What Are My Rights To Credit?

Access to credit is vital for big purchases and emergency needs. If you don’t have enough cash to buy what you need, you must turn to creditors. This includes everything from buying a home to paying for emergency medical care.

You have credit rights when dealing with lenders, debt collectors, and credit bureaus. If creditors violate your rights or discriminate against you, you can take legal action against them. Talk to a consumer protection lawyer about your rights to credit.

Understanding Your Credit Rights

Most people need credit to make essential purchases and participate in the economy. You generally need a home loan to buy a house. You may need a car loan to buy a new car. Using a credit card for online purchases gives you additional consumer rights protections. However, it’s up to lenders and creditors to extend your credit to make sure they will get their money back.

If you represent a credit risk, lenders, credit unions, and credit card companies, don’t want to extend credit. If you defaulted on previous loans or don’t have a job, they may think you won’t be able to make the payments on time. You may have to go with lenders specializing in bad credit with higher rates and fees. This can make it much more costly to buy the things you need.

Credit rights laws give consumers legal protections to ensure credit card companies don’t abuse their power. You have rights against discrimination and abusive collection practices. You also have the right to dispute credit mistakes.

Key Federal Laws Protecting Your Credit

Several federal laws protect you when it comes to credit. Some critical federal credit protection laws include:

• Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
• Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)
• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
• Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) are the primary government agencies that enforce federal credit laws. These agencies can take legal action against creditors and lenders for violating consumer protection laws. Federal agencies can assess fines and statutory penalties. These agencies can also help you get compensation.

In addition to federal laws, states also have consumer protection laws. These laws help ensure fair treatment by debt collectors and finance companies. It’s good to find out about your state law credit rights.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act

The FCRA protects your personal information that’s collected by credit reporting agencies. You can request a copy of your credit information if it was used against you. You can also dispute any errors in your credit report—the consumer reporting agencies have to investigate. You can put a security freeze on your credit to stop credit bureaus from releasing your credit score without your express authorization.

Equal Credit Opportunity Act

The ECOA prohibits credit discrimination. Lenders, credit card companies, and department stores cannot discriminate against you in credit applications or credit terms. Protected classes include race, marital status, receiving public assistance, and other categories. If your credit application is denied, you can ask why they denied it.

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

The FDCPA prohibits abusive debt collection practices. Debt collectors have legal limits on when and how often they can contact you. They can’t use abusive language or threaten you. They must identify themselves and notify you of your right to dispute the debt. You can also request proof of debt from the original creditor.

Fair Credit Billing Act

The FCBA amends the Truth in Lending Act to ensure fair treatment of open-end credit accounts, such as credit cards. This also requires the credit card agencies to investigate reported billing errors. They can’t report negative credit information until they complete the investigation.

If your credit card account has problems or errors, you have 60 days to dispute the charges. You’re not responsible for unauthorized purchases over $50. If they billed you for an unauthorized charge, the credit card issuer can issue a chargeback to return your money.

Accessing Your Credit Report

You should review your credit report regularly to ensure its accuracy. Errors in your report can hurt your credit score and make it harder to get a loan.

You can get a free credit report from the major credit reporting bureaus once a year. The credit bureaus include Experian, Transunion, and Equifax. The federal government authorizes AnnualCreditReport.com to issue a free annual credit report. You can request your report online, by phone, or by mail.

Review your credit report closely. If there’s anything you don’t recognize, file a dispute with the credit bureau. Seeing new account activity you never authorized could indicate possible identity theft.

Disputing Your Credit Report With the Credit Bureaus

After reviewing your credit report, contact the credit bureaus to dispute errors and inaccurate information. Provide a clear explanation of the error and why it’s wrong. Include any documentation, such as billing records, settled account letters, or communications with the creditor. You can file the dispute online, by mail, or over the phone. Sending the dispute by certified mail will give you a record of whether they received the notification.

Protecting Your Credit Score

Your credit score is essential for accessing credit to make necessary purchases. Some of your most significant purchases require a loan or mortgage, including buying a house or car. A bad credit score can require you to make a higher down payment and have higher interest rates.

It can take a long time to clean up a bad credit history. Negative information will stay on your credit record for seven years. Bankruptcies will stay on your credit report for up to 10 years. To repair your credit and protect your scores, clean up any inaccurate information hurting your credit.

If you have outstanding collections, try to pay off the highest interest rates first. You can also talk to a credit repair lawyer about negotiating with the creditors to settle your debt.

Protect your credit by keeping your financial information safe from hackers. Be careful about giving out your personal or financial information over the phone or email. Scammers can pretend to be from your credit card company. They’ll report fake unauthorized access to get you to download malware or click on a phony link. Use multi-factor authentication, strong passwords, and secure internet connections.

Credit Help With a Consumer Protection Lawyer

A consumer protection lawyer can help you resolve disputes with credit card companies and credit bureaus. They can settle disputes or take legal action in court. If the credit card companies violate your consumer rights, your lawyer can help you recover compensation. For legal advice about your consumer rights to credit, contact a consumer protection lawyer.