Credit Agencies & Laws Affecting Your Credit
The Three Major Credit Agencies
Experian
P. O. Box 2002
Allen, TX 75013
888-397-3742
TransUnion
Chester, PA 19022-2000
800-888-4213
Atlanta, GA 30374
You have the right to have a free report from any of these
three credit agencies every 12 months. For a free report from Experian, TransUnion and Equifax, go to: http://www.annualcreditreport.com
Credit, Credit Reporting & Credit Repair Regulations:
FCRA
Fair Credit Reporting Act:
Requires creditors and businesses to meet certain requirements before they can access consumer credit information.
CROA
Credit Report Organization Act:
Designed to ensure that those seeking credit repair services from credit repair
organizations are provided with information necessary to make an informed
decision regarding the purchase of credit repair services and that consumers
are protected from deceptive or unfair advertising and business practices.
FCBA
Fair Credit Billing Act:
Sets out guidelines and procedures for resolving billing errors that may appear
on credit card accounts.
ECOA
Equal Credit
Prohibits the denial of credit because of sex, marital status, race, religion,
national origin, age or because a person receives public assistance.
FDCPA
The Fair Debt Collection Practices
Act:
Sets out guidelines and procedures for collections companies that prevents debt
collectors from using unfair or deceptive practices to collect overdue bills.
Specialty Consumer Reporting Agencies
You should be aware of other reporting agencies that are becoming more widely used. Some examples are:
Checking Accounts - ChexSystems, Telecheck, SCAN
Employment - ChoiceTrust Employment Reports
Insurance - ChoiceTrust-Auto-Personal Property Reports
Medical Information - Medical Information Bureau (MIB)
Rental Information - Accufax, American Tenant Screen, ChoicePoint
Tenant History, National Tenant Network, Tenant Data Services
Mortgage Financing - Innovis
Our CD provides complete information on all current agencies and ways to contact them.