FACTA - Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act

Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), Pub. L. No. 108-159, 117 Stat. 1952-2012 (codified as amended at 15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.; 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. (2003)) is best known for giving American citizens the right to request a free credit report once a year. FACTA also provides for the secure disposal of consumer data, helps prevent identity theft, and places restrictions on how healthcare data can be used by the financial services industry. Note the following key provisions of FACTA:

- FACTA gives a consumer the right to have a reporting agency place an identity theft alert for a 90 day period on their account, and to disclose this alert along with requests for the consumer's credit score for 7 years.

- Sales receipts may not include more than 5 digits from a credit card number.

- Red Flags Rule - mandated that the National Credit Union Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, and other federal banking agencies adopt regulations to prevent identity theft.

- Issuers of consumer reports must respond to requests for home address corrections.

- Mortgage lenders also have to provide a borrower with a Credit Disclosure Notice that lists their credit score and the factors that contributed to that score.

- Credit reporting agencies have to provide consumers upon request with a summary (following a model prescribed by the FTC) of their rights to remedy identity theft.

- A credit reporting agency must block any information used in a credit report within 4 days of receiving proof that the information was the result of identity theft.

- Credit agencies must submit annual reports to the FTC regarding all of the identity theft and fraud alerts they process.