Your Rights as a Consumer
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. There is no charge for the first credit report you request annually. For every subsequent credit report you request, the credit reporting agencies are allowed to charge a reasonable fee. However, if you have recently been rejected for credit you are entitled to a free credit report even if you have already requested one that year.
RIGHT 2: The right to know who has inquired about your credit.
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.
RIGHT 3: The right to request verification of information you believe is incorrect.
This allows you to have a negative entry checked. This guarantees that every time you tell a credit reporting agency that an item is incorrect, they will investigate the item. Without this portion of the law, the credit bureaus would be able to refuse to investigate your disputes.
RIGHT 4: The right to insert missing data into your credit file.
Often you will have credit granted to you that never makes its way into your credit report. 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.
RIGHT 5: The right to automatically remove information from your credit report that is over seven years old (10 for bankruptcy).
This guarantees that past financial indiscretions do not follow you for the rest of your life.
RIGHT 6: The right to place your personal statement in your credit report.
Some people have negative credit due to extraordinary events such as loss of a job, sickness, divorce, etc. This law allows you to have a written statement of 100 words or fewer 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 right to privacy of the information in your credit report from anyone other than legitimate members of credit reporting agency.
This 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 right is the credit reporting agencies. They are allowed to look at your credit report without your permission as long as it is for legitimate business purposes.
RIGHT 8: The right to have your credit report transferred from one area to another any time you have a relocation.
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 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.
RIGHT 10: The right to know exactly why you were refused credit.
This means the creditor who refused you credit must inform you exactly why you were turned down. This request must be made by you to the creditor within 10 days of your being turned down.
