The Fair Credit Reporting Act
The Fair Credit Reporting Act was passed in 1970 and serves to regulate the collection and dissemination of information about consumers, specifically credit information. It is the basis of modern consumer credit rights in the United States, and affects millions of Americans who may not know it even exists. If you have any questions about the Fair Credit Reporting Act and how it affects your bankruptcy proceedings, contact the West Palm Beach bankruptcy lawyers of Eric N. Klein & Associates, P.A. by calling 561-353-2800 today.
The FCRA and You
Information about your credit rating is collected and maintained by businesses called consumer reporting agencies, or CRAs. One of the most familiar types of CRA is the credit bureau, which holds information about credit history. Under the FCRA, credit bureaus are legally required to:
- Share information with consumers that the bureau has on file about them. Each of the three major bureaus must provide you with one free consumer report per year.
- When information has been removed from your report as a result of a complaint you’ve made, the bureau must notify you within five days of reinstating the data.
- CRAs cannot keep negative information on your report for an “excessive amount of time.” This means that a missed payment cannot stay on your report for longer than seven years. The exceptions to this are bankruptcies (which stay on the report for ten years).
Contact Us
If you have any questions about how the Fair Credit Reporting Act affects your bankruptcy, contact the West Palm Beach bankruptcy lawyers of Eric N. Klein & Associates, P.A. by calling 561-353-2800.
