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The following is an excerpt from the Fair Credit Reporting Act dealing with a disputed account. For the complete Act click here.
§ 611. Procedure in case of
disputed accuracy [15 U.S.C. § 1681i]
(a) Reinvestigations of disputed
information.
- (1) Reinvestigation required.
(A) In general. If the
completeness or accuracy of any item of information
contained in a consumer's file at a consumer
reporting agency is disputed by the consumer and the
consumer notifies the agency directly of such dispute,
the agency shall reinvestigate free of charge and
record the current status of the disputed information,
or delete the item from the file in accordance with
paragraph (5), before the end of the 30-day period
beginning on the date on which the agency receives
the notice of the dispute from the consumer.
(B) Extension of
period to reinvestigate. Except as provided in
subparagraph (C), the 30-day period described in
subparagraph (A) may be extended for not more than 15
additional days if the consumer reporting agency
receives information from the consumer during that 30-day
period that is relevant to the reinvestigation.
(C) Limitations on
extension of period to reinvestigate. Subparagraph (B)
shall not apply to any reinvestigation in which,
during the 30-day period described in subparagraph (A),
the information that is the subject of the
reinvestigation is found to be inaccurate or
incomplete or the consumer reporting agency
determines that the information cannot be verified.
- (2) Prompt notice of dispute
to furnisher of information.
-
- (A) In general.
Before the expiration of the 5-business-day
period beginning on the date on which a consumer
reporting agency receives notice of a dispute
from any consumer in accordance with paragraph (1),
the agency shall provide notification of the
dispute to any person who provided any item of
information in dispute, at the address and in the
manner established with the person. The notice
shall include all relevant information regarding
the dispute that the agency has received from the
consumer.
-
- (B) Provision of
other information from consumer. The consumer
reporting agency shall promptly provide to the
person who provided the information in dispute
all relevant information regarding the dispute
that is received by the agency from the consumer
after the period referred to in subparagraph (A)
and before the end of the period referred to in
paragraph (1)(A).
(3) Determination that
dispute is frivolous or irrelevant.
(A) In general.
Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a consumer reporting
agency may terminate a reinvestigation of information
disputed by a consumer under that paragraph if the
agency reasonably determines that the dispute by the
consumer is frivolous or irrelevant, including by
reason of a failure by a consumer to provide
sufficient information to investigate the disputed
information.
(B) Notice of
determination. Upon making any determination in
accordance with subparagraph (A) that a dispute is
frivolous or irrelevant, a consumer reporting agency
shall notify the consumer of such determination not
later than 5 business days after making such
determination, by mail or, if authorized by the
consumer for that purpose, by any other means
available to the agency.
(C) Contents of notice.
A notice under subparagraph (B) shall include
(i) the reasons
for the determination under subparagraph (A); and
(ii)
identification of any information required to
investigate the disputed information, which may
consist of a standardized form describing the
general nature of such information.
- (4) Consideration of
consumer information. In conducting any
reinvestigation under paragraph (1) with respect
to disputed information in the file of any
consumer, the consumer reporting agency shall
review and consider all relevant information
submitted by the consumer in the period described
in paragraph (1)(A) with respect to such disputed
information.
-
- (5) Treatment of
inaccurate or unverifiable information.
(A) In general. If,
after any reinvestigation under paragraph (1) of
any information disputed by a consumer, an item
of the information is found to be inaccurate or
incomplete or cannot be verified, the consumer
reporting agency shall promptly delete that item
of information from the consumer's file or modify
that item of information, as appropriate, based
on the results of the reinvestigation.
(B) Requirements
relating to reinsertion of previously deleted
material.
(i)
Certification of accuracy of information. If
any information is deleted from a consumer's
file pursuant to subparagraph (A), the
information may not be reinserted in the file
by the consumer reporting agency unless the
person who furnishes the information
certifies that the information is complete
and accurate.
(ii) Notice to
consumer. If any information that has been
deleted from a consumer's file pursuant to
subparagraph (A) is reinserted in the file,
the consumer reporting agency shall notify
the consumer of the reinsertion in writing
not later than 5 business days after the
reinsertion or, if authorized by the consumer
for that purpose, by any other means
available to the agency.
