Know Your Credit Report Rights And Associated Laws
You have a reason to worry when you give personal information to creditors
. Scammers may use this to steal your identity. This is why there are laws that surround credit reports. These laws do not only ensure identity theft protection but also outline your rights to accurate information. There are a number of laws passed since the institutionalization of credit report bureaus that collect credit information about you. Knowing these laws will help you with protect yourself from abuse and scams.
Your entitlement of a free copy of credit report once very 12 months is a provision of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). It seeks to ensure your privacy and promote accuracy in your consumer reports. It has been recently expanded to include additional requirements on CRAs and more of your rights. Under this law, businesses who supply CRAs with information about your transactions with them have new responsibilities under this law.
Through FCRA, your credit report should only be sold to creditors. Others who want to see your report such as an employer should have a written request from you. Telemarketers are not allowed to view your report. They would only be receiving your name and contact number from a credit bureau. For your identity theft protection, you can request to "opt out" from the three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Your contact number, name and address would not be given away to telemarketers and mail-marketers for two years.
Sometimes your credit report may contain erroneous information and you may need to file a credit report dispute. However, disputes can take a very long time if it is always regarded as irrelevant by the credit bureau. You may opt to take the services of a credit repair company. The Credit Repair Organizations Act was created to protect you from scammers who might take advantage of your need to fix a low credit score due to a bad credit report.
Under the Credit Report Organizations Act, a credit repair organization must advise you of your rights or give you a copy of the "Consumer Credit Files Under State and Federal Law" before you sign a contract with them. You can get a free copy of credit report from a credit bureau and go through it with them but they must not charge you unless they have completed the services they have promised. Remember to make sure that you have read all documents before signing a contract. Laws are made to protect you so be sure to know the laws that you can hold on to should something go wrong in the process.