What Your FCRA Compliance Manual Should Include

In the last issue of the CRA Advisor I explained “Why You Need an FCRA Compliance Manual”. In summary, liability under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. §1681 (FCRA) often turns on whether the CRA has “reasonable procedures” for compliance. A CRA with a properly drafted and implemented FCRA Compliance Manual can prevail in an FCRA lawsuit by establishing that it has such reasonable procedures. In this issue I discuss the important provisions that should be included in your Manual.

Permissible Purpose Procedures

Your Compliance Manual should include procedures for complying with §1681e(a) to ensure your clients have one of the permissible purposes for your reports specified in § 1681b(a). These procedures should require new clients to identify themselves and certify their permissible purposes and that reports will be used for only those purposes. The Manual should include procedures for verifying the identity of new clients and their certifications.