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Before I wrote this article, I decided to Google “free credit repairhelp". The #1 site listed is Federal Trade Commissions site on credit repair –no big surprise. So, I start reading and quite frankly was a little shocked atthe following statement: “Only time, a conscious effort, and a personal debtrepayment plan will improve your credit report." It kind of made it seem likethey were trying to say that just waiting it out and paying your debts willimprove your credit. At least that’s how I interpreted that sentence.
They do, however, mention the part about “conscious effort" and a littlefurther down they do explain how you can dispute inaccurate or incompleteinformation in your report and your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.Getting negative accounts removed from your credit report is one of the fastestways to raise your credit scores. Adding new positive accounts is just asimportant but, it’s not as fast. I hope that most consumers read the whole page when visiting the FTC’swebsite because I believe that a few sentences were a little misleading. I’mnot saying that they’re trying to mislead consumers on purpose. I just think itcould have been worded better. I think it’s more important for consumers to getfamiliar with the FCRA and other laws pertaining to credit repair. Upon reading the FCRA, you will find that it promotes the accuracy,fairness and privacy of information that the credit bureaus provide to lenders.You will see that you have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurateinformation. The credit bureaus must correct or delete inaccurate, incompleteor unverifiable information, usually within 30 days. The key words here are “inaccurate", “incomplete" and “unverifiable". Ifthe creditors can not verify the information they provide or if they areproviding incomplete or inaccurate information to the credit bureaus they arebreaking the law and violating your federal rights. In this case, you may seekdamages from violators in state or federal court. One thing the FTC does not mention on their website is this: A study released by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group in June 2004found that 79% of the consumer credit reports surveyed contained some kindof error or mistake. My advice to every consumer would be to dispute every single negativeaccount on your credit report unless you are 100% sure that the account isaccurate, complete and verifiable. The burden of proof is on the credit bureausand creditors. Credit bureaus also may not report outdated negative information. In mostcases, credit bureaus may not report negative information that is more thanseven years old or bankruptcies that are more than 10 years old. |
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