2d2- Fair Credit Reporting Act - FCRA - Your Rights Under the FCRA

A SUMMARY OF YOUR RIGHT UNDER THE FEDERAL FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT as REVISED(15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.)

-based on the FTC Model Fact Sheet

The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is designed by the government to promote accuracy, fairness, and privacy of personal information in the files of every credit bureau, or Consumer or Credit Reporting Agency (CRA.) The law underwent a very large change by the 1996 Congress. Virtually all of these changes took effect the last day of September 1997. Here we talk about the entire FCRA as actually revised, and the rights that you have.You must take the action.

Most credit bureaus gather and then sell information about you, such as, if you pay your bills on time or if you have filed bankruptcy, how much you owe and to whom. They sell this information to landlords, creditors, employers, and other businesses. Check verification companies and tenant screening firms, as well as the Medical Information Bureau, are all treated as 'credit bureaus' in this law. You can find the complete text of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681-1681u, and helpful fact sheets, at the Federal Trade Commission's internet web site (http://www.ftc.gov). The FCRA gives you specific rights, as outlined below. You may have additional rights under state law, especially the right to obtain free credit reports (in some states only; see following paragraphs.) Contact an attorney or legal aid society, or the office of your State Attorney General for more specific details.

You must be told if information in your file has been used against you. Anyone who uses information from a CRA to take action against you, such as denying an application for credit, insurance, or employment, must tell you, and give you the name, address, and phone number of the CRA that provided the consumer report, as well as tell you about your right to a free report after denial.

You can find out what is in your file. At your request, a CRA must give you the information in your file, and a list of everyone who has requested it recently. There is no charge for the report if a person has taken action against you because of information supplied by the CRA, if you request the report within 60 days of receiving notice of the action. You also are entitled to one free report every twelve months upon request if you certify that (a) you are unemployed and plan to seek employment within 60 days, (b) you are on welfare, or (c) your report is inaccurate due to fraud. Otherwise, a CRA may charge you up to eight dollars, unless you live in a free report state, or low cost report state. Those who live in Vermont, Massachusetts, Georgia, Maryland, Colorado, or New Jersey, can obtain a free credit report annually upon request. In Maine, credit reports are $3 and in Connecticut, the cost for the first report requested in a 12-month period is $5.00 and $7.50 for each subsequent report. Of course, if denied credit, you can request additional free reports under the FCRA in these states.

You can dispute inaccurate information with the CRA. If you tell a CRA that your file contains inaccurate information, the CRA must investigate the items (usually within 30 days) by presenting to its information source all relevant evidence you submit, unless your dispute is frivolous. The source must review your evidence and report its findings to the CRA. (The source also must advise national CRAs, to which it has provided the data, of any error.) The CRA must give you a written report of the investigation, and a copy of your report if the investigation results in any change. If the CRA's investigation does not resolve the dispute, you may add a brief statement to your file. The CRA must normally include a summary of your statement in future reports. If an item is deleted or a dispute statement is filed, you may ask that anyone who has recently received your report be notified of the change.

YOU MUST CONTACT THE CREDIT BUREAUS TO COMPLAIN AND/OR REQUEST A REPORT

We suggest that you obtain a copy of your credit report on a regular basis to monitor for changed addresses and fraudulent account information and use.

Inaccurate information must be corrected or deleted. A CRA must remove or correct inaccurate or unverified information from its files, usually within 30 days after you dispute it. However, the CRA is not required to remove accurate data from your file unless it is outdated (as described below) or cannot be verified. If your dispute results in any change to your report, the CRA cannot reinsert into your file a disputed item unless the information source verifies its accuracy and completeness. In addition, the CRA must give you a written notice telling you it has reinserted the item. The notice must include the name, address and phone number of the information source.

You can dispute inaccurate entries with the source of the information. If you tell anyone, such as a creditor who reports to a CRA, that you dispute an item, they may not then report the information to a CRA without including a notice of your dispute. In addition, once you've notified the source of the error in writing, it may not continue to report the information if it is, in fact, an error.

Outdated information may not be reported. In most cases, a CRA may not report negative information that is more than seven years old; ten years for bankruptcies.

Access to your file is limited. A CRA may provide information about you only to people with a need recognized by the FCRA; usually to consider an application with a creditor, insurer, employer, landlord, or other business with whom you have contact. Only Vermont law requires your consent to access your report.

Your consent is required for reports that are provided to employers, or reports that contain medical information. Any CRA may not give out information about you to your employer, or prospective employer, without your written consent. A CRA may not report medical information about you to creditors, insurers, or employers without your permission. An employer considering adverse action must show you the report.

You may choose to exclude your name (opt out) from bureau lists for unsolicited credit and insurance offers. Creditors and insurers are allowed by law to use credit reports to generate 'junk' marketing mailings. However, the law also says such offers MUST include a toll-free phone number for you to call if you want your name and address removed from future lists. If you call, you must be kept off the lists for two years. If you request, complete, and return the mail-back form provided for this purpose, you must be taken off the lists indefinitely. Follow the instructions.
The big 3 credit bureaus now use the same telephone number for this purpose; (1-888-567-8688) or 1-888-5-OPTOUT. If you call one to be omitted, you are opting-out with all 3.

You may seek damages from violators of parts of this law. If a CRA, a user or, in some cases, a provider of CRA data, violates the FCRA, you may sue them in state or federal court.

WHERE TO COMPLAIN:

The FCRA gives several federal agencies authority to enforce the FCRA. If your complaint is about a credit bureau, or other non-insured financial institution, complain to the Consumer Response Center, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC 20580. Telephone: 202-326-3761. The FTC will forward to the proper agency, all complaints that are sent to the incorrect agency.
Send a copy of all complaints to your state Attorney General, who also has jurisdiction under both state and federal laws.

IN SUMMARY YOU HAVE THE RIGHT.....

to give your written consent for reports that are given to employers, or that contain medical information;

to be told the name and address of the Consumer (Credit) Reporting Agency (CRA) responsible for preparing the report that was used to deny you credit;

to be told by that CRA the nature, substance and sources of the information (except medical) that has been collected about you;

to be given the credit information to which you are entitled within 30 days of your interview;

to be told who received a consumer report on you during the past six months;

to have incomplete or incorrect information reinvestigated, and information found to be inaccurate or which cannot be verified, removed from your credit files;

to put in your file a statement of up to one hundred words giving your side of the argument, if reinvestigation does not resolve your dispute, the CRA must include your statement in any future report that the Agency gives out;

that outdated information be deleted and/or not reported;

to request that the CRA send your version of the dispute to certain businesses; and,

to have unfavorable information not reported after seven years, except a bankruptcy which may be reported for ten years.

You cannot be charged for any of these services if you write to your local credit bureau (CRA) within 30 days of official notice of the issuance of an unfavorable credit report about you.

Last updated 10/06/1999 ibrinc.com

A SUMMARY OF YOUR RIGHT UNDER THE FEDERAL FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT as REVISED (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.)

WHERE TO COMPLAIN:

A SUMMARY OF YOUR RIGHT UNDER THE FEDERAL FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT as REVISED(15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.)