| Right 1: The right to view your credit report - This portion of the law requires that the credit reporting agencies supply you with a full report on your credit transactions at any time you request one. This report will contain every item recorded in their files about you. It may not include every credit item you have but it will include every credit item that they have in their files about you. Additionally, the credit reporting agencies are allowed to charge a reasonable fee for this service if it is being performed at your sole request. However, if you have recently been rejected for credit by a creditor, they will by law send you a copy of your credit report for free if you request it.
Right 2: The right to know who has inquired into your credit rile - The law allows you to know every bank, credit card company, employer, etc. who has requested a copy of your credit report. This even includes all the times the credit reporting agency has pulled your file. Every time the credit reporting agency pulls your credit report to fix an error or examine some information, this action is recorded. This information is very valuable in doweling fraud. If your credit report has many inquiries that you don't recognize, someone is probably trying to commit fraud using your social security number.
Right 3:The right to request verification of information you believe is incorrect - This portion of the law allows you to have a negative entry checked multiple times. This guarantees that every time you tell a credit reporting agency an item is incorrect, they will investigate that item. Without this portion of the law, they could refuse to investigate.
Right 4:The right to insert missing data into your credit rile - Often you will have credit granted to you that never makes its way into your credit report. This happens for a variety of reasons. You may have been granted credit at a local department store which doesn't report information to a credit reporting agency. Or perhaps you moved to another part of the country and you have credit information that didn't follow you from your old address to your new address. This portion of the law allows you to report all this good credit information to the credit reporting agencies and have it entered into your credit report. The following are examples of the types of information you may want to have added to your credit reports:
- Details on loans, both current and paid off, when you have a good payment history.
- Credit cards with good payment histories that do not appear on your credit report.
- Salary increases at your current job or when you switch jobs.
- Any active accounts which have good payment histories that do not appear on your credit reports.
- Information related to your mortgage, especially if it is not being reported on your credit report.
- Settlements on any judgments, tax and IRS liens, disputed bills, etc.
Right 5: The right to automatically remove all detrimental information from your credit report after seven years; 10 years for bankruptcy - This portion of the law guarantees that past financial indiscretions do not follow you for the rest of your life. This process is automatic and is handled by the credit reporting agencies. If you ever find a negative credit item on your credit report over seven yews old (10 for bankruptcy), a simple letter reminding the credit reporting agency of this law will get that item instantly removed.
Right 6: The right to place your own personal statement in your credit report - Some of you will have some negative credit due to an extraordinary event such as the loss of a job, sickness, divorce, etc. And, after trying to clean it from your credit report, will find that you were unsuccessful. This portion of the law was written for you. It allows you to have a written statement of 100 words or less placed in your credit report. This can be used to explain to future creditors what caused the bad credit and why it was a one time occurrence.
Right 7: The guarantee of privacy of the information in your credit report from anyone other than legitimate members of the credit reporting agency - This portion of the law states that no one can look at your credit report without your permission. That is why creditors have you sign a form allowing them to examine your credit report. The only exception to this rule is the credit reporting agencies. They are allowed to look at your credit report without your permission only for legitimate business purposes such as updating the information in your file.
Right 8:The right to have your credit report transferred from one area to another any time you move - This provision of the law guarantees that your credit history follows you wherever you go. This allows your hard earned good credit to follow you all over the United States. Unfortunately, it also means that any bad credit you have also follows you across the country.
Right 9:The right to use the small claims court system to resolve any disputes with the credit bureaus about incorrect or inaccurate information in your credit report - This portion of the law gives you the right to your day in court. If something on your credit report is inaccurate and you can't get it repaired through the credit repair process, you have the right to present your evidence in a court of law to resolve the dispute. If the court finds in your favor, the item will be corrected. If not, the item will stay in your credit report.
Right 10:The right to know exactly why you were refused credit - This portion of the law requires that my creditor who refuses you credit must inform you of exactly why you were turned down. This request must be made by you to the creditor within 10 days of your being turned down for credit.
Right 11: The right to remain silent about bad credit information that does not currently appear in your credit report This prevision of the law simply states that you do not have to correct my omissions you find in your credit report, whether positive or negative.
These 11 points pretty much summarize your fights under the Consumer Credit Reporting Act. Certain points are actively used to repair your credit and others are used to make sum you me treated fairly by the credit system.
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