Recent transfers in authority will cause compliance changes for the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Previously, responsibilities for overseeing and promulgating rules under the FCRA were handled by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). However, over the past year the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been inheriting regulative and interpretive responsibilities for the FCRA.
In its inaugural year, the CFPB has already begun to implement changes. Most recently, the CFPB published new disclosure form requirements for users and furnishers of credit report information. Updated forms include the Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Notice to Furnishers of Information: Obligations of Furnishers Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and Notice to Users of Consumer Reports: Obligations of Users Under the FCRA. Notable changes to these forms include the replacement of all references of the FTC and corresponding links to their website with references to the new bureau and its website. New disclosures will be mandatory beginning January 1, 2013. Downloads available on the Government Printing Office Website at 12 C.F.R. 1022 Appendices K, M & N.
More changes are likely on the horizon as the new agency begins to more actively assume its role.