ConsumerRights

Gulf Coast Financial Solutions

What Are My Consumer Rights?

Understanding Your Rights As A Consumer

1. You have the right to challenge the accuracy of your credit report at any time.

2. The Credit Bureaus MUST "Investigate" anything you challenge or dispute without charging you.

3. The Credit Bureaus have 30-45 days to "Investigate" which constitutes "a reasonable amount of time" unless you receive a written notification requiring why they need more time.

4. If the Credit Bureaus find an error in the challenged item, then, they must delete or remove that item.

5. If the Credit Bureaus cannot confirm the disputes within the said, "reasonable amount of time", they MUST DELETE that information from your file.

Your Rights Regarding Credit Repair

The law allows you to ask for an investigation of information in your file that you dispute as inaccurate or incomplete and there is no charge for this. According to The Fair Credit Reporting Act, you're entitled to a free report if a company takes "adverse action" against you, like denying your application for credit, insurance, or employment. You have to ask for your report within 60 days of receiving notice of the action. Each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies: Equifax, Experian and Transunion are required to provide you with a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months, if you ask for it. You can go to www.annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228 or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281 Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

It doesn't cost anything to dispute mistakes or outdated items on your credit report. Under the FCRA, both the consumer reporting company and the information provider are responsible for correcting inaccurate or incomplete information in your credit report. Consumer reporting companies must investigate the items you question within 30 days, unless they consider it frivolous. When the investigation is complete, the consumer reporting company must give the consumer(that's you) the results in writing and a free copy of your corrected credit report.

What the Bureaus Do Not Tell You

Each item on your credit report must be proven or it cannot remain on your credit report. If the bureaus cannot verify the items, when investigated, they must be removed from your file whether it is true or not.

Every negative entry on your report can be denied or challenged at any time.
The bureaus must re-investigate and if that item cannot be verified within a "reasonable amount of time", it must be removed from your file.
Items challenged can be mistakenly erased.
Many times the creditors do not re-verify in time or the credit bureaus are busy and don't have time to handle your dispute properly. It then, must be deleted.
The older an item is, the more difficuklt re-verification is and possible cannot be verified because records may no longer exist (mostly after 1-2 years).

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