Consumer Handbook to credit protection

Here's an example: ple: Mary Jones, when married to John Jones, always paid their heir credit card bills on time and from their joint checking account. But the card was issued in John's name, and the credit bureau kept all records in John's name. Now Mary is a widow and wants to take out a new card, but she's told she has no credit history. To benefit from the good credit record already on the books in John's name, Mary should point out that she handled all accounts properly when she was married and that bills were paid by checks from their joint checking account. Keeping Up Credit Records

Mistakes on your credit record--sometimes mistaken taken identities--can cloud your credit future. Your credit rating is important, so be sure credit bureau records are complete and accurate. The Fair Credit Reporting Act says that you must be told what's at's in your credit file and have any errors corrected. Negative Information. If a lender refuses you credit because of e of unfavorable information in your credit report, you have a right t the name and address of the agency that keeps your report. Then, you may either request information from the credit bureau by mail or in person. You will not get an exact copy of the file, but you will at least learn what's in the report. The law also says that the credit bureau must help you interpret the data--because it's raw data that takes experience to analyze. If you're questioning a credit refusal made within the past 30 days, the bureau is not allowed to charge a fee for giving you information.

Any error that you find must be investigated by the credit edit bureau with the creditor who supplied the data. The bureau will remove from your credit file any errors the creditor admits are there. If you disagree with the findings, you can file a short statement in your record giving your side of the story. Future reports to creditors must include this statement or a summary of it. Old Information. Sometimes credit information is too old to d to give a good picture of your financial reputation. There is a limi on how long certain kinds of information may be kept in your file: