Your Credit Watchdogs: FCRA and FACTA

Your credit history is recorded in files or reports that are maintained and sold by consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), such as credit bureaus. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is designed to promote accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in these files. Most agencies share information about you such as if you pay your bills on time or have filed bankruptcy to creditors, employers, landlords, and other businesses. The FCRA gives you specific rights* (see below). The act is designed to make sure that agencies furnish correct and complete information to businesses to use when evaluating your application.

Your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act:

• You have the right to receive a copy of your credit report, which must contain all the information in your file at the time of your request.
• You have the right to know the name of anyone who received your credit report in the last year for most purposes or in the last two years for employment purposes.
• Any company that denies your application must supply the name and address of the CRA they contacted, provided the denial was based on information given by the CRA.
• You have the right to a free copy of your credit report when your application is denied.
• If you contest the accuracy of information in your report, you should file a dispute with the CRA and the company that furnished the information to the CRA.
• Both the CRA and the furnisher of information are legally obligated to investigate your dispute.
• You have a right to add a summary explanation to your credit report if your dispute is not resolved to your satisfaction.

In late 2003, President Bush signed into law the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), amending the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and reauthorizing national consumer protection standards, giving consumers more credit rights than ever.

FACTA also provides new tools to fight the growing crime of identity theft, plus free access to credit reports. Other provisions include:

• Allowing consumers to place “fraud alerts” in their credit reports to prevent identity thieves from opening accounts in their names.
• Giving consumers the right to see their credit scores.
• Allowing consumers to stop information from being given to or reported by a credit bureau if such information results from identity theft.
• Providing consumers with “one-call-for-all” protection by requiring credit bureaus to share consumer calls on identity theft, including requested fraud alert blocking.
• Restricting access to consumers’ sensitive health information.
• Prohibiting merchants from printing more than the last 5 digits of a payment card on receipts.

Together, the two federal acts provide legal structure that protect our rights, fair credit reporting and credit transactions in short, they help police the credit system, making sure its use is fair to everyone.

Think your credit rights have been violated? Contact the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357) or www.ftc.gov.

*Certain states also provide additional rights, contact a state or local consumer protection agency or a state attorney general to learn them.