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Houston Mortgage > Glossary >
Debt Management > F 1-10
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Fair Credit Billing Act
Passed by Congress in 1975 to help customers resolve billing disputes with card issuers. The act requires issuers to credit payments to a customer''s account the day they are received. To be protected under the law, the consumer must write to the issuer within 60 days of the mailing date on the bill with the error. The issuer is then required to investigate and either correct the mistake or explain why the bill is correct within two billing cycles. The issuer also must acknowledge a customer''s complaint in writing within 30 days. Each issuer is allowed to set specific payment guidelines. If any of the guidelines are not met, the issuer can take as many as five days to credit the payment.
Fair Credit Reporting Act
A federal law that governs what credit bureaus can report and for how long. It outlines procedures for correcting errors in credit reports. It requires credit bureaus to furnish copies of consumers' credit reports at their request.
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
A federal law that prohibits certain methods of debt collection, such as harassment.
Federal Trade Commission
A federal agency that enforces antitrust and consumer protection laws, including the Truth-in-Lending Act, Fair Credit Billing Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act.
FICO scores
The most commonly used credit score. The name comes from the Fair Isaac Corporation, which developed the scoring model. They are used to predict the likelihood that a person will pay his or her debts. The scores use only information from credit reports.
Finance charge
The charge for using a credit card, comprised of interest costs and other fees. The finance charge can be calculated with the following formula: Average Daily Balance x Daily Periodic Rate x Number of Days in Billing Cycle
Fixed installment
Periodic (usually monthly) payment on a loan whose sum does not vary.
Fixed-rate option
An option available on some home equity lines of credit which allows borrowers to fix the payments and interest on a portion of their balance. Customers usually can exercise the option a handful of times during the lives of their loans, and they may pay a fee for the privilege.
Fresh start
The characterization of a debtor's status after bankruptcy. i.e., free of most debts. (Giving debtors a fresh start is one purpose of the Bankruptcy Code.)
Full income verification
A requirement for fully documented proof of income; loans of this type usually offer lower interest rates than no-income or "no-doc" verification loans.
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