If your bill is incorrect, the creditor must give you a written explanation of how the bill will be corrected. All late charges and finance charges related to the error must be removed.


If the creditor still believes you are wrong, you must promptly be notified in writing. At this point you are then responsible for the bill and any finance charges that may have accumulated on it. If you think the creditor is wrong, the dispute may have to be settled in court. The creditor is now free to begin regular collection procedures against you, but must also report that you still dispute the bill to any credit bureau that asks about your creditworthiness.


Credit Ratings and Credit Reports


Credit reports must be accurate. Credit ratings—records of whether you have paid your bills on time—are developed by private companies called credit bureaus or credit reporting agencies and are made available upon request to most businesses where you ask for credit. These reports let them know if you are a good credit risk or not. While the records often include confidential personal information, by law they cannot include information about your marital status, race, religion, color, ancestry, ethnic origin, sex, sexual preference, or political affiliation, except as required for government record keeping. Under Vermont law, a business may not obtain a report on you without your permission except under limited circumstances.


If you are denied credit based on a credit report, the user of the report must give you a written summary of your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the name and telephone number of the credit reporting agency that provided the report (including a toll-free number, if it is a nationwide CRA that provided the report). The user of your credit report may not give the information in the file to anyone besides you—it is private and confidential.


An investigative credit report cannot be prepared about you unless you have been provided clear written notice of the investigation not later than three days after the report was first requested. This notice must also give you a written summary of your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the name and toll-free number of the credit reporting agency if one was involved.


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On Your Own, 2008 Edition


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