SUMMARY OF RIGHTS

GENERAL SUMMARY OF RIGHTS UNDER THE FCRA

Para informacion en espanol, visite www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore o escribe a la Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street N.W., Washington, DC 20552.

A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) promotes the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies. There are many types of consumer reporting agencies, including credit bureaus and specialty agencies (such as agencies that sell information about check writing histories, medical records, and rental history records). For more information, including information about additional rights, go to www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore, or write to: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street N.W., Washington, DC 20552.

• You must be told if information in your file has been used against you. Anyone who uses a credit report or another type of consumer report to deny your application for credit, insurance, or employment – or to take another adverse action against you – must tell you, and must give you the name, address, and phone number of the agency that provided the information.
• You have the right to know what is in your file. You may request and obtain all the information about you in the files of a consumer reporting agency (your ‘file disclosure’). You will be required to provide proper identification, which may include your Social Security Number. In many cases, the disclosure will be free. You are entitled to a free disclosure if:
  • a person has taken adverse action against you because of information in your credit report;
  • you are the victim of identity theft and place a fraud alert on your file;
  • your file contains inaccurate information as a result of fraud;
  • you are on public assistance;
  • you are unemployed but expect to apply for employment within 60 days.
  In addition, all consumers are entitled to one free disclosure every 12 months upon request from each nationwide credit bureau and from nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies. See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore for more additional information.
• You have the right to ask for a credit score. Credit scores are numerical summaries of your credit-worthiness based on information from credit bureaus. You may request a credit score from consumer reporting agencies that create scores or distribute scores used in residential real property loans, but you will have to pay for it. In some mortgage transactions, you will receive credit score information for free from the mortgage lender.
• You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. If you identify information in your file that is incomplete or inaccurate, and report it to the consumer reporting agency, the agency must investigate unless your dispute is frivolous. See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore for an explanation of dispute procedures.
• Consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information. Inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information must be removed or corrected, usually within 30 days. However, a consumer reporting agency may continue to report information it has verified as accurate.
• Consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information. In most cases, a consumer reporting agency may not report negative information that is more than seven years old, or bankruptcies that are more than 10 years old.
• Access to your file is limited. A consumer reporting agency may provide information about you only to people with a valid need usually to consider an application with a creditor, insurer, employer, landlord or other business. The FCRA specifies those with a valid need for access.
• You must give your consent for reports to be provided to employers. A consumer reporting agency may not give out information about you to your employer, or a potential employer, without your written consent given to the employer. Written consent generally is not required in the trucking industry. For more information, go to www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.
• You may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your credit report. Unsolicited “prescreened” offers for credit and insurance must include a toll-free phone number you can call if you choose to remove your name and address from the lists these offers are based on. You may opt-out with the nationwide credit bureaus at 1-888-567-8688 (888-5OPTOUT)
• You have a right to place a security freeze on your credit report which will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing information in your credit report without your express authorization. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit.
  
  A security freeze does not apply to a person or entity, or its affiliates, or collection agencies acting on behalf of the person or entity, with which you have an existing account that requests information in your credit report for the purposes of reviewing or collecting the account. Reviewing the account includes activities related to account maintenance, monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades and enhancements.
• As an alternative to a security freeze, you have the right to place an initial or extended fraud alert on your credit file at no cost. An initial fraud alert is a 1-year alert that is placed on a consumer’s credit file. Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer’s credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer’s identity before extending new credit. If you are a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting 7 years.
• You may seek damages from violators. If a consumer reporting agency, or, in some cases, a user of consumer reports or a furnisher of information to a consumer reporting agency violates the FCRA, you may be able to sue in state or federal court. You may also have the right to file suit under state law.
• Identity theft victims and active duty military personnel have additional rights. For more information, visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.

