The Federal Fair Credit Reporting
Act (FCRA) is designed to promote accuracy, fairness, and privacy
of information in the files of every "consumer reporting
agency" (CRA). Most CRAs are credit bureaus that gather and
sell information about you -- such as if you pay your bills on
time or have filed bankruptcy -- to creditors, employers,
landlords, and other businesses.
There are several steps involved
in repairing your credit after bankruptcy or in lieu of
bankruptcy. The
first step is to get a copy of your credit report. Once you
have obtained a copy of your credit report, the following steps
can be taken to begin repairing your credit:
You can dispute inaccurate
information with the Credit Reporting Agency. If you tell a
CRA that your file contains inaccurate information, the CRA must
investigate the items (usually within 30 days) by presenting to
its information source all relevant evidence you submit, unless
your dispute is frivolous. The source must review your evidence
and report its findings to the CRA. (The source also must advise
national CRAs -- to which it has provided the data -- of any
error.) The CRA must give you a written report of the
investigation, and a copy of your report if the investigation
results in any change. If the CRA's investigation does not
resolve the dispute, you may add a brief statement to your file.
The CRA must normally include a summary of your statement in
future reports. If an item is deleted or a dispute statement is
filed, you may ask that anyone who has recently received your
report be notified of the change.
Inaccurate information must
be corrected or deleted. A CRA must remove or correct
inaccurate or unverified information from its files, usually
within 30 days after you dispute it. However, the CRA is not
required to remove accurate data from your file unless it is
outdated (as described below) or cannot be verified. If your
dispute results in any change to your report, the CRA cannot
reinsert into your file a disputed item unless the information
source verifies its accuracy and completeness. In addition, the
CRA must give you a written notice telling you it has reinserted
the item. The notice must include the name, address and phone
number of the information source.
You can dispute inaccurate
items with the source of the information. If you tell anyone
-- such as a creditor who reports to a CRA -- that you dispute
an item, they may not then report the information to a CRA
without including a notice of your dispute. In addition, once
you've notified the source of the error in writing, it may not
continue to report the information if it is, in fact, an error.
Outdated information may not
be reported. In most cases, a CRA may not report negative
information that is more than seven years old; ten years for
bankruptcies.
Reference:
Federal Trade Commission, "A summary of Your Rights Under the
Fair Credit Reporting Act."
