You must be told if information in your file has been used against you.

Anyone who utilizes a credit report to make decisions based on information in that file (insurance, credit companies, banks or employers) or anyone who will take adverse action based in part or in whole must tell you, and give you the name, address and telephone number of the agency that provided the information (ex. Original creditor)

You have the right to know what's in your file.

You may request and obtain all the information about you in any file held by a consumer reporting bureau("Your file disclosure"). You will be required to provide proper identification including a social security number. Most disclosures are free. You are entitled to a free file disclosure if: A person has taken adverse action against your person/a business entity because of information contained in a credit report; you are a victim of identity theft and have initiated a fraud alert on your file; your file contains false information due to identity theft of fraud; you are on public assistance; you are unemployed but expect to apply for unemployment within 60 days.

All consumers are entitled to one free disclosure every 12 months upon request from each of the top 3 credit reporting bureaus, nationally. You may visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore or www.annualcreditreport.com for more information.

You have the right to ask for a credit score.

Credit scores are numerical summaries which quantify your credit worthiness based on information culled from credit reporting bureaus. You may request a credit score from consumer reporting bureaus that create scores or distribute scores used in residential/real property loans, but you will have to pay for it. In some mortgage transactions, you may receive credit score information for free from the mortgage lender.

You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information.

If you identify information on your file(s) that is incomplete or inaccurate and report it to the consumer reporting bureaus, the bureaus must investigate.

Consumer reporting bureaus must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information.

Inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable information must be removed or corrected, usually within 30 days. However a consumer reporting bureau may continue to report information it has verified as accurate.

Consumer reporting bureaus may not report outdated negative information.

In many, if not most cases a consumer reporting bureau may not report negative information that is more than 7 years old, or bankruptcies that are more than 10 years old.

Access to your file is limited.

A consumer reporting bureau may provide information about you to people with a valid need—usually to consider an application with a creditor, insurer, employer, landlord or other business.

You must give consent for consent to be provided to employers.

A consumer reporting bureau may not give out information about you to your employer, or a potential employer without you written consent given to the employer in question. Some industries are exempt from this.

You may limit "prescreened" offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your credit report.

Unsolicited "prescreened" offers for credit and insurance must include toll-free telephone numbers where you can call and opt to remove yourself your name and address from lists these offers are based upon. You may opt out with the nationwide credit bureaus at:

1-888-5optout (1-888-567-8688)

You may seek damages from violators.

If a consumer reporting bureau, or in some instances, a user of consumer reports or a furnisher of information to a consumer reporting bureau violates the FCRA, you may be able to sue in state or federal court.

Identity theft victims and active duty military personnel have additional rights.

For more information please visit; www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore

States may also enforce the FCRA, and many states have their own consumer reporting laws.

In some cases, you may have more rights under state law. For more information on your rights contact your State Attorneys General.