FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT

The FCRA is a federal law that regulates the use of consumer credit information. The purpose of the law is to protect consumers against inaccurate information on their credit reports. There are several important issues related to having an accurate credit report.
 

1. The FCRA requires you to monitor your own credit. When you notice that anything is incorrect on your credit report, you must send a dispute letter to the credit-reporting agency before taking and legal action against your creditor or the credit-reporting bureau.

2. Creditors are required to conduct a reasonable investigation into your dispute. If they do not, you may sue them.

3. The credit reporting agency must:
   (a). Conduct a reasonable investigation into your dispute; and
   (b). Prepare a credit report that is as accurate as possible, after following all policies and procedures

Your Rights Under FCRA Law

If there is a reporting error or violation of the law, the first step is a letter to the credit-reporting agency (CRA) to notify them of their error or violation. This is called a Dispute Letter. Once the CRA receives your Dispute Letter, it has 5 days to notify the lender that you disputing a particular item and that you do not agree with the reporting of your debt. The CRA and the lender then have 30 days to investigate your dispute. The CRA can only keep the disputed item on your report if both the lender and the credit reporting agency are certain that the disputed item is accurate following their investigation.

Often the CRA and lender do not properly investigate your dispute. When the disputed item isn’t corrected as required, CRA’s and lender’s have both hurt your credit and commitment a violation of the law.

If you believe that items are incorrect on your credit report, give us a call and let’s talk. If you aren’t sure if your credit report is correct, many websites allow you to pull your credit report at no charge. If you need help reading this report to understand what it means, we can help.