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| Consumer debt in 1993 was $711 billion.
Today it is $1.4 trillion. |
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| There were 1.8 million personal bankruptcies
in 1999 |
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| Eight times as many Americans are
going bankrupt today than during the Depression. |
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| More than 50 million households carry
credit card debt with an average balance of $7000. |
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A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting
Act
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is designed to
promote fairness, accuracy, and privacy of information in the
files of every "consumer reporting agency" (CRA).
Most CRAs are credit bureaus that gather and sell information
about you -- such as if you pay your bills on time or have filed
bankruptcy -- to creditors, employers, landlords, and other
businesses. You can find the complete text of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C.
§§1681-1681u. The FCRA gives you specific rights,
as outlined below. You may have additional rights under state
law. You may contact a state or local consumer protection agency
or a state attorney general to learn those rights.
You must be told if information in your file has been used against
you. Anyone who uses information from a CRA to take action against
you -- such as denying an application for credit, insurance,
or employment -- must tell you, and give you the name, address,
and phone number of the CRA that provided the consumer report.
At your request, a CRA must give you the information in your
file, and a list of everyone who has recently requested it.
There is no charge for the report if a person has taken action
against you because of information supplied by the CRA, if you
request the report within 60 days of receiving notice of the
action. You are also entitled to one free report every twelve
months upon request if you certify that (1) your report is inaccurate
due to fraud, (2) you are on welfare, or (3) you are unemployed
and plan to seek employment within 60 days.
You can dispute inaccurate information with the CRA. If you
tell a CRA that your file contains inaccurate information, 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 change. If the CRA's 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 has recently received your report
be notified of the change.
Inaccurate information must be corrected or deleted. A CRA must
remove or correct inaccurate or unverified information from
their files, most of the time within 30 days after you dispute
it. However, the CRA is not required to remove accurate data
from your file unless it is outdated 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. Moreover, 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 source.
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,
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. If you call, you must be kept off
the lists for two years. If you request, complete, and return
the CRA form provided for this purpose, you must be taken off
the lists 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. |
