Arm Yourself With Information: Freedom of Information Act

As consumers, we do not have many options open to us to investigate those we do business with (either willingly or unwillingly). Yet, it is up to us to be responsible for doing the research and making an informed decision.

One option is go to the Better Business Bureau web site and see if the company in question has a report there. Unfortunately if no one has complained, the BBB has no records. To make matters worse if the company makes any attempt at all to address the complaint, no matter how lame it is, the BBB considers them as having made a good faith effort and will continue to give them a satisfactory rating.

Another Option would be to Contact Governmental agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission and see what kinds of information they may have. Again, if no one has complained they will not have information.

This is done by sending them a written Freedom of Information Act (or FOIA) request. FOIA requests can be made to ANY Federal, State, County, or local governmental agency for any non sensitive information.

Because of privacy laws, some information such as complainants name and other personally identifiable information may be deleted.

The FTC does not makes ratings of recommendations, they will simply provide they requested information, and let you form your own opinion
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What information is provided?

I will focus on FTC requests. You will receive the text of the reports filed with the FTC including Addresses, names of contacts with in the company assosicated with the complaint, and the date of the complaint. You will NOT receive the Name, address, phone number or SSN of the person who filed the comlaint.

How do I file FOIA request with the FTC?
here is a sample letter you can use. Feel free to change it to meet your specific situation. this is the basic formated reccomended by the FTC. This can also be used (with minor changes) to request information from other agencies as well.


Quote:

Freedom of Information Act Request 07 Month, 2005 Office of General Counsel Federal Trade Commission 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20580 Dear Sir/Madam: This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I request that a copy of the following document(s) be provided to me: All consumer complaint documents as well as any investigative records for the years 2002-2005 concerning ACME COLLECTIONS, located at 12345 Low Life Road, Nowhere, NE. This company is a Collection Agency. In order to help determine fees, you should know that I am an individual. I am willing to pay fees up to $50.00 if you expect the fees will exceed this, please contact me before proceeding. If you need to discuss this request, I can be reached at (555) 555-1212. Thank you for your consideration of my request. Sincerely, John Doe 7625 Do-gooder Lane Any town, IL 60500 (555) 555-2121

I changed the Name of the company and my address, but the address for the FTC is the correct address.

Important things to remember:

The FTC provides the first 100 pages free of charge. Additional pages are assessed a per page charge.

If you are not willing to pay anything, state that and they will send you what you are entitled to for free. If you are willing to pay up to a certain amount state that amount. If your request will exceed that amount they will call you and give you the chance to change you request.

They then send you your information along with an invoice (if applicable). The invoice must be paid within 30 day of receipt of the information requested.

You could also alter the letter and use it for requests from other agencies as well. Hope this is helpful.