We are trying to locate a customer who is writing Bad Checks, can we pull a credit report to try to locate the individual?

According to FCRA, no.

I'm confused. I thought it would be a permissable purpose if you pulled a credit report on an existing account in order to "monitor", etc., however, you seem confident in your answer. Could you explain? Thanks.

I would've answered "yes" also.

Do you have language stating that effect in your deposit agreement? For example ours says "The undersigned agree(s) to the applicable terms and conditions as amended from time to time and authorize the institution to verify credit and employment history by any necessary means, including preparation of a credit report by a credit agency.... That covers us, I think

If the writer of the bad checks is your customer, you may pull a credit report based on your ongoing business relationship. If the person writing the bad checks is someone else, it gets stickier.

Pam, I'd say you're covered for customers. But I'm not a lawyer.

To give you a little insight, look to the Fair Credit Reporting Act Section 604, a, 3, F. It states that you can pull the report if you have a "legitimate business need for the information (i) in connection with a business transaction that is initiated by the consumer; or (ii) to review an account to determine whether the consumer continues to meet the terms of the account." This should have you covered.

Ditto. The "legitimate business need" for information is actually fairly broad. What it means is that for questions such as this, pulling a report is legitimate. Just don't pull one on your neighbor to see how they are doing!