|
Building a Better Credit Record
Newspapers, radio, TV and the Internet are filled with advertisements that offer.
for a fee. to erase accurate negative information in your credit file. The scam artists who run these ads can't deliver.
Only time, a deliberate effort, and a plan to repay your bills will improve your credit record. This section is
designed to help you understand and legally improve your credit report.
Consumer
Reporting Agencies
If you've ever applied for a credit card, a personal loan, or insurance,
there's a file about you. This file contains information on where you work and live, how you pay your bills, and
whether you've been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy.
Companies that gather and sell this information are called Consumer Reporting
Agencies (CRAs). The most common type of CRA is the credit bureau. The information CRAs sell about you to creditors,
employers, insurers, and other businesses is called a consumer report.
Apply for
Unsecured Personal Loans!
The Fair
Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
The FCRA is designed to promote accuracy and ensure the
privacy of information used in consumer reports. Recent amendments to the Act expand your rights and place additional
requirements on CRAs. Businesses that supply information about you to CRAs and those that use consumer reports
also have new responsibilities under the law.
Here are some questions consumers commonly ask about consumer
reports and CRAs. and the answers.
- Q. How do I find the CRA that has my report?
- A. Contact the CRAs listed in the Yellow Pages under "credit" or "credit rating
and reporting." Because more than one CRA may have a file on you, call each until you have located all the
agencies maintaining your file. The three major credit bureaus are:
Equifax
PO Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
(800) 685-1111
|
Experian
PO Box 949
Allen, TX 75013
(888) EXPERIAN (397-3742) |
Trans
Union
760 West Sproul Road
PO Box 390
Springfield, PA 19064-0390
(800) 916-8800 |
In addition, anyone who takes action against you in response to a
report supplied by a CRA. such as denying your application for credit, insurance, or employment. must give you
the name, address, and telephone number of the CRA that provided the report.
- Q. Do I have a right to know what's in my report?
- A. Yes, if you ask for it. The CRA must tell you everything in your report, including medical information,
and in most cases, the sources of the information. The CRA also must give you a list of everyone who has
requested your report within the past year. two years for employment related requests.
-
- Q. Is there a charge for my report?
- A. Sometimes. There's no charge if a company takes adverse action against you, such as denying
your application for credit, insurance or employment, and you request your report within 60 days of receiving the
notice of the action. The notice will give you the name, address, and phone number of the CRA. In addition, you're
entitled to one free report a year if you certify in writing that (1) you're unemployed and plan to look for a
job within 60 days, (2) you're on welfare, or (3) your report is inaccurate because of fraud. Otherwise, a CRA
may charge you up to $8 for a copy of your report.
Even if you have not been denied credit, you may want to
find out what information is in your credit report. Some financial advisors suggest that you review your credit
report periodically for inaccuracies or omissions. This could be especially important if you're considering a major
purchase, such as buying a home or a car. Checking in advance on the accuracy of the information in your credit
report could speed the credit-granting process.
- Q. What type of information do credit bureaus
collect and sell?
- A. Credit Bureaus collect and sell four basic types of information. Identification and employment
information Your name, birth date, Social Security number, employer, and spouse's name are routinely noted. The
CRA also may provide information about your employment history, home ownership, income, and previous address, if
a creditor requests this type of information.
Payment history
Your accounts with different creditors are
listed, showing how much credit has been extended and whether you've paid on time. Related events, such as referral
of an overdue account to a collection agency, may also be noted.
Inquiries
CRAs must maintain a record of all creditors
who have asked for your credit history within the past year, and a record of those persons or businesses requesting
your credit history for employment purposes for the past two years.
Public record information
Events that are a matter of public record,
such as bankruptcies, foreclosures, or tax liens, may appear in your report.
Improving Your Credit Report
Under the law, both the CRA and the organization that provided
the information to the CRA, such as a bank or credit card company, have responsibilities for correcting inaccurate
or incomplete information in your report. To protect all your rights under the law, contact both the CRA and the
information provider if you have a dispute.
- First, tell the CRA in writing what information
you believe is inaccurate. Include copies (not originals) of documents that support your position. In addition
to providing your complete name and address, your letter should clearly identify each item in your report you dispute,
state the facts and explain why you dispute the information, and request deletion or correction. You may want to
enclose a copy of your report with the items in question circled. Your letter may look something like the one below.
Send your letter by certified mail, return receipt requested, so you can document what the CRA received. Keep copies
of your dispute letter and enclosures.
