Your consumer rights regarding your credit file are ensured by several federal laws. In addition, state law which also apply. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) was designed specifically to help ensure that credit bureaus furnish businesses with correct and complete information to use when evaluating your application or your creditworthiness.

The FCRA protects consumers by requiring credit bureaus to adopt reasonable procedures regarding confidentiality, accuracy and proper use of your credit information. In summary, the FCRA states:

• You have the right to know
  the name of anyone who received your credit report
  in the last year for most purposes and in the last
  two years for employment purposes;
• At your request, a credit
  reporting agency must provide you with your credit
  file. You are entitled to one free report per year
  if a) you are unemployed and plan to seek employment
  in 60 days, b) you are on welfare or c) your report
  is inaccurate due to fraud. If you have been denied
  credit, you also may request a free copy of your
  credit report, as long as the credit file is
  requested within 60 days of denial notification;
• Inaccurate information must
  be corrected or deleted by the credit reporting
  agency, usually within 30 days after you
  successfully dispute the information;
• A credit reporting agency may
  not report negative information, in most cases, that
  is more than seven years old, or in the case of
  bankruptcies, 10 years old;
• Your consent is required for
  reports that are provided to employers, or for
  reports that contain medical information; and,
• Access to your file is limited only to those with a need recognized by the FCRA-;usually to consider an application with a creditor, insurer, employer, landlord or other business.
  

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