Page 43 - Book7E

CHAPTER 5
Disputing Items on Your Credit Report
In 1971, Congress passed the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This act created guidelines to protect a consumer’s privacy and to help ensure accuracy in credit reporting. The Fair Credit Reporting Act gave consumers the right to see, dispute, and have their records corrected. Credit Reporting Agencies also began to
supplement the negative information in credit reports with the positive financial history of consumers.
In 2001, credit score information was
finally opened to consumers and they were
given the right to access their credit scores
directly. The Fair Credit Reporting Act
was updated in 2003 with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush. It requires Credit Reporting Agencies to make a copy of their credit score available to consumers annually for free.
More than 4.5 billion pieces of information are entered into consumer credit records each month. This information becomes part of the more than 1 billion consumer credit reports issued annually in the United States. With so much information being collected, it is possible that some information is reported or recorded incorrectly. Likewise, there are more than 300 million people in the United States so it’s reason- able to expect that records will get crossed now and then, particularly if you have a common name like Tom Smith. If negative information
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If you would know the value of money, try to borrow some.
—Benjamin Franklin