Federal
banking regulators and the Federal Trade Commission published final
rules and guidelines under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions
Act to promote the accuracy and integrity of information furnished to
credit bureaus and other consumer reporting agencies—information that
is used predominantly to determine consumers’ eligibility for credit,
employment, insurance and rental housing. The rules, issued by the
Federal Reserve, the FDIC, the FTC, the National Credit Union
Administration, the OCC and the OTS, are effective July 1, 2010.
The rules require entities that furnish information about consumers to consumer reporting agencies to include a consumer’s credit limit in the information provided. The agencies also issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) to identify possible additions to the information that must be provided to consumer reporting agencies, such as an account opening date. The rules allow consumers to submit a dispute directly to the entity that furnished the information to the consumer reporting agency if the consumer believes his or her credit report contains inaccurate information. The rules do not change consumers’ rights to submit disputes directly to the consumer reporting agency or the furnishing agency’s duty to investigate a dispute referred by a consumer reporting agency.
The final rule, Procedures To Enhance the Accuracy and Integrity of Information Furnished to Consumer Reporting Agencies Under Section 312 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, and the ANPR, Guidelines for Furnishers of Information to Consumer Reporting Agencies, are available at the Federal Register online at www.gpoaccess.gov/fr.
