FCRA requirements on users taking adverse action based on consumer reports

What this document is

15 U.S.C. s. 1681m: FCRA requirements on users taking adverse action based on consumer reports is a state statute published by U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo.gov). It is one of the documents that insurance license exam questions are written from, including life & health, property & casualty, personal lines practice questions. This page summarizes it and points to the official version, which is the text to rely on.

Sections cited in practice questions

Each practice answer shows the exact passage it comes from. These are sections of this document that questions cite, with a short excerpt from the source text.

• 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a) (adverse action requirements)

  “If any person takes any adverse action with respect to any consumer that is based in whole or in part on any information contained in a consumer report, the person shall - (1) provide oral, written, or electronic notice of the adverse action to the consumer;”

• 15 U.S.C. § 1681m: Section 615(a) (Duties of Users Taking Adverse Actions)

  “or electronic notice of the consumer's right - (A) to obtain, under section 1681j of this title, a free copy of a consumer report on the consumer from the consumer reporting agency referred to in paragraph (3), which notice shall include an indication of the 60-day period under that section for obtaining such a copy;”

• 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a)(4), notice of the right to a free copy of the report

  “(4) provide to the consumer an oral, written, or electronic notice of the consumer's right - (A) to obtain, under section 1681j of this title, a free copy of a consumer report on the consumer from the consumer reporting agency referred to in paragraph (3), which notice shall include an indication...”

• 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a)(3)(B) (Agency Not Decision-Maker)

  “(B) a statement that the consumer reporting agency did not make the decision to take the adverse action and is unable to provide the consumer the specific reasons why the adverse action was taken;”

• 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(b)(1) (Third-Party Information Disclosure)

  “Whenever credit for personal, family, or household purposes involving a consumer is denied or the charge for such credit is increased either wholly or partly because of information obtained from a person other than a consumer reporting agency bearing upon the consumer's credit worthiness, credit...”

• 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a)(3)(A): identification of the consumer reporting agency in the adverse action notice

  “If any person takes any adverse action with respect to any consumer that is based in whole or in part on any information contained in a consumer report, the person shall - (1) provide oral, written, or electronic notice of the adverse action to the consumer; (2) provide to the consumer written or...”

• 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(d)(1)(D) and (E) (Duties of users making written credit or insurance solicitations on basis of information contained in consumer files)

  “(D) the consumer has a right to prohibit information contained in the consumer's file with any consumer reporting agency from being used in connection with any credit or insurance transaction that is not initiated by the consumer; and (E) the consumer may exercise the right referred to in...”

• 15 U.S.C. 1681m(a)(3) (Duties of users taking adverse actions on basis of information contained in consumer reports)

  “(A) the name, address, and telephone number of the consumer reporting agency (including a toll-free telephone number established by the agency if the agency compiles and maintains files on consumers on a nationwide basis) that furnished the report to the person; and (B) a statement that the...”

• 15 U.S.C. 1681m(f) (Prohibition on sale or transfer of debt caused by identity theft)

  “No person shall sell, transfer for consideration, or place for collection a debt that such person has been notified under section 1681c–2 of this title has resulted from identity theft. (2) Applicability The prohibitions of this subsection shall apply to all persons collecting a debt described in...”

• 15 U.S.C. s. 1681m(d)(3) (Maintaining criteria on file)

  “A person who makes an offer of credit or insurance to a consumer under a credit or insurance transaction described in paragraph (1) shall maintain on file the criteria used to select the consumer to receive the offer, all criteria bearing on credit worthiness or insurability, as applicable, that...”

Practice this material

Questions about this source

More Federal sources sources

• Coverage for Pre-existing Conditions (Affordable Care Act) - HealthCare.govFederal guidance
• 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520 -- Evaluation of Disability in General (the five-step sequential evaluation process)Regulation
• Parts of Medicare (Medicare & You / medicare.gov)Federal guidance
• Continuation of Health Coverage (COBRA) - U.S. Department of LaborReference
• Portability of Health Coverage (HIPAA) - U.S. Department of LaborReference
• Fair Credit Reporting Act - 15 U.S.C. § 1681a (Definitions)State statute
• 15 U.S.C. s. 1681b: FCRA permissible purposes of consumer reportsState statute
• 15 U.S.C. s. 1681c: FCRA requirements relating to obsolete information in consumer reportsState statute