Fortunately for today's consumer, half a century ago Congress recognized that the system of credit reporting needed revision. The practices of the credit bureaus and the creditors using the credit reports they provided were deplorable. American consumers were being abused by a system they had no way of influencing and no way of keeping in check.
To counter this, Congress created the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) which with its subsequent revisions has become the cornerstone of your consumer credit rights. It is because of the FCRA that you have the right to see what information is recorded on your credit files and to work to correct any questionable negative items they contain.
In addition to the FCRA, there are other consumer protection acts that give you certain rights when you are working with the creditors and collections agencies who report to the credit bureaus. By making use of their rights under each of these consumer protection laws, consumers have been able to successfully fix bad credit.
Fair Credit Reporting Act
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is what got credit repair started. Because of this act, you have the right to see your credit file and to dispute questionable credit directly with the credit bureaus.
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Along with protecting your against inappropriate actions from debt collectors such as contacting you at unusual hours, screaming at you, using profanity, lying about their identity, or threatening violence while trying to collect a debt, the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act gives you powerful debt validation tools that give you the right to challenge any debt.
Fair Credit Billing Act
Similar to how the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act governs collections agencies, the Fair Credit Billing Act gives you the right to dispute inaccurate negative credit directly with your original creditors in an effort to get them to modify the way they are reporting your accounts to the credit bureaus.
Credit Repair Organizations Act
With all the laws surrounding credit repair, it can be overwhelming for a newcomer working to fix their credit score. Fortunately, there are reputable credit repair organizations who help consumers work towards a fair and accurate credit score. These credit repair companies are regulated by the Credit Repair Organizations Act which helps prevent consumers from being sucked in by a credit repair scam.