States may enforce the FCRA, and many states have their own consumer reporting laws. In some cases, you may have more rights under state law. For more information, contact your state or local consumer protection agency or your state Attorney General. For information about your federal rights, contact:

Fraud Victim Rights

SUMMARY OF RIGHTS UNDER THE FCRA OF VICTIMS OF IDENTITY THEFT

Para informacion en espanol, visite www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore o escribe a la Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street N.W. Washington, DC 20552

Remedying the Effects of Identity Theft

You are receiving this information because you have notified a consumer reporting agency that you believe you are a victim of identity theft. Identity theft occurs when someone uses your name, Social Security Number, date of birth, or other identifying information, without authority, to commit fraud. For example, someone may have committed identity theft by using your personal information to open a credit card account or get a loan in your name. For more information, visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore or write to: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street N.W., Washington, DC 20552.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) gives you specific rights when you are, or believe you that you are, a victim of identity theft. Here is a brief summary of the rights designed to help you recover from identity theft.

1. You have the right to place a ‘security freeze’ on your credit report, which will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing information in your credit report without your express authorization. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit.
   
   A security freeze does not apply to a person or entity, or its affiliates, or collection agencies acting on behalf of the person or entity, with which you have an existing account that requests information in your credit report for the purposes of reviewing or collecting the account. Reviewing the account includes activities related to account maintenance, monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades and enhancements.
   
   
2. As an alternative to a security freeze, you have the right to place an initial or extended fraud alert on your credit file at no cost. An initial fraud alert is a 1-year alert that is placed on a consumer’s credit file. Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer’s credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer’s identity before extending new credit. If you are a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting 7 years.
   
   To place either of these alerts, a consumer reporting agency will require you to provide appropriate proof of your identity, which may include your Social Security Number. If you ask for an extended alert, you will have to provide an identity theft report. An identity theft report includes a copy of a report you have filed with a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency, and additional information a consumer reporting agency may require you to submit. For more detailed information about the identity theft report, visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.
   
   You may place a fraud alert in your file by calling just one of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies. As soon as that agency processes your alert, it will notify the other two, which then must also place fraud alerts in your file.
   
   
   • Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; www.equifax.com
   • Experian: 1-888-397-3742; www.experian.com
   • TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com
3. You have the right to free copies of the information in your file (your “file disclosure”). An initial fraud alert entitles you to a copy of all information in your file at each of the three nationwide agencies, and an extended alert entitles you to two free file disclosures in a 12-month period following the placing of the alert. These additional disclosures may help you detect signs of fraud, for example, whether fraudulent accounts have been opened in your name or whether someone has reported a change in your address. Once a year, you also have the right to a free copy of the information in your file at any consumer reporting agency, if you believe it has inaccurate information due to fraud, such as identity theft. You also have the ability to obtain additional free file disclosures under other provisions of the FCRA. See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore
   
   
4. You have the right to obtain documents relating to fraudulent transactions made or accounts opened using your personal information. A creditor or other business must give you copies of applications and other business records relating to transactions and accounts that resulted from the theft of your identity, if you ask for them in writing. A business may ask you for proof of your identity, a police report, and an affidavit before giving you the documents. It also may specify an address for you to send your request. Under certain circumstances, a business can refuse to provide you with these documents. See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.
   
   
5. You have the right to obtain information from a debt collector. If you ask, a debt collector must provide you with certain information about the debt you believe was incurred in your name by an identity thief – like the name of the creditor and the amount of the debt.
   
   
6. If you believe information in your file results from identity theft, you have the right to ask that a consumer reporting agency block that information from your file. An identity thief may run up bills in your name and not pay them. Information about the unpaid bills may appear on your consumer report. Should you decide to ask a consumer reporting agency to block the reporting of this information, you must identify the information to block, and provide the consumer reporting agency with proof of your identity and a copy of your identity theft report. The consumer reporting agency can refuse or cancel your request for a block if, for example, you don’t provide the necessary documentation or where the block results from an error or a material misrepresentation of fact made by you. If the agency declines or rescinds the block, it must notify you. Once a debt resulting from identity theft has been blocked, a person or business with notice of the block may not sell, transfer or place the debt for collection.
   
   
7. You may also prevent businesses from reporting information about you to consumer reporting agencies if you believe the information is a result of identity theft. To do so, you must send your request to the address specified by the business that reports the information to the consumer reporting agency. The business will expect you to identify what information you do not want reported and to provide an identity theft report.
   
