The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law that regulates how credit reporting agencies use your information. Enacted in 1970 and substantially amended in the late 1990s, the FCRA is meant to promote accuracy, fairness, and privacy. If a credit reporting agency violates the FCRA, you may sue for damages in state or federal court.

Under the FCRA, credit reporting agencies are required to:

Give you your credit report upon request. Credit reporting agencies must give you the information in your file if you ask for it. A report may cost up to $9, but you're entitled to one free report every 12 months if you've been denied credit in the past 60 days, if you're unemployed or on welfare, or if you're a resident of Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, or Vermont. Georgia residents can get two free reports each year.

Limit access to your information. A credit reporting agency may not provide your credit report to any party that lacks a permissible purpose, such as the evaluation of an application for a loan, credit, service, or employment. Permissible purposes also include several business and legal uses; for details, see the full text of the FCRA.

Get your consent before providing your information to an employer. An agency may not give your information to an employer or potential employer without your written permission.

Tell you when your credit report has been used against you. If your credit report has contributed to the denial of your application for credit, employment, or insurance, the denying party must inform you of that fact and give you the contact information of the agency that provided the credit report.

Investigate disputed information. If you tell a credit reporting agency that your file contains inaccurate information, the agency must promptly investigate the matter with the company that provided the information. If the investigation fails to resolve the dispute, you may add a statement explaining the matter to your credit file.

Correct or delete inaccurate information. A credit reporting agency must promptly fix or remove inaccurate or unverified information from your credit file.

Delete outdated information. In general, negative information that is more than 7 years old (10 years for bankruptcies) must be removed from your file.

Remove your name from marketing lists upon request. Creditors and insurers may share information in your credit file with marketers who send you unsolicited offers. To request that the three credit reporting agencies not share your information with marketers, call 888/567-8688.

The FCRA contains numerous provisions not listed here. For the complete text, visit the Federal Trade Commission. State laws may give you additional credit rights; contact your state's consumer protection agency for information.