The Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) is a federal law designed to protect consumers from unfair practices regarding their credit report. A class of more than 60,000 job applicants recently sued Kmart claiming that Kmart did not inform them they could be denied a job based on their credit report. The applicants claimed they lost out on jobs without having a chance to dispute negative credit report information. The applicants won their suit, with Kmart announcing it will pay $3 million to settle the claims.
Eight million people a year file disputes about credit report errors, and the latest Federal Trade Commission study revealed that at least 1 in 5 people have an error on their credit report. To check yours, go to the only free website authorized by the government at www.annualcreditreport.com.
Employment screening issues have been at the forefront of many recent news stories. The Federal Trade Commission fined HireRight Solutions $2.6 million for violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act by failing to take adequate steps to verify the accuracy of background information they were selling to employers.
And in 2011, a federal judge in Illinois approved a $5.9 million settlement in a class action suit against First Group. That case involved the issue that criminal background checks were conducted without job applicant’s authorization. People were denied employment based on these checks and never received copies of the reports as required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Know Your Rights: If you have been denied a job based upon your credit report, you have a right to know that and your prospective employer must tell you. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you also have a right to know which credit reporting agencies produced those reports about you and what is in those reports.
Know where to get Expert Professional Help: Michigan Consumer Credit Lawyers can fix your credit report errors for FREE. We file the dispute letters, and get errors removed under the federal law, the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Our services are free to consumers, as the credit agencies must pay our costs and fees. You need a credit attorney to stand up and fight for your rights. Don’t take on the hassle and headaches and end up getting nowhere – we can do it all for you, for FREE. We get the error removed and get you paid damages as well.
So if you see errors on your credit report, call or email Attorney Gary Nitzkin for a free consultation at (888) 293-2882. For more information about your credit rights as a consumer, visit our website at www.micreditlawyer.com for informative, how to videos on consumer financial protection.
