Ramsey County

Making $ense of Dollars and Cents

February 6, 2006

Fair Credit Reporting

          If you have ever applied for a charge account, a personal loan, insurance or a job, there is a file about you.  This file contains information on where you work and live, how you pay your bills and if you have ever been sued, arrested or filed for bankruptcy.

          Companies that gather and sell this information are called Consumer Reporting Agencies or CRAs.   The information is called a consumer report.   The Fair Credit Reporting Act is designed to ensure the information in those reports is accurate.

          To find out what is in your consumer report, contact the three major national credit bureaus:

          Equifax, 1-800-685-1111, www.equifax.com

          Experian, 1-888-Experian, www.experian.com

          Trans Union, 1-800-916-8800, www.transunion.com

          A CRA must tell you everything in your report, including medical information, and in most cases, the sources of the information.  The CRA must also give you a list of everyone who has requested your report within the past year – two years for employment related requests.

          If you find inaccurate or incomplete information in your report, both the CRA and the information provider have responsibilities for correcting the information.  First, tell the CRA in writing what information you believe is inaccurate. CRA’s must reinvestigate the items in question –usually within 30 days – unless they consider your dispute frivolous. They also must forward all relevant data you provide about the dispute to the information providers.  After the information provider receives notice of  a dispute from the CRA, it must investigate, review all review all relevant information provided by the CRA, and report the results to the CRA.  If the information provider finds the disputed information to be inaccurate, it must notify all nationwide CRAs so they can also correct the information in your file.

          When the reinvestigation is complete, the CRA must give you the written results and a free copy of your report if the dispute results in a change. 

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524 4th Ave NE #5, 2nd Floor Ramsey County Courthouse
Devils Lake  ND  58301
701-662-7027
email - ramsey@ndsuext.nodak.edu