Fair Credit Reporting Act

The FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq) is a federal consumer protection law designed to promote accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of every consumer maintained by a credit reporting agency. Most credit bureaus gather and sell information about you – such as if you pay your bills on time or have filed bankruptcy – to creditors, employers, landlords, and other businesses. The FCRA outlines consumer credit reporting protections and the obligations of credit bureaus to report accurate information including the removal of outdated credit report information.

You can find the complete text of the Fair Credit Reporting Act at the Federal Trade Commission’s web site: http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcra.htm.