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Fair Credit Reporting: (a) Free annual disclosure.

(1) Nationwide consumer reporting agencies.

(A) In general. All consumer reporting agencies described in subsections (p) and (w) of section 1681a7 shall make all disclosures pursuant to section 1681g once during any 12-month period upon request of the consumer and without charge to the consumer.

Fair Credit Reporting: (b) Free disclosure after adverse notice to consumer.

Each consumer reporting agency that maintains a file on a consumer shall make all disclosures pursuant to section 1681g of this title without charge to the consumer if, not later than 60 days after receipt by such consumer of a notification pursuant to section 1681m of this title, or of a notification from a debt collection agency affiliated with that consumer reporting agency stating that the consumer’s credit rating may be or has been adversely affected, the consumer makes a request under section 1681g of this title.

Fair Credit Reporting: (c) Free disclosure under certain other circumstances.

Upon the request of the consumer, a consumer reporting agency shall make all disclosures pursuant to section 1681g of this title once during any 12-month period without charge to that consumer if the consumer certifies in writing that the consumer—

(1) is unemployed and intends to apply for employment in the 60-day period beginning on the date on which the certification is made;

(2) is a recipient of public welfare assistance; or

Fair Credit Reporting: (e) Other charges prohibited.

A consumer reporting agency shall not impose any charge on a consumer for providing any notification required by this subchapter or making any disclosure required by this subchapter, except as authorized by subsection (f) of this section.

Fair Credit Reporting: (f) Reasonable charges allowed for certain disclosures.

(1) In general. In the case of a request from a consumer other than a request that is covered by any of subsections (a) through (d), a consumer reporting agency may impose a reasonable charge on a consumer—

(A) for making a disclosure to the consumer pursuant to section 1681g of this title, which charge—

(i) shall not exceed $8;10 and

Fair Credit Reporting: (g) Prevention of deceptive marketing of credit reports.

(1) In general. Subject to rulemaking pursuant to section 205(b) of the Credit CARD Act of 2009, any advertisement for a free credit report in any medium shall prominently disclose in such advertisement that free credit reports are available under Federal law at: “AnnualCreditReport.com” (or such other source as may be authorized under Federal law).

Fair Credit Reporting: Amendment History

[Pub. L. No. 90-321, tit. VI, § 612, as added by Pub. L. No. 91-508, 84 Stat. 1132 (Oct. 26, 1970), and amended by Pub. L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009 (Sept. 30, 1996); Pub. L. No. 108-159, 117 Stat. 1968 (Dec. 4, 2003); Pub. L. No. 111-24, 123 Stat. 1734 (May 22, 2009); Pub. L. No. 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (July 21, 2010)]

Fair Credit Reporting: § 1681l. Restrictions on investigative consumer reports [FCRA § 614]

Whenever a consumer reporting agency prepares an investigative consumer report, no adverse information in the consumer report (other than information which is a matter of public record) may be included in a subsequent consumer report unless such adverse information has been verified in the process of making such subsequent consumer report, or the adverse information was received within the three-month period preceding the date the subsequent report is furnished.

Fair Credit Reporting: (b) Adverse action based on information obtained from third parties other than consumer reporting agencies.

(1) In general. Whenever credit for personal, family, or household purposes involving a consumer is denied or the charge for such credit is increased either wholly or partly because of information obtained from a person other than a consumer reporting agency bearing upon the consumer’s credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living, the user of such information shall, within a reasonable period of time, upon the consumer’s written request for the reasons for such a

Fair Credit Reporting: (d) Duties of users making written credit or insurance solicitations on the basis of information contained in consumer files.

(1) In general. Any person who uses a consumer report on any consumer in connection with any credit or insurance transaction that is not initiated by the consumer, that is provided to that person under section 1681b(c)(1)(B) of this title, shall provide with each written solicitation made to the consumer regarding the transaction a clear and conspicuous statement that—

(A) information contained in the consumer’s consumer report was used in connection with the transaction;

Fair Credit Reporting: (e) Red flag guidelines and regulations required.

(1) Guidelines. The Federal banking agencies, the National Credit Union Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission shall jointly, with respect to the entities that are subject to their respective enforcement authority under section 1681s—

Fair Credit Reporting: (f) Prohibition on sale or transfer of debt caused by identity theft.

(1) In general. No person shall sell, transfer for consideration, or place for collection a debt that such person has been notified under section 1681c-2 has resulted from identity theft.

(2) Applicability. The prohibitions of this subsection shall apply to all persons collecting a debt described in paragraph (1) after the date of a notification under paragraph (1).

Fair Credit Reporting: (g) Debt collector communications concerning identity theft.

If a person acting as a debt collector (as that term is defined in title VIII) on behalf of a third party that is a creditor or other user of a consumer report is notified that any information relating to a debt that the person is attempting to collect may be fraudulent or may be the result of identity theft, that person shall—

(1) notify the third party that the information may be fraudulent or may be the result of identity theft; and

Fair Credit Reporting: (h) Duties of users in certain credit transactions

(1) In general. Subject to rules prescribed as provided in paragraph (6), if any person uses a consumer report in connection with an application for, or a grant, extension, or other provision of, credit on material terms that are materially less favorable than the most favorable terms available to a substantial proportion of consumers from or through that person, based in whole or in part on a consumer report, the person shall provide an oral, written, or electronic notice to the consumer in the form and manner required by regulations prescribe

Fair Credit Reporting: Amendment History

[Pub. L. No. 90-321, tit. VI, § 615, as added by Pub. L. No. 91-508, 84 Stat. 1133 (Oct. 26, 1970), and amended by Pub. L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009 (Sept. 30, 1996); Pub. L. No. 108-159, 117 Stat. 1960 (Dec. 4, 2003); Pub. L. No. 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (July 21, 2010); Pub. L. No. 111-319, 124 Stat. 3457 (Dec. 18, 2010)]

Fair Credit Reporting: § 1681p. Jurisdiction of courts; limitation of actions [FCRA § 618]

An action to enforce any liability created under this title may be brought in any appropriate United States district court, without regard to the amount in controversy, or in any other court of competent jurisdiction, not later than the earlier of—

(1) 2 years after the date of discovery by the plaintiff of the violation that is the basis for such liability; or

(2) 5 years after the date on which the violation that is the basis for such liability occurs.

Fair Credit Reporting: § 1681q. Obtaining information under false pretenses [FCRA § 619]

Any person who knowingly and willfully obtains information on a consumer from a consumer reporting agency under false pretenses shall be fined under Title 18, imprisoned for not more than 2 years, or both.

[Pub. L. No. 90-321, tit. VI, § 619, as added by Pub. L. No. 91-508, 84 Stat. 1134 (Oct. 26, 1970), and amended by Pub. L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009 (Sept. 30, 1996)]

Fair Credit Reporting: § 1681r. Unauthorized disclosures by officers or employees [FCRA § 620]

Any officer or employee of a consumer reporting agency who knowingly and willfully provides information concerning an individual from the agency’s files to a person not authorized to receive that information shall be fined under Title 18, imprisoned for not more than 2 years, or both.

[Pub. L. No. 90-321, tit. VI, § 620, as added by Pub. L. No. 91-508, 84 Stat. 1134 (Oct. 26, 1970), and amended by Pub. L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009 (Sept. 30, 1996)]