I have summarized the FCRA below, but if you’d like to read the law in its entirety, you can do so here.

Here are your rights according to the FCRA:

-You may obtain copies of your credit reports upon request, and you are entitled to at least one free copy from each credit bureau annually. You may also receive free reports under the following circumstances: if you are denied for credit, insurance, or employment as a result of the information contained by your credit report; you are unemployed and plan to look for a job in the next 60 days; you are on welfare; or there are inaccuracies on your report due to fraud, including identity theft.

-You may dispute any information contained in your reports that you believe to be inaccurate. The credit bureau must then investigate the disputed items in a timely manner (normally within 30 days), and remove incorrect or unverifiable information from your credit files. Once the investigation is concluded, the credit bureau must notify you in writing of the result of the investigation within 5 days. If any change is made to your credit report as a result of your dispute, the credit bureau must send you a free copy of your report showing the change(s).

-If a disputed item is deleted from your report, but is verified as accurate later, the credit bureau may re-insert that information onto your report, but they must notify you of this action in writing within 5 days.

-Derogatory items may not appear on your reports for more than 7 years (with the exceptions of bankruptcies and tax liens, which may be reported for a maximum of 10 and 15 years, respectively).

-Personal information that has no bearing on your credit worthiness is not allowed to be placed on your reports (i.e. your race, religion, political party, criminal record, etc.)

-Credit bureaus may not dispense credit reports containing medical information without the consumer’s written consent. The name, address, or phone number of a medical creditor or collector may not be included on your report except in code, unless the report is being provided to an insurance company for insurance other than property and casualty.

-Creditors may not obtain or use your medical information/history to determine your credit worthiness.

-Medical information may only appear on your credit report when necessary to carry out the purpose for which that information was initially disclosed (in other words, once a medical debt has been paid, it does not belong on your credit report!).

-Not just anyone can pull your credit reports; they must have permissible purpose to do so. You also have a right to know who has inquired on your credit reports.

-You have the right to opt-out, which prevents the credit reporting agencies from selling your information to other parties for marketing purposes (yes, they do that! To make them stop, call 888-5-OPT-OUT).

-Your creditors are required to notify you before placing negative information such as late payments on your credit report. They must also notify you after they have reported negative information.

-You have the right to sue a credit bureau or furnisher of credit reporting information if they violate the FCRA. (You may sue creditors for failure to handle a dispute properly provided you disputed the debt in question with the credit bureaus first.)

The Fair Credit Reporting Act is a very important law for which we should all be grateful. Before it was implemented in the 1970’s, data furnishers could pretty much report whatever they wanted on a consumer’s credit report, and a consumer did not even have the right to see his/her own report, let alone dispute the information it contained! So you can imagine how many people were unfairly denied credit during those days! The FCRA is also one of the building blocks of credit repair, so it pays to be familiar with the rights it grants you!

Post from: Credit Repair and Debt Solutions

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)

Related posts:

1. How to Dispute a Listing on Your Credit Report