Resources

10 ThingsEvery Consumer Should Know

www.cityofchicago.org/bacp www.cityofchicago.org/bacp

About CreditCity of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protectionwww.cityofchicago.org/bacp To file a complaint call 311

To get a Free Credit Reportwww.annualcreditreport.com1-877-322-8228

Nationwide Consumer Credit Reporting Companies: Equifax: www.equifax.comExperian: www.experian.comTrans Union: www.transunion.com

Illinois Secretary of State Index Department217-782-7017

Federal Trade Commission www.ftc.gov/credit1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357)TTY:1-866-653-4261

Better Business Bureau www.chicago.bbb.org1-312-832-0500

Illinois State Attorney General www.ag.state.il.us1-800-386-5438TTY: 1-800-964-3013

Money Management International (MMI) Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) www.moneymanagment.org

www.cityofchicago.org/bacp www.cityofchicago.org/bacp

Protect yourself from identity theft

Identity theft is a serious crime and can destroy your credit. There are no guarantees to avoid identity theft but there are steps you can take to prevent it:

• Obtainacopyofyourcreditreportonaregularbasis.

• Shredanypaperworkwithyourpersonalinformationon it.

• Closeanyaccountsthatyouknoworbelievehavebeencompromised andplace a free 90-day fraud alert onyourcreditreportbycalling1-888-397-3742.

• Report any lost or stolen checkbooks or credit cardsimmediately.Bylaw,onceyouhavereportedthelossortheft,youhavenofurtherobligationforunauthor-ized charges. Debit cards do not have such protection astheycanonlybecompromisedifsomeonehasyourPIN or authorization code.

• File a police report and get a copy of it, or at a minimumthenumberofthereport.Thiswillhelpyoudealwiththecreditorswhoneedproofofthecrime.

• FileacomplaintwiththeFederalTradeCommissionbydialing1-877-IDTHEFT.Thishelps lawenforce-ment officials track down identity thieves and stopthem.

10 Things to know about Credit

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This booklet will help you understand your rights when it comes to your credit and how to avoid becoming a victim of fraud.

What is credit?

Creditismoneythatalendergivestoaborroweroncon-dition of repayment over a certain time period. Peopleobtaincreditthroughvariousformssuchascreditcards,mortgages,orcarloans.Therearemanybenefitstobuild-ingagoodcredithistoryandobtaininglowcostlinesofcredit.Badcreditcanhappentoanybody,andunfortu-nately,therearethosewhotrytotakeadvantageofpeopleinneedofcredit,orinneedofrepairingdamagedcredit.

Your credit report

Yourcreditreportmaycontaininformationaboutwhereyoulive,howandwhenyoupayyourbills,andwheth-er you’ve been sued, arrested or filed for bankruptcy. Businesses may use this information to evaluate yourapplications forcredit.Consumersareentitledtoa freecreditreport,whenrequested,everytwelvemonths,fromeachofthenationwideconsumercreditreportingcom-panies:Equifax,Experian andTransUnion.To requestyourfreecreditreportvisitwww.annualcreditreport.comorcalltoll-freeat1-877-322-8228.

Dealing with bad credit

Bad credit takes time to repair, but some credit repair companieswillmake claims that they caneraseyourbadcredit,orgiveyouanewcredit identity.Consumers shouldbewareof these claimsbecause theyare typical signs of a scam.The truth is that only the passage of time can repair credit. Legitimate credit repair companiestypicallywillnotmaketheseclaims.Repair-ingyourcreditisattainable,buttherearenoquickfixes.Withaconsciouseffortandsticking toapersonaldebtrepaymentplan,acreditreportcanberepaired.Inmostcases,negativeitemsareerasedfromaconsumer’scredithistoryafter7years,and10yearsforChapter11bank-ruptcies.

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Know the signs of a credit repair scam

Beware of companies that: • Claimtheycanridyouofyournegativecreditinforma-

tion,eventhoughitisaccurate. • Recommendthatyoudonotcontactanyofthethree

majornationwidecreditreportingcompaniesdirectly,or advise you to dispute all the information in your creditreport,eventhoughitisaccurate.

• Suggest you create a new credit identity by applyingforanEmployerIdentificationNumber(EIN)touseinplaceofyourSocialSecurityNumber.

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Disputing inaccurate information on your credit report

If youquestion the accuracyof your credit report, youcandispute itwiththeconsumercredit reportingcom-panyandtheinformationprovideratnocost.Bothareobligatedtoinvestigateyourclaimandareresponsibleforcorrectinginaccurateorincompleteinformation.Besuretosubmityourdisputesinwritingandprovidecopiesofany documents that support your position. The consumer reportingcompanymustinvestigateandgiveyouresultsinwritingwithin30days.

Dealing with debt collectors

Ifyoufallbehindinrepayingyourcreditors,oranerrorismadeonyouraccounts,youmaybecontactedbyadebtcollector.Debtcollectorshavetotreatyoufairly,andareprohibitedfromcertainmethodsofdebtcollection.

• Youcanstopadebtcollectorfromcontactingyoubywritinga letter tellingthemtostop.Sendinga letterdoes not erase the debt; however, once the collector receivesyourletter,theymaynotcontactyouunlessthecreditorintendstotakelegalactionagainstyou.

• Debtcollectorsmaynotharass,oppressorabuseyouoranythirdpartiestheycontact.Debtcollectorsmaynotuse threats,violence,obsceneorprofane language,orrepeatedlytelephonetoannoyyou.

• Debtcollectorsmaynotstatethatyouwillbearrestedif you do not pay your debt.

• If a debt collector uses any of the above tactics,you should file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

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Do’s and Don’ts

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Seek reputable credit counseling assistance

A reputable credit counseling organization can adviseyou onmanaging yourmoney anddebt andhelp youdevelopabudget.Also,manybanks,creditunions,andsavingsand loan institutionsoffer freeeducationalma-terialsintheareasofconsumercredit,moneyanddebtmanagement.Youcanalsofindinformationaboutcon-sumer credit and your rights from several governmentagencies, such as theChicagoDepartment ofBusinessAffairs and Consumer Protection. www.cityofchi-cago.org/bacp. The Federal Trade Commission of-fers informationon improvingyour credit andfinding legitimate resources for lowornocosthelpbyvisiting www.ftc.gov/credit.

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Report fraud by calling 311

TIP: Credit repair companies must register with the Illinois SecretaryofStatebeforeconductingbusiness.Chargingup-frontfeesbeforeanyservicesareperformedisnotallowedexceptinafew,rarecircumstances(non-profitsandcertainlenders).Tocheckifacompanyisregistered,calltheSecretaryofStateat217-782-7017.

Credit repair companies are re-quired to provide the following:

• Awrittencontractoutliningyourrightsandobligations,paymentterms,adescriptionoftheservicesthecompanywill perform, guarantees, and how long it will take toachievetheresult.

• Acopyofthe“ConsumerCreditFileRightsUnderStateandFederalLaw”beforeyousignacontract.

• A notice of cancellation that youmay use to cancel acontractwithinthreebusinessdays.

What credit repair companies cannot do:

• Make false claims about their services, such as tellingyou that they can remove accurate bad credit from your credit report.

• Performanyservicesuntiltheyhaveyoursignatureonawrittencontract.

• Chargeup-frontfees.