2. What is it?
S The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) regulates how
consumer reporting agencies use your information
S The FRCA was passed in the 1970’s, and later amended
in the 1990’s and in 2003
3. Scope
S The law regulates the consumer reporting industry and
places disclosure obligations on users of consumer
reports
S The FRCA covers two types of credit reporting
S First, it covers reports that include information on a
consumer’s character, general reputation, personal
characteristics, or mode of living
S Second, are credit reports issued by credit bureaus. These
reports focus on credit information obtained by creditors.
4. FRCA and Illinois
S Abide by the Federal Trade Commission’s Fair Credit
Reporting Act (FCRA),
S 15 U. S. C. § 1661 et seq. and the following state ruling:
(20 ILCS 2635/7 (A) (1) (2) (from ch. 38, par. 1607) – Illinois
Uniform Conviction Information Act
5. FRCA and Illinois cont’d
S The Illinois statute applies to employment or licensing purposes
S (1) A requester shall, in the form and manner prescribed by the
Department (Illinois Department of State Police), submit a request
to the Department, and maintain on file for at least 2 years a
release signed by the individual to whom the information request
pertains. The Department shall furnish the requester with a copy
of its response. (2) Each requester of conviction information
furnished by the Department shall provide the individual named in
the request with a copy of the response furnished by the
Department. Within 7 working days of receipt of such copy, the
individual shall have the obligation and responsibility
20 ILCS 2635
6. Recent FRCA Cases
S United States of America v. Teletrack (2011)
S The Federal Trade Commission charged Teletrack of violating the FRCA
by selling credit reports to marketers
S The FRCA protects consumers privacy by ensuring that credit report
information is not sold for marketing purposes
S According to the FTC, Teletrack sold credit reports and other services to
businesses. With the information Teletrack gathered they created a
marketing database, and sold the information to marketers
S Teletrack settled and agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1.8 million and to
furnish credit reports only to those people that it has reason to believe
have a permissbile purpose to receive them under the FCRA
United States of America v Teletrack
7. Recent FRCA Cases
S United States of America v. Central Credit, LLC
(2010)
S The Federal Trade Commission charged Central Credit of violating the FRCA by
not informing casinos of its legal obligations under the FRCA.
S The FRCA requires that consumers be provided adverse-action notices when
credit is declined or a check not cashed, secondly requires that companies that
furnish information for credit reports to provide accurate information about
consumers.
S Central Credit failed to inform consumers of their rights under FRCA, such as the
right to obtain a free annual credit report, and providing clear instructions to for
requesting a free report
S Central Credit agreed to pay $150,000 in civil penalties and bars future violations
of the FCRA
United States of America v. Central Credit
8. Recent FRCA Cases
S United States of America v. Credit Bureau Collection Services
(2010)
S The FTC charged that Credit Bureau Collection Services (CBCS) violated the
FRCA by reporting information to credit agencies that consumers had proved
was inaccurate, failing to inform the credit agencies that consumers had
disputed the debts, and failing to investigate after receiving a notice of dispute
from a credit reporting agency
S The FRCA requires that credit reporting agencies provide accurate credit
reports, inform credit agencies of disputed debts.
S The CBCS settled and agreed to pay $1.1 million civil penalty and was also
barred from re-reporting information to credit reporting agencies that it had
voluntarily deleted from credit reporting before December 2008.
United States of America v. Credit Bureau Collection Services
9. Fixing Credit Reports
S There is no quick or easy way to fix poor credit. Time is the only thing
that will repair your credit report.
S “Credit Fixing Agencies” claim that they can fix credit reports. The only
thing they can fix is information that is actually wrong
