Federal Credit Repair Laws
The Fair Credit Reporting Act
The FCRA is the law that makes credit repair possible.
It gives you the right to dispute
the accuracy of any item on a credit report.
Credit bureaus have 30-45 days to verify the
disputed item, or they must remove it.
This process is the basis of credit repair. Nearly 8
out of 10 Credit Reports have errors!
The three credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, Transunion) are often the top
three most complained-about companies to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(CFPB).
The vast majority of complaints involve errors in consumers’ credit reports.
Credit report errors can come off quickly, usually after one dispute letter. You just need
to know the rules. People who know credit repair use and study this law. You can download a copy of it
here at the FTC website:
Fair Credit Reporting Act | Federal Trade Commission (ftc.gov)
Credit Repair Organizations Act
The CROA is a federal law that regulates credit repair organizations in the United
States.
One of the most important things the CROA did is make it illegal for credit repair
organizations to make false claims.
Once you get familiar with the law, it is simple to
stay compliant.
The CROA is a federal law passed in September 1996 that regulates organizations
whose purpose is increasing consumers’ credit scores through credit repair. This law is
moderated and enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), so the FTC has the
authority to close down any credit repair organizations that are operating outside the
parameters of these laws (like fraudulent or illegal activities).
The main sections include mandates that say:
● You can’t misrepresent your services (no false claims about what you will do for
the client and definitely no promise of working and then not doing the work).
● You must provide a written contract between you and the client that the client
signs.
● Your clients have three days to cancel the contract.
● You can’t charge until services are rendered (most companies will do some initial
document processing and then charge the client for the work they have just
done).
● Consumers can sue and get refunded all money paid (plus legal fees and
damages) if the credit repair organization is found to have violated the CROA
with that consumer.
● State laws can’t change or render any of the CROA ineffective.
these laws were put in place to protect people from credit repair companies
using illegitimate business practices. As long as you’re not trying to defraud or trick
people, it’s not hard to stay compliant.
to read more about this law click the link below.