Credit Reporting Rules Are Changing

November 11, 2009 · Print This Article

The word “credit” is being tossed around constantly these days, and it has everything to do with the recent credit crunch and new legislation regarding credit cards. The Credit CARD Act of 2009 has a lot of provisions regarding what credit card companies are going to be allowed to do in the future, but there is also a sneaky little addendum regarding credit reports.

In today’s economy, your credit score has become a critical part of your financial identity. You’d have to look far and wide to find many places willing to lend you money without first checking your credit history. The option to get a car loan, buy real estate, refinance your home, leverage some money for a small business, and even to have a reasonable credit limit on your credit card, all hinge on that credit score and history.

Fortunately, Congress gave consumers the gift of one free credit report per year via AnnualCreditReport.com. Unfortunately, consumers had to sift through a lot of advertisements and confusing copy on the websites of each major credit bureau: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. This enables people to check and see what their credit history looks like to lenders. However, these sites are not obligated to give you your credit score for free, and they will try to sell you their credit monitoring services with a free copy of your credit score as an incentive.

What’s confusing to consumers is the whole process of finding out their credit history through AnnualCreditReport.com, and the number of other websites that offer “free” credit reports. Consumers have to dodge advertisements and hard sells of these services, and if they aren’t sure what their rights are, they might inadvertently purchase something that they didn’t want. The Federal Trade Commission (or FTC) is now authorized by the Credit CARD Act of 2009 to put a stop to the deceptive marketing practices of the credit bureaus by February 22 of next year.

This is a beneficial move because it makes it easier for consumers to find out what their credit histories are before they are inundated with advertisements by the various credit bureaus. Only AnnualCreditReport.com is authorized by the federal government to provide a free credit report, and there are competing websites that claim to provide credit reports without adequately differentiating themselves from AnnualCreditReport.com. This is something that the FTC has been commissioned to change as well, by requiring a very obvious disclosure on the website, and also an obvious link to AnnualCreditReport.com.

Getting your credit score at each of the three credit bureaus is still going to cost you a small fee. Currently, it’s possible to sign up for one of their credit monitoring services to get a free copy of your credit score, but then you have to remember to cancel within 30 days, or else you will charged monthly until you do. At any rate, the importance of keeping track of your credit history is now more important than ever, and Congress is actively working on making sure that Americans can do just that.

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Comments

21 Responses to “Credit Reporting Rules Are Changing”

  1. kubock shalust on July 31st, 2010 6:30 am

    It takes time with credit, your better of having a little balace and paying it off little by little, than to pay it all off at once!

  2. debb on July 31st, 2010 5:29 pm

    I hate how all the news now is noting that blacks and hispanics are getting denies for loans because of their race. they are not considering the poor financial planning of these groups nor the low amount of credit due to few revolving lines. btw, i’m hispanic and my credit score is 760+

  3. havine komonta on July 31st, 2010 10:37 pm

    Derogatory items age off your report 7-1/2 years from the date of first deficiency. If they aren't on your report, don't worry about them.

    Work on paying off current credit card accounts first. Deal with derogatory items newest first and work back to the oldest. The older the item, the less impact on your score. Let anything close to the 7 year mark just age off.

  4. house rushwegell on August 1st, 2010 3:46 pm

    Bad fico can happen to anybody. One day your fico is nice and then unexpectedly a couple mishaps can trigger your profile to dip unexpectedly. It may be because of some situation that you are aware of or it might simply be a misstep. Whatever the reason, you need to repair it as soon a doable. A poor credit rating can stack up issues on your behalf eventually as well as problems getting a mortgage, a new vehicle or any other a loan.

  5. benigh on August 2nd, 2010 9:55 am

    5 Ways to Quickly Boost Your Credit Score

  6. zah dha on August 4th, 2010 11:27 pm

    No, and you are allowed to check your own credit once a year with out any point deductions from your score. So if you have not checked your reports withing the past 12 months then you have nothing to worry about.

  7. glasch on August 5th, 2010 11:00 am

    F to the U to the C to the AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

  8. evenickra ball on August 5th, 2010 7:51 pm

    A 100 points is the difference between getting that house, car or any affordable rate. Follow these 4 steps and see you credit soar.

  9. ohannon on August 7th, 2010 3:40 pm

    Credit repair is not science..its basically looking at your credit report and DISPUTING how hard is that??? It can get time consuming if you have 10 bad items because now you have to do it 30 times. People pay because they lack information..knowledge..PERIOD. Once you get the knowledge you can do ANYTHING if your not a lazy bastard. I can show someone how to do all this in 5 minutes..!

  10. boddarberg on August 8th, 2010 1:41 am

    Yeah, it’s backed by uncle sam.

  11. hashakayar spien on August 11th, 2010 8:06 am

    Bad credit score is regarded as a biggest hurdle while availing finances from the financial market. But, now it is not a big problem as there are many loans available in the financial market, which are especially targeted to all bad credit scorers. There are different types of loans such as bad credit secured loan, bad credit wedding loan and many more. Likewise, there is bad credit car loan which provides financial assistance to the person with bad credit score to become a car owner.

  12. vreaux man on August 19th, 2010 7:54 pm

    RT Goldman Sachs Sues Natixis Over Credit-Default Swaps, FT Reports:

  13. hardwigali mermannema on August 20th, 2010 12:16 am

    Then I am too, I’ll be 18 in april =D

  14. shneidahl kubach on August 22nd, 2010 4:51 pm

    To my knowledge, unless you're a mortage company, there really is no perfect solution to pulling a credit report. But here are some options:

    Or Google "free credit report" – there'll be thousands of "hits"

    In most every case your client will get a "Trial Subscription" and will need to cancel it before he is billed. Not a perfect solution, but a viable one.

    So even if you DO pay for a report, you need only do so the first time! After that, they will not cost you so long as you keep sending dispute letters.

    Credit Repair Business is a great opportunity in this economic time, you will not only help solve your own credit problem but at the same time you can also help others and earn for a living. Try visit this site :

    I hope it helps! :)

  15. anko elt on August 23rd, 2010 3:04 pm

    I have an affiliate free credit score site that I would like to advertise. Would be willing to profit share on signed up clients. (Budget: $250-750, Jobs: Internet Marketing)

  16. eminemred123 on August 27th, 2010 7:52 pm

    this iz now stuck in my head for a month…

  17. frijn beane on August 27th, 2010 10:36 pm

    ^I REPAIR CREDIT^ Wondering whats on ur credit report? #Free Credit Reports! CallMe now :) 305-735-1577 #ImJustSaying #RealEstate #Affiliate$

  18. babick lawlin on August 29th, 2010 5:36 am

    446 AND NEVER BEEN HAPPIER

  19. chison on September 2nd, 2010 2:55 am

    My brother says this is his song cause his wife has bad credit. Good song though.

  20. privott shartel on September 2nd, 2010 5:42 am

    Article by at 2010-08-26 00:32:44
    Categorized in public records,

  21. ryonk suwa on September 2nd, 2010 1:19 pm

    like all the song but hate the video

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