FCRA Credit Report

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq., is a federal law that helps make sure consumer reports are fair, accurate, and private. Your credit report can affect many important parts of your life. Banks, landlords, employers, insurance companies, and other businesses may use information in your consumer report when deciding whether to:

• Give you a loan or credit card
• Rent you a home or apartment
• Hire you for a job
• Offer you insurance
• Approve other services

If your report contains incorrect information, you could be denied these opportunities, pay higher costs, or experience unnecessary stress.

A credit report is a type of consumer report under the FCRA. It may include:

• Your name, address, and other personal information
• Credit accounts
• Payment history
• Account balances
• Credit limits
• Collection accounts
• Credit inquiries
• Some public record information

Even one mistake can have serious consequences. For example, someone else’s account, a duplicate account, identity theft, or other incorrect information could hurt your credit and affect your ability to get a loan, rent a home, or get a job.

1 – Accuracy and Reasonable Procedures

You have the right to accurate information. Credit reporting agencies must follow reasonable procedures to make sure the information in your consumer report is as accurate as possible.
Your report should not contain information that is:

• Wrong
• Incomplete
• Mixed with someone else’s information
• Duplicated
• Misleading

2 – Access to Your Credit Reports

You have the right to request and review your credit report, and are legally entitled to a free one. The three nationwide credit bureaus are: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Each credit bureau keeps its own file, so the information appearing in one report may be different from the information appearing in another.

Reviewing your reports can help you find mistakes before they affect your credit, housing, employment, insurance, or other opportunities.

3 – Permissible Purpose and Privacy

Under the FCRA, a company generally must have a legal reason, known as a permissible purpose, before it can obtain your consumer report. Examples include:

• Reviewing a credit application
• Managing an existing account
• Deciding whether to insure you
• Reviewing a rental application
• Collecting a debt
• Screening you for employment (with your written permission in most cases)

4 – Extra Protection for Employment Background Checks

Before an employer obtains a consumer report for employment purposes, they generally must:

• Give you a clear written disclosure.
• Get your written permission.

If the employer plans to deny you a job based on the report, the FCRA provides additional protections.

5 – Dispute and Reinvestigation Rights

You have the right to dispute errors. If you believe your credit report or background report contains incorrect or incomplete information, you can dispute it.

After you file a dispute with the consumer reporting agency/credit bureau, the consumer reporting agency generally must investigate within the required time period. If the information is inaccurate, incomplete, or cannot be verified, it must be corrected or removed.

6 -Adverse Action Notices

You have the right to know when a report was used against you. If a lender, landlord, employer, insurance company, or another business take an adverse action against you because of information in your consumer report, they generally must tell you. The notice should include:

• That a consumer report was used.
• The name, address, and phone number of the consumer reporting agency that supplied the report.

This information helps you request a copy of your report and dispute any mistakes.

If you think your credit report or background report contains incorrect information, it is important to act quickly. Here are some helpful steps:

• Review your consumer report. Look carefully for accounts, balances, payment history, personal information, public records, or background-check information that may be wrong.
• Save complete copies of the reports showing the error. Keep the full report, not just a screenshot of the incorrect item.
• Gather supporting documents. This may include payment records, account statements, identity-theft reports, court records, creditor letters, denial notices, or prior dispute results.
• Submit a written dispute. Clearly identify the inaccurate information, explain why it is wrong, and include supporting documents.
• Keep copies of everything you send and receive. Save dispute letters, confirmation numbers, investigation results, mailing receipts, emails, and updated reports.
• Review the results carefully. Check whether the information was corrected, deleted, verified, or reinserted.

Mistakes on your credit report should not keep you from getting a loan, renting a home, finding a job, or reaching your financial goals.

If incorrect information on your consumer report has caused you harm, you may have rights under the FCRA.

Our experienced FCRA attorneys can review your credit reports, dispute letters, denial notices, and other records to determine whether your rights were violated. If the law was not followed or inaccurate information continues to harm you, you may have a legal claim. Give us a call today.