706. I was refused a loan or credit card. What can I do?
Description
This article is from the Credit cards and Consumer Credit FAQ, by adams@spss.com (Steve Adams) with numerous contributions by others.
706. I was refused a loan or credit card. What can I do?
If the lender's decision was based on a report from a credit bureau,
by law the lender must tell you this and give you the name and
address of the credit bureau. This is true even if the credit
report was only one factor in the decision.
Write to the credit bureau. State that you were denied credit,
insurance, or employment by (name) on (date) based on a report from
them, and you want a copy of your report. By law the credit bureau
must give you a free copy if you request it within 30 days after you
were turned down based on a report from that credit bureau. (It
doesn't matter whether you have already received other free reports.)
Also, free reports are available under certain circumstances at certain
intervals from some of the credit bureau. For example, TRW offers
one free copy per year.
If you provide some extra information with your request, you may get
a more extensive report: other forms of name you have used (such as
maiden name and Jr.); current and previous addresses for the past
five years; Social Security number.
For what to do next, please see sections 8, "Getting and reading
your credit report," and 9, "Fixing your credit report."
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