Answer:
Before you can get a person's credit report, you must notify the individual in writing -- in a document consisting solely of this notice -- that a report may be used. You also must get the person's written authorization before you ask a credit bureau for the report.
If you rely on a credit report for an "adverse action" -- denying a job application, reassigning or terminating an employee, or denying a promotion -- be aware that:
- Before you take the adverse action, you must give the individual a pre-adverse action disclosure that includes a copy of the individual's credit report and a copy of "A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act" -- a document prescribed by the Federal Trade Commission. The credit bureau that furnishes the individual's report will give you the summary of consumer rights.
- After you've taken an adverse action, you must give the individual notice -- orally, in writing, or electronically -- that the action has been taken in an adverse action notice. It must include:
- the name, address, and phone number of the credit bureau that supplied the credit report;
- a statement that the credit bureau that supplied the report did not make the decision to take the adverse action and cannot give specific reasons for it; and
- a notice of the individual's right to dispute the accuracy or completeness of any information the bureau furnished, and his or her right to an additional free credit report from the credit bureau upon request within 60 days.
Certifications to Credit Bureaus.Before giving you an individual's credit report, the credit bureau will require you to certify that you are in compliance with the FCRA and that you will not misuse any information in the report in violation of federal or state equal employment opportunity laws or regulations.
First published on BankersOnline.com 07/04/05
print
share