The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) covers billing errors involving open-end consumer credit transactions, such as with credit cards and store charge accounts. The FCBA establishes procedures for complaining about billing errors and requires creditors to respond to such complaints.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) , 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq., governs access to consumer credit report records and promotes accuracy, fairness, and the privacy of personal information assembled by Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs).
The Fair Credit Billing Act helps protect credit card users from billing errors. The Fair Credit Billing Act also reduces the consumer's liability in cases of fraud and card theft up to $50. Consumers can dispute billing errors and have inaccurate charges removed if their dispute is successful.
The amendment prohibits creditors from taking actions that adversely affect the consumer's credit standing until an investigation is completed, and affords other protection during disputes.
Twice the amount of any finance charge associated with the billing error with a minimum of $500 and a maximum of $5,000 in statutory damages or a higher amount if an established pattern or practice of FCBA violations can be demonstrated; Costs; and. Reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the consumer.
Purpose: Prohibits debt collectors from using abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices to collect from consumers if they are behind in paying their bills or a creditor's records mistakenly make it appear that they are.
You can also ask for a written explanation or proof of purchases. Remember that federal law limits your liability for unauthorized charges to $50.
When your credit circumstances have changed, and the information in your credit report isn't updated to reflect these changes, this failure might be an FCRA violation. Some examples of this kind of FCRA violation include: failing to report that a debt was discharged in bankruptcy. reporting old debts as new or re-aged.
Prohibited Information on Credit Reports
The FCRA places a time limit on the reporting of certain negative information. Generally, most adverse information, such as late payments, collection accounts, and Chapter 7 bankruptcies, can only be reported for seven years.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law that helps to ensure the accuracy, fairness and privacy of the information in consumer credit bureau files. The law regulates the way credit reporting agencies can collect, access, use and share the data they collect in your consumer reports.
• You have the right to know what is in your file.
In addition, all consumers are entitled to one free disclosure every 12 months upon request from each nationwide credit bureau and from nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies. See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore for additional information.
Understanding the Meaning of “Meets FCRA Requirements”
When a company states it “meets FCRA requirements,” this indicates compliance with established procedures designed to respect your rights. FCRA-compliant employers will follow these protocols to protect you from data misuse.
The Act (Title VI of the Consumer Credit Protection Act) protects information collected by consumer reporting agencies such as credit bureaus, medical information companies and tenant screening services. Information in a consumer report cannot be provided to anyone who does not have a purpose specified in the Act.
While you're in the process of disputing a bill, your provider or facility can't: Move your bill into collections, or threaten to do so. Collect any existing late fees on unpaid bills until the dispute process ends. Take action against you because you're disputing your bill.
The FCBA claim may be time-barred by either: (1) the relatively short one-year statute of limitations; or (2) the statute's 60-day time limit on billing disputes.
Examples of billing errors covered under the FCBA include: Unauthorized charges on a consumer's billing statement. A billing statement that doesn't accurately reflect the date or the amount of a transaction.
If any person intentionally fails to comply with the requirements of the FCRA, they can be held liable to the affected consumer. The damages may include actual losses incurred by the consumer, punitive damages determined by the court, and the costs and reasonable attorney's fees for successful legal actions.
Consumers can recover actual damages resulting from a violation of the FCRA. Actual damages can include financial losses, such as higher interest rates due to incorrect information, and non-financial harms, like emotional distress. The FCRA allows for recovery of actual damages without a specified cap.
The Act requires creditors to give consumers 60 days to challenge certain disputed charges over $50 such as wrong amounts, inaccurate statements, undelivered or unacceptable goods, and transactions by unauthorized users. Also, the Act limits liability of consumers for transactions by unauthorized users to $50.
Contact the company or bank that issued the credit card or debit card. Tell them it was a fraudulent charge. Ask them to reverse the transaction and give you your money back.
If you can show that a credit reporting agency or other party willfully violated the terms of the FCRA, then you may be able to recover the following damages: Actual, provable damages (no limit) Statutory damages between $100 and $1,000 (there is no need to prove that the violation caused you actual harm)
If you are struggling with debt and debt collectors, Farmer & Morris Law, PLLC can help. As soon as you use the 11-word phrase “please cease and desist all calls and contact with me immediately” to stop the harassment, call us for a free consultation about what you can do to resolve your debt problems for good.
Specifically, the rule states that a debt collector cannot: Make more than seven calls within a seven-day period to a consumer regarding a specific debt. Call a consumer within seven days after having a telephone conversation about that debt.
Debt collectors are not permitted to try to publicly shame you into paying money that you may or may not owe. In fact, they're not even allowed to contact you by postcard. They cannot publish the names of people who owe money. They can't even discuss the matter with anyone other than you, your spouse, or your attorney.