Your Consumer Credit Rights
Having good credit matters. Your credit history can be
checked out when you apply for a credit card, car insurance,
employment, and even an apartment lease. They consider your
credit record when they decide to give, or deny you, credit
or insurance, as long you receive fair and equal treatment like
anyone else. Sometimes, however, things happen that can hurt
your credit. Job loss, income decline, illness, or even something
so innocent as a computer error can harm your credit record.
Federal protection credit laws exist to make sure that you get a fair
shake when you get credit, use credit, and maintain your credit record. Basically,
these laws require all businesses to give all consumers a fair and equal
opportunity to get good credit and to keep your credit good.
You can learn more about your credit rights by clicking on the links
below.
Your Credit Record Rights
The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires consumer reporting companies to
keep accurate information and to keep it private. Under this law
you have the right to get a complete and accurate copy of your credit
report. Three consumer reporting companies exist ( Equifax, Experian,
and TransUnion) and each of them is required to give you a free copy of
your credit report once every 12 months, if you ask for it.
To order your free reports, you can call the official toll-free number,
(877) 322-8228, or you can go to www.annualcreditreport.com where
you can order your reports directly.
You also have a right to a free copy of your credit report, if your credit
application is denied by someone. The same is true if you are unable
to get a job or insurance because of a credit report. However, you
have to ask for a report within 60 days of receiving notice of the action. The
notice which is sent to you will give you the name, address, and telephone
number of the credit reporting company whose report caused your denial. That
way you know which one of the three credit reporting companies you should
contact.
If you are unemployed, you are entitled to one free report a year if
you plan to look for a job within 60 days. If you are on welfare
or if your credit report is inaccurate because of fraud (including identity
theft) then you are also entitled to one free copy of your credit report
each year.
You can learn more about the Fair Credit Reporting Act by clicking on
this link here.
If your credit record has errors or if false information is on your credit
report and you can’t get the credit bureau to fix it, you may be
entitled to compensation. Call us at 1-888-331-6422 or email us today
for a Free Case Review!
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Your Credit Application Rights
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act makes it illegal for someone to “credit
discriminate” in a credit application. Such discrimination
can be based on sex, race, marital status, religion, national origin,
age, or receipt of public assistance. Creditors can ask about these
things in most circumstances, but they may not use it to discriminate
against you when deciding whether or not to grant you credit.
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act protects people who deal with companies
that extend credit on a regular basis. This includes banks, finance
companies, loan companies, retail charge account companies, credit card
companies, and credit unions, just to name a few. All of these people
have to follow and comply with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. This
law even protects businesses that are applying for credit.
Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, it is illegal for someone to
deny you credit because of your race, sex, national origin, marital status,
age, religion, or the fact that you receive welfare or public assistance. In
fact, in considering your credit application, they are required to treat “reliable" public
assistance income just the same as any other income from a job or anything
else.
If you are denied credit from any credit provider, then you have the
right to know why they refused you credit.
If your credit application was denied in violation of the law, you may
be entitled to compensation. Call us at 1-888-331-6422 or email us today
for a Free Case Review!
You can learn more about the Equal Credit Opportunity Act by clicking
on this link here.
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Your Electronic Payment and Billing Rights
Sometimes people get a bill without ever understanding what it is for
or why they received it. The bill may be from a legitimate creditor
or it may be a scam. Either way, it is up to you to investigate
it.
The Fair Credit Billing Act gives you the right to dispute mistakes on
billing statements.
Because many people now make payments electronically, the Electronic
Fund Transfer Act gives you the right to dispute electronic fund transfers
that were used to pay bills. The idea is that regardless of whether
the bill was just received or an electronics transfer was made to pay
the bill, you have a right to dispute the bill if it is not accurate.
These two laws set up a procedure for consumers to dispute charges
or electronic fund transfers that were not authorized or not made. That
is true even if it is for the wrong amount or paid on the wrong date. You
can also dispute the error if it is just a failure to post the bill, payment,
credits, or electronic fund transfer correctly or if it is a math error.
If you send a change of address notice to a creditor at least 20 days
before the billing cycle ends on your account, it is even a violation
of the law for them to fail to send the bill to your current address.
These laws also give you the right to obtain an explanation or written
proof of a purchase when you ask for it because of an error or if some
bill or payment needs to be clarified.
The Fair Credit Billing Act, however, has limitations. It only
applies to what the law calls "open end" credit accounts like
charge cards and department store accounts. It does not apply to
the credit sales or finance contracts involving a fixed specific schedule
of payments in order pay off the entire amount, like a car loan.
The Electronic Funds Transfer Act also applies to any kind of electronic
transfer, such as an automatic teller machine or other kinds of electronic
banking.
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Your Fair Debt Collection Rights
First of all, the federal law and state laws, does not give you the right
to avoid your debts. These laws only guarantee that you have a right
to complain if the bills, payments, or credit issues are not handled correctly
by a creditor. If you owe the money, you still owe the money.
However, that does not mean that a debt collector can call you at all
hours or argue with or harass you. You have the right to be treated
fair by debt collectors.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act applies to personal and family
and household debts. This includes things like a car loan, medical
bills, and charge accounts.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act makes it illegal for debt collectors
to do anything that is unfair or deceptive, or to be abusive when they
are collecting debts. Under this law, a debt collector is any person
other than the original creditor (who you had your account with in the
first place) who regularly collects debts that are owed to other people. This
can include lawyers who collect debts on regular basis.
Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a debt collector can only
contact you between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. If you tell the debt
collector to stop contacting you, in a letter that you send to them or
delivered to them, then they are not allowed to contact you again.
If your employer does not approve of debt collectors contacting you at
work, then as soon as you tell the debt collector that then they are not
allowed to contact you at work again.
When you get a telephone call from a debt collector, the law requires
that they identify themselves as a debt collector and who they are.
It is illegal for a debt collector to harass you or abuse you in anyway.
It is also illegal for a debt collector to lie when trying to collect
debts, such as by claiming or implying that it is a crime for you to avoid
paying your bills.
You can find out more about the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by
clicking on this link here.
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Your Credit Report Rights
Having a good credit report is extremely important because it can affect
future credit and job opportunities, as well as the ability to buy or
rent a home or apartment, and buy insurers. Negative information
can hurt you especially when it is not accurate. If it is accurate
information, then you cannot remove it from your record legally. Only
time will cause it to come off your record.
Most negative information can be put on your credit record and kept there
for seven years. Bankruptcy information is allowed to be kept on
your credit record for 10 years. If a judgment is taken against
you, then that can be reported on your credit record for seven years.
Criminal records can also appear on credit reports for an indefinite
period of time.
If you are having problems with bills, contact your creditor immediately. Try
to work out some sort of payment plan that allows you to make lower payments
that you can handle. Do not wait until your account is turned over
to a debt collector Debt collectors are almost always much more
difficult to deal with than the actual creditor.
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