   

To learn more about identity theft and how to deal with its consequences, visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore, or write to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. You may have additional rights under state law. For more information, contact your local consumer protection agency or your state Attorney General.

In addition to the new rights and procedures to help consumers deal with the effects of identity theft, the FCRA has many other important consumer protections. They are described in more detail at www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.

CALIFORNIA BILL OF RIGHTS

You have the right to obtain a copy of your credit file from a consumer credit reporting agency. You may be charged a reasonable fee not exceeding eight dollars ($8). There is no fee, however, if you have been turned down for credit, employment, insurance, or a rental dwelling because of information in your credit report within the preceding 60 days. The consumer credit reporting agency must provide someone to help you interpret the information in your credit file.

You have the right to dispute inaccurate information by contacting the consumer credit reporting agency directly. However, neither you nor any credit repair company or credit service organization has the right to have accurate, current, and verifiable information removed from your credit report. Under the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, the consumer credit reporting agency must remove accurate, negative information from your report only if it is over seven years old. Bankruptcy information can be reported for 10 years.

If you have notified a consumer credit reporting agency in writing that you dispute the accuracy of information in your file, the consumer credit reporting agency must then, within 30 business days, reinvestigate and modify or remove inaccurate information. The consumer credit reporting agency may not charge a fee for this service. Any pertinent information and copies of all documents you have concerning an error should be given to the consumer credit reporting agency.

If reinvestigation does not resolve the dispute to your satisfaction, you may send a brief statement to the consumer credit reporting agency to keep in your file, explaining why you think the record is inaccurate. The consumer credit reporting agency must include your statement about disputed information in a report it issues about you.

You have a right to receive a record of all inquiries relating to a credit transaction initiated in 12 months preceding your request. This record shall include the recipients of any consumer credit report.

You may request in writing that the information contained in your file not be provided to a third party for marketing purposes.

You have a right to place a “security alert” in your credit report, which will warn anyone who receives information in your credit report that your identity may have been used without your consent. Recipients of your credit report are required to take reasonable steps, including contacting you at the telephone number you may provide with your security alert, to verify your identity prior to lending money, extending credit, or completing the purchase, lease, or rental of goods or services. The security alert may prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that taking advantage of this right may delay or interfere with the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or cellular phone or other new account, including an extension of credit at point of sale. If you place a security alert on your credit report, you have a right to obtain a free copy of your credit report at the time the 1 year security alert period expires. A security alert may be requested by calling the following toll-free telephone number: (Insert applicable toll-free telephone number).

You have a right to bring civil action against anyone, including a consumer credit reporting agency, who improperly obtains access to a file, knowingly or willfully misuses file data, or fails to correct inaccurate file data.

If you are a victim of identity theft and provide to a consumer credit reporting agency a copy of a valid police report or a valid investigative report made by a Department of Motor Vehicles investigator with peace officer status describing your circumstances, the following shall apply:

1. You have a right to have any information you list on the report as allegedly fraudulent promptly blocked so that the information cannot be reported. The information will be unblocked only if (A) the information you provide is a material misrepresentation of the facts, (B) you agree that the information is blocked in error, or (C) you knowingly obtained possession of goods, services, or moneys as a result of the blocked transactions. If blocked information is unblocked, you will be promptly notified.
2. Beginning July 1, 2003 you have a right to receive, free of charge and upon request, one copy of your credit report each month for up to 12 consecutive months.

DECLARACIÓN DE DERECHOS DE CALIFORNIA

Tiene derecho a obtener una copia de su informe de crédito por parte de una agencia de informes de crédito. Es posible que se le cobre una tarifa razonable que no supere los ocho dólares ($8). Sin embargo, no se le cobrará una tarifa si se le rechazó un crédito, empleo, seguro o alquiler de vivienda a raíz de la información de su informe de crédito dentro de los 60 días previos. La agencia de informes de crédito del consumidor debe asignarle a alguien para que lo ayude a interpretar la información de su archivo de crédito.