(iii)
Additional information. As part of, or in
addition to, the notice under clause (ii), a
consumer reporting agency shall provide to a
consumer in writing not later than 5 business
days after the date of the reinsertion
(I) a
statement that the disputed information
has been reinserted;
(II) the
business name and address of any
furnisher of information contacted and
the telephone number of such furnisher,
if reasonably available, or of any
furnisher of information that contacted
the consumer reporting agency, in
connection with the reinsertion of such
information; and
(III) a
notice that the consumer has the right to
add a statement to the consumer's file
disputing the accuracy or completeness of
the disputed information.
(C) Procedures to
prevent reappearance. A consumer reporting agency
shall maintain reasonable procedures designed to
prevent the reappearance in a consumer's file, and in
consumer reports on the consumer, of information that
is deleted pursuant to this paragraph (other than
information that is reinserted in accordance with
subparagraph (B)(i)).
(D) Automated
reinvestigation system. Any consumer reporting agency
that compiles and maintains files on consumers on a
nationwide basis shall implement an automated system
through which furnishers of information to that
consumer reporting agency may report the results of a
reinvestigation that finds incomplete or inaccurate
information in a consumer's file to other such
consumer reporting agencies.
- (6) Notice of results of
reinvestigation.
(A) In general. A consumer
reporting agency shall provide written notice to a
consumer of the results of a reinvestigation under this
subsection not later than 5 business days after the
completion of the reinvestigation, by mail or, if
authorized by the consumer for that purpose, by other
means available to the agency.
(B) Contents. As part of,
or in addition to, the notice under subparagraph (A), a
consumer reporting agency shall provide to a consumer in
writing before the expiration of the 5-day period
referred to in subparagraph (A)
(i) a statement that
the reinvestigation is completed;
(ii) a consumer report
that is based upon the consumer's file as that file
is revised as a result of the reinvestigation;
(iii) a notice that,
if requested by the consumer, a description of the
procedure used to determine the accuracy and
completeness of the information shall be provided to
the consumer by the agency, including the business
name and address of any furnisher of information
contacted in connection with such information and the
telephone number of such furnisher, if reasonably
available;
(iv) a notice that the
consumer has the right to add a statement to the
consumer's file disputing the accuracy or
completeness of the information; and
(v) a notice that the
consumer has the right to request under subsection (d)
that the consumer reporting agency furnish
notifications under that subsection.
- (7) Description of
reinvestigation procedure. A consumer reporting agency
shall provide to a consumer a description referred to in
paragraph (6)(B)(iii) by not later than 15 days after
receiving a request from the consumer for that
description.
-
- (8) Expedited dispute
resolution. If a dispute regarding an item of information
in a consumer's file at a consumer reporting agency is
resolved in accordance with paragraph (5)(A) by the
deletion of the disputed information by not later than 3
business days after the date on which the agency receives
notice of the dispute from the consumer in accordance
with paragraph (1)(A), then the agency shall not be
required to comply with paragraphs (2), (6), and (7) with
respect to that dispute if the agency
(A) provides prompt notice
of the deletion to the consumer by telephone;
(B) includes in that
notice, or in a written notice that accompanies a
confirmation and consumer report provided in accordance
with subparagraph (C), a statement of the consumer's
right to request under subsection (d) that the agency
furnish notifications under that subsection; and
(C) provides written
confirmation of the deletion and a copy of a consumer
report on the consumer that is based on the consumer's
file after the deletion, not later than 5 business days
after making the deletion.
(b) Statement of
dispute. If the reinvestigation does not resolve the
dispute, the consumer may file a brief statement
setting forth the nature of the dispute. The consumer
reporting agency may limit such statements to not
more than one hundred words if it provides the
consumer with assistance in writing a clear summary
of the dispute.
(c) Notification of
consumer dispute in subsequent consumer reports.
Whenever a statement of a dispute is filed, unless
there is reasonable grounds to believe that it is
frivolous or irrelevant, the consumer reporting
agency shall, in any subsequent consumer report
containing the information in question, clearly note
that it is disputed by the consumer and provide
either the consumer's statement or a clear and
accurate codification or summary thereof.
(d) Notification of
deletion of disputed information. Following any
deletion of information which is found to be
inaccurate or whose accuracy can no longer be
verified or any notation as to disputed information,
the consumer reporting agency shall, at the request
of the consumer, furnish notification that the item
has been deleted or the statement, codification or
summary pursuant to subsection (b) or (c) of this
section to any person specifically designated by the
consumer who has within two years prior thereto
received a consumer report for employment purposes,
or within six months prior thereto received a
consumer report for any other purpose, which
contained the deleted or disputed information.
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