What Are My Rights Under the FCRA?

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• You have the right to access all the information in your report. You also have the right to find out where that information came from. If there is a listing for a defaulted loan, for example, you have the right to know who filed that information. This helps ensure that companies are accountable for what they enter into your report.

• You have the right to know who has looked at your credit report in the past year. You also have the right to look at the past two years of requests for your report made for employment purposes.

• You have the right to a FCRA free credit report if someone has denied you employment, credit, or another service because of something in your credit report. However, you need to make your request to a credit bureau within 60 days of your application denial. You will need to fill out a FCRA release form and supply some identifying information about yourself in order to have the information mailed to you.

• You have the right to a FCRA free credit report if you are seeking work due to unemployment, you are on welfare, or you believe you have been the victim of a crime that may affect your credit score. You also have the right to one free credit report per year.

• You have the right to have correct credit report information collected about you. If you find an error on your credit report, both the credit bureau and the company that provided the information are responsible for correcting the error. If you notify a credit bureau of a mistake on your report, the bureaus must investigate the mistake within 30 days.

• You have the right to have your information kept private. Under the FCRA, credit bureaus can provide companies with copies of your credit report with your consent. However, the FCRA also states that companies may request your credit information if they have reasonable right to do so. For example, insurance companies, banks, and companies you do business with can access your report to review your credit.

• Under the FCRA, you must be notified if a company requests an investigative customer report about you. This type of report includes very detailed information about you, including interviews with neighbors and acquaintances. These reports are meant to determine your character as well as your lifestyle.

• The FCRA limits the amount of time that negative credit information can remain on your credit report. However, the FCRA also allows some serious credit problems to remain on your record for longer periods of time. For example, if you have been convicted of a crime, that information may remain on your report without any time limits. If you have filed for bankruptcy, a record of that can remain on your report for ten years.

• Under the FCRA you have the right to sue a credit bureau or other company gathering credit information about you if the company or bureau is breaking FCRA rules. You can also sue companies reporting to the bureaus for the same reason.

• Companies may use your credit report and contact information to send you unsolicited offers and advertisements. However, you have the right to request to be kept off such mailing and marketing lists for a period of two years by calling the toll-free number provided on the offer. You can also write to the credit bureaus to be removed from these lists permanently.

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