Consumer Laws That Protect Your Rights

Lawyers.com^sm If an identity thief has used your personal information to commit crimes, there are ways under federal law for correcting credit report and billing errors and stopping debt collectors from contacting you about bills you do not owe. These laws include:

• The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq., which contains the steps you need to take to correct mistakes or errors on your credit report
• Under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) 15 U.S.C. §§ 1601-1667f, credit card companies can't bill you more than $50 per card for unauthorized charges made to those cards
• The Fair Credit Billing Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1666 et seq., which tells you how fix billing errors on your credit card accounts, including fraudulent charges on your accounts
• The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq., which bars debt collectors from using unfair and deceptive practices to collect overdue bills that a creditor has forwarded for collection. You can stop a debt collector from contacting you by writing a letter to the collection agency telling them to stop. If you are a victim of identity theft, you should include a copy of the police report
• The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq., provides various types of consumer protections from transactions involving a debit card or automatic teller machine ("ATM") card, or any other electronic way to debit or credit an account, and it also limits your liability for unauthorized electronic fund transfers ("ETFs"), and
• The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998 (ITADA), 18 U.S.C. § 1028, created services for education on identity theft and filing complaints on identity theft, which are operated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

In addition to these federal laws, most states have laws that deal specifically with consumer credit and identity theft. So, if you've been a victim of identity theft, be sure to check the laws in your area for other ways to protect yourself.

Questions For Your Attorney

• I think someone has opened a credit card account in my name. How do I find out for certain?
• There are unauthorized charges on my most recent credit card statement. How do I get the credit card company to stop billing me for them?
• A debt collector keeps calling my house about some credit card charges that I didn't make. I've told him to stop calling several times, but he just keeps calling. Is there anything I can do?

Related Resources on Lawyers.com^sm

- When Your Credit Card is Stolen
- Avoiding Credit Repair Scams
- Consumer Fraud
- Consumer Law articles and information
- Find a Consumer Law Attorney near you
- Visit our Credit and Collection Problems message board for more help