What is the Fair Credit
Reporting Act?

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (often referred to as the "FRCA") is a federal consumer protection law that regulates the production and distribution of consumer reports.  Despite its name, the FCRA does not apply solely to credit reports.  In addition to regulating the creation and distribution of traditional credit reports, the FCRA also regulates "consumer reports" – such as reports provided to landlords about prospective tenants or reports provided to employers to help them evaluate or screen potential employees.  

Because consumer reports are used by a large number of companies to determine whether to offer much needed services, including for example home loans and automobile insurance, it is important that these reports are accurate and are not misused.  The stated goal of the FRCA is to "require that consumer reporting agencies adopt reasonable procedures for meeting the needs of [businesses] for consumer credit, personnel, insurance, and other information in a manner which is fair and equitable to the consumer with regard to confidentiality, accuracy, relevancy, and proper [use of the] information."

What Protections Does the FCRA Provide?

The Fair Credit Reporting Act provides consumers with certain rights, including:  (1) the right to see what information is contained on her report, (2) the right to a free copy of the report each year, (3) the right to dispute inaccurate information contained on the report, and (4) the right to add a brief statement responding to a disputed item if it is not removed from the report.

The FCRA also prohibits and/or restricts the creation of consumer reports by consumer reporting agencies – including the major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian – as well as the methods which information is furnished to credit agencies by companies.

Conduct of Credit Agencies and Furnishers of Information that Violate the FCRA

Though the FCRA provides heavy guidance to credit agencies and furnishers of information to those agencies, consumers are routinely subjected to conduct that violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  Below is a list of just some of the conduct that violates the FCRA:

• Reporting information on a credit report that relates to another person with a similar name or social security number
• Failing to remove negative information once more than 7 years has passed since it occurred (10 years in the case of a bankruptcy)
• Reporting that a consumer has been convicted of a crime when the conviction is not in effect as a result of a completed probation, diversion, or expungement
• Failing to remove inaccurate information or report the consumer’s statement related to a disputed item

How can a Consumer Law Attorney Help?

The FCRA permits consumers to file suit to recover damages for violation of the Act’s provisions.  These damages can include the additional cost of interest due to disadvantageous loan terms, loss of wages due to a failure to be offered a job in response to inaccurate information on a report, and loss of financial opportunity, just to name a few.  The FCRA also permits consumers to recover the attorney fees they incurred in pursuing a lawsuit.  FCRA suits can be filed as class actions where a consumer seeks to represent not just herself but others who were also subjected to similar illegal conduct.  The attorneys of Lear Werts LLP are experienced in consumer rights cases and offer free consultations to individuals who believe that they may have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.