The FTC or Federal Trade Commission has been investigating consumer complaints of fraud and unfair business practices in the United States for more than 90 years. They also work on behalf of the consumer by gathering and publishing consumer information to help educate and inform them.
Many companies promise to help repair your credit, but are some of them actually making claims they can’t keep? Some state that they can repair your credit in a short period of time. These suggestions are actually illegal and the FTC says to be aware of these companies.
Any credit repair agency must use care in the claims that they make, just as any company in any industry must. A company operating under the name of the national credit repair agency was charged with “engaging in fraudulent credit repair activities” by the Federal Trade Commission released in 2003.
The national credit repair agency claimed they could remove any information from a consumers credit report with a sophisticated software system they owned. According to the FTC complaint, the agency did not have a special system and by making this and other false claims they were able to entice more than 183,000 consumers to spend more than $53 million on credit repair services.
Most times the information on your credit report is accurate and verified by the credit bureau. But if you believe you have found information on your report to be inaccurate or unverifiable, than you have a right to dispute it. A credit repair agency should not suggest that a consumer dispute information that is accurate.
Credit bureaus know that they have thirty days to investigate the disputed information that you have.
Should you decide to get help from a credit repair specialist or agency, it is advisable to choose one that is associated with a law firm. A reputable company will know of many, legal methods that will help improve your credit score.
Some illegal methods include file segregation, making false statements on credit applications and using employer identification numbers. Run far away from any agency that would recommend any of these methods.
To make a complaint against an agency or company, make sure to visit the FTC website.
Your first step is to get your free credit report that you are entitled to, under The Fair Credit Reporting Act. You can get one free every twelve months from each of the top three credit bureaus Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
You can get your free report at annualcreditreport.com or call for it at 1-877-322-8228. Or write to Annual Credit Report Request Service, PO Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
It may take fifteen days or more if you order by phone or by mail. You can get it instantly if you order online.
Click the link titled: credit dispute report right here: credit dispute report to learn more.
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