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We hope the articles below help you understand your rights as a consumer. You can scroll through the titles, or sort by Practice Area or Topic. You can also use the search feature to locate information by keyword.

Flitter Milz represents people with a variety of problems involving consumer credit and collections. If you have a particular question or believe your consumer rights have been violated, Contact Us for a no cost consultation.

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How Long Does it take for a Repossession to come off your Credit Report?

Low Credit Score from Car Repossession

It’s not enough stress to have your car repossessed, but the consequences  —  collection contact and negative credit reporting  —  can be too much to bear.

Car repossessions carry negative weight to a credit report for 7 ½ years from the date it was first reported as late by the lender.  Credit scores may drop and your ability to get new credit, and credit with favorable terms, may diminish.

In this blog, we’d like to take a closer look at how long a repossession remains on your credit report and what you can do to correct credit reporting errors.

Continue reading How Long Does it take for a Repossession to come off your Credit Report? →

What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act?

FCRA Fair Credit Reporting Act on a table.

October 26, 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most important pieces of consumer protection legislation in the country’s history: The Fair Credit Reporting Act.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA, is a federal law governing how consumer credit information can be used and distributed. It gives consumers the right to see what’s on their credit reports and dispute errors and inaccurate information.

Continue reading What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act? →

How to Get a Copy of Your Credit Report

Credit Report on Tablet

Just as a yearly check-up with your doctor is good for your physical health, taking an annual look at your credit report is good for your financial well-being.

Consumers are entitled to receive one  free copy of their credit report every 12 months from each of the three main consumer reporting agencies – – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

Continue reading How to Get a Copy of Your Credit Report →

5 Things to Do After Your Car Has Been Repossessed

Car being towed repossessed

Your car is hooked up to the tow truck. You’d been struggling for months to make payments, and now the thing you feared most has come true: repossession.

And you think to yourself:  What do I do now?  Where is my car?  Is there some sort of car repossession look-up service that can track it down?

Continue reading 5 Things to Do After Your Car Has Been Repossessed →

How does a “Charge-Off” affect the consumer?

When payments on your account go unpaid, the creditor may stop you from making additional charges and list your account as a charge-off.  But even if the creditor stops trying to collect on your account, you still could be responsible for the debt.

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7 Ways Millennials can boost their Credit Scores

Millennials may be aware of the harmful effects of bad credit. The difficulty is in determining ways to change habits and establish financial discipline that will improve their financial outlook and their credit scores.  The following steps may show useful ways to carve a path to a brighter financial future.

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Who Can See Your Credit Report?

Your credit report contains quite a bit of information about your financial history. It includes personal information, all of your open credit accounts and whether or not they are in good standing, and any negative marks, such as accounts in default or vehicle repossessions. Due to the sensitive nature of this information, not just anyone can see a copy of your credit report.

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What do Auto Lenders check on your Credit Report?

When you apply for an auto loan, lenders will perform a credit check on you. Your credit affects whether or not you’ll be approved for the loan, and the interest rate for the loan. The interest rate and terms of the loan have a major impact on how much you will end up paying overall, so it’s important that you know where your credit stands BEFORE you apply for an auto loan. When you apply, lenders will look at the following components of your credit file.

Continue reading What do Auto Lenders check on your Credit Report? →

Get to Know Your Credit Report

Checking your credit report regularly helps you understand where you stand when it comes to your finances. Many organizations, especially lenders, use credit reports as a way to get to know a consumer’s spending habits. They can be used to determine whether or not to approve someone for a new line of credit, a home loan, or a rental property. Although credit reports include a significant amount of information about you, there are certain things that will not be included.

What’s On Your Report

Credit reports contain the following information:

  1. Identifying information, including your name, address, social security number, employment information, and birthdate.
  2. All credit accounts you’ve opened, such as credit cards and loans. This section includes both open and closed accounts and provides details on each account, such as the type of account, date it was opened, credit limit, account balance, and all past payments made.
  3. All inquiries regarding your report from the past two years. Inquiries often come from lenders checking your credit before approving you for a loan or line of credit.
  4. Negative information, such as late payments, car repossessions, foreclosures, defaults, tax liens, collection accounts, judgments and bankruptcies.

