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Summary: This document presents survey data for all respondents, as well as cross-tabulation results for demographic and other subpopulations of respondents to GAO's telephone survey of U.S. consumers' understanding of credit reporting issues. This survey was conducted in response to a mandate in the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) which asked GAO to examine the extent to which consumers (1) understand and review their credit reports, (2) understand and review their credit scores, and (3) know how to dispute information on their credit reports and actually do so. To meet these objectives, we designed survey questions to assess respondents' knowledge of and experience with credit reports, credit scores, and the dispute resolution process. This effort resulted in 1,578 completed interviews, with a response rate of 48 percent. The survey was designed so its results could be generalized to the population of U.S. adults 18 years and older, and it was conducted in both English and Spanish. A more detailed discussion of our scope and methodology, a discussion of survey results for all respondents, and summary discussions of selected survey results for various subpopulations are contained in our report, Credit Reporting Literacy: Consumers Understood the Basics but Could Benefit from Targeted Educational Efforts. Clicking on the following link will provide access to this report (GAO-05-223). GAO-05-223. The survey fieldwork was conducted from late July through early October 2004 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