Sample
Dispute Letter
|
Date
Your Name
Your Address
Your City, State, Zip Code
Complaint Department
Name of Credit Reporting Agency
Address
City, State, Zip Code
Dear Sir or Madam:
I am writing to dispute the following information in my file. The items
I dispute also are encircled on the attached copy of the report I received.
This item (identify item(s) disputed by name of source, such as creditors
or tax court, and identify type of item, such as credit account, judgment, etc.) is (inaccurate or incomplete)
because (describe what is inaccurate or incomplete and why). I am requesting that the item be deleted (or request
another specific change) to correct the information.
Enclosed are copies of (use this sentence is applicable and describe
any enclosed documentation, such as payment records, court documents) supporting my position. Please reinvestigate
this (these) matter(s) and (delete or correct) the disputed item(s) as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Your name
Enclosures: (List what you are enclosing)
|
-
CRAs must reinvestigate the item(s) in question. usually within
30 days. unless they consider your dispute frivolous. They also must forward all relevant data you provide
about the dispute to the information provider. After the information provider receives notice of a dispute from
the CRA, it must investigate, review all relevant information provided by the CRA, and report the results to the
CRA. If the information provider finds the disputed information to be inaccurate, it must notify all nationwide
CRAs so that they can correct this information in your file.
- Disputed information that cannot be verified must be deleted
from your file.
-
When the reinvestigation is complete, the CRA must give
you the written results and a free copy of your report if the dispute results in a change. If an item is changed
or removed, the CRA cannot put the disputed information back in your file unless the information provider verifies
its accuracy and completeness, and the CRA gives you a written notice of its intent to reinsert the items that
includes the name, address, and phone number of the provider.
-
If you request, the CRA must send notices of any correction
to anyone who received your report in the past six months. You can have a corrected copy of your report sent to
anyone who received a copy during the past two years for employment purposes. If a reinvestigation does not resolve
your dispute, ask the CRA to include your statement of the dispute in your file and in future reports.
-
In addition to writing to the CRA, you should tell the
creditor or other information provider in writing that you dispute an item. Be sure to include copies (not originals) of
documents that support your position. Many providers specify an address for disputes. If the provider continues to
report the disputed item to any CRA after receiving your notice, it must include a notice that you dispute the item.
If you are correct. that is, if the information is
not accurate. the information provider may not
report it again.
Accurate
Negative Information
When negative
information in your report is accurate, only the passage of time can assure its removal. Accurate negative information
generally can stay on your report for seven years. There are certain exceptions:
- Bankruptcy information may be reported for 10 years.
- Credit information reported in response to an application
for a job with a salary of more than $75,000 has no time limit.
- Information about criminal convictions has no time limit.
- Credit information reported because of an application
for more than $150,000 worth of credit or life insurance has no time limit.
- Default information concerning U.S. Government insured
or guaranteed student loans can be reported for seven years after certain guarantor actions.
- Information about a lawsuit or an unpaid judgment against
you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer.
Seven-year
Reporting Period
There is
a standard method for calculating the seven-year reporting period. Generally, the period runs from the date that
the event took place.
With regard to any delinquent account placed for collection. internally or by
referral to a third. party debt collector, whichever is earlier. charged to profit and loss, or subjected to
any similar action, the seven-year period is calculated from the date of the delinquency that occurred immediately
before the collection activity, charge to profit and loss, or similar action. For example, assume that your payments
on a loan were late in January, but that you caught up in February. You were late again in May, but caught up in
July. You were again late in September, but did not catch up before the account was turned over to a collection
agency in December. You made no more payments on the account, and it is charged to profit and loss in July of the
following year.
Under the FCRA, the January and May late payments each
can be reported for seven years. The collection activity and the charge to profit and loss can be reported for
seven years from the date of the September payment, which was the delinquency that occurred immediately before
those activities.
Adding
Accounts to Your File
Your credit file may not reflect all your credit accounts.
Although most national department store and all-purpose bank credit card accounts will be included in your file,
not all creditors supply information to CRAs: Some travel, entertainment, gasoline card companies, local retailers,
and credit unions are among those creditors that don't.
If you've been told that you were denied credit because
of an "insufficient credit file" or "no credit file" and you have accounts with creditors that
don't appear in your credit file, ask the CRA to add this information to future reports. Although they are not
required to do so, many CRAs will add verifiable accounts for a fee. However, understand that if these creditors
do not report to the CRA on a regular basis, the added items will not be updated in your file.
|
