Para información en español: Visite www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore o escriba a la Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street NW, 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 those that sell information about check writing histories, medical records, and rental history records).

For more information about your rights under the FCRA, visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore or write to: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20552.

Your Major Rights Under the FCRA

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—must tell you and provide the name, address, and phone number of the agency that supplied the information.

You have the right to know what is in your file.
You may request and obtain all information about you contained in the files of a consumer reporting agency, also known as a “file disclosure.” You will need to provide proper identification, which may include your Social Security number. In many cases, the disclosure will be free of charge.

You are entitled to receive a free file disclosure under any of the following circumstances:

• An adverse action has been taken against you based on information in your credit report (for example, denial of credit, insurance, or employment).
• You are a victim of identity theft and have placed a fraud alert on your file.
• Your file contains inaccurate or false information as a result of fraud.
• You are currently receiving public assistance.
• You are unemployed but plan to apply for employment within the next 60 days.

In addition, all consumers are entitled to one free disclosure every 12 months from each of the nationwide credit bureaus and from each nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency. For more information, visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.

You have the right to ask for a credit score.
Credit scores are numerical summaries of your credit-worthiness. You may request a score from consumer reporting agencies that create or distribute them, although a fee may apply. In some mortgage transactions, lenders must provide credit score information to you for free.

You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information.
If you find incomplete or inaccurate information in your file and report it to the consumer reporting agency, the agency must investigate the matter unless your dispute is determined to be frivolous. See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore for an explanation of dispute procedures.

Consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information.
Such information must be removed or corrected, usually within 30 days. However, a consumer reporting agency may continue to report information that it has verified as accurate.

Consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information.
In most cases, negative information that is more than seven years old—or bankruptcies that are more than ten years old—may not be reported.

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 for credit, insurance, employment, or housing. The FCRA specifies who has a legitimate need for access.

You must give your consent for reports to be provided to employers.
A consumer reporting agency may not share information about you with your employer or a potential employer without your written consent given to that employer. Written consent generally is not required in the trucking industry. For more information, visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.

You may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance.
Unsolicited “prescreened” offers based on information in your credit report must include a toll-free phone number you can call to remove your name and address from these lists. You may opt out with the nationwide credit bureaus by calling 1-888-567-8688.

Consumers Have the Right to Obtain a Security Freeze

You have the right to place a security freeze on your credit report. This will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing your information without your express authorization. A security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, using a security freeze to control access to your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prevent the timely approval of applications for new credit, loans, or services.

As an alternative to a security freeze, you may place a fraud alert on your credit file at no cost:

• Initial fraud alert: Lasts for 1 year and requires businesses to verify your identity before extending new credit.
• Extended fraud alert: Available to victims of identity theft and lasts for 7 years.

A security freeze does not apply to entities with which you have an existing account that request information from your credit report for purposes such as account review, monitoring, credit line increases, or account upgrades.

You may seek damages from violators.
If a consumer reporting agency, 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.

State and federal enforcement.
States may enforce the FCRA, and many states have their own consumer reporting laws that may grant additional rights. In some cases, you may have greater protection 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 the appropriate federal agency.