Fair Credit Reporting Act

The Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA, was enacted in 1970 (15 U.S.C § 1681) and regards consumer’s credit information. For the most part, it details information about the reporting of consumer’s credit information, who may report, what they may report, and rules regarding the use of this information. Individual collectors do not deal with the majority of this law but may have to review credit reports. A Credit Reporting Agency, or CRA, collects information on borrowers and compiles reports based on that information. Lenders and collection agencies will report bad debt to a CRA, and order reports from a CRA for the use of asset verification and skip tracing. It is good practice to understand this law.