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The Fair Credit Reporting Act: What You Should Know
Josh Greller

 

Each and every member of our society deserves to be educated about the laws that govern our daily lives. This includes laws regarding information related to your personal credit history, a very important mainstay in the U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) - an ongoing piece of legislation that contains provisions outlining the rights you are guaranteed as a consumer.

A leading component of the FCRA is your entitlement to the information contained in your personal credit report. The cost is under $10.00 to receive such vital information, and gaining full access may prove to be very helpful when applying for credit cards, insurance or employment. Proper identification for this service is required, and you may be asked to provide your social security number.

Likewise, if you uncover mistakes in your credit report, your credit reporting agency (CRA) is required, under another provision of the FCRA, to delete or correct the inaccuracies. Be sure to put your complaint in writing, attach copies of the mistake, and send these documents to both your credit reporting agency and creditor for review. The correction process usually takes less than 30 days, so be sure to follow up your complaint with phone calls to assure you do not remain victimized by current false information in your report.

When it comes to negative information, which is in fact accurate, be aware that information over seven years old is no longer permissible on a current credit report. Should you find such incriminating information on a current report, you are well within your rights to send a letter of complaint to have the outdated material dropped.

These are merely some of the leading provisions of the FCRA. For the full legal text, please visit: http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcra.htm

Now that you know more about your rights as a consumer, you are prepared to find the best credit card for you. Click here to review our featured credit cards.


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