Para información en español, visite www.consumerfinance.
gov/learnmore o escribe a la
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street N.W., Washington, DC 20552.
A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) promotes the accuracy, fairness, and
privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies. There are many types of
consumer reporting agencies, including credit bureaus and specialty agencies (such as agencies
that sell information about check writing histories, medical records, and rental history records).
Here is a summary of your major rights under FCRA. For more information, including
information about additional rights, go to www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore or write
to: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street N.W., Washington, DC 20552.
You must be told if information in your file has been used against you. Anyone who
uses a credit report or another type of consumer report to deny your application for credit,
insurance, or employment – or to take another adverse action against you – must tell you,
and must give you the name, address, and phone number of the agency that provided the
information.
You have the right to know what is in your file. You may request and obtain all the
information about you in the files of a consumer reporting agency (your “file
disclosure”). You will be required to provide proper identification, which may include
your Social Security number. In many cases, the disclosure will be free. You are entitled
to a free file disclosure if:
o a person has taken adverse action against you because of information in your
credit report;
o you are the victim of identity theft and place a fraud alert in your file;
o your file contains inaccurate information as a result of fraud;
o you are on public assistance;
o you are unemployed but expect to apply for employment within 60 days.
In addition, all consumers are entitled to one free disclosure every 12 months upon
request from each nationwide credit bureau and from nationwide specialty consumer
reporting agencies. See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore for additional
information.
You have the right to ask for a credit score. Credit scores are numerical summaries of
your credit-worthiness based on information from credit bureaus. You may request a
credit score from consumer reporting agencies that create scores or distribute scores used
in residential real property loans, but you will have to pay for it. In some mortgage
transactions, you will receive credit score information for free from the mortgage lender.
You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. If you identify
information in your file that is incomplete or inaccurate, and report it to the consumer
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reporting agency, the agency must investigate unless your dispute is frivolous. See
www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore for an explanation of dispute procedures.
Consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or
unverifiable information. Inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information must be
removed or corrected, usually within 30 days. However, a consumer reporting agency
may continue to report information it has verified as accurate.
Consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information. In
most cases, a consumer reporting agency may not report negative information that is
more than seven years old, or bankruptcies that are more than 10 years old.
Access to your file is limited. A consumer reporting agency may provide information
about you only to people with a valid need – usually to consider an application with a
creditor, insurer, employer, landlord, or other business. The FCRA specifies those with a
valid need for access.
You must give your consent for reports to be provided to employers. A consumer
reporting agency may not give out information about you to your employer, or a potential
employer, without your written consent given to the employer. Written consent generally
is not required in the trucking industry. For more information, go to
www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.
You may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on
information in your credit report. Unsolicited “prescreened” offers for credit and
insurance must include a toll-free phone number you can call if you choose to remove
your name and address form the lists these offers are based on. You may opt out with the
nationwide credit bureaus at 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688).
The following FCRA right applies with respect to nationwide consumer reporting
agencies:
CONSUMERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO OBTAIN A SECURITY FREEZE
You have a right to place a “security freeze” on your credit report, which will
prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing information in your credit
report without your express authorization. The security freeze is designed to prevent
credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent.
However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gets
access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere
with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make
regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of
credit.
As an alternative to a security freeze, you have the right to place an initial or extended
fraud alert on your credit file at no cost. An initial fraud alert is a 1-year alert that is
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placed on a consumer’s credit file. Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer’s
credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer’s identity before
extending new credit. If you are a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to an extended
fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting 7 years.
A security freeze does not apply to a person or entity, or its affiliates, or collection
agencies acting on behalf of the person or entity, with which you have an existing
account that requests information in your credit report for the purposes of reviewing or
collecting the account. Reviewing the account includes activities related to account
maintenance, monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades and enhancements.
You may seek damages from violators. If a consumer reporting agency, or, in some
cases, a user of consumer reports or a furnisher of information to a consumer reporting
agency violates the FCRA, you may be able to sue in state or federal court.
Identity theft victims and active duty military personnel have additional rights. For
more information, visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.
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. For more information, contact
your state or local consumer protection agency or your state Attorney General. For
information about your federal rights, contact:
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TYPE OF BUSINESS: CONTACT:
1.a. Banks, savings associations, and credit unions with total a. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
assets of over $10 billion and their affiliates 1700 G Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20552
b. Such affiliates that are not banks, savings associations, or b. Federal Trade Commission
credit unions also should list, in addition to the CFPB: Consumer Response Center
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20580
(877) 382-4357
2. To the extent not included in item 1 above: a. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
a. National banks, federal savings associations, and federal Customer Assistance Group
branches and federal agencies of foreign banks 1301 McKinney Street, Suite 3450
Houston, TX 77010-9050
b. State member banks, branches and agencies of foreign banks b. Federal Reserve Consumer Help Center
(other than federal branches, federal agencies, and Insured State P.O. Box 1200
Branches of Foreign Banks), commercial lending companies Minneapolis, MN 55480
owned or controlled by foreign banks, and organizations
operating under section 25 or 25A of the Federal Reserve Act.
c. FDIC Consumer Response Center
c. Nonmember Insured Banks, Insured State Branches of 1100 Walnut Street, Box #11
Foreign Banks, and insured state savings associations Kansas City, MO 64106
d. Federal Credit Unions d. National Credit Union Administration
Office of Consumer Financial Protection (OCFP)
Division of Consumer Compliance Policy and Outreach
1775 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
3. Air carriers Asst. General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement & Proceedings
Aviation Consumer Protection Division
Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, DC 20590
4. Creditors Subject to the Surface Transportation Board Office of Proceedings, Surface Transportation Board
Department of Transportation
395 E Street, S.W.
Washington, DC 20423
5. Creditors Subject to the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 Nearest Packers and Stockyards Administration area supervisor
6. Small Business Investment Companies Associate Deputy Administrator for Capital Access
United States Small Business Administration
409 Third Street, S.W., Suite 8200
Washington, DC 20416
7. Brokers and Dealers Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, DC 20549
8. Federal Land Banks, Federal Land Bank Associations, Farm Credit Administration
Federal Intermediate Credit Banks, and Production Credit 1501 Farm Credit Drive
Associations McLean, VA 22102-5090
9. Retailers, Finance Companies, and All Other Creditors Not Federal Trade Commission
Listed Above Consumer Response Center
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20580
(877) 382-4357
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Additional Information about the Fair Credit Reporting Act
The Summary of Your Rights provided above does not reflect certain amendments contained in
the Consumer Reporting Employment Clarification Act of 1998. The following additional
information may be important for you:
• Records of convictions of crimes can be reported regardless of when they occurred.
• If you apply for a job that is covered by the Department of Transportation’s authority to
establish qualifications and the maximum hours for that job, and you apply by mail, telephone,
computer, or other similar means, your consent to a consumer report may validly be obtained
orally, in writing, or electronically. If an adverse action is taken against you because of a
consumer report for which you gave your consent over the telephone, computer, or similar
means, you may be informed of the adverse action and the name, address and phone number of
the consumer reporting agency, orally, in writing, or electronically.
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