Role of Consumer Credit Report Agencies

Consumer credit report agencies (a.k.a. CRA, consumer reporting agency) are institutions that gather information about consumers. It would be for determining how creditworthy a person is. It also may be used for other reasons such as verification of identity or to determine employability.

One type of agency that holds a person’s personal files is a credit bureau. They have a variety of responsibilities as well as retaining a person’s records. Please see this list summarizing those:

• They have a duty to provide a consumer with information verify the accuracy of a credit report. This includes offering a free copy of their files once a year. This includes the receipt of information provided by Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax (three major U.S. financial bureaus).
• They may remove or insert negative credit information. In this process, they cannot re-insert disputed information without contacting the creditor within five days.
• Oftentimes reporting agencies may be responsible for entering negative information on people’s credit report. However, each type of delinquency and legal transaction on the credit report can only stay on their files for so long.
• Additional information that CRAs collect includes the following: medical financial records or payments, residential or tenant history, check writing history, or employment history.
• Consumer reporting agencies are also responsible in some way for keeping track of insurance claims.

Additional Responsibilities

Credit bureaus and other CRA entities often sell information pertaining to a person’s financial history. Therefore, they are obligated to provide annual disclosures about such.

There is no law, however, stating that this needs to be provided online. According to U.S. laws the minimum amount of information needed for disclosure would be a toll free telephone used for these purposes.

Additional Info

The kind of company that provides facts about consumers to CRAs is called an information furnisher. Examples of types of information furnishers include the following creditors: car loan companies, mortgage lending institutions, and credit card companies).

In providing information to CRAs, lenders must make sure the data they supply is complete and accurate. They also must fix disputed errors in the event the error was the fault of a creditor within 30 days, and/or after the fact.

Any time negative information is soon to be placed on a credit report the consumer must be notified within 30 days beforehand. The notice could be a part of the consumer monthly statement or sent separately.