What’s Not On Your Report

While credit reports have a majority of your financial information included, there are certain items that will not appear.

For example, credit reports list your employers but do not contain further information regarding your employment status or salary.

While information regarding lines of credit are listed, bank account balances, retirement accounts, 401k, and investment or brokerage account information is not included.

Also, your credit report will not be affected by marriage. After you’re married, your credit report and credit score remains independent of your spouse’s. Marriage will only affect your credit for accounts you and your spouse open together.

How to Obtain Your Credit Report

The three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) are each required to provide one free credit report to consumers every 12 months. In order to obtain these reports, write a letter to the bureaus and request your report. Be sure to include two forms of identification, such as a current driver’s license and utility bill, with your letter.  You should receive your report within approximately two weeks.

Monitor Your Report Regularly

Credit reports are an effective way to determine if you’ve been a victim of fraud or if any mistakes have been made regarding your credit history. You should carefully review your credit file and report any suspicious listings. If you believe that you are a victim of identity theft, you should take steps by notifying the police, the credit bureaus and the creditors. If you have disputed errors and the credit bureau has not corrected your report, you can contact an attorney to discuss whether your consumer rights have been violated. Checking your report regularly is a good idea so that you can dispute errors as soon as possible.

Why It Matters

Credit reports are essentially a compilation of your credit activity. They allow lenders and other organizations to get to know you. When you learn how to read and interpret your credit reports, you will become confident to dispute any inaccuracies, and handle the errors in a timely fashion.  Viewing your reports regularly, helps to eliminate any surprises when you apply for loans or other lines of credit, apply for a job, or attempt to rent an apartment.

Seek Legal Advice

Flitter Milz is a nationally recognized consumer protection law firm based in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that represents consumers in cases involving credit reporting accuracy and privacy violations.   Contact us for a free consultation to discuss problems with your credit reports.

Want a Better Credit Score?

Credit reports don’t just exist to provide lenders with an overview of your credit history. They also provide a means for you to assess your own financial health and determine where you can make improvements. Finances can be a significant contributor to stress if you don’t know how to manage them, and knowing what’s on your credit report is the first step to staying on track.

Learn how to read your credit report

Your credit report will list all of your open accounts and show you where they stand – whether you are up to date with payments or if you’ve fallen behind. Late payments will hurt your credit while consistent, on time payments will help you.
Learn how to check and understand your credit report the information on your reports.

Review your report for accuracy

Credit reports also aren’t always accurate with a number of factors contributing to errors, such as fraud, someone else’s information on your report, or errors reported by credit furnishers.

Regardless of the cause, these errors may negatively affect your credit. You should always review your report and dispute any errors with the reporting bureau – including the listing of personal information. Checking your report regularly is a great way to make sure you aren’t a victim of identity theft or fraud.

Set Budget Goals

When you check your reports regularly, you gain insight into some of your financial habits. If you regularly max out credit cards, it’s a sign that you need to create stricter budgets to avoid overspending. If you’re forgetful when it comes to making timely bill payments, look into automatic payments or set reminders to keep you on track. Knowing exactly what’s on your credit report allows you to set responsible goals to improve your financial health.

Take action now, but be patient

Good things come to those who wait. Unfortunately, your credit score won’t skyrocket overnight once you start taking steps to improve it. The amount of time it takes to improve your score will depend on the factors that are bringing it down.

Negative listings, such as a loan default or car repossession, remain on your report for up to 7 1/2 years. Improving your report after events like these will require some patience and discipline. If an error is negatively affecting your credit, you’ll likely see an improvement to your score once it’s resolved.

The bottom line is, check your credit reports regularly. You may request one free report from each bureau every twelve months. Make sure the information on your report is accurate. And if it’s not, take steps to correct it.

Seek Legal Help

Flitter Milz, P.C. is a nationally recognized consumer protection law firm representing consumers who’ve had errors on their credit reports.  After disputing with the credit bureaus, if the errors remain, there could be a violation of your consumer rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  Contact us for a free evaluation of your reports.