Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act

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The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act or FACTA, ) is a United States federal law, passed by the United States Congress on December 4 2003, as an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The act allows consumers to request and obtain a free credit report once every twelve months from each of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). In cooperation with the Federal Trade Commission, the three major credit reporting agencies set up the website, annualcreditreport.com, to provide free access to annual credit reports.

The act also contains provisions to help reduce identity theft, such as the ability for individuals to place alerts on their credit histories if identity theft is suspected, or if deploying overseas in the military, thereby making fraudulent applications for credit more difficult. Further, it requires secure disposal of consumer information.

Another key item was the requirement that mortgage lenders provide consumers with a Credit Disclosure Notice that included their credit scores, range of scores, credit bureaus, scoring models, and factors affecting their scores. This form is typically available from credit reporting agencies, and many will send this directly to the consumer on the lenders' behalf.

See also

• Fair Credit Reporting Act

HR 4008, introduced into the 110th Congress on October 30, 2007, was developed to redefine willfulness in the FACTA violation of printing an expiration date on a customer credit card receipt. If enacted, HR4008 would render moot numerous class action lawsuits across the country seeking statutory damages amounting to billions for zero actual plaintiff harm.

External links

• Fact Sheet
• NFIB's Fact Sheet
• Full text of the "Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003"

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Last updated on Wednesday January 30, 2008 at 20:23:51 PST (GMT -0800)
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