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NCBLC - National Consumer Bankruptcy Litigation Center

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Fair Credit Reporting Act Violations

The Fair Credit Reporting Act seeks to ensure the accuracy and fairness of credit reporting, and to require reasonable procedures to protect consumer confidentiality, accuracy, relevance, and proper utilization of consumer information contained in consumer credit reports. If your debts have been discharged in bankruptcy, many violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act also violate the discharge injunction and offer you recourse in the bankruptcy court as well.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you have the right:

• To be notified if information in your file has been used against you: Any entity that makes a negative decision on your application for credit, insurance or employment based on information in a credit report or other consumer report must tell you, and must disclose the name, address and phone number of the agency that provided the information;
• To know what is in your file: You are entitled to review the information in your consumer file. In some cases, you are entitled to free disclosure. For instance, you may qualify to receive your consumer information for free if:
  • any entity has recently taken adverse action against you (for instance, denied you credit) 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 inaccuracies as the result of fraud;
  • you are receiving public benefits;
  • you are unemployed, but plan to apply for employment within the next 60 days.

In addition, you are entitled to one free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus each year. You'll want to use caution in exercising this right; many private companies claim to offer free credit reports, but really require you to sign up for promotional accounts or other services in order to obtain a free report. The safest way to request your free credit reports is to use the links provided on the Federal Trade Commission's website:

• To request your credit score: You may request your three-digit credit score from consumer reporting agencies that create or distribute such scores, but you may have to pay for them. Credit scores are not included in the required free disclosures;
• To dispute inaccurate or incomplete information If your consumer report contains inaccurate or incomplete information, you have the right to report it to the consumer reporting agency. The agency is then obliged to investigate within a specified time period, and to correct or delete information that is inaccurate, is incomplete, or cannot be verified.

In addition, consumer reporting agencies may not:

• Report outdated negative information: In most cases, this means information that is more than seven years old. Bankruptcies may be reported for ten years;

• Provide access to your file except as specified by law: The Fair Credit Reporting Act specifies the people or entities that may have a valid need for access to your file, such as creditors, insurers, prospective employers, and landlords. Your file may not be provided to an employer or prospective employer without your written consent;

If a consumer reporting agency-or, in some cases, a party using consumer reporting agency information or reporting information to a consumer agency-violates your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you may be able to sue. Those whose debts have been discharged in bankruptcy have additional remedies available under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and should complete our free case evaluation form.

A variety of state and federal agencies provide assistance with enforcing the Fair Credit Reporting Act. A list of federal agencies and the types of enforcement assistance available can be found on the FTC website. You can also contact a private attorney in your area to find out whether you can file a lawsuit under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

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