Federal Laws for Equal Credit Opportunity

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• Race
• Sex
• Marital status
• Religion
• Age
• National origin
• Receipt of public assistance.

Creditors may ask for such information on certain situations. But in all probabilities exercise it to discriminate while determining whether to grant you credit. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) imposes credit laws that protect your right to obtain, use and maintain credit. Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) is just one of them which protects your right but do not guarantee that everyone will receive credit. A good credit score is very important as creditors inspect your credit history when they evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment and even leases.

Your rights under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act

• You cannot be denied credit based on your race, sex, marital status, religion, age, national origin or receipt of public assistance.
• You have all the right to have authentic public assistance considered in the same manner as other income.
• If you are refused credit, you have a legal right to know why. Thus no one can deny you without any valid reason.

Every thing is recorded in the credit business and your credit payment history is recorded in a file or report. These files or reports are maintained and sold by "consumer reporting agencies" (CRAs). It is important to check credit billing and electronic fund transfer account statements regularly. These documents may contain mistakes that could damage your credit status or reflect improper charges or transfers. If you find any kind of error or discrepancy, notify the company and contest the error as soon as possible. The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) & Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) establish procedures for resolving errors on credit billing and electronic fund transfer account statements.

This includes:

• Charges or electronic fund transfers that you have not made,
• Charges or electronic fund transfers that are incorrectly identified or show the wrong amount or date;
• The errors also include computation or similar errors, failure to reflect payments, credits or electronic fund transfers properly;
• Unable to deliver mails or credit billing statements to your current address;
• This term is applicable as long as the present address was accepted by the creditor in writing at least 20 days before the billing period ended.

The Law is equally applicable for one and all. No unfair means are tolerated in the eye of law. The rights explained above will help you to deal with credit related affairs.

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