Can Just Anyone do a Credit Check on Me?
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The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act states the following:
Access to your credit report is
limited to businesses or people with a legally recognized need. This means they
need to verify your application for credit, insurance, employment or a rental.
Your specific consent is required before your credit report can be provided to employers or when the report contains medical information.
Normally your authorization is required in writing, usually on an application. Warning: Always thoroughly read documents you are being asked or required to sign because permission to access to your credit report may be hidden in the fine print. If you find such a permission buried there, but still want to proceed, cross out the permission and initial the change. This indicates that you DO NOT give your permission. It is mandated in law that there must be a disclosure notice called a "notice of adverse action." What this means is that if you are turned down due to information on your credit report you must be notified.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows individuals to sue companies in federal court for damages resulting from violations. Plaintiffs are entitled to recover court costs and reasonable legal fees as well as punitive damages for deliberate violations.
Restricting access to your credit report
A new law allows Californians to
restrict access to their credit reports, preventing credit reporting agencies
from giving anyone access to your credit file. The law was enacted to thwart
identity theft. When applying for credit you can unrestrict your file for your
own personal use with a special PIN number.
Unfortunately the credit reporting agencies have made it expensive and complicated
to restrict and unrestrict your credit report file. Trans Union, Equifax and
Experian charge fees for doing so except to individuals who can verify, by virtue
of a police report, that they have been identity theft victims. Completely protecting
yourself will require placing restriction orders at all three agencies and it
will cost approximately $100 to do so. Equifax and Trans Union charge lower
fees than Experian to place a restriction on your records records, however they
have additional fees to unrestrict your records. All three companies require
requests for restriction to be in writing, and Experian and Equifax require
it via certified mail.
For more information on Credit Check Report, or to choose from a variety of
related products and services, choose from the following:
Reports | Monitoring | Scores | 3-in-1 | Debt Help
Last Updated: 08-Apr-2006
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