Credit Repair:
A Summary of the Fair Credit Reporting Act

Author: Gary Gresham
This summary of the Fair Credit Reporting Act will explain what you can legally do if you want to repair your own credit report. No matter what you hear, you can dispute credit information on your credit report if you understand the legal rights you have under this law.

The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act was enacted by the United States Congress in 1971. In summary, it says that the credit bureaus must investigate a consumer dispute if they want to challenge credit information on his or her credit report.

It also states that credit bureaus are required to complete the investigation within a 30 day period. If the credit bureau finds that the disputed information is inaccurate or cannot be verified, they must promptly delete that information.

But there are some cases when a consumer dispute can be ignored by the credit bureaus. If you challenge a negative credit listing on the basis of things like health problems, divorce or job loss, the credit bureaus are entitled to ignore those kinds of disputes. The information you dispute must be either old or incorrect.

You must file a valid dispute where the credit bureaus can contact the creditor and confirm that the new information you gave them is accurate and can be verified. If the credit bureau does not receive verification from the creditor within 30 days, the Fair Credit Reporting Act says the credit bureau must promptly delete that credit listing.

Even though the process sounds simple, the credit bureaus make it more difficult than you can imagine. The credit bureaus don't like the credit repair companies or anyone offering instruction on how to repair your own credit report. Why? Because it means more work for them.

The credit bureaus blast credit repair companies in the media and warn people against using credit repair services. The bureaus openly deny that any information can even be removed from your credit report.

It is reported that 79 percent of all credit reports contain some type of errors, and up to 25 percent of these errors could result in credit denials, hiked interest rates, and even lost employment opportunities.

If you have any amount of negative credit on your credit report it will cause the interest on all loans you apply for to be much higher. It will even become a barrier to your credit approval. That will cost you a fortune in unnecessary higher interest resulting in higher payments on anything you buy.

How you decide to address or dispute credit information is entirely up to you. But regardless of what you may hear in the news, thousands of people have restored their credit. You can choose to repair your own credit report or hire a professional service to do it for you.

The truth is you do not have to endure bad credit for seven to ten years if you want to challenge the accuracy of your credit report. This summary of the Fair Credit Reporting Act shows you it is possible for you to repair your own credit report and the sooner you start the better.


Copyright © 2005 Credit Repair Facts.com All Rights Reserved.

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About the Author

This article is supplied by http://www.credit-repair-facts.com where you will find credit information, debt elimination programs and informative facts that give you the knowledge to correct your own credit and credit report. For more credit related articles like these go to: http://www.credit-repair-facts.com/articles_1.html

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What Debts Show Up In Your Credit Report?

A recent amendment to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) now requires the credit bureaus to provide consumers a free annual credit report upon request. Access to the free credit reports has been phased in beginning December 2004 in the West and will finally be nationwide by 1 September 2005. This is good news to consumers.

Now each year, you can request a copy of your credit report and check it for inaccuracies and evidence of identity theft. If you discover errors or missing items in your credti report you can petition the credit bureaus to make the necessary corrections (see Credit Reports for additional information.

You are entitled to a free credit report from each of the three natonal consumer credit reporting companies, and many credit counselors recommend requesting all three since the information contained in each of the credit reports may be somewhat different. Also, it is wise to spread out your requests throughout the year so that you can see any sudden changes that might arise (for example case you are a victim of identity theft).

For more detailed information on how to get your free credit report, read Your Access To Free Credit Reports and "Free Credit Reports - Have You Requested Yours?"

What Is Your Current Credit Score?

But while you are now entitled to receive a free credit report from each of the Credit Bureaus, they are NOT required to provide you with your credit score for free and therefore the consumer credit reporting companies do not provide you with a copy of your current credit score when they send you you free credit report. Instead, they charge you to get a copy of your credit score. (For an explanation of the difference between your credit report and your credit score, and what they are used for, see Credit Reports vs Credit Scores

Nevertheless, you can obtain a free copy of your credit score from certain third parties. Click here, if you don't know what your Credit Score is.

As you make corrections to your credit report and begin to pay down your debts, you can watch your credit score rise.