What is a Debt Collector?
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) defines the term "Debt Collector"  to include "…any person who uses any instrumentality of interstate commerce or the mails in any business the principal purpose of which is the collection of any debts, or who regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debts [...]

 A "Consumer Report" is a report that bears upon a consumer’s creditworthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living.
A consumer report can be transmitted by oral, written or other means of communication.
Information contained in a consumer’s file with a credit reporting agency is not a consumer report until it [...]

Users are entities that purchase consumer reports from credit reporting agencies.
For a user to be able to obtain a consumer report it must show that it is obtaining the report for a permissible purpose.
In addition to potential and current creditors using credit reports, many employers and insurance companies now use credit reports to determine whether [...]

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) a "Furnisher" is a creditor or a third party that provides information about a consumer to a credit reporting agency (CRA).  The FCRA provides standards and guidelines to be followed by furnishers in an attempt to assure the accuracy of the information being provided to the CRA.
The FCRA [...]

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (most often referred to as the FCRA) is a federal law designed to make sure that the information that is kept by Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA) about you is accurate and that it is only released to those who have a legitimate interest in needing this information.
Under the FCRA, a CRA [...]

In his article "Student Loan Market Faces Scarce Times" Andy Miofsky discusses the anticipated reduction in the number of lenders that will continue to provide guaranteed student loans.
On the heels of this news comes a report in the Washington Post that Sallie Mae, the largest student loan provider in the country, will begin charging an application [...]

In a recent article entitled "medFICO:  A Killer Credit Score"  Wendell Sherk discusses the risks inherent in a healthcare system that could base its decisions on when to treat and who to treat on a proposed  FICO medical score.
CreditCards.com reports that since the initial announcement by Fair Isaac Company of its plans to develop a system for assigning [...]

 In a previous article on this site, IRS Warns Of New Credit Scam Via Phishing Email, Susanne Robicsek discusses a variation on phishing scams.
Phishing, is an attempt to illegally acquire information about you such as your bank account numbers, social security number and passwords.  The e-mail appears to be from a legitimate company such as ebay, [...]

In 2003 Congress enacted the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act which requires the big three credit reporting bureaus to supply every consumer with one free credit report a year.  However, while the reporting bureaus do in fact make the free credit reports available, they have also used this law as an opportunity to market services [...]

Just in time to compliment your subprime mortgage comes the 401(k) ATM card.  Should you get one?  Probably not!
In an article on street.com entitled:  “Just Put It on My 401(k) Debit Card”  street.com editorial assistant, Simone Baribeau  discusses this new way of borrowing against your retirement and your future.
The card, called  a ReservePlus card, is issued [...]