But it isn't Fair...part 1

Unfortunately, finding information about credit reports was not so easy up until 3 years ago. Coming from a back ground of Banking and Mortgage Lending, I can tell you that the general rule of thumb when advising clients about credit was there are no rules. Credit agencies were not regulated to disclose how they determined a consumer's credit score. It was a complete mystery. Much Trial and Error occurred in advising clients in those days. Now, since the passing of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, information is readily available, but many lenders still guess rather than taking the time to master the information in a credit report.

Below is an expert from a little booklet called Making the Most of Your Credit Report: Your personal guide. This booklet is put out by Kroll Background America, Inc. who is the largest backround investigation company in America. They also are one of the leading credit repositories used in providing Tri-merge credit reports for mortgage lenders, credit card companies and auto lenders.

It is critical in understanding our credit, what our rights are regarding the reporting of our credit history. Please take the time to review this information to gain more understanding as you learn to manage your credit more efficiently.

A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) promotes the accuaracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies. There are many types of consumer reporting agencies, including credit bureaus and specialty agencies (such as agencies that sell information about check writing histories, medical records, and rental history records.) Here is a summary of your major rights under the FCRA. For more information, including information about additional rights, go to www.ftc.gov/credit or write to: Consumer Response Center, Room 130-A, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580.

You must be told if information in your file has been used against you. Anyone who uses a credit report or another type of consumer report to deny your application for credit, insurance, or employment - or to take another adverse action against you - must tell you, and must give your name, address, and phone number of the agency that provided the information.

You have the right to know what is in your file. You may request and obtain all the information about you in the files of a consumer reporting agency (your "file disclosure"). You will be required to provide proper identification, which may include your social security number. In many cases, the disclosure will be free. you are entitled to a free file disclosure if:

• a person has taken adverse action against you because of information in your credit report;
• you are the victim of identity theft and place a fraud alert in your file;
• your file contains inaccurate information as a result of fraud;
• you are on public assistance;
• you are unemployed but expect to apply for employment within 60 days.

In addition, as of September 2005, all consumers are entitled to one free disclosure every 12 months upon request from each nationwide credit bureau and from nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies.

See www.ftc.gov/credit for additional information.

You have the right to ask for a credit score. Credit scores are numberical summaries of your credit worthiness based on information from credit bureaus. You may request a credit score from consumer reporting agencies that create scores or distribute scores used in residential real property loans, but you will have to pay for it. In some mortgage transactions, you iwll receive credit information for free from the mortgage lender.

You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. If you identify information in your file that is incomplete or inaccurate, and report it to the consumer reporting agency, the agency must investigate unless your dispute is frivolous.

See www.ftc.gov/credit for an explanation of dispute procedures.

Please stay tuned for Part 2 coming soon to a blog near you...