If you are concerned about the credit card interest rates you are being offered, or any other terms or conditions that you feel are unfair or less favourable than those to which you are entitled to, you may wish to familiarise yourself with the Fair Credit Reporting Act or FCRA as it is abbreviated. This law is primarily aimed at ensuring that peoples credit reports are kept accurate and up to date, as well as protecting your privacy in financial matters such as these. It is governed and enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, which takes on the role of protecting consumers at a federal level. Therefore if you feel that you are being cheated or there is something afoul with the credit card interest rates you are being offered, you may wish to get into contact with the Federal Trade Commission to see what exactly your rights are in this regard. You should always make a point of understanding and being up to date with these rights whenever you are negotiating for new credit, or an improvement in the terms of your existing credit, since such knowledge and information will improve your bargaining position and will help ensure that you are not taken advantage of by the big credit providers and banks that you will be dealing with. With regard to your credit report, there is a free disclosure rule in the Accurate Credit Transactions Act that gives you a right to view your credit report for free. This right applies to the credit reports compiled by each of the three nation wide consumer credit reporting companies that operate on a national basis. There is a web site and phone number that you can use to get access to all three reports at the same time. www.annualcreditreport.com is the website 1-877-322-8228 is the phone number. You may mail a request to Annual Credit Report Request Service, PO Box 105281, Atlanta, GA, 30348-5281. The companies must provide you with a copy of your report, free of charge, at least every 12 months and you can then ensure that all of the information contained in it is accurate and up to date. You may then be able to use this information to protect your right to receive the best possible credit card interest rate offers that you are entitled to. Simply ensuring that your credit report is accurate and being aware of your rights can significantly improve your access to the best credit card interest rates on the market so make sure you keep on top of these issues if you are considering applying for new credit in the near future. |
