FCRA Summary of Rights
 
What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act?

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law that regulates how consumer reporting agencies use your information. Enacted in 1970 and substantially amended in the late 1990s and again in 2003, the FCRA, among other things, restricts who has access to your sensitive credit information and how that information can be used.
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Summary of Rights
The FCRA is a complex piece of legislation and contains numerous provisions not discussed on this page. Below are several important features of how the FCRA is designed to help consumers (for the complete text, visit the Federal Trade Commission). The FCRA protects you by requiring consumer reporting agencies:  
  • Disclose your credit file to you upon request. Consumer reporting agencies must provide you the information in your file if you request it and provide the agency with proper identification. For more information, CLICK HERE.
  • Limit access to your information. A consumer reporting agency may not provide your credit report to any party that lacks a permissible purpose, such as the evaluation of an application for a loan, credit, service, or employment. Permissible purposes also include several business and legal uses. 
  • Get your consent before providing your information to an employer. A consumer reporting agency may not provide your credit information to an employer or potential employer unless you first give that employer written permission to request your credit report.
  • Investigate disputed information. If you tell a consumer reporting agency that your file contains inaccurate information, the agency must promptly investigate the matter with the source that provided the information. If the investigation fails to resolve the dispute, you may add a statement to your credit file explaining the matter. For more information, see Correcting Errors in Your Report.
  • Correct or delete inaccurate information. A consumer reporting agency must correct or, as the case may be, delete from your credit file the information that is found to be inaccurate or can no longer be verified. The consumer reporting agency is not required to remove accurate data from your file unless it is outdated.
  • Delete outdated information. In general, negative information that is more than 7 years old (10 years for bankruptcies) must be removed from your file.
  • Remove your name from marketing lists upon request. Consumer reporting agencies can provide lists of consumer names and addresses whose credit information matches the requirements of creditors and insurers for making firm offers of credit or insurance to the consumers on the list. However, you can request that the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies not share your information with creditors and insurers for these purposes by calling 1-888-5-OPT OUT or visiting https://www.optoutprescreen.com/
  • Add identity theft and active duty alerts. Identity theft victims may place fraud alerts and active duty military personnel serving away from their regular duty station may place "active duty" alerts to help prevent identity theft. See "What is a Fraud Alert?" for more information.​
  • Remedying the Effects of Identity Theft. If you are, or believe that you are, the victim of identity theft, you have specific rights under the FCRA. These rights will help you deal with the effects of identity theft.
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

As the name implies, this law protects consumers (not business) from debt collectors’ nasty behavior. It also provides a way for you to get your hands on the information you need in order to dispute a charge.
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The definition of who is and who is not a “debt collector” changes over time. At first, this law only applied to companies that buy debt at a discount and then try to collect it. But over time the definition has broadened. Now attorneys involved in debt collection fall under this law and that means you have more protection against more collectors.

What conduct isn’t allowed
The law stops debt collectors from engaging in “abusive and deceptive” behavior when they try to collect debt. That includes:
  • Contacting you after you’ve requested a validation of the debt.
  • Calling you when the collector knows you are working with an attorney.
  • Calling you after 9 pm or before 8 am local time.
  • Contacting you at work if your employer prohibits it.
  • Non-stop calling just to be a nuisance.
  • Reporting or threatening to report false information to credit bureaus.
  • Publicly embarrassing you – that includes sending you a “debt postcard” or putting an embarrassing stamp on note on a letter they send you. It also includes publishing your name on a “bad debt” list.
  • Talking with people other than your spouse or attorney about the collection.
  • Using abusive language, threatening to have you arrested or other legal action they can’t legally take.
  • Trying to collect higher amounts than are owed.
  • Misrepresenting themselves such as saying they are police or attorneys when they are not.
  • And the granddaddy of them all – the debt collector has to stop contact with you after they receive your written notice demanding that they stop contacting you or that you refuse to pay the bill. The only exceptions are they can contact you to tell you that they are no longer going to pursue the matter and they can contact you to tell you they are going to start litigation against you.

​Not only does the law prohibit the debt collector from doing certain things, the act also requires that the collector act professionally. Specifically, here is what the law requires of them:

  • They have to identify themselves in every communication and disclose that any information you offer will be used to collect the debt.
  • If you send a written request for the name and contact information for the original creditor, they must give you that information.
  • They must give you formal notice that you can dispute the debt.
  • If they file a lawsuit it has to be filed where you live or where you signed the contract.
  • If you make a written request within 30 days of getting notice of the collection process, the collector must mail you information that verifies the debt or stop the collection process completely.
Enforcement
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and FTC enforces this law but you can also file a lawsuit privately. If you win your suit you might receive damages, fees and costs. The good news is, you don’t have to prove your damages. If you win your case, the debt collector will have to pay you up to $1000 plus reasonable attorney fees. Just be careful. If the court finds that you filed case furiously and you lose, you may have to pay the debt collectors legal fees.