Fair Credit Reporting Act Amendments: A Summary and Analysis

On December 4, 2003, President Bush signed the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (the "Amendments"), which adopts the financial service industry’s long-sought permanent preemption relating to critical provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (the "FCRA").

This memorandum is intended to provide our financial service clients and friends with an initial summary of the principal changes made to the FCRA as a result of the adoption of the Amendments, as well as indicating operational concerns to be addressed as the federal agencies responsible for implementing the modifications made to the FCRA engage in an extensive rule-making process.¹

For ease of discussion, the analysis will be divided into the following sections: (a) a general overview; (b) credit reporting requirements; (c) credit theft and verification requirements; (d) preemption concerns; (e) rulemaking and effective dates; (e) miscellaneous provisions; and (f) conclusions and recommendations.²