What is the Fair Credit and Reporting Act? Well the FCRA as many people know, are the laws that govern what any credit bureau (the company holding information about you) and your creditors (who you pay your monthly bills to) are required to follow.
I want to address the most common problems that credit bureaus and creditors seem to have problems with. Including a story of my own.
1.) The credit bureaus are required to investigate any complaint that comes across their desk. They seem to have a different idea on this than we do. The credit bureau’s idea of investigating, is to take your dispute, put it in a simple code format of “not mine” and send it off to the creditor. The creditor then sends another code back saying “verified as owned by consumer.” Never, at any time, are your specific problems addressed by the credit bureaus. They claim that they don’t have time for this, yet they are supposed to follow the law.
2.) If an account comes back as “verified” you are allowed to ask the name, address, phone number, extension and any other information of the individual who verified this account. The credit bureaus, and Chex Systems like to play games with this one claiming that they don’t release this information. However, the law is clear that if an account is verified, they have to release who verified the information. Many lawyers interpret this as a way to follow up with the credit bureaus and make sure that they are doing their jobs. If they can’t prove who verified an account, how can they possibly have a leg to stand on? Personally, I would want to pass the blame along to someone else if I were a credit bureau, and this would be a perfect way for them to do so.
3.) The credit bureaus are required to post correct information ONLY on your credit reports. Many fail to do this. My own personal example is as follows: I once belonged to a Bob’s County Services Employees Credit Union. TransUnion had the account listed as Bob’s City Credit Union; not even close to the correct name. I emailed the president of the company via PlanetFeedback, and told them to delete the account as it was false. I received an email back from an Eileen Little (a nasty woman btw) who informed me that yes I did have an account this Bob’s City Credit Union, that I was a member from x day to x day, that I had x amount of accounts with them, that my employment with the county was from x day to x day. I still have all of the emails. I immediately sent a reply demanding to know who had released such private information, and reminded Eileen Little that I didn’t release this information to her or give Bob’s County Services Employees Credit union permission to release that information and wanted the name of the person she spoke with. At that point, she nastily told me the only way that she would release that information was through a court order. I still have the information saved, and have been speaking with someone to get legal representation on this. This however, is a classic example of the credit bureaus not following the law. They are still listing the false name on my credit files. (Yes, even we have items that can’t be corrected occassionally. Luckily I was only disputing the name and not a bad account!)
4.) You have a right to privacy. According to Eileen Little and a man named David M Emery with TransUnion, you do not. They have admitted to releasing your private information to a 3rd party (who remains unnamed) to verify things like judgments, bankruptcies, and other court documents. This is where it gets interesting. The courts themselves DO NOT VERIFY accounts to the credit bureaus. The courts themselves are NOT a creditor. The FCRA states that they must verify the information with the creditor or the item has to be removed. Yet many people have judgments, liens, bankruptcies and other information showing on their credit files! Who is verifying this information? And who is checking to make sure it is correct? Anyone can go to PACER and pull up the information. However, it is the responsibility and the need for the credit bureaus to make sure the information is accurate. One of the best lines of defense is to remind the credit bureaus that the courts do not verify court information with them. When a credit bureau says “verified” this is FALSE and they are breaking the law!
5.) The credit bureaus are required by law to re-investigate anything that comes back to them. If you want them to look into something 100 times, you have that right; especially if the information is truly false. The credit bureaus get tired of this, and will often times send back a “previously investigated- this complaint is frivolous” or some other nonsense. They are breaking the law when they do this. The FCRA is clear that you have the right to have something investigated.
6.) You are entitled to one free credit pull a year. This can be done at http://www.annualcreditreport.com. However, what many people don’t know, is that if you have been denied credit at all, for any reason, you are also entitled to a free credit report as well; at no charge to you!
7.) Your creditors are also required to post correct information. If they do not, they can also be held accountable. This is easier to catch, but getting them to correct their heinous errors can sometimes cost a lot of time and effort. Google should be your best friend when doing this, as you need to track down the top dogs and bring the issues to their attention. Many times they are more than glad to help, and you can see improvement almost immediately.
8.) Anyone who pulls your credit without your permission is breaking the law, and you are entitled to $1000 for each violation. Always check to see who is pulling your credit. Even creditors who haven’t notified you of their acquisition of your account can’t legally pull your credit. Go after these people! WE CAN HELP.
These are just a few of the most common problems that we get to see at Kenyon Credit Services. However, we are just a phone call or email away from being able to help you! Visit us on the web today at http://www.kenyoncreditservices.com and get signed up.
