Your Rights Under The Fair Credit Reporting Act.
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 contained in the files of consumer reporting agencies. There are many types of consumer reporting agencies, including credit bureas and specialty agencies such as agencies that sell information check writing histories, medical records, and rent histories just to name a few.
Below is your summary of major credit file rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and for additional information please feel free to visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act you must be told if information in your credit file has been used against you.
Anyone that uses a credit report or another type of consumer report to take any adverse action against you or deny your application for credit, employment, housing or insurance MUST tell you, and must give you the name, address, and telephone number of the agency that provided the information that was used against you.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act you have the right to know what is inside of your file.
You have the right to request and obtain all the information about you in the files of a consumer reporting agency. You will be required to provide items such as your social security number (or the last four digits), a valid copy of your state issued Drivers License or Photo ID and possibly a recent bank statement or utility bill.
You Are Entitled To A FREE Copy Of Your Credit Report IF:
A person or entity has taken adverse action against you because of the information in your credit report (job denial, job termination, housing denial, application for credit, mortgage or insurance denial) are just a few common examples.
you are the victim of identity theft, or believe you are the victim of identity theft and have placed a fraud alert on your credit reports.
Your file contains inaccurate information as a result of fraud or incorrect reporting from existing or past creditors.
You are on public assistance.
You are unemployed but expect to begin applying for unemployment within the the next 60 calednar days.
Please Note: ALL CONSUMERS are entitled to one (1) free credit report from each of the 3 credit bureaus every twelve (12) months. Please visit www.AnnualCreditReport.com to pull your 3 bureau credit reports FOR FREE.
Under The Fair Credit Reporting Act You Have The Right To Ask For A Credit Score.
A credit score is a numerical summary of your credit - worthiness based on the information provided by the credit bureaus. Where this gets complicated however, is there are literally hundreds of credit scoring models out there with new scoring models coming into existance on average every 2 - 3 years. Auto lenders use one scoring model, apartment complexes use another, Mortgage lenders use another therefore, your scores may fluctuate from one provider to the next.
It’s also important to note that while in some mortgage transactions you will receive your credit score information from your mortgage lender, it is not unheard of for lenders to require you to pay for your credit scores and they will often push the cost of pulling your credit reports back on to you as well.
Under The Fair Credit Reporting Act You Have The Right To Dispute Incomplete or Inaccurate Information Appearing On Your Consumer Credit Reports.
If in reviewing the information on your credit reports you happen to find inaccurate information or incomplete information appearing on your credit reports you have the right to dispute that incorrect information with both your creditors as well as the credit bureaus. If for some reason you dispute incorrect information on your credit reports and the agencies do not investigate the matter over the course of the next 30 days you may have a lawsuit on your hands, and should contact an attorney for assistance in not only correcting the information that is incorrectly listed but, in pursuing civil action against the bureaus and potentially your creditors as well.
Under The Fair Credit Reporting Act Consumer Reporting Agencies MUST Correct or Delete Inaccurate, Incomplete, or Unverifiable Information On A Consumers Credit File.
Inaccurate, incomplete, and unverifiable information must be removed and or corrected within 30 days from the time of receipt of the dispute. If a dispute is found to be verified as accurately reported the information does not need to be removed or corrected.
Under The Fair Credit Reporting Act Consumer Reporting Agencies May Not Report Outdated Negative Information.
While it’s always a great thing to have positive credit information showing into infinity on your credit reports, there is a time limit on negative information being able to be reported to your consumer credit reports. For most types of negatives that cut off is 7 years from the date of your last payment, and in the case of chapter 13 bankruptcies it’s 10 years from the date of filing.
Under The Fair Credit Reporting Act Access To Your Credit Reports Is Limited.
Access to your consumer credit files is limited to any and all 3rd parties. That means that a consumer reporting agency may provide information about you and your credit file to those that prove they have a valid need and reason to review your file and only with your permission.
Common examples are existing creditors, prospective creditors after you’ve filled out an application, insurance companies, employers, and prospective employers, apartment complexes and landlords or another business that plans to do business with you.
Under The Fair Credit Reporting Act You Must Give Your Consent For Reports To Be Provided To Employers.
A consumer credit 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 however.
Under The Fair Credit Reporting Act You May Limit Prescreened Offers Of Credit and Insurance You Get Based On Information Inside Of Your Credit Report.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting act any prescreened offers that you receive for credit or insurance must include a toll-free telephone number so you can call if you choose to remove your name and address from the list that these offers originated from and that they are based off of. You may additionally opt out from receiving these offers by calling 1-888-567-8688.
Under The Fair Credit Reporting Act You May Seek Damages From Violaters That Ignore and or Violate Your Rights Under The Fair Credit Reporting Act.
When and if a consumer credit reporting agency, a furnisher of information or a user of a consumer report violates the fair credit reporting act you may be able to sue them in a federal court of law for the violation.
Under The Fair Credit Reporting Act Identity Theft Victims and Active Duty Military Have Additional Rights.
Please visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore to learn more about those rights.