The Truth In Lending Act

The Fair Credit Reporting Act

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act

The Credit Practices Rule

The Fair Credit & Charge Card Disclosure Act

The Fair Credit Billing Act

The Federal Trade Commission

THE TRUTH IN LENDING ACT

Under the Truth in Lending Act, Title 1 of the Consumer Credit Protection Act. The main purpose of this law is to assure meaningful disclosure of consumer credit and lease terms, including those in advertisements, so that consumers can easily compare terms and shop wisely for credit. All lending institutions are required to comply with this law when advertising "consumer credit". If Advertisers of consumer credit and consumer leases do not comply with this law they may be subject to law enforcement actions by the Federal Trade Commission. In addition, anyone actually harmed by a non-complying company may sue for actual damages, 25% of the total amount of monthly payments under the lease (not less than $100 or more than $1000); also court cost and reasonable attorney fees. The following must be disclosed:

· The length of the loan
· Total cost of the loan
· When the payments are due and the amounts of payment
· What are the charges for late payment
· Are there any prepayment penalties?
· What collateral is assigned to the loan if any
· The cost of other miscellaneous items, such as credit card insurance

Also, the Truth in Lending Act sets regulations of finance companies that issue credit cards. An amendment, which prohibits the issuance of UN-requested credit cards, was added to the law in 1970. In addition, the bill limits the liability for cardholders who have been victims to unauthorized use of their cards to just $50.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act became effective on April 25th, 1971. The Act sets certain guidelines which Credit Bureaus and Creditors must follow when reporting a consumers credit history. Credit Bureaus must function within this law. The Act gives consumer certain rights and protects the consumers privacy. This Act provides a legal precedence to appeal the denial of credit, which could be the refusal of insurance, or conflicts in the employment process and a loan. Under this law you are entitled to:

• Gives you the right to the information on your credit file (except medical records)
• To be accompanied by your spouse or a friend when you go in person to the credit bureau to receive your credit report
• To get your credit file for free when you have been turned down for credit, insurance or employment in the last 30 days
• To know who have received a consumer credit report on you
• To have inaccurate, erroneous, out dated and obsolete information investigated or reinvestigated unless the request is frivolous
• To have adverse information deleted after seven years (except bankruptcy which remains 7 to 10 years)
• To sue a credit reporting agency for damages, for willful noncompliance or violating the law. If you win, you can collect attorney fees and court cost, plus punitive damages
• To withhold your file from any business or company that are not legitimate
• To a 100-word consumer statement in order to supplement your credit history from the negative information. This is done if a dispute cannot be resolved. This is your side of the story.
• To get the names and addresses of the credit-reporting agency responsible for preparing a consumer report, which was use to deny you credit, insurance or employment

THE FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act sets certain guidelines for Collection Agencies about what they can and cannot do when trying to collect a debt. This law protects consumers from being harassed by bill collectors. This law applies to anyone who is in the business of collecting debts, any creditor who uses a name other than his own and anyone who collects debts from another person or attempts to collect. The Act does not apply to banks, lenders or businesses that collect their own accounts under their own names. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the enforcement agency that oversees this law. So if you have a complaint against a collection agency, file your complaint with the FTC within 30 days of the violation; also file one with Attorney General in your State. Noncompliance with this law can result in the collector being sued by the debtor (you) for damages, punitive damages up to $10,000, court cost and attorney fees. If you choose to sue, you have up to 1 year to do so from the date of your compliant.

 

Under this law, collection agencies cannot do the following:

• Use abusive or profane language or behavior.
• Cannot harass, oppress or abuse any person, threaten violence or harm property or reputation when trying to collect a debt
• Cannot use the telephone to annoy, by calling and hanging up, calling and not identifying themselves
• Make you pay for any of their calls (no collect calls)
• Cannot call the debtors home during inconvenient hours unless the debtor gives permission to do so
• Cannot publish or advertise a list of people who owe money, this includes postcards in the mail
• Call or visit you at your place of employment, unless allowed by your employer
• Write to anyone other than the person who owes the money, or an attorney
• Use a name that is not theirs in order to fool you, misrepresenting themselves as a governmental agency or any other firm
• Cannot continue to contact debtor after being told not to
• Threaten a law suit unless they really plan to do so.

THE EQUAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY ACT

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act Title VII of the Consumer Credit Protection Act was enacted by congress to eliminate discrimination against women and minorities who are trying to procure credit. The law requires creditors to apply the same standard of "credit worthiness" equally to all applicants (it does not give you the right to automatic credit) The entire bill prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, nationality, age and receiving public assistance.

