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The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is
designed to promote accuracy, fairness, and privacy of
information in the files of every "consumer
reporting agency" (CRA). Most CRAs are credit
bureaus that gather and sell information about you --
such as if you pay your bills on time or have filed
bankruptcy -- to creditors, employers, landlords, and
other businesses. You can find the complete text of the
FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681-1681u, at the Federal Trade
Commission's web site (http://www.ftc.gov). The
FCRA gives you specific rights, as outlined below. You
may have additional rights under state law. You may
contact a state or local consumer protection agency or a
state attorney general to learn those rights.
- 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.
- 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 (1) you are
unemployed and plan to seek employment within 60
days, (2) you are on welfare, or (3) your report
is inaccurate due to fraud. Otherwise, a CRA may
charge you up to eight dollars.
- 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.
- 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 items 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.
- Your consent is required for reports that
are provided to employers, or reports that
contain medical information. A 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.
- You may choose to exclude your name from
CRA lists for unsolicited credit and insurance
offers. Creditors and insurers may use
file information as the basis for sending you
unsolicited offers of credit or insurance. 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 CRA form
provided for this purpose, you must be taken off
the lists indefinitely.
- You may seek damages from violators. 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.
The FCRA gives several different federal agencies
authority to enforce the FCRA:
| FOR QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS
REGARDING: |
PLEASE CONTACT: |
| CRAs, creditors and others not
listed below |
Federal Trade Commission
Consumer Response Center - FCRA
Washington, DC 20580
1-877-382-4367 (Toll-Free) |
| National banks, federal
branches/agencies of foreign banks (word
"National" or initials "N.A."
appear in or after bank's name) |
Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency
Compliance Management, Mail Stop 6-6
Washington, DC 20219
800-613-6743 |
| Federal Reserve System member banks
(except national banks, and federal
branches/agencies of foreign banks) |
Federal Reserve Board
Division of Consumer & Community Affairs
Washington, DC 20551
202-452-3693 |
| Savings associations and federally
chartered savings banks (word "Federal"
or initials "F.S.B." appear in federal
institution's name) |
Office of Thrift Supervision
Consumer Programs
Washington, DC 20552
800-842-6929 |
| Federal credit unions (words
"Federal Credit Union" appear in
institution's name) |
National Credit Union Administration
1775 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
703-518-6360 |
| State-chartered banks that are not
members of the Federal Reserve System |
Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation
Division of Compliance & Consumer Affairs
Washington, DC 20429
800-934-FDIC |
| Air, surface, or rail common
carriers regulated by former Civil Aeronautics
Board or Interstate Commerce Commission |
Department of Transportation
Office of Financial Management
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-1306 |
| Activities subject to the Packers
and Stockyards Act, 1921 |
Department of Agriculture
Office of Deputy Administrator - GIPSA
Washington, DC 20250
202-720-7051 |
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