What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)?
Below is a summary of the FCRA. The full Act can be obtained directly from the Federal Trade Commission’s web site or by clicking here. Fair Credit Reporting Act (Summary) Public Law 91-508 The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) allows a consumer to challenge the information on his credit report on the basis of “completeness and accuracy.” If, after a reinvestigation by the credit bureau, the disputed information “is found to be inaccurate or can no longer be verified, the [credit bureau] shall promptly delete such information.” The credit bureaus are required to complete the investigation within a “reasonable period of time.” This period has been set at thirty days. The credit bureaus can ignore the consumer dispute if they have reason to believe that the dispute is “frivolous or irrelevant.
The FCRA is the federal law that governs the use and collection of information for employment purposes. For an applicant, the most important point is that a consumer reporting agency may not collect or utilize the information without your specific approval. In the event you apply for job, and you signed a FCRA release, then the information is made available to a consumer reporting agency help you get that job.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a U.S. federal law that regulates the collection, dissemination, and use of consumer credit information. Consumer reporting agencies, which are entities that collect and disseminate information about consumers to be used for credit evaluation and certain other purposes, have a number of responsibilities under FCRA. These responsibilities include the obligation to provide a consumer with information about the consumer in the agency’s files and to take steps to verify the accuracy of information disputed by a consumer. Those that use the credit report information for credit, insurance, or employment purposes must notify the consumer when an adverse action is taken on the basis of such reports. You have the right to obtain a free credit report when you receive a notice of adverse action. You also have the right to receive a free credit report, at your request, once every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer reporting agencies – Equifax, Ex
