The Fair Credit Reporting Act

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires credit bureaus to maintain reasonable procedures for handling credit information and allows credit bureaus to do the following:

Gather credit information to establish your eligibility for credit, insurance or employment.

Provide this information to anyone that intends to use the information for credit, insurance, employment, eligibility for government benefits or other legitimate business needs like collecting debts you may owe. 

Report bankruptcies up to 10 years.

Report lawsuits, paid tax liens, criminal activity, collection agency activities, any activities involving $150,000 of credit or job. information above $75,000 per year and judgments up to seven years.

Interview your neighbors or friends regarding your credit worthiness and report criminal activity.

FCRA was passed in 1971 and is designed to protect your rights regarding your credit report with the credit bureaus.

Details of FCRA can be found here: 15 United States Code (USC) 1681.