Credit Repair Organizations Act Disclosure

Consumer Credit File Rights Under State and Federal Law

 

You have a right to dispute inaccurate information in your credit report by contacting the credit bureau directly. However, neither you nor any ''credit repair'' company or credit repair organization has the right to have accurate, current, and verifiable information removed from your credit report. The credit bureau must remove accurate, negative information from your report only if it is over 7 years old. Bankruptcy information can be reported for 10 years.

You have a right to obtain a copy of your credit report from a credit bureau. You may be charged a reasonable fee. There is no fee, however, if you have been turned down for credit, employment, insurance, or a rental dwelling because of information in your credit report within the preceding 60 days. The credit bureau must provide someone to help you interpret the information in your credit file. You are entitled to receive a free copy of your credit report if you are unemployed and intend to apply for employment in the next 60 days, if you are a recipient of public welfare assistance, or if you have reason to believe that there is inaccurate information in your credit report due to fraud.

You have a right to sue a credit repair organization that violates the Credit Repair Organization Act. This law prohibits deceptive practices by credit repair organizations.

You have the right to cancel your contract with any credit repair organization for any reason within 3 business days from the date you signed it.

Credit bureaus are required to follow reasonable procedures to ensure that the information they report is accurate. However, mistakes may occur.

You may, on your own, notify a credit bureau in writing that you dispute the accuracy of information in your credit file. The credit bureau must then reinvestigate and modify or remove inaccurate or incomplete information. The credit bureau may not charge any fee for this service. Any pertinent information and copies of all documents you have concerning an error should be given to the credit bureau.

If the credit bureau's reinvestigation does not resolve the dispute to your satisfaction, you may send a brief statement to the credit bureau, to be kept in your file, explaining why you think the record is inaccurate. The credit bureau must include a summary of your statement about disputed information with any report it issues about you.

The Federal Trade Commission regulates credit bureaus and credit repair organizations. For more information contact:

The Public Reference Branch
Federal Trade Commission
Washington, D.C. 20580'.

 

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Applicable to residents of the referenced states. If no numerical reference is made next to the state abbreviation, ALL disclosures that follow apply for that stat):

You also have the right to contact your own state authorities that regulate credit bureaus and credit services organizations.

Definitions:
All State references to credit reporting organizations are renamed herein as credit bureaus; all State references to credit repair organizations are renamed herein as credit services organizations.

Note:
Certain States require a statement by BCR informing the consumer about BCR obtaining and maintaining a bond and a place of business within the State. However, due to the fact that BCR does not require a Contract for any duration of time with the consumer and the fact that BCR bills consumers only after services are completed each month, BCR and certain subcontractors do not maintain a bond or a place of business in any State other than Utah.

 

AZ, AR, DE(1), IN, IL(5), MA, MD, MO, NB, OK, OR, NH, PA(5), TX(5), WA, UT:

Regarding Credit Bureaus:

(1) The credit bureau must provide a complete and accurate statement of the consumer's right to review any file, as reported in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 USC ï¿1⁄2 1681 et seq);
(2) the credit bureau must provide a statement that a review at no charge will be conducted on the consumer's credit report from which a credit denial is based if requested within thirty (30) days of the consumer receiving a notice of credit denial;
(3) the credit bureau must provide the approximate price the consumer will be charged for a copy of his or her credit report;
(4) the credit bureau must provide a complete and accurate statement of the consumer's right to dispute the completeness and accuracy of any item contained in any file on the consumer maintained by the credit bureau;

Regarding Credit Services Organizations and BCR:
(5) BCR provides a complete and detailed description of the services performed and the total fees charged by BCR within the Credit Report Audit Verification, Service Agreement accompanying this disclosure statement, and by this reference, made a part of this Disclosure Statement.

CA, IN(4), KS(4), LA(4), MO(4), NB(4), WV(4):

Regarding Credit Bureaus:
(1) You may be charged a reasonable fee not exceeding eight dollars ($8) for a credit report; Regarding Credit Services Organizations and BCR: (2) Neither you nor any credit services organization has the right to have accurate, current, and verifiable information removed from your credit report;
(2) If for any reason, you cancel the Service Agreement with the credit services organization within the three days from the date you signed the Service Agreement, you do not owe any money;
(3) You have a right to sue a credit services organization if it misleads you;
(4) You have the right to obtain the services of a nonprofit credit counseling service which may be able to assist you in your credit matters.

CO:

Regarding Credit Bureaus:
Even when a debt has been completely repaid, your credit report can reflect that the debt was paid late if that is accurate.

FL, KS, MD, MO, NB, and WV:

Regarding Credit Services Organization and BCR:
Accurate information cannot be permanently removed from the files of a credit bureau.

IL, KS, MD, MA:

Regarding Credit Bureaus:
You have the right to review your credit report at no charge if a request is made to the credit bureau within thirty days after receipt by you of notice that credit has been denied.
If such request is not made within the allotted time, the credit bureau must provide the approximate charge to you for a copy of your credit report for your review (For MD residents, a maximum fee of $5 may be charged).

NY:

Regarding Credit Bureaus:
If reinvestigation of your report by the credit bureau does not resolve the dispute to your satisfaction, you may enter a statement of one hundred words or less in your file, explaining why you think the record is inaccurate. The credit bureau must include your statement about disputed data - or a coded version of it - with any reports it issues about you.
New York law also provides that, at your request, the credit bureau must notify any person who has received a report in the previous year that an error existed and furnish such person with the corrected information.

TIME LIMITS ON ADVERSE DATA:
Most kinds of information in your file may be reported for a period of seven years. If you have declared personal bankruptcy, however, that fact may be reported for ten years. After seven or ten years, the information can't be disclosed by a credit bureau unless you are being investigated for a credit application of $50,000 or more, for an application to purchase life insurance of $50,000 or more, or for employment at an annual salary of $25,000 or more