Fair Credit Reporting Act

The Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. §1681 and the sections that follow, is United States law. It governs consumer reporting agencies, the furnishers who report to them, and the users of consumer reports there. Other countries have their own credit-reporting laws. It is a file statute. It is not a statute that cancels a debt you owe.

Section 609 (§1681g) requires disclosure of what is in your file. Section 611 (§1681i) requires a reinvestigation when you dispute the accuracy of an item, generally within 30 days of the agency’s receipt, with a possible 15-day extension if you add relevant information during that window. Section 605 (§1681c) limits how long most negative information may be reported, generally seven years from the delinquency that led to a collection or charge-off, and longer for bankruptcies. That reporting period is not a state’s deadline for filing a lawsuit.

A freeze and a fraud alert are also FCRA mechanisms. They restrict or flag access. They do not delete tradelines. A letter that cites the Act as a guarantee of deletion is citing a process, not an outcome. Accurate, verifiable information can remain in the file.