Consumer Report and the FCRA I have applied for credit on numerous occasions and was surprised to see that what I thought would be a good report was actually negative because I had failed to pay a bill to a cell phone provider when a switched service to a different provider. The bill was not even expensive yet it hurt my credit rating severely and to this day is still on it, impacting my credit score. This caused me to get a poorer interest rate when I went to borrow to buy a car, which meant I ended up paying more in the long run—much more—all because I failed to take care of one small, insignificant bill way back in the past when I could have easily paid it had I given it more attention.

I have also had a negative experience with my consumer report when I went to apply for a job as a mail driver with the USPS. I aced the test and did very well in the interview and was all set to get the job, but when the USPS reviewed my consumer report and saw my driving record, which contained information about my failure to pay a seat belt...

In fact, it seems disproportionate to the reality of the situation and I find it to be quite irritating that something as little as a $25 fine for not wearing a seat belt would prevent me from getting a job that I was perfectly qualified to hold, or that a small cell phone bill should prevent me from obtaining a decent interest rate when I went to take out a loan, even though I was being gauged by the cell phone company for two years while under contract.
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If I were revising the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), I would change the amount of time that a missed bill payment or a bill that was sent to collections stays on your credit report. The current period for a bill sent…