Credit and Credit Reports - Furnishers of Information

If you are trying to figure out the process by which your financial information ends up in a credit report, you should know about the furnishers of information to consumer reporting agencies (CRAs). Furnishers of information are people or businesses that sell you items on credit or make loans to you and then report the transactions and any delinquent payments to the CRAs, which in turn compile credit reports.

The furnishing of consumer information, the correction of information in credit reports, and the investigations of disputed information are regulated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Providing Information

Under the FCRA, furnishers of information to consumer reporting agencies must provide accurate information to the CRAs. A person may not furnish any information about you, the consumer, to a CRA if the person has specific knowledge that would cause a reasonable person to doubt the accuracy of the information. If you've properly reported to a furnisher that specific credit information is inaccurate, that furnisher cannot supply the inaccurate information to a CRA.

Correcting Information

A person who regularly furnishes information to CRAs about your transactions and discovers such information is not complete or accurate is required to:

• Promptly notify the agency that the information is not complete or accurate
• Provide the agency with any necessary corrections to that information

Other Requirements

If you dispute information, the furnisher may not give the information to any CRA without providing notice to the CRA that such information is disputed by you. Also, if you voluntarily close a credit account with the furnisher of information, the furnisher must notify the CRA that you voluntarily closed the account. If a person furnishes information to a CRA regarding a delinquent account being placed for collection, within 90 days, specific information about the delinquency dates must be reported as well.

Furnishers of information also have duties in connection with information related to identity theft.

Any financial institution that furnishes negative information to a CRA regarding credit extended to you must provide a notice of such furnishing, in writing, to you. This notice must be provided to you prior to, or no later than 30 days after, the negative information is furnished.

Reinvestigating Disputes

You can make a direct request for the furnisher of information to reinvestigate inaccurate information which is contained in a consumer report.

In order to dispute the accuracy of information directly with the furnisher, you must send a dispute notice to the furnisher at the address provided by the furnisher. Your notice must:

• Identify the specific information being disputed
• Explain the basis for the dispute
• Include all supporting documentation required by the furnisher to substantiate your claim

After receiving such a notice, the furnisher must:

• Conduct an investigation with respect to the disputed information
• Review all relevant information provided by you with the notice
• Complete the investigation of the dispute and report the results of the investigation to you

If the investigation finds that the information reported was inaccurate, the furnisher must:

• Promptly notify each CRA to which the person has furnished the inaccurate information
• Provide corrected information to the agency

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