The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) was created to promote accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of every "credit reporting agency" (CRA). Most CRAs are credit bureaus that gather and sell information about consumers (such as if you pay your bills on time or have filed bankruptcy) to creditors, employers, landlords, and other businesses. There are other specialty agencies, such as agencies that sell information about check writing histories, medical records, and rental history records. You can find more information and the complete text of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681-681u, at the Federal Trade Commission's web site (http://www.ftc.gov/credit). You may also write to the FTC on this and related topics at Consumer Response Center, Room 130-A, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.

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. At the following links, you'll find summaries of additional consumer protection laws for those states: AR CA CO CT DC DE FL IN MA MD MT NC ND NH NJ NM NV NY OK RI TN TX VT WA WI WV

The FCRA gives consumers specific rights, as summarized below.

• You must be told if information in your file has been used against you. Anyone who uses information from a CRA or any type of consumer report to take action against you - such as denying you an application for credit, insurance, or employment, or to take any other adverse action against you - must tell you, and give you the name, address, and phone number of the CRA or other agency that provided the information.


• You can find out what is in your file. At your request, a CRA or other reporting agency must give you the information in your file, and a list of everyone who has requested it recently. There is no charge for the report if a person has taken action against you because of the information supplied by them, if you request the report within 60 days of receiving notice of the action. You also are entitled to one free report every twelve months upon request, or if you certify that (1) you are unemployed and plan to seek employment within 60 days, (2) you are on welfare, or (3) your report is inaccurate due to fraud. Otherwise, a CRA may charge you up to eight dollars.


• You have the right to ask for a credit score, which is a numerical summary of your credit-worthiness based on information from your credit files. You may request a credit score from a CRA that creates scores or distribute scores used in residential real property loans, but you will usually have to pay a fee, except in some mortgage transactions where you may receive your credit score free from the mortgage lender.


• You can dispute incomplete or inaccurate information with the CRA. If you tell a CRA that your file contains inaccurate information or is incomplete, the CRA must investigate the items (usually within 30 days) by presenting to its information source all relevant evidence you submit, unless your dispute is frivolous. The source must review your evidence and report its findings to the CRA. (The source also must advise national CRAs to which it has provided the data of any error.) The CRA must give you a written report of the investigation, and a copy of your report if the investigation results in any charge. If the CRAs investigation does not resolve the dispute, you may add a brief statement to your file. The CRA must normally include a summary of your statement in future reports. If an item is deleted or a dispute statement is filed, you may ask that anyone who had recently reviewed your report be notified of the change.


• Inaccurate information must be corrected or deleted. A CRA must remove or correct inaccurate, incomplete, or unverified information from its files, usually within 30 days after you dispute it. However, the CRA is not required to remove accurate information from your file unless it is outdated (as described below) or cannot be verified. If your dispute results in any change to your report, the CRA cannot reinsert into your file a disputed item unless the information source verifies its accuracy and completeness. In addition, the CRA must give you a written notice telling you it has reinserted the item. The notice must include the name, address and phone number of the information source.


• You can dispute inaccurate items with the source of the information. If you tell anyone - such as a creditor who reports to a CRA - that you dispute an item, they may not then report the information to a CRA without including a notice of your dispute. In addition, once you've notified the source of the error in writing, it may not continue to report the information if it is, in fact, an error.


• Outdated information may not be reported. In most cases, a CRA may not report negative information that is more than seven years old; ten years for bankruptcies.


• Access to your file is limited. A CRA may provide information about you only to people with a need recognized by the FCRA - usually to consider an application with a creditor, insurer, employer, landlord, or other business.


• Your consent is required for reports that are provided to employers (there are exceptions in the trucking industry), or reports that contain medical information. A CRA may not give out information about you to your employer, or prospective employer, without your written consent. A CRA may not report medical information about you to creditors, insurers, or employers without your permission.


• You may choose to exclude your name from CRA lists for unsolicited credit and insurance offers. Creditors and insurers may use file information as the basis for sending you unsolicited offers of credit or insurance. Such offers must include a toll-free phone number for you to call if you want your name and address removed from future lists. You may opt-out with the nationwide credit bureaus at 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688). If you call, you must be kept off lists for two years. If you request, complete, and return the CRA form provided for this purpose, you must be taken off the list indefinitely.


• You may seek damages from violators. If a CRA, a user or (in some cases) a provider of CRA data, violates the FCRA, you may sue them in state or federal court.


• Victims of identity theft and active duty military personnel have additional rights.


• 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.


• Contact information for Federal enforcers of the FCRA.