Checking Your Credit Record
Do I have a right to see my credit record if it contains adverse information about me?
Yes. If a creditor turns you down or takes other adverse credit action because of a report from a credit bureau, the law requires that the credit grantor give you the bureau's name and address. You are allowed to request information about the data from the credit bureau by phone, mail, or in person. If a credit grantor has denied you credit within the past thirty days because of data supplied by a credit bureau, the bureau may not charge you for the information. As a matter of practice ACB members will provide a free report within sixty days from the date your credit application was declined.
Although federal law requires only that the credit reporting agency disclose the "nature and substance" of the report, most credit bureaus disclose all of the information in the report, although in a more "consumer friendly" form than the computerized report used by credit grantors.
The FCRA requires the credit bureau to tell you the names of the creditors who provided the data and the name of everyone who has received a report on you in the last six months (or within the past two years for employment reports). The credit bureau also must help you interpret the data.
>>What do credit bureaus do?
>>Do credit bureaus ever report one person’s record instead of another’s?
>>May I look at my credit record?
>>Do I have a right to see my credit record if it contains adverse information about me?
>>What does a credit report look like?
>>What may I do if I believe the credit bureau has incorrect information in my file?
>>How does the process of challenging inaccurate information work?
>>What is the story behind companies that advertise their abilities to repair faulty credit histories? They sound too good to be true.
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