Fair Credit Reporting: What You Need To Know Now

Debt collectors have always been linked to harassment, threats and use of profane language to extract debt payments, especially old debts, despite laws enforced to protect consumer rights. Out of statutes debts will be sold and resold and often, those who purchased the accounts will not hesitate to step on a few toes just to make a successful collection.

Unfortunately, unpaid debts, old and new, will cause a negative impact on your credit. Worse, some debt collectors will even try to falsely report negative remarks on major credit reporting bureaus without verifying the identities of the debtor or without waiting for the debtor to dispute the alleged debt.

This isn’t exactly a new collection tactic; many debtors will even try to report out of statutes debts in a bid to cause negative effects on debtors’ credit report. This is a major concern for many because employers and even landlords usually checks the credit of an applicant and if they see bad marks on one’s credit, their application will be rejected.

Now, the good news is, there are actually laws in place which gives consumer more rights to their own credit reports. For example, you can dispute a false claim that has been made on your credit report, in writing. You will also need to get in touch with the credit reporting agency to have them investigate the discrepancy on your report and report the result of the investigation to you. If the statement made by the debt collection company is indeed false, the statement will be removed from your report.

This means it is important to request a copy of your credit report, especially if you have old, charged off credit card accounts with unpaid debts.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act or FCRA, everyone is entitled a free copy of credit report from the three major credit reporting bureaus once a year. To request a copy of your credit report, go to a credit reporting bureau's website and request for one. The Fair Credit Reporting Act or FCRA give debtors the power to control their credit history and dispute false debt claims that could cause negative effects on credit reports.

Once you receive your free credit report, you can check outstanding balances that need to be repaid or, if you have an existing credit dispute with a debt collector agency or creditor, you can check if the debt in question is within or beyond statutes.