Agencies that enforce the rules and regulations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have proposed new rules to promote the accuracy and integrity of information provided to consumer credit reporting agencies (CRAs or credit bureaus) and to allow customers to dispute errors directly with them.
Sometimes credit report errors can be major. Major errors can cause a consumer's credit score to drop anywhere from 50-150 points. Seventy-five percent of credit reports contain at least one major mistake. This will greatly help consumers who have been victimized by employers, mortgage companies and banking industry professionals due to errors on their credit report they were unable to get corrected.
Under the newly proposed rules, data furnishers to CRAs must develop practical policies and procedures to ensure that the information they are providing is accurate. The new rules outline instances when further details may be necessary to keep the information that CRAs provide from creating misleading impressions about a consumer's creditworthiness.
Under the new rules, instead of filing a dispute only with CRAs, consumers can now take their complaint directly to furnishers, and furnishers are required to investigate the complaint.
If you currently have errors on your credit report that you have not been able to resolve file a written complaint with the FTC against the CRA and data furnisher. Make sure you provide supporting documentation to support your complaint.
Showing posts with label federal trade commission. Show all posts
Showing posts with label federal trade commission. Show all posts
Friday, July 10, 2009
Monday, May 04, 2009
Stop Annoying Calls From Creditors
Creditors call you at work, home and on your cell phone day and night sometimes every hour on the hour asking for payment. Due to the recession the harassing calls from creditors have increased and have gotten more unprofessional. In some instances consumers are unemployed and therefore can't send a payment but creditors don’t care, they want their money and will do just about anything to get it – even lie.
If you make just one late payment usually 30 days or more late, no matter what your previous payment history you could be placed in the same category as those who avoid paying bills, hide under a rock hoping their creditors will get tired of contacting them for payment or who have filed for bankruptcy.
Most creditors have a Collection Department that calls to remind you to send a payment if the payment is even one day past the due date. The first few calls the creditors seem really nice and ask when you will be able to send a payment. Then they their attitude quickly changes and they use all kinds of threats, lies, emotional guilt, rudeness, etc. to get you to make a payment.
Please don't fall for this! Know your rights as a consumer and the rights that creditors and debt collection agencies have to follow before making a payment agreement verbally or in writing. The two main acts that protect consumers are the Fair Credit and Reporting Act (FCRA) and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) which can found on the Federal Trade Commission website at ftc.gov/credit.
A creditor or debt collection agency cannot call you before 8:00 am or after 9:00 pm. If a creditor or debt collector contacts you, you have the right to ask them to stop contacting you by phone by saying "cease and desist" and ask them to contact you by mail. If you feel a creditor or debt collector has violated your rights as a consumer file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP or by going to their website at ftc.gov.
Never make a decision to pay an overdue bill based out of fear or due to bullying tactics used by the creditors and collection agencies. Take a day or two to calm down, think about your situation and then develop a plan to start paying your debt back. Call the creditor back and tell them your plan to pay the debt back. Follow-up your agreement in writing and keep a copy for your records.
If you fall behind on your payments in the future notify your creditor or the collection agency immediately that you are having financial problems and setup a payment plan with them to prevent bad marks on your credit report and to prevent legal action being taken against you.
If you make just one late payment usually 30 days or more late, no matter what your previous payment history you could be placed in the same category as those who avoid paying bills, hide under a rock hoping their creditors will get tired of contacting them for payment or who have filed for bankruptcy.
Most creditors have a Collection Department that calls to remind you to send a payment if the payment is even one day past the due date. The first few calls the creditors seem really nice and ask when you will be able to send a payment. Then they their attitude quickly changes and they use all kinds of threats, lies, emotional guilt, rudeness, etc. to get you to make a payment.
Please don't fall for this! Know your rights as a consumer and the rights that creditors and debt collection agencies have to follow before making a payment agreement verbally or in writing. The two main acts that protect consumers are the Fair Credit and Reporting Act (FCRA) and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) which can found on the Federal Trade Commission website at ftc.gov/credit.
A creditor or debt collection agency cannot call you before 8:00 am or after 9:00 pm. If a creditor or debt collector contacts you, you have the right to ask them to stop contacting you by phone by saying "cease and desist" and ask them to contact you by mail. If you feel a creditor or debt collector has violated your rights as a consumer file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP or by going to their website at ftc.gov.
Never make a decision to pay an overdue bill based out of fear or due to bullying tactics used by the creditors and collection agencies. Take a day or two to calm down, think about your situation and then develop a plan to start paying your debt back. Call the creditor back and tell them your plan to pay the debt back. Follow-up your agreement in writing and keep a copy for your records.
If you fall behind on your payments in the future notify your creditor or the collection agency immediately that you are having financial problems and setup a payment plan with them to prevent bad marks on your credit report and to prevent legal action being taken against you.
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