A
Summary of Your Rights Under
The
Fair Credit Reporting Act |
The federal Fair Credit
Reporting Act (FCRA) promotes the accuracy,
fairness, and privacy of information in
the files of consumer reporting agencies.
There are many types of consumer reporting
agencies, including credit bureaus and
specialty agencies (such as agencies that
sell information about check writing histories,
medical records, and rental history records).
Here is a summary of your major
rights under the FCRA. For more information,
including information about additional
rights, go to www.ftc.gov/credit
or write to: Consumer Response CenterRoom
130-A, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania
Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.
- You must be told if
information in your file has been
used against you. Anyone who uses
a credit report or another type of
consumer report to deny your application
for credit, insurance, or employment
- or to take another adverse action
against you - must tell you, and must
give you the name, address, and phone
number of the agency that provided
the information.
- You have the right
to know what is in your file. You
may request and obtain all the
information about you in the files
of a consumer reporting agency (your
"file disclosure"). You will be required
to provide proper identification,
which may include your Social Security
number. In many cases, the disclosure
will be free. You are entitled to
a free file disclosure if:
- a person has taken
adverse action against you because
of information in your credit
report;
- you are the victim
of identify theft and place a
fraud alert in your file;
- your file contains
inaccurate information as a result
of fraud;
- you are on public
assistance;
- you are unemployed
but expect to apply for employment
within 60 days.
In addition, by September 2005 all consumers
will be entitled to one free disclosure
every 12 months upon request from each
nationwide credit bureau and from nationwide
specialty consumer reporting agencies.
See www.ftc.gov/credit for additional
information.
- You have the right
to ask for a credit score. Credit
scores are numerical summaries of
your credit-worthiness based on information
from credit bureaus. You may request
a credit score from consumer reporting
agencies that create scores or distribute
scores used in residential real property
loans, but you will have to pay for
it. In some mortgage transactions,
you will receive credit score information
for free from the mortgage lender.
- You have the right
to dispute incomplete or inaccurate
information. If you identify information
in your file that is incomplete or
inaccurate, and report it to the consumer
reporting agency, the agency must
investigate unless your dispute is
frivolous. See www.ftc.gov/credit
for an explanation of dispute procedures.
- Consumer reporting
agencies must correct or delete inaccurate,
incomplete, or unverifiable information.
Inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable
information must be removed or corrected,
usually within 30 days. However, a
consumer reporting agency may continue
to report information it has verified
as accurate.
- Consumer reporting
agencies may not report outdated negative
information. In most cases, a consumer
reporting agency may not report negative
information that is more than seven
years old, or bankruptcies that are
more than 10 years old.
- Access to your file is limited.
A consumer reporting agency may provide
information about you only to people
with a valid need -- usually to consider
an application with a creditor, insurer,
employer, landlord, or other business.
The FCRA specifies those with a valid
need for access.
- You must give your
consent for reports to be provided
to employers. A consumer reporting
agency may not give out information
about you to your employer, or a potential
employer, without your written consent
given to the employer. Written consent
generally is not required in the trucking
industry. For more information, go
to www.ftc.gov/credit.
- You may limit "prescreened"
offers of credit and insurance you
get based on information in your credit
report. Unsolicited "prescreened"
offers for credit and insurance must
include a toll-free phone number you
can call if you choose to remove your
name and address from the lists these
offers are based on. You may opt-out
with the nationwide credit bureaus
at 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688).
- You may seek damages
from violators. If a consumer reporting
agency, or, in some cases, a user
of consumer reports or a furnisher
of information to a consumer reporting
agency violates the FCRA, you may
be able to sue in state or federal
court.
- Identity theft victims
and active duty military personnel
have additional rights. For more information,
visit www.ftc.gov/credit.
For the full version
on The
Fair Credit Reporting Act (pdf) click
here. |
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