2010 brought about a flood of new consumer protection acts complete with the Fair Credit Billing Act. Have you ever taken a look at your credit card bill and been shocked at your balance only to find out you were billed twice or three times for an item or transaction? Well this is where this Act comes into place. Before this act you were at the mercy of the credit company to take your word that you were overbilled and hoped that they would fix the problem. Now there are official steps you can take to ensure you aren’t overbilled at the mercy of these companies. 

Thanks to such financial catastrophes as Enron, the recent real estate market collapse, and the overall lack of consumer confidence, Americans have cried out for a voice in the drowning noise of big business and the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act has answered the call.Officially named the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, it called for the formation of an entirely unprecedented Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to do just that; protect consumers.

Think of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) as a sort of a civil rights act for credit. Creditors are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or because you receive public assistance. This means they are not able to deny, grant or provide different terms based upon those factors. You probably have noticed that various applications may ask these types of questions, but they are not allowed to make a credit decision based upon this information; this information is likely used for marketing or other unrelated reasons. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act includes all credit companies including department store cards, mortgage companies, real estate companies, banks, small loan companies and credit unions.

Credit Companies may NOT:

The Credit Repair Organizations Act is a relatively new piece of legislature that is intended to protect consumers from predatory practices of companies masquerading as advocates for those struggling with debt.I wouldn’t go as far to officially call these guys con artists, but they absolutely have put an ugly black eye on the credit consulting industry.The prevalence of these detestable organizations called for the Federal Trade Commission to thankfully put into effect the Credit Repair Organizations Act.

What are the rules of the Credit Repair Organizations Act?