Your credit can be your life

Your credit report can make or break you. It is one of the most important financial aspects of who you are. A credit report contains your home and work addresses, all the purchases and credit cards that you have made payments on and also your identity. This report is considered when you apply for a job, set up a business relationship or are applying for a loan. A bad report can keep you from getting any of these items.

You credit report is detailed information about you. Credit reports are used by creditors to determine if they want to extend credit to you. These reports are compiled by credit reporting agencies and contain your past debt paying information. These agencies give out the credit information to companies and individual consumers. A debtor also has the right to request their credit information at any time. Some credit reporting agencies charge a small fee to get a copy of the information that is in your file, but usually you can get one free report each year from each credit reporting agency

Like most businesses, law regulates credit-reporting agencies. That law is called the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Several things are dependent on this act including consumer privacy, creditor decisions and credit worthiness of a debtor. This law keeps credit agencies from withholding debtor information from those who request it. A written statement that has been signed by the debtor must accompany this request. The primary purpose of the act is to show accuracy and fairness of the agencies credit reporting and maintain that certain procedures are being followed.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act ensures that derogatory information that is outdated cannot be reported. It also states that no information including medical history and other items can be released to employers with the debtor’s consent. You also have the right to have the name and address of any credit agency that gives out information, which causes you to be denied employment, credit or insurance. You also can seek damages from any credit agency that violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act. It is advisable to check your credit report on a regular basis for items that are incorrect or might not belong to you. One of your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act is if you are denied credit, insurance or employment due to your credit report; you can request the information of the reporting agency. You have sixty days to request a free copy of your credit report from the reporting credit agency. These reporting agencies are not allowed to give out any information without your written consent, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Another one of your rights under this act is that you can dispute the accuracy of the information in your report.

If you have tried to buy a car or a house you know how important your credit report is. There are a lot of people who don’t know what a credit report is or how it affects them. If you have a bad credit rating you will not be able to buy items or they may come with an enormous interest rate.