Tiene derecho a disputar la información imprecisa; para ello, comuníquese directamente con la agencia de informes de crédito del consumidor. Sin embargo, ni usted ni ninguna empresa de reparación de crédito u organización de servicios de crédito tiene derecho a eliminar la información precisa, actual y verificable de su informe de crédito. En virtud de la Ley Federal de Informe Imparcial de Crédito, la agencia de informes de crédito del consumidor debe eliminar la información precisa, pero negativa de su informe únicamente si tiene más de siete años de antigüedad. La información sobre bancarrota puede permanecer en el informe por 10 años.

Si notificó a una agencia de informes de crédito del consumidor, por escrito, que disputa la precisión de la información de su archivo, esta entonces debe, dentro de los 30 días hábiles, volver a investigar y modificar o eliminar la información imprecisa. La agencia de informes de crédito del consumidor puede no cambiar la tarifa por este servicio. Debe proporcionar a la agencia de informes de crédito del consumidor la información pertinente y las copias de todos los documentos que tenga en relación con un error

Si la investigación no resuelve la disputa de manera satisfactoria, puede enviar una breve declaración a la agencia de informes de crédito del consumidor para guardar en su archivo, que explique por qué su registro en impreciso. La agencia de informes de crédito del consumidor debe incluir su declaración sobre la información disputada en el informe que emita sobre usted.

Tiene derecho a recibir un registro de todas las consultas relativas a una transacción de crédito iniciada en los 12 meses previos a su solicitud. Este registro deberá incluir a todos los destinatarios de cualquier informe de crédito del consumidor.

Puede solicitar por escrito que la información que contenga su archivo no se le proporcione a un tercero para fines de marketing.

Tiene derecho a colocar una “alerta de seguridad” en su informe de crédito, que le avise a cualquiera que reciba información de su informe de crédito que su identidad puede haberse usado sin su consentimiento. Los destinatarios de su informe de crédito deben tomar medidas razonables, incluso comunicarse con usted al número de teléfono que proporcionó con la alerta de seguridad, para verificar su identidad antes de prestarle dinero, extenderle un crédito o completar la compra, el alquiler o el arrendamiento de bienes o servicios. La alerta de seguridad puede evitar la aprobación de créditos, préstamos y servicios en nombre suyo sin su consentimiento. Sin embargo, debe saber que hacer uso de este derecho puede demorar o interferir con la aprobación oportuna de cualquier solicitud o aplicación que realice posteriormente con respecto a un nuevo préstamo, crédito, hipoteca, cuenta de teléfono celular o de otro tipo, incluso una extensión de crédito en un punto de venta. Si coloca una alerta de seguridad en su informe de crédito, tiene derecho a obtener una copia gratis de este, cuando se venza el período de alerta de seguridad de 1 año. Puede solicitar una alerta de seguridad llamando al siguiente número telefónico gratis: 1-800-680-7289

Tiene derecho a presentar una acción civil contra cualquier persona, incluso contra una agencia de informes de crédito del consumidor, que obtenga de forma inapropiada acceso a un archivo, use incorrectamente los datos del archivo de forma intencional o deliberada, o no corrija los datos imprecisos del archivo.

Si es víctima de un robo de identidad y le proporciona a una agencia de informes de crédito del consumidor una copia de un informe policial válido o un informe de investigación válido efectuado por un investigador del Departamento de Vehículos Motorizados, donde el estado del agente del orden público describa sus circunstancias, aplicará lo siguiente:

1. Tiene derecho a que la información que indique de su informe se bloquee de inmediato por ser presuntamente fraudulenta, para que esa información no pueda informarse. La información se desbloqueará únicamente si (A) la información que proporciona es una distorsión material de los hechos, (B) acepta que la información se bloqueó por error, o (C) obtuvo intencionalmente la posesión de los bienes, servicios o dinero como resultado de las transacciones bloqueadas. Si la información bloqueada se desbloquea, se le notificará de inmediato.
2. Apartir del 1 de julio de 2003, tendrá derecho a recibir, de forma gratuita y a pedido, una copia de su informe de crédito todos los meses por hasta 12 meses consecutivos.