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Credit Agency

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is designed to protect the privacy of credit report information and to guarantee that information supplied by consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) is as accurate as possible. If you provide information to a credit agency, such as a credit bureau, be aware that amendments to the law spell out new legal obligations. These amendments were effective September 30, 1997.

Credit Agency: Does the FCRA Affect Me?

If you report information about consumers to a credit agency, you are considered a "furnisher" of information under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. A credit agency includes many types of databases -- credit bureaus, tenant screening companies, check verification services, and medical information services -- that collect information to help businesses evaluate consumers. If you provide information to a credit agency regularly, the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires that the credit agency send you a notice of your responsibilities.

What Are My Responsibilities?

The responsibilities of information providers are found in Section 623 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. §1681s-2, and are explained here. Items 2 and 5 apply only to furnishers who provide information to a credit agency "regularly and in the ordinary course of their business." All information providers must comply with the other responsibilities.

1. General Prohibition on Reporting Inaccurate Information - Section 623(a)(1)(A) and Section 623(a)(1)(C).
   
   You may not furnish information that you know -- or consciously avoid knowing -- is inaccurate. If you "clearly and conspicuously" provide consumers with an address for dispute notices, you are exempt from this obligation but subject to the duties discussed in Item 3.
   
   What does "clear and conspicuous" mean? Reasonably easy to read and understand. For example, a notice buried in a mailing is not clear or conspicuous.
   
   
2. Correcting and Updating Information -- Section 623(a)(2).
   
   If you discover that you have supplied a credit agency with incomplete or inaccurate information, you must correct it, resubmit to each credit agency, and report only the correct information in the future.
   
   
3. Responsibilities After Notice of a Consumer Dispute from a Consumer --Sections 623(a)(1)(B) and 623(a)(3).
   
   If a consumer writes to the address you specify for disputes to challenge the accuracy of any information you furnished, and if the information is, in fact, inaccurate, you must report only the correct information to the credit agency in the future. If you are a regular furnisher, you also will have to satisfy the duties in Item 2.
   
   Once a consumer has given notice that he or she disputes information, you may not give that information to any credit agency without also telling the credit agency that the information is in dispute.
   
   
4. Responsibilities After Receiving Notice from a Consumer Reporting Agency -- Section 623(b).
   
   If a CRA notifies you that a consumer disputes information you provided:
   
   
   • You must investigate the dispute and review all relevant information provided by the CRA about the dispute.
     
     
   • You must report your findings to the CRA.
     
     
   • If your investigation shows the information to be incomplete or inaccurate, you must provide corrected information to all national CRAs that received the information.
     
     
   • You should complete these steps within the time period that the Fair Credit Reporting Act sets out for the CRA to resolve the dispute -- normally 30 days after receipt of a dispute notice from the consumer. If the consumer provides additional relevant information during the 30-day period, the CRA has 15 days more. The CRA must give you all relevant information that it gets within five business days of receipt, and must promptly give you additional relevant information provided from the consumer. If you do not investigate and respond within the specified time periods, the CRA must delete the disputed information from its files.