Fair Credit Reporting Act

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Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) became effective in 1971 and was amended 1978, 1989, 1992 and 1994.
This act requires that:

• Creditors notify consumers of the name and address of credit reporting agencies (credit bureaus) whose reports were used as a basis for adverse credit decisions.

• Credit reporting agencies, upon request, disclose to consumers the nature and substance of information in their credit bureau records, reinvestigate disputed information and make corrections, and allow consumers to file their explanations if reinvestigations do not resolve disputes.

• Credit reporting agencies notify recent recipients (as specified by the consumer) of the credit reports, of corrections that may have been made, or, in certain instances, the consumer's side of the story, and to include this material in future reports.

• Credit reporting agencies exclude adverse credit records more than seven years old (ten years for bankruptcies) from consumer reports.

• Credit reporting agencies furnish reports only to those who have a permissible purpose for the information.

The FCRA was amended in 1992 and imposes an obligation upon a credit reporting agency to include overdue child support in a consumer report, provided that information is reported to the agency by a party charged with the collection of the child support.