The Fair Credit Reporting Act in Texas

Texas had enacted a law that provided that no consumer reporting agency may make a consumer report containing records of arrest, indictment, or conviction of a crime or any other adverse item of information which antedates the report by more than 7 years, EXCEPT if the salary is reasonably expected to equal $75,000 or more.  However, this law was created in 1997 and therefore we are of the opinion that the Fair Credit Reporting Act nullifies this statute.

Texas also has its Business and Commerce Code which is Chapter 20, Regulation of Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies.  This law provides for much of the same as the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  The law provides for the permissible times that a person or company can access a consumer’s report, and its requirements are the same as that of the FCRA.  However, this law extends beyond just pure credit reporting agencies and includes requirements of businesses that are “check verifiers.”  It provides that a check verifier, upon written request from the consumer, must disclose to the consumer in writing all information pertaining to the consumer in the check verifier’s files at the time of the request, and must also disclose the criteria the company used to verify and provide the consumer with a method of disputing inaccurate information.  In addition, Texas has made into its law a process by which the consumer reporting agencies must handle a dispute received by a consumer.  Although the Texas law seems to follow the FCRA exactly, it still is of no consequence as the FCRA will control over Texas’s state law.

Like so many other states, Texas provides its own version of a law providing its citizens the right to a security freeze on their credit files.  This law also provides who and when a freeze may be placed, how it can get removed both permanently and temporarily, and the charges that the reporting bureaus may charge to place or remove a freeze.

Contact SmithMarco, P.C., Today

If you have an error or inaccurate information on your credit report, there are actions that you can take. Contact SmithMarco, P.C., today for a completely free case review.