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A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act:
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) promotes the accuracy, fairness and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies. There are many types of consumer reporting agencies, including credit bureaus and specialty agencies (such as agencies that sell information about check writing histories, medical records, and rental history records). Here is a summary of your major rights under the FCRA. For more information, including information about additional rights, go to www.ftc.gov/credit or write to: Consumer Response Center, Room 130-A, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington,DC 20580.
You must be told if information in your file has been used against you. Anyone who uses a credit report or another type of consumer report to deny your application for credit, insurance, or employment – or to take another adverse action against you – must tell you, and must give you the name, address and phone number of the agency that provided the information.
You have the right to know what is in your file. You may request and obtain all the information about you in the files of a consumer reporting agency (your “file disclosure”). You will be required to provide proper identification, which may include your Social Security number. In many cases, the disclosure will be free.
You are entitled to a free file disclosure if:
• A person has taken adverse action against you because of information in your credit report;
• You are the victim of identify theft and place a fraud alert in your file;
• Your file contains inaccurate information as a result of fraud;
• You are on public assistance;
• You are unemployed but expect to apply for employment within 60 days.
In addition, as of September 2005 all consumers are entitled to one free disclosure every 12 months upon request from each nationwide credit bureau and from nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies.
You have the right to ask for a credit score. Credit scores are numerical summaries of your credit worthiness based on information from credit bureaus. You may request a credit score from consumer reporting agencies that create scores or distribute scores used in residential real property loans, but you will have to pay for it. In some mortgage transactions, you will receive credit score
information for free from the mortgage lender.
You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. If you identify information in your file that is incomplete or inaccurate and report it to the consumer reporting agency, the agency must investigate unless your dispute is frivolous.
Consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable information. Inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable information must be removed or corrected, usually within 30 days. However, a consumer reporting agency may continue to report information it has verified as accurate.
Consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information. In most cases, a consumer reporting agency may not report negative information that is more than seven years old, or bankruptcies that are more than 10 years old.
Access to your file is limited. A consumer reporting agency may provide information about you only to people with a valid need – usually to consider an application with a creditor, insurer, employer, landlord, or other business. The FCRA specifies those with a validneed for access.
You must give your consent for reports to be provided to employers. A consumer reporting agency may not give out information about you to your employer, or a potential employer, without your written consent given to the employer. Written consent generally is not required in the trucking industry.
You may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your credit report. Unsolicited “prescreened” offers for credit and insurance must include a toll-free phone number you can call if you choose to remove your name and address from the lists these offers are based on. You may opt-out with the nationwide credit bureaus at 1-888-567-8688.
You may seek damages from violators. If a consumer reporting agency, or, in some cases, a user of consumer reports or a furnisher of information to a consumer reporting agency violates the FCRA, you may be able to sue in state or federal court.
Identity theft victims and active duty military personnel have hadditional rights.
For more information on any of the above, visit
www.ftc.gov/credit
States may enforce the FCRA, and many states have their ownconsumer reporting laws. In some cases, you may have more rights under state law. For more information, contact your state or local consumer protection agency.
Did you know there is a website you can go to and find crime stats and other police related activity in your area? It called PENS and the link is http://police.cobbcountyga.gov/pens/.
The PENS (Police Email Notification System) is maintained by Cobb Police to enhance communication between the five police precincts and the communities they serve.
You can sign up to receive alerts and information regarding:
- Public Information Releases as they pertain to each precinct
- BOLO (Be On Look Out) information
- Crime Updates
- Information on Crime Trends and Crime Prevention
- Rumor Control
- Observed suspicious persons or activity information
- Questions on Safety, Security and Crime Prevention
- To establish geographical location of the HOA’s and businesses for dissemination of crime information specific to their area.
- To establish regular meetings between Precincts and PENS representatives to discuss this project, crime prevention and crime trends.
- To promote and coordinate this project with the CCPD Neighborhood Watch Program.
For example, Precinct 2, which covers the Hillcrest/Six Flags area has the following information this week for homeowners: Read the rest of this entry »
April 24 – Rain barrels workshop. Three make-and-take workshops at 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Cobb County Water Quality Lab, 660 South Cobb Drive, Marietta. Limit one per household. To sign up, call Emily Toriani-Moura at 770-528-8214.
Interested in learning how to maximize the money you make but can’t afford to hire a financial planner?
Georgia Financial Services in conjunction with the University of Georgia is offering a program that will help families learn to use the Quicken Financial program, as well as offer personal financial planning at no charge.
Classes will consist of two-2 hour sessions, followed by additional personal financial assistance for a year.
Please contact the Family Resources Department in our office if you’re interested. The class will be scheduled when we have at least ten families signed up.
The Center for Family Resources is offering a Legal Aid Workshop “Being An Informed Tenant, How to prevent evictions and disputes with your landlord, and how to handle problems when they occur.”
6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Thursday, July 10 from 6:30pm – 8:00pm
They are also offering, “Financial Management,” a one-on-one/group session designed to provide financialmanagement tips, how to make the most of what you have, and how to save money.
Sessions: Every Thursday, 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Free childcare! To register contact Dianne Chiarella at 770.428.2601 x 247 or DianneChiarella@TheCFR.org
Center for Family Resources
995 Roswell Street NE
Suite 100
Marietta, GA 30060
http://www.thecfr.org/class_schedules.htm
Tuesday, June 17
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Cost: Free, Registration required
Safe America Foundation seminars for senior drivers: how to save money and stay safe. The speaker will communicate the fundamentals (what, when and how) involved in maintaining your car.
Call the West Cobb Senior Center, (770) 528-8200 for details & registration.
West Cobb Senior Center
4915 Dallas Highway
Powder Springs, GA 30127-4488
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