Federal Credit Bureau?

So many people have the mistaken idea that the major credit bureaus in the United States are under the total control of the Federal government. This belief is so widespread that many people think that there is a Federal credit bureau! The companies that send Americans a free credit report once a year are not owned by the government. They get no kind of government funding. The only thing that the government does is make laws that state some things that the Federal credit bureaus can and can not do.

This law is called the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This law states that the three main credit reporting companies, Trans Union, Expedia, and Experian, must be accurate in their record keeping and recording of the personal credit information of America’s consumers. The credit reporting companies must also by law protect the privacy of consumers and their information.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act states that a consumer must be notified in writing if any of the information in their credit file has been used against them, such as when you are turned down for any type of insurance or a job because of bad credit. Normally, you will get a letter in the mail when this happens, and the credit bureau that was used will be listed at the bottom so that you may contact them if you feel the need.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the legal right to dispute anything that is in your credit report that you do not think is correct. All three credit bureaus have a thirty day period in which to investigate your file. If they cannot verify any of the information that you claim is incorrect with the company who issued the credit to you, or find that you are correct and the information is wrong, they have to delete the information from your file.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act also states that if you are turned down for a job, credit, or any kind of insurance, you have 60 days from the date you were refused to request a copy of your credit report so you can check things out for yourself. You will receive a letter about this as well, and it will tell you which credit reporting company was used.

If you are turned down for credit or insurance because of inaccurate information in your credit report, once it has been corrected, you have the right to request that the credit bureau send a corrected copy to anyone who requested a copy in the last 6 months. If you were turned down for a job anytime within the last two years, you can request that the companies you applied to be sent a copy as well.

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