What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)?

The FCRA is a Federal Law that regulates how consumer credit information is collected, used and shared. FCRA specifies separate responsibilities for credit reporting agencies (CRAs) and “information furnishers”, the creditors or businesses or agencies which furnish them with information used to create consumer credit reports. These responsibilities are designed to ensure accuracy, fairness and privacy of the information contained in your credit report. The FCRA was designed to ensure that CRAs furnish correct and complete information to businesses to use when evaluating your application. To help ensure the information is correct and complete, the Act ensures that consumers can check their own reports and make changes to them if necessary.