Credit Counseling Blog

Two important federal laws protect women’s credit history and make it possible for them to obtain credit in their names. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act gives women the opportunity to establish their own credit history and identity, even if they are not employed. Under this Act, reports to credit bureaus must be made in the names of both husband and wife if both use the account and are equally responsible for repayment.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act establishes the procedure for correcting mistakes on a credit report. You have the right to see what is in your credit file and have any errors corrected. The law also gives you the right to add a statement in your credit report explaining your side of the story for any negative item. If you have negative information in your credit report, the Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to add a statement explaining your side of the situation.

If you have applied for credit and were denied, find out why you were denied. It may be unrelated to your credit usage. It may be that you have not been with your current employer long enough or that your history has been combined with another persons’, or erroneous information was given by a business, or that there were too many inquiries on your credit report. An inquiry is noted on your credit report when anyone or business requests your credit report. Some businesses look at the number of inquires and may judge that you are trying to obtain more credit than you can afford.