this summary of the provisions of the Washington State Fair Credit
Reporting Act
(WFCRA) is being provided to you pursuant to state law. The WFCRA is designed to promote accuracy,
fairness, consumer
confidentiality and the proper use of credit data by each consumer reporting agency (CRA) in
accordance with the
requirements of the
WFCRA.
The WFCRA is modeled after, and generally provides the same rights as, the federal Fair Credit
Reporting Act (FCRA) (15
U.S.C. §
1681 et seq.) A summary of your rights under the FCRA is available at:
http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201504_cfpb_summary_your-rights-under-fcra.pdf.
The complete text of the WFCRA RCW 19.182, can be obtained from the Washington Code Revisers
Office,
P.O. Box 40551, Olympia, WA 98504, or online at:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=19.182&full=true%20-%2019.182.070.
One significant distinction between the FCRA and the WFCRA is that in Washington, an employer may
not obtain a consumer
report
that indicates the consumer’s credit worthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity, unless (1)
the information is
substantially job related
and the employer’s reason(s) for using the information are disclosed in writing, or (2) the
information is required by
law.
The following is a summary of your major rights under the WFCRA:
• You will be required to provide proper identification before reviewing your consumer file.
Proper identification may
include your Social Security number. You may request to review your file at any time. A CRA will
make disclosures of
your
file available to you during normal business hours and on reasonable notice. File disclosures may
be done in person or
by
telephone, if you have made a written request and pay the toll charge, as applicable, or by any
other reasonable means.
A CRA
will provide trained personnel to explain to you any information in your consumer report. Upon
request, and proper
identification, you may be permitted to bring one additional person with you to review your
consumer file. If the CRA
provides
you with a credit score, the agency will also provide you with an explanation for that credit
score.
• You have a right to know what is in your file. Upon proper identification, you may request and
obtain all the
information
about you in the CRA’s files, although medical information may be withheld, and instead will be
disclosed to a health
care
provider of your choice. Your health care provider may disclose your medical information to you
directly. Your file
disclosure
will include all items of information the CRA maintains about you, including sources of
information (except sources
acquired
solely for use in an investigative report). The file will also identify each person who procured
your consumer report
for
employment purposes during the two-year period preceding your request, or any person who procured
your report for any
other
purpose within the six-months prior to your request. When applicable, a record of inquiries the
CRA received identifying
you
in a credit transaction that was not initiated by you in the six-months prior to your file
disclosure request. Each of
these records
will include the name of the person or trade name of the business that sought your consumer file,
and upon your request,
their
respective addresses.
• You are entitled to one free consumer report every 12 months, upon request. In many cases, your
file disclosure will
be
free. You may be charged a limited fee for a second or subsequent report requested by you during a
12 month period. You
will
also not be charged for:
o a consumer report if a person has taken adverse action against you because of information in
your report;
o the reinvestigation of information you dispute; or
o corrected reports resulting from the deletion of inaccurate or unverifiable information.
• You must be told if information in your file has been used against you. If a person takes an
adverse action against
you that
is based, in whole or in part, on information contained in a consumer report, that person must
tell you (usually,
through a written
notice), and must give you the name, address, and telephone number of the CRA that provided the
information.
• You have a right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. If you identify information in
your file that is
incomplete
or inaccurate, and you notify the CRA directly of the dispute, the CRA will reinvestigate without
charge and record the
current
status of the disputed information before the end of thirty business days, unless your dispute is
frivolous. Upon
completion of
the reinvestigation, within five business days of the CRA’s decision, the agency will provide you
notice in writing or
through
another authorized means, of the results of the reinvestigation. If the CRA determines that your
dispute is frivolous
the agency
will inform you of that determination, along with its reasons, and your rights under the WFCRA
within five business
days.
• Consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable
information. Upon
completion of the reinvestigation, if the information you disputed is found to be inaccurate or
cannot be verified, the
CRA must
delete the information and notify you of the correction. Information that has been found to be
inaccurate will not be
reinserted
into your consumer file, unless the furnisher of the information verifies the accuracy and
completeness of that
information. In
such circumstances, you will be notified, within thirty business days that the information is
being reinserted into your
file. If
the reinvestigation does not resolve your dispute, you may file with the CRA a brief statement
(that may be limited to
100
08-15-2016
words) setting forth the nature of your dispute. The statement will be placed in your consumer
file and in any
subsequent report
containing the information you disputed.
• You have the right to request that users of your consumer report be notified of any disputed
information they
previously
received within the statutory time frame. After certain disputed information has been deleted or
you have filed a
statement
of dispute, you may request that the CRA provides notification of that deleted item or item of
dispute to any person you
designate who has, within two years received your consumer report for employment purposes, or who
has within six months
received your report for any other purpose, if the furnished report contained the deleted or
disputed information.
• Consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information. In most cases, a CRA
may not report negative
information that is more than seven years old, or bankruptcies that are more than ten years old.
• You have the right to advanced disclosure of any fees. Any charges for file disclosures or other
requested actions to
be
taken by the CRA must be disclosed to you before the information is provided or the action is
taken.
• Access to your file is limited. A CRA may provide information about you only to people with a
valid need – usually to
consider
an application with a creditor, insurer, employer, landlord, court or government agency, or in
accordance with your
written
instructions.
• You must be notified if reports are provided to employers. A CRA may not give out information
about you to employers
without your knowledge. A potential employer must make a clear and conspicuous disclosure in
writing to you or obtain
your
consent before obtaining a report. A current employer may not receive a report unless it has given
you written notice
that reports
may be used for employment purposes.
• You must be notified in writing if a person seeks an investigative consumer report about you. An
investigative
consumer
report may include information as to your character, general reputation, personal characteristics,
and mode of living.
Within a
reasonable period of time after receiving such notice, you may request, in writing, a disclosure
as to the nature and
scope of the
investigation requested—which will be delivered to you within five days of your request.
• You may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your
credit report. You
may elect not to receive unsolicited “prescreened” offers for credit and insurance by using the
CRA’s notification
system to
remove your name and address from the lists these offers are based on. You may opt-out with the
nationwide credit
bureaus at
1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688).
• You may place a security freeze on your credit report. Under certain circumstances, you may
request that a security
freeze
be placed on your credit report to prevent it from being shared with potential creditors or
insurance companies when
making
determinations related to your eligibility for credit.
• You may be able to block information resulting from identity theft from appearing on your credit
report. If you are a
victim of identity theft, certain CRAs must permanently block misinformation resulting from that
theft from appearing on
your
credit report. You must provide the CRA with a copy of a police report as evidence of your claim
before it can place the
block
on your report.
• You may seek damages from violators. If a CRA, a user of consumer reports, or a furnisher of
information to a CRA
violates
the WFCRA, and you have a legal basis for a claim under the WFCRA, you may be able to bring a
legal action in court to
assert your rights under the WFCRA. The applicable statute of limitations is specified in Wash.
Stat. § 19.182.120
—which is
generally two years from the date the cause of action accrued. Consumers who prevail on claims to
enforce the WCFRA may
obtain actual damages, monetary penalties, reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs, and other relief.