Know Your Consumer Credit Rights
Written by Dongmiao Cui   


The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a United States federal law that is enforced by the US Federal Trade Commission to regulate the collection, dissemination, and use of consumer credit information.

Under FCRA you have the following rights as a consumer:
  1. You have the right to obtain an annual free credit report from each national credit bureau within 15 days of your request by phone, via mail or online.
     
  2. You have the right to be informed by anyone who used the information in your credit report to deny your application for credit, insurance or employment. You have the right to know their name, address plus the contact information of the agency that provided the information.
     
  3. You have the right to receive a free copy of your credit report when your application is denied because of information supplied by the credit bureau. Your request must be made within 60 days of receiving your denial notice. Please read Getting Credit Reports for Free.
     
  4. You have the right to dispute error, incomplete or inaccurate information in your credit report. The credit bureau or agency must investigate upon your request. Incomplete and inaccurate information or error must be verified, corrected or removed. Please read Disputing Errors in Your Credit Reports.
     
  5. You have the right to request the credit bureau to remove outdated negative information. Please read How Long Negative Information Remains in Your Credit Report.
     
  6. Your credit information cannot be disclosed to your employer or potential employer without your written permission.
If you wish to find out more about the Fair Credit Reporting Act, please go to the source of this article at the Federal Trade Commission.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 December 2010 16:53