ALERT: Credit Reporting Agency Study Underway (Let Yourself be Heard!)
by
Gerri Detweiler |
|
| A consumer educator and advocate, Gerri Detweiler has been helping Americans
solve their credit problems for more than a decade. She is the author of
The
Ultimate Credit Handbook (Plume, 1993, revised 2003), which was featured in
Money magazine as one of the five best new personal finance books of the
year when released. You can reach Gerri by
visiting her web site
or listening to her
radio show. |
Have
you disputed an item on your credit report with a lender or credit
bureau? If you've found the process frustrating or difficult, now is
your chance to speak up!
The Federal Reserve Board is
collecting public comments on the accuracy of credit reports, as
well as about the effectiveness of the dispute process. Comments
will be compiled in a report to Congress. It is very important that
consumers be heard in this process.
You'll
see the press release with a link to the full document here.
Email
your comments to the Federal Reserve or fax them to
202-452-3819. Important: You must include docket #OP-1209 in the
subject line.
Please note that your personal
information will not be edited out of published comments, so be
careful not to include account numbers, Social Security numbers or
other confidential information. However, you should be as specific
as possible about any problems you have encountered.
I would appreciate a courtesy copy of
your comments. Please
email them to me--thanks!
 The
study focuses three key topics related to how credit reporting
agencies and furnishers of information (lenders, collection
agencies, etc.) are complying with the federal law with regard to:
1. Are they promptly investigating
consumer disputes and responding to consumers within the required
timeframe (usually 30 days)? 2. Is the information furnishers supply
to consumer reporting agencies complete? 3. Are they promptly
correcting or deleting inaccurate (or incomplete) information, or
information that can't be verified?
Three problems we've seen recently
while helping subscribers with their credit reports are that:
a. Some credit card issuers don't
report account limits, so you may appear to be utilizing more of
your available credit than you actually are, and that can hurt your
credit score, b. Some furnishers (especially collection agencies and
courts reporting judgments or liens) don't provide contact
information so the consumer dispute the information directly with
those providers c. Collection agencies aren't reporting the original
date the account became delinquent, which is critical in determining
how long those accounts remain on the credit report.
Your comments must be received by
September 17, 2004. Send them now!
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