Over the years, Congress has passed several laws to protect consumers rights. The most commonly recognized is the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The purpose of this Act is to “assure accuracy and fairness of credit reporting.” Credit Agencies were given the job of assembling and evaluating a customer credit and other info about consumers. This is to be done with fairness, impartiality and respect for the consumer’s right to privacy.
The cards are stacked in favor of big business when it comes to credit related issues. For someone that is considering Do It Yourself Credit Repair, it is important to have an appreciation of the law that Congress passed to protect the consumer.
A credit agency is a for-profit corporation, which means they are a business that has an expectation that it will return a reasonable profit to its owners and/or stockholders. The Credit Agencies compile and maintain files on consumers nationwide. They assemble, guage, maintain and furnish Consumer Reports to third parties regarding a consumer’s credit rating, credit standing, or credit capacity. Their customers are banks, credit unions, retailers, enterprises, companies, collection companies, and so on.
Do you see how this could be a conflict of interest? First off, the credit agencies receive this info from their customers (i.e., Banks, and so on), at face value, which means the info is said to be accurate. They judge it, allot a value to it (credit score) and then sell this info to whoever has a legal right to get consumereports. This exchange of info is done covertly and without any input in the slightest from the consumer. Actually many times a consumer is totally ignorant that there is anything derogatory on their credit file till they make an application for a job or attempt to purchase an item using credit.
Having prejudicial items on your credit report negatively impacts your credit report. To make matters worse, this info stays on a person’s credit file for 7 to 10 years. Villains have more rights. Ask yourself, why are the penalties for consumers crueler than for those given to criminals?
If you find inaccurate info on your credit report and you choose to go with Do It Yourself Credit Repair, you need to send a letter to the credit agencies setting forth the explanation(s) why this info is wrong . The credit company will notify its customer a consumer is disputing an item on their credit file. The creditor will either validate the info is correct or they may update or remove the info from the credit file.
Although the FCRA was passed to protect the consumer, I am hard pressed to find many protections for the consumer other than those that are procedural in nature. While these things are important, there are no fines, no punishment, not even a slap on the wrist for a creditor that reported the prejudiced info or the credit agent for selling incorrect information.
This is truly a David vs. Goliath scenario especially for a DIY credit repair consumer. Every year, thousands of lawsuits are filed against the credit bureaus, creditors and collection corporations for reporting unfounded information. In many cases, the plaintiffs have prevailed which means that there were inaccurate items found on their credit reports. Unfortunately, the derogatory information is kept on your credit record through the whole process. So while an accused law-breaker is presumed innocent till proven guilty and has got the right to protect himself, the same does not apply to a consumer. You are guilty if a creditor asserts you are and it is your responsibility to prove you are wrongly accused. Congress should be ashamed of itself.
So when you get turned down for a job or a loan because a creditor reported incorrect information, be assured that Congress, the credit agencies and your creditors have your back. Oh, and incidentally, I heard that there’s a bridge for sale in Brooklyn!
Do It Yourself Credit Repair is where to go to find info on the way to mend and rebuild credit. For the DIY credit repair crowd you will find dispute templates, guides, software, access to free credit scores, visa cards for subprime credit and much more. For those trying to find help, names and reviews of reputable credit repair companies are unreservedly given. Please visit DIY Credit Repair and stop by the Forum to share your experiences or to provide helpful tips for others to use.