The Dangerous Implications of a 'Right' to Free Credit Scores

Abstract

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 2003, every American has a right to a free credit report once a year from each of the three major credit bureaus - Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. A search on any major search engine for "credit report" will lead the user (via the top search result) to AnnualCreditReport.com, which guides the user through getting these free reports after verifying their identity - a process that takes about 15 minutes. Having these reports empowers us all to take responsibility for verifying the accuracy of the borrowing history used to make assessments about our credit-worthiness, and also to detect fraud or identity theft. But for some lawmakers, this freebie isn't enough.

Keywords: PFF, Policy, Regulation, Communications, Law