Many federal laws in place in the United States are intended to protect consumers' rights when dealing with credit card companies. However, those laws also are intended to protect your credit history by ensuring that credit-reporting agencies properly maintain your credit file.
Features
U.S. credit card laws enacted in 2009 fall under the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act. Among other things, the legislation is intended to protect consumers by placing new limits on rates and fees. For example, a credit card company that plans to increase your interest rate or its late-fee charges must notify you 45 days in advance of the changes.
Accuracy
The Fair Credit Reporting Act passed in 1970 protects consumers from having inaccurate information in their credit files maintained by credit bureaus. Therefore, the act requires that the bureaus allow you access to your credit file as well as the opportunity to correct any errors in the file.
Prevention
The Fair Credit Billing Act helps ensure that your payments to credit card companies are handled appropriately. The act, passed in 1974, requires companies to promptly credit consumers' accounts after receiving payments from them. Companies also are required to correct any billing mistakes they make and to ensure that those mistakes don't have a negative impact on a consumer's credit score.
Access
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act also was approved in 1974. It makes it illegal to discriminate against a credit applicant based on age, race and other factors. However, the act does allow a credit card company to consider legitimate circumstances when deciding whether to grant credit to an applicant. For example, and applicant's age can be considered if that person isn't old enough to legally enter into a business contract.
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