A Summary of Your Rights

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

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. 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.

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