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.
* 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.
You are entitled to a free file disclosure if:
a person has taken adverse action against you because of information in your credit
report;
if you are the victim of identify theft and place a fraud alert in your file;
if your file contains inaccurate information ;
if you are on public assistance;
if you are unemployed but expect to apply for employment within 60 days.
In addition, as of 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 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.
