A Consumer’s Rights for Identity Theft Recovery
When a consumer finds out that their identity has been stolen, their entire world can be turned upside down. More often than not, victims of identity theft never thought that they could become victims in the first place. Therefore the frustration of trying to clean up after an identity theft occurrence can be even that more frustrating.
Identity theft is a financial crime; therefore the majority of the recovery process involves cleaning up any financial losses and a consumer’s credit reports. The best advice any identity theft victim can receive is to clean up their credit reports quickly, but be patient about seeing any results. When going through identity theft, however, it is important to know your rights as a consumer.
Fair Credit Reporting Act
The Fair Credit Reporting Act was created for credit reporting agencies which instruct them to investigate any disputes on information that are reported to a consumer’s credit report. Though they are required to look into a dispute that does not mean a credit reporting agency has not found ways around doing so. It is not uncommon for a consumer to encounter a credit reporting agency that will claim their dispute is frivolous or that the consumer’s dispute claim is illegal for them to peruse. These feedbacks from credit reporting agencies are not true; therefore it is important for consumers to know their rights and combat back.
A consumer has the right to dispute anything on their credit report that they feel is inaccurate or unauthorized. Along with the right to dispute, a consumer has the right to get the findings and explanation of the investigation from the credit reporting agency in writing.
It is important to realize that these investigations do not always go in the favor of the consumer. If a credit reporting agency finds that in any way you are still liable for the debt or entry on your credit report, they will not remove it.
A consumer, however, does have the right to a speedy investigation. That means that if you dispute an item on your credit report, the credit reporting agency must come back with a response within 20 days of making that initial dispute.