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Para informacion en espanol, visite www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore o escribe a la FTC, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Room 130-A, 600 Pennsylvania A venue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.

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).

You may have even more rights, depending on the laws of your state. For a complete list of all CRA's see our WebLinks.

Here is a summary of your major rights under the FCRA. For more information, including information about additional rights, go to www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore or write to: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Room 130-A, Federal T rade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W ., Washington, D.C. 20580.

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.

The agency may not necessarily be the big 3 - Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion. If you do not qualify for the best rate, ask these three questions: 1) What was my credit score? 2) What score would of qualified me for the best rate? 3) Give me the name, adress and number of the agency that provided you my report?

In addition, by September 2005 all consumers will be entitled to one free disclosure every 12 months upon request from each nationwide credit bureau and from nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies.

• 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”). Y ou 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:

• a person has taken adverse action against you because of information in your credit report;
• you are the victim of identity theft and place a fraud alert in your file;
• your file contains inaccurate information as a result of fraud;
• you are on public assistance;
• 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.

To order a free copy of your credit report call 1-877-322-8228.

The big 3 national CRA's are:

Equifax Credit Information Services
PO Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374
(800)685-1111

Trans Union Consumer Relations
PO Box 390
Springfield, PA 19064
(800) 916-8800

Experian National Consumer Assistance Center
P.O. Box 949
Allen, TX 75013
(888) 397-3742

We have found that most credit grantors will give you a copy of your credit report - Just Ask.

• You have the right to ask for a credit score. Credit scores are numerical summaries of your creditworthiness based on information from credit bureaus. Y ou 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 reporting agency, the agency must investigate unless your dispute is frivolous. See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore for an explanation of dispute procedures.

You must receive a written record of the investigation within 30 days along with a copy of your credit record if it was changed. If you are not satisfied with the results of the investigation, you can add a brief statement to your record. The credit bureau must include a summary of your statement with future releases of your report. If an item is deleted or a dispute statement added, you may ask that anyone who has recently received your record be notified of the change.

• 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. W ritten 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 from the lists these offers are based on. You may opt-out with the nationwide credit bureaus at 1-888-567-8688.

• 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 rights, contact:

See Related Articles:

• Everything You Need to Know About Opting-Out
• Disputes & the FCRA
• Use of AnnualCreditReport.com website may lead to loss of privacy
• FACT, E-OSCAR and Inaccurate Credit Reports
• Adverse Action Compliance

Updated:6/3/14