The Fair Credit Reporting Act exists to ensure that you receive fair and accurate consumer reporting and that your privacy as a consumer is protected. Companies who fail to comply with FCRA’s requirements can face actual damages, statutory damages and, in some cases, punitive damages.
What Does The Fair Credit Reporting Act Do?
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law that regulates certain types of reports that contain information about consumers. The FCRA covers traditional credit reports, employment background checks and virtually any other sale of data about consumers.
The FCRA requires that reporting agencies assure maximum possible accuracy in their reports. They also require that reporting agencies investigate any disputed information free of charge.
What is a Reporting Agency?
Consumer reporting agencies include a wide range of companies that need reports about people for credit, employment, housing, and other purposes.
They may also be called background check companies, credit reporting agencies or credit reporting bureaus. The three biggest and most well known reporting agencies are:
Can I Access My Credit Report?
Yes. The easiest way to monitor your credit is to request a free credit report from one of the three major bureaus.
Equifax, Experian and TransUnion announced last week that they will continue to offer consumers free credit reports on a weekly basis until April 20, 2022, because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
What Should I Look For on My Report?
When monitoring your credit reports, it is important to keep an eye out for common errors and signs of fraud.
If you do notice any errors on your report, dispute them as soon as you can. The consumer reporting agency is then required to provide the information that you give to them to the creditor who has reported the debt.
Subsequently, that creditor must investigate the dispute reasonably and report any inaccuracies. The credit reporters will then provide you with information regarding the investigation and, hopefully, they will correct the inaccuracy.
Fair Credit Reporting Act Attorneys
Our firm handles Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) cases on a contingency basis. Maginnis Howard handles FCRA claims all over the state of North Carolina.
You can reach our firm’s FCRA attorneys by phone 919.526.0450 or by email at info@carolinalaw.com. You can also reach us via our contact page.
