A
s a public service, the staff of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has
prepared the following complete text of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
(FCRA), 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. Although staff generally
followed the format of the U.S. Code as published by the Government Printing
Office, the format of this text does differ in minor ways from the Code (and
from West’s U.S. Code Annotated). For example, this version uses FCRA
section numbers (§§ 601-629) in the headings. (The relevant U.S. Code citation
is included with each section heading and each reference to the FCRA in the
text.) Although the staff has made every effort to transcribe the statutory
material accurately, this compendium is intended only as a convenience for the
public and not a substitute for the text in the U.S. Code.
This version of the FCRA includes the amendments to the FCRA set forth in
the Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-208, the
Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1997, Title II,
Subtitle D, Chapter 1), Section 311 of the Intelligence Authorization for Fiscal
Year 1998 (Public Law 105-107), the Consumer Reporting Employment
Clarification Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-347), Section 506 of the Gramm-
Leach-Bliley Act (Public Law 106-102), Sections 358(g) and 505(c) of the
Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required
to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act) (Public
Law 107-56), the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT
Act) (Public Law 108-159), Section 719 of the Financial Services Regulatory
Relief Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-351), Section 743 (Div. D, Title VII) of
the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-161), the Credit
and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-241), and
Sections 205 and 302 of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and
Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-24), the Consumer Financial
Protection Act of 2010 (CFPA) (Title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform
and Consumer Protection Act, Public Law 111-203), and the Red Flag Program
Clarification Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-203), and Sections 301, 302, and
602 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection
Act (Public Law 115-174). The Commission website posted this document on
September 1, 2011.
The provisions added to the FCRA by the FACT Act became effective at
different times. In some cases, the provision includes its own effective date. In
other cases, the FACT Act provides that the effective dates be prescribed by the
FTC and Federal Reserve Board. See 16 CFR Part 602 (69 Fed. Reg. 6526;
February 11, 2004) (69 Fed. Reg. 29061; May 20, 2004).
The provisions added to the FCRA by the CFPA became effective on July 21,
2011, the “designated transfer date” on which the Bureau of Consumer Financial
Protection assumed certain duties specified by the CFPA. See 75 Fed. Reg.
57252 (Sept. 20, 2010).