The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) entitles you to repair your own credit report. You have a legal right to dispute any information you find on your credit report. Enacted in 1971, the FCRA stipulates that the credit bureaus investigate all consumer disputes if they challenge credit information on their credit reports. As per this Act, the credit bureaus must complete the investigations within a 30-day period. Any information that cannot be verified or is found to be inaccurate must be deleted immediately.
Your Rights Under FCRA
If any company rejects your application for credit, employment, or insurance, you have a right under the FCRA to ask, within 60 days of the refusal, for a free credit report. The company rejecting your application must disclose which credit reporting company they used for getting your credit scores. Normally, the three major nationwide credit companies used are - Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.
It is said that almost 79% of all credit reports contain some error or the other. It is mandatory, under the FCRA, for the credit reporting companies to correct inaccurate and incorrect information. This is how you should go about it:
· Write to the credit reporting company about the incorrect and inaccurate information.
· Send copies of documents that will verify your claims.
· Clearly, and in detail, itemize each inaccuracy, explaining why it is wrong.
· You may include a copy of the credit report in question, highlighting the disputed statements.
· Ask them to remove the inaccurate and incorrect information from your credit report.
· Keep copies of all documents you sent to the credit reporting company.
The credit reporting company is obliged under the FCRA to forward the documents you supplied in support of your case, to whichever company or organization provided the initial disputed information. This organization must investigate and report back to the credit reporting company. If the information is found to be inaccurate, it must be corrected and also reported to the three major credit bureaus - Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.
It is mandatory under the FCRA that the credit reporting company forwards the results to you, in writing, and further sends you a free copy of the credit report. You can also ask the credit reporting company to send a copy of your corrected report to all those who had asked for it in the last six months. In case, a potential employer had received the inaccurate report in the last two years, you can request that he/she be sent a corrected credit report, as well.
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Written By: Rita Lambros-Segur, M.H.
