While most credit problems stem from irresponsible spending and defaulting on payments, sometimes your credit problems are actually the fault of your creditor, especially when they’ve made a mistake or gotten too aggressive with you. To that effect, there are four laws you should be aware of, in case such a situation arises for you. The more informed you are as a consumer, the better off you are – particularly in the midst of the current economical crisis of failing banks and thrifts that’s been brought about by subprime lending practices and the like.

These 4 laws are on the federal level. Individual states may also have other laws that take it further, and line up with parts of the federal laws. You can find information about your state laws on your attorney general’s web site or a state consumer affairs web site.

The first of the 4 federal laws is the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). TILA is for all types of consumer lending and focuses on disclosure. It states that all types of consumer lending require written disclosure, up front, about the APR (cost of credit), lending terms, any fees, limits, and similar. It also states that reverse mortgages and adjustable rate mortgages also require specific disclosure.

The second is the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which covers your rights to review and fix your credit report, as well as authorize others to use your credit report and score. The act outlines the processes to dispute and resolve issues, and this is also the act that gives you the right to a free credit report once a year, and your score (not always free) whenever you want it. Similarly, the third law for you to know about is the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA), which covers fair billing of credit card accounts, outlines how to dispute a charge, and the liability you as a cardholder have in case unauthorized charges are made.

The last is the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which outlines what debt collectors can and can’t do – such as means of contact (by phone or by mail, etc), hours they are allowed to contact you, and what constitutes harassment.

Being aware of these important laws and what they do and do not cover will leave you better equipped to manage your personal finances and face any credit problems you may have now or in future.