• Creditors cannot ask about your plans for parenthood
• When applying for an unsecured separate account, the creditor cannot ask about your marital status, unless you live in a community property State (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Nevada) you do not have to choose a courtesy title such as, Miss, Ms, or Mrs. on a credit application
• Creditors cannot use unfavorable information about a spouse or former spouse when deciding to extend you credit
• Creditors may ask about alimony and child support only if the applicant believes that supplying this information will increase the chances of loan approval
• The creditor has the right to inquire as to how many dependents you have in order to ascertain your spendable income, providing he ask this of everyone
• If there is a change in women's marital status (divorced, widowed, separated or legally changes her name) the creditor cannot automatically require her to reapply for an existing loan. The only exception is if there is a problem with a loan where a former husband's income had been taken into consideration at the time the loan was approved.
• When denied credit, you must be informed in writing, the name and address of the agency administering compliance or which credit bureau they used and the specific reason for the denial. Also, a disclosure of the applicants right to a statement of the reasons must be included.
• If your salary or income is enough to warrant the loan, the lender cannot ask you to get a cosigner

THE CREDIT PRACTICES RULE

The Credit Practices rule prohibits lenders from using certain remedies, such as confessions of judgment; wage assignments; and non-possessor, non-purchase money, security interests in household goods. The rule prohibits lenders from misrepresenting a cosigner's liability and requires that lenders provide cosigners with a notice explaining their credit obligation as a cosigner. It also prohibits the pyramiding of late charges. Supplement to the law on page 122-23.
(LAW NOT PROVIDED IN GUIDE)

THE FAIR CREDIT & CHARGE CARD DISCLOSURE ACT

The Fair Credit and Charge Card Disclosure Act requires new disclosures on credit and charge cards, whether issued by financial institutions, retail stores or private companies. Information such as APR's, annual fees and grace periods must be provided in tabular form along with applications and pre-approved solicitations for cards. The regulations also require card issuers that impose an annual fee to provide disclosure before annual renewal. Card issuers that offer credit insurance must inform customers of any increase in rate or substantial decrease in coverage should the issuer decide to change insurance providers.
See page148 or www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/15

According to the Fair Credit Billing Act, it requires fast action on the part of creditors and lenders when billing errors occur in the consumers billing statements. You are protected from:

• Charges made by unauthorized user of your credit cards
• Charges incorrectly identified by amount or date of purchase
• Charges for goods or service not accepted or not delivered as originally agreed upon
• Failure to accurately reflect payments, returns or other credit to your account
• Bills delivered to the incorrect address, particularly those that have accumulated when a change of address card was properly filed
• The right to withhold money on any balance due on defective merchandise or service from use of a credit card

If you believe your bills are inaccurate, This is what to do and what will happen in the process:
1. Contact the creditor within 60 days of the error in writing and include in the letter your name, account number and the amount, which you believe is in error. Explain why you believe there is a mistake.
2. Be sure to send the letter to the special address for billing inquiries
3. Put your letter in a separate envelope from your payment, mail it certified mail
4. While waiting for a response, you don't have to pay any charges on the questionable amount. But you do have to pay the current correct charges.
5. Your account must be corrected or you must be informed why the creditor believes the bill is correct within 90 days.
6. If the creditor made a mistake you will not be charged finance fees. If no error was found, you do have to pay accumulated finance charges and the amount due.
7. Not Happy! You have 10 days to respond before the creditor imposes additional finance charges or other charges.

THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

The Federal Trade Commission enforces a variety of federal antitrust and consumer protection laws. The Commission seeks to ensure that the nation's markets function competitively, and are vigorous, efficient, and free from undue restrictions. The Commission also works to enhance the smooth operation of the marketplace by eliminating acts or practices that are unfair or deceptive. In General, the Commission's efforts are directed toward stopping actions that threaten consumers' opportunities to exercise informed choice. Complaints from consumers about creditors, collection agencies, credit bureau's and other companies under the consumer protection laws are filed with the FTC.

One of the divisions of the FTC that mostly concerns consumers is the Division of credit practices-Bureau of Consumer Protection. The Division of credit practices enforces many of the nation's consumer credit statutes, including:

• The Equal opportunity Act- which prohibits credit discrimination on the basis of sex, race, martial status, religion, national origin, age, or receipt of public assistance.
• The Fair Credit Reporting Act-, which insures the accuracy and privacy of information, kept by credit bureaus and consumer reporting agencies. It give consumers the right to know what information credit bureau's and consumer reporting agencies are distributing about them to creditors, insurance companies, and employers
• The Truth in lending Act- which requires creditors to disclose in writing certain cost information, such as the annual percentage rate (APR), before consumers enter into credit transactions
• The Fair Credit Billing Act-and The Electronic Fund Transfer Act- which establish procedures for resolving mistakes on credit card and fund transfer accounts (ATM)
• The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act- which prohibits debt collectors from engaging in unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices, including over charging, harassment, and disclosing consumer debts to third parties. Other laws include:
• The Credit practices Rule and The Fair Credit and Charge Card disclosure Act.

THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISION
ADDRESSES & PHONE NUMBERS