but are not required to do so by law.
We, at Edityourcredit.com, use the FCRA in accordance with applicable laws to check it carefully for errors, out of date information, and items that may be or are misleading. Errors are not at all uncommon on credit reports, so please do not assume that all information is correct without checking it out completely.
It has been found that 70% of all credit reports contain errors, this is unacceptable by anyone's standards. By using the law, within the FCRA, combined with our legal strategy and expert knowledge we are able to have the creditors or credit bureaus respond within a thirty-day period.
If we do not hear back from the bureau, then a second letter is generated. We then provide the bureau with any information about the item and then the bureau has an extra fifteen days to investigate and respond for a total of forty-five days. The bureau then decides whether to verify, update, or delete the item off your credit report. If the item is still being erroneously reported then we can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
If the report is corrected, the bureau must send an updated copy of your credit report showing the end result and corrections to anyone who has requested a copy within the last year and to any employer who has done so within the past two years. Within a few months, your credit report should reflect your true credit worthiness and correct information.