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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 Center, Room 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:
In addition, by September 2005, all consumers will be entitled to one free disclosure every 12months 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. You have the right to add a Consumer Statement to append to your file. If the reinvestigation does not resolve your dispute, you may add a statement to append to your file. Your statement may relate to a specific case or to explain circumstances related to the adverse information in your file (divorce, job loss, etc.). Please be concise; Consumer Relations may assist you to edit your statement to 100 words in order to provide a clear summary of your statement. If a statement is added, you may request that anyone who has recently received your report (within the past 2 years for employment purposes or 6 months for housing purposes) be notified of the change. You have the right to request a description of the procedure(s) used in the reinvestigation process. Upon your written request, the consumer reporting agency must provide you with a description of the procedures(s) used to determine the accuracy and completeness of the information, including the business name and address of any furnisher of information contacted in connection with such information, and the telephone number of the furnisher, if reasonably available. 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 tollfree 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. States may enforce the FCRA and many states have their own consumer reporting laws. In some
cases, you may have more rights under state law. For more information, contact your state or local
consumer protection agency or your state Attorney General. Federal enforcers are:
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Para informacion en espanol, visite www.ftc.gov/credit o escribe a la FTC Consumer Response Center, Room 130-A 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N. W., Washington, D.C. 20580.
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