Fair Credit Reporting Act - Which Companies Are Regulated By The FCRA?

Which Companies Are Regulated By The FCRA?

The three major U.S.-based consumer credit reporting companies Transunion, Equifax, and Experian are (and were intended to be) the primary entities subject to restrictions under the FCRA.

While database companies like LexisNexis, Westlaw, ChoicePoint, and eFunds (owner of ChexSystems) do not create credit reports per se, they may gather the same types of information and as a result may subject some of their actions to FCRA, e.g. when they provide such information to insurance companies, banks and other entities which may deny services, or favorable rates for services, based on that information.

An excerpt of the 1999 FTC advisory opinion states:

An entity that meets the definitional requirement for a "consumer reporting agency" (CRA) in Section 603(f) of the FCRA is covered by the law even if the only information it collects, maintains, and disseminates is obtained from "public record" sources.

Section 603(f) defines a "consumer reporting agency" as any person "which, for monetary fees, dues, or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages in whole or in part in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or other information ... for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties ...". In turn, Section 603(d) defines a "consumer report" as the communication of "any information" by a CRA that bears on a consumer's "credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living" that is "used or expected to be used or collected in whole or in part" for the purpose of serving as a factor in establishing eligibility for credit or insurance to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, employment purposes, or any other purpose authorized under Section 604.

If the commercial service you describe regularly provides information for the purposes set forth in the definition of consumer report in Section 603(d), the agency is a consumer reporting agency and the information it collects from public record sources and maintains in its computerized files is subject to the FCRA.