Consumer Credit Protection Laws - Questions and Answers

Every resident of the United States and its territories has a number of rights under federal consumer credit protection laws. Two of the most commonly used and least understood laws are the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA.)

1. Someone keeps calling from a collection agency at all hours of the day and night. Is this legal?

No. If you do not pay your bills as promised, the creditor has the right to turn the matter over to a collection agency. But consumer credit protection laws place limitations on the hours during which a debt collector can call you. Unless you give them written permission to the contrary, a bill collector can only call you between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in your time zone. A debt collector cannot legally discuss the account with other parties unless you grant him permission to do so. Also, if you demand that the company’s representatives not call your work or cell phone they must comply.

2. I did not pay my electric bill for my old apartment and now it is on my credit report. How do I get this taken off?

This is not an easy question to answer, because usually once a collection entry is on your credit report it is there to stay for 7 years. In rare cases you can get a collection agency to take the entry off your credit report. However, you must get this agreement in writing before you make any payments on the account. For the purposes of credit scoring, a paid collection entry is not much better than an unpaid item. The fact that you were ever late to begin with will mean a lot in the analytic eyes of your future lenders.

3. I believe someone has been stealing my identity to get credit. What do I do?

Consumer credit protection laws pay a lot of attention to identity theft these days. The very first thing you should do is call your local police. Get a copy of any reports; you will need them especially if you must dispute accounts that you did not open. Then go look at your credit reports through AnnualCreditReport.com. If your files have accounts that you did not open, follow the dispute instructions printed on your reports. Under the FCRA, you are protected against the criminal acts of others but it can take some time for you to prove your case and have any false accounts removed from your credit files.