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Debt Management Law News

July 23, 2010

Do Murderers Have More Rights Than A Consumer That May Have Credit?

Over the years, Congress has passed several laws to protect consumers rights. The most recognized is the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The purpose of this Act is to “assure accuracy and fairness of credit reporting.” Consumer were given the task of assembling and judging a purchaser credit and other info about consumers. This is to be done with fairness, impartiality and respect for the consumer’s right to privacy.

The cards are stacked in favour of big business when it comes to credit related issues. For someone that is considering Do It Yourself Credit Repair, it is very important to have a understanding of the law that Congress passed to protect the consumer.

A credit agency is a for-profit company, which means they are a business that expects to make a profit for its owners and/or investors. The Credit Agencies compile and maintain files on consumers nationwide. They assemble, guage, maintain and furnish consumer reports to third parties with regard to a consumer’s credit suitability, credit standing, or credit capacity. Their clients are banks, credit unions, shops, enterprises, companies, collection firms, etc .

Do you see how this could be a conflict of interest? First off, the credit agencies receive this information from their clients (i.e., Banks, for example), at face value, implying the information is deemed to be accurate. They appraise it, assign a value to it (credit score) and then sell this info to whoever has a legal right to get consumereports. This exchange of information is done covertly and without any input whatsoever from the consumer. In actuality, a consumer may be completely unaware that there’s anything derogatory on their credit file till they make an application for a job or try to purchase an item using credit.

While a rapist is presumed innocent until proven guilty, a consumer is presumed guilty without one shred of evidence other than the creditor or collection company’s word. The Credit Agency does not seek any input whatsoever from the consumer prior to putting derogatory information on a person’s credit report.

This is truly an uphill battle, especially for someone who is considering DIY credit repair. Many times, the only recourse is filing a lawsuit. Each year lawsuits are filed against credit bureaus, creditors and collection companies because of errors found on credit files. While winning a legal action might be satisfying and will, at last, correct the record, the prejudicial information remains on a person’s credit file throughout the entire trial, which could be years.

Having prejudicial items on your credit report is, in essence, a 7 to 10 year sentence in today’s version of “debtor’s prison.” What makes it worse you are automatically convicted without the benefit of a trial or any type of proceeding. With the downturn of the economy, many people, who are otherwise qualified, have lost job opportunities based solely on what is on their credit report. Is this really what Congress had in mind when they passed the Fair Credit Reporting Act?.

Shouldn’t we be asking “why are the penalties for consumers crueler than for those given to {criminals|murderers|rapists”? Congress should be ashamed of itself!

newbadcreditloan.com

Sometimes, debt can be overwhelming, and bankruptcy becomes necessary.
Bankruptcy can sometimes be difficult. If you are considering bankruptcy, contact the Houston bankruptcy lawyers of Weston & Associates, PLLC at 713-623-4242


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