What Is the Fair Credit Reporting Act?

 

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law to ensure the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of your information in the consumer credit bureau files. The law regulates the way credit reporting agencies can collect, access, use and share the data they collect in your consumer reports.

Purpose of the Fair Credit Reporting Act

Fair Credit Reporting Act helps consumers understand what actions they can take to the information in their credit reports. Information is being gathered about consumers all the time: In addition to the three major consumer credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax), there are other organizations that may collect and use your information. For example, banks and credit unions may use information from your credit history to determine whether to approve you for a loan.

At your request, credit bureaus will initiate an investigation of any credit information that you challenge. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act promotes the accuracy of information in the files of the credit reporting companies and its statutes obligate the three major credit bureaus to investigate the items in question. They must also forward any data you provide about the error to the data furnisher (the organization that provided the information to the credit bureau).

Disputing Items Listed On Your Credit Report

The details of how a credit bureau must handle consumer complaints are complicated, and laid out in the full documentation of the act, but here is a very simple version: When a consumer disputes a credit file item, the bureau must note within the file that the item is disputed and begin an investigation. The investigation must be completed within a reasonable amount of time of about 30 days.

After the investigation, the bureau must inform the consumer of the action that was taken. These actions include:

• Verified: The item remains as is.
• Modified: Certain aspects of the tradeline have been revised.
• Deleted: The item is removed from the file.
• Deemed frivolous: The agency will not investigate the item further.

If you feel the action is unjust and violates the FCRA, you have the right to take legal action. The process of any such legal case may be long and drawn out and, in some cases, may not even be worth it, but thankfully the threat of this is usually enough to stop companies from violating the laws, offering you a good amount of protection.

How Does US Allied Financial Dispute Challenges?

It’s estimated that at least 6 million credit reports are inaccurate. With nearly over a decade in the business, US Allied Financial has the tools and strategies to help you work to fix your credit report. Our team of lawyers and paralegals reviews your credit reports from the three major credit bureaus, gathers the necessary information to identify any errors, then communicates directly with your creditors and credit bureaus to challenge erroneous credit listings.

Each credit report strategy is case-specific. Our Concord Premier Clients receive a monthly personalized credit score improvement analysis with action plans to help improve their credit. When you work with US Allied Financial, be sure to send us any responses or information you receive from the credit bureaus and creditors. You can monitor your case online or with our mobile app.

How You Can Take Advantage of Your FCRA Rights

The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to repair your credit, but it doesn’t do the job for you. If there are questionable negative items on your credit reports and you do nothing about them, odds are they will remain on your report. Only by pursuing your FCRA rights, or by enlisting a trustworthy credit repair service, can you ensure that your credit reports are a fair and accurate representation of your creditworthiness.

US Allied Financial leverages your rights as established by the FCRA and other federal laws. Our credit repair services have helped clients legally remove millions of questionable negative items from their credit reports including late payments, collections, charge offs and bankruptcies.

Contact US Allied Financial to receive a free personalized credit consultation, learn more about your credit rights, and understand how credit repair can help you achieve your financial goals.