Fair Credit Reporting Act

The Fair Credit Reporting Act, Public Law 91-508, title VI was enacted in 1971. The Fair Credit Reporting Act states that if you have been denied credit, the merchant that denied you credit must tell you the reason why. Also, you will be entitled to a copy of your credit report from the bureau that the merchant used. The following is more information on the rights your have because of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

• You have the right to know the information in your credit report
   
• You have the right to know who has requested a copy of your credit report during the last six months. In cases of employment, the time frame is two years.
   
• You have the right to question your credit report and have errors changed or deleted.
   
• You have the right to have any item you question removed from your report if the credit bureau cannot validate its information in a reasonable amount of time.
   
• You have the ability to place a statement on your credit report presenting your side of a credit problem.
   
• You have the right to recover from bad credit. This means that most negative information must be removed from your credit report after 7 years.

You should pay attention to your credit report even if you think your credit history is perfect. According to many consumer groups, up to 70% of all reports contain some type of error. These errors can be removed through the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which means that you won't have to worry about those errors affecting your credit report in the future.