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The FCRA or the Fair Credit Reporting Act is a Federal law that was originally enacted by Congress in 1970 to support the equality, correctness and the discretion of personal information compiled on credit reports by credit reporting agencies. It has often been amended to further protect consumers and the last amendment took place in December of 2003.

Credit reporting agencies are entities that are in the commerce of collecting and compiling credit information on consumers. The information is used for credit appraisal and other purposes. The main credit reporting agencies are TransUnion, Equifax and Experian.

A consumer now has the right to dispute and challenge any information found on a credit report on the basis of completeness and correctness. After a dispute is received the credit bureaus have 30 to 45 days to verify the accuracy and the ownership of the disputed credit. If they are incapable to provide that verification within the time frame then the negative listing must be deleted from the report.

The credit reporting agencies have a number of other tasks under the FCRA, which include providing a credit report to the consumer. Prior to 2003 the consumer was required to pay for this report but an amendment in 2003 has given consumers the right to be given one free credit report from each of the main credit reporting agencies one time per year. All the consumer has to do is demand it. If credit is denied on the foundation of what is enclosed in a report, the bureau with the disputed information must also provide a report.

The FCRA gave consumers the right to dispute and challenge any information found on the report. If information is deleted as a result of the dispute the credit-reporting agency cannot restore the negative information without contacting the consumer in writing.

Because of the FCRA there is also now a cap as to how long the harmful information can stay on a report. Most often it is 7 years from the time of a delinquency but the exception is a bankruptcy, which can stay for 10 years and a tax lien that can stay behind for 7 years from the time of payoff.

It has been estimated that as many as 40% of all disputed information is not properly verified within the time limit. A consumer can use that fact for their profit. However, be aware that true and truthful information should not be disputed, as accurate and accurate information should remain on the report even if it is harmful.

The FCRA protects consumers and gives them the right to do whatever is necessary to repair negative and inaccurate credit. Consumers can manage credit repair on their own or they can also take into service a expert that specializes in credit repair. Either way a consumer with credit inaccuracies ought to take the time to repair his or her credit as they have the right to do so.