Your credit report affects your ability to get a loan as well as the interest rate you will be required to pay. Congress has passed credit reporting legislation to give you access to your credit information and to protect you from unfair, fraudulent, or deceptive credit practices. These laws make it possible for you to

• Request your credit report and correct any errors you may find
• Receive information about why a lender denied you credit or increased the cost of credit to you
• Protect your identity
• Place a fraud alert on your credit reports
• File credit-reporting complaints

Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) provides you with better access to your credit information. Under FACTA, you are entitled to one free credit report every 12 months from each of the three credit bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian). Reviewing these reports enables you to correct any errors in your credit history and to protect your credit identity. Learn more about identity theft. Read Fighting Back against Identity Theft on the Federal Trade Commission Web site and OCC’s Answers About Identity Theft.

To order your free credit reports,

• Visit annualcreditreport.com, or
• Call 1 (877) 322-8228, or
• Complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to:
  
  Annual Credit Report Request Service
  P.O. Box 10528
  Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

Do not contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies individually.

Fair Credit Reporting

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) regulates the consumer credit reporting industry. In general, FCRA requires that industry to report your consumer credit information in a fair, timely, and accurate manner. Banks and other lenders use this information to make lending decisions. If a lender denies credit or increases the cost of credit to you, it must give you the name and address of the consumer reporting agency from which it received your report. Under FCRA, you have the right to review that report and correct any errors that may be in it. Read Your Rights: Credit Reporting on the Federal Trade Commission Web site and see OCC's Answers About Credit Reports.