Unfair Credit Reporting Practices

Good credit is an important financial asset. Your credit score can affect whether you qualify for a loan and the interest rate you receive. Your credit score, however, can affect much more than just access to credit.

Today, your credit can even impact your job opportunities because some employers review the credit reports of job applicants. It is therefore more important than ever that you make sure that your credit report contains accurate information and that you understand your rights relating to credit reporting.

Congress passed the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to ensure the accuracy and privacy of information in consumer credit reports. The Act imposes certain duties on Consumer Reporting Agencies (i.e., Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion), the companies that furnish information to the reporting agencies, and companies that use the information reported by reporting agencies.

Kai H. Richter

Consumer Law Attorney
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Reporting Agencies are required by the FCRA to provide you with a copy of your credit report upon request (you may request a free copy once per year from each reporting agency by visiting the federal government’s approved website, www.annualcreditreport.com, and also may be able to request your report for free under other circumstances). If you dispute an item on your report, the reporting agency must investigate the disputed item and remove or correct it if necessary. Reporting agencies may only issue your report to those with a legitimate business reasons for requesting the information (i.e., creditors in connection with a loan application or employers in connection with a job application with your consent).

Information Furnishers may not report information to a reporting agency that they know or have reason to believe is inaccurate. If an information furnisher later discovers that it has reported inaccurate information, it must correct the inaccuracy with all reporting agencies that received the information.

Information Users may only use information in a credit report for a legitimate purpose and must notify you if they have taken any adverse action based on information in your credit report.