Free Debt Management Advice: Creditors, Collection Agencies, and Your Rights under the Law

A Credit Article Contributed by Brandie King

Free Debt Management Advice: Creditors, Collection Agencies, and Your Rights under the Law

In your search for help with debt management you might come across unethical and illegal practices by your creditors and collection agencies, but there are laws in place (which you can read for free) to protect you from illegal practices. The following article tells you what each of the laws are and where you can find the full text of them, as well as giving you a very basic explanation of what each law covers. When you are working on your debt management plan, keep these laws and the free full text of them in mind.

Free Debt Management Advice: Fair Credit Billing Act (Fcba) and Electronic Funds Transfer Act (Efta)

Both of these laws establish ways for you to resolve mistakes on credit billing and electronic fund transfer account statements. These include, but are not limited to, charges or EFTs that you have not made, charges or EFTs that are identified wrong or show the incorrect amount or date, failure to reflect payments, credits, or EFTs correctly, and failure to mail or deliver credit billing statements to your current address.

Free Debt Management Advice: Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Ecoa)

This law make it illegal for companies to deny you credit on the basis of sex, race, religion, marital status, national origin, age, or receipt of public assistance. Creditors may ask your for this information, with the exception of religion, but cannot use it to discriminate against you when making a decision on whether or not to extend credit to you. Everybody involved in the decision on whether or not to extend credit to you must abide by this law. Under this law you also have the right to know the reason why when you are denied credit.

Free Debt Management Advice: Fair Credit Reporting Act (Fcra)

This law is in place to help to ensure that Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs) supply correct and complete information to businesses to use when evaluating your credit application.

Your rights under this law include, but are not limited to, the right to receive a copy of your credit report, the right to know the name of anybody who has received your credit report, the right to be told the name of the CRA where your information was obtained that was used to deny you credit, the right to a free copy of your credit report when denied credit, the right to dispute errors and inaccuracies on your credit report, and the right to add a 100 word summary to your credit report if a dispute isn't resolved to your satisfaction.

Free Debt Management Advice: Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (Fdcpa)

This law makes it illegal for debt collectors to engage in unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices while attempting to collect a debt. Debt collectors may not contact you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., may not contact you at work if they know that your employer doesn't approve, may not abuse, harass, or oppress you, may not lie when attempting to collect debts, must clearly identify themselves to you on the phone, must discontinue contacting you if you request them to in writing.

Free Debt Management Advice: Where to Find the Full Text of the Above Laws

Visit the Federal Trade Commission website at http://www.ftc.gov/index.html to get the full text of the above referenced laws.