SUMMARY OF RIGHTS UNDER FCRA

The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA aka FACT) is designed to promote accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of every "consumer reporting agency" (CRA). Most CRA's are credit bureaus that gather and sell information about you - such as if you pay your bills on time or have filed bankruptcy- to creditors, employers, landlords, and other businesses. You can find the complete text of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681-1681u, at the Federal Trade Commission's web site (http://www.ftc.gov). The FCRA gives you specific rights, as outlined below. You may have additional rights under the state law. You may contact a state or local consumer protection agency or a state attorney general to learn those rights.

1. You must be told if information in your file has been used against you. Anyone who uses

information from a CRA to take action against you--such as denying an application for credit,

insurance, or employment--must tell you, and give you the name, address, and phone number of

the CRA that provided the consumer report.

2. You can find out what is in your file. At your request, a CRA must give you the information

in your file, and a list of everyone who has requested it recently. There is no charge for the report

if a person has taken action against you because of information supplied by the CRA, if you

request the report within 60 days of receiving notice of the action. You are also entitled to one

free report every twelve months upon request if you certify that (1) you are unemployed and plan

to seek employment within 60 days, (2) you are on welfare, or (3) your report is inaccurate due

to fraud. Otherwise, a CRA may charge you up to eight dollars.

3. You can dispute inaccurate information with the CRA. If you tell a CRA that your file

contains inaccurate information, the CRA must investigate the items (usually within 30 days) by

presenting to its information source all relevant evidence you submit, unless your dispute is

frivolous. The source must review your evidence and report its findings to the CRA. (The source

also must advise national CRAs--to which it has provided the data--of any error.) The CRA must

give you a written report of the investigation and a copy of your report if the investigation results

in any change. If the CRA's investigation does not resolve the dispute, you may add a brief

statement to your file. The CRA must normally include a summary of your statement in future

reports. If an item is deleted or a dispute statement is filed, you may ask that anyone who has

recently received your report be notified of the change.

4. Inaccurate information must be corrected or deleted. A CRA must remove or correct

inaccurate or unverified information from its files, usually within 30 days after you dispute it.

However, the CRA is not required to remove accurate data from your file unless it is outdated (as

described below) or cannot be verified. If your dispute results in any change to your report, the

CRA cannot reinsert into your file a disputed item unless the information source verifies its

accuracy and completeness. In addition, the CRA must give you a written notice telling you it

has reinserted the item. The notice must include the name, address and phone number of the

information source.

5. You can dispute inaccurate items with the source of the information. If you tell anyone--

such as a creditor who reports to the CRA--that you dispute an item, they may not then report the

information to a CRA without including a notice of your dispute. In addition, once you have

notified the source of the error in writing, it may not continue to report the information if it is, in

fact, an error.

6. Outdated information may not be reported. In most cases, a CRA may not report negative

information that is more than seven years old, ten years for bankruptcies.

7. Access to your file is limited. A CRA may provide information about you only to people with

a need recognized by the FCRA--usually to consider an application with a creditor, insurer,

employer, landlord, or other business.

8. Your consent is required for reports that are provided to employers, or reports that

contain medical information. A CRA may not give out information about you to your

employer, or prospective employer, without your written consent. A CRA may not report

medical information about you to creditors, insurers, or employers without your permission.

9. You may choose to exclude your name from CRA lists for unsolicited credit and

insurance offers. Creditors and insurers may use file information as the basis for sending you

unsolicited offers of credit or insurance. Such offers must include a toll-free phone number for

you to call if you want your name and address removed from future lists. If you call, you must be

kept off the lists for two years. If you request, complete, and return the CRA form provided for

this purpose, you must be taken off the lists indefinitely.

10. You may seek damages from violators. If a CRA, a user or (in some cases) a provider of

CRA data, violates the FCRA, you may sue them in state or federal court. The FCRA gives

several different federal agencies authority to enforce the FCRA:

FCRA Contact Sheet

For credit reports, contact the bureau that supplied the report:

Experian (formerly TRW) Consumer Assistance PO Box 2350 Chatworth, CA 91313 (800)

682-7654.

Choicepoint (formerly Equifax) PO Box 740241 Atlanta, GA 30374-4213 (800) 685-1111

TransUnion PO Box 7000 North Olmsted, OH 44071 (800) 888-4213

CRAs, creditors and others not listed below Federal Trade Commission

Consumer Response Center- FCRA Washington, DC 20580 tel. (202) 326-3761

National banks, federal branches/agencies of foreign banks (word" National" or initials

"N.A." appear in or after bank's name)

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Compliance Management, Mail Stop 6-

6Washington, DC 20219 (800)-613-6743

Federal Reserve System member banks (except national banks, and federal

branches/agencies of foreign banks)

Federal Reserve Board Division of Consumer & Community Affairs Washington, DC

20551 (202) 452-3693

Savings associations and federally chartered savings banks (word "Federal" or initials

"F.S.B." appear in federal institution's name)

Office of Thrift Supervision Consumer Programs Washington D.C. 20552 (800) 842-6929

Federal credit unions (words "Federal Credit Union" appear in institution's name)

National Credit Union Administration 1775 Duke Street Alexandria, VA 22314 (703) 518-

6360

State-chartered banks that are not members of the Federal Reserve System

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Division of Compliance & Consumer

Affairs Washington, DC 20429 (800)-934-FDIC

Air, surface, or rail common carriers regulated by former Civil Aeronautics Board or

Interstate Commerce Commission

Department of Transportation Office of Financial Management Washington, DC 20590

(202) 366-1306

Activities subject to the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 Department of Agriculture

Office of Deputy Administrator- GIPSA Washington, DC 20250 (202) 720-7051