Notices of Consumer Rights

Federal Notices of Consumer Rights

Para información en español, visite www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore o escribe a la Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street N.W., Washington, DC 20552.

A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) promotes the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies. There are many types of consumer reporting agencies, including credit bureaus and specialty agencies (such as agencies that sell information about check writing histories, medical records, and rental history records). Here is a summary of your major rights under FCRA. For more information, including information about additional rights, go to www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore or write to: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street N.W., Washington, DC 20552.

You must be told if information in your file has been used against you. Anyone who uses a credit report or another type of consumer report to deny your application for credit, insurance, or employment – or to take another adverse action against you – must tell you, and must give you the name, address, and phone number of the agency that provided the information.
You have the right to know what is in your file. You may request and obtain all the information about you in the files of a consumer reporting agency (your “file disclosure”). You will be required to provide proper identification, which may include your Social Security number. In many cases, the disclosure will be free. You are entitled to a free file disclosure if:
- a person has taken adverse action against you because of information in your credit report;
- you are the victim of identity theft and place a fraud alert in your file;
- your file contains inaccurate information as a result of fraud;
- you are on public assistance;
- you are unemployed but expect to apply for employment within 60 days.
In addition, all consumers are entitled to one free disclosure every 12 months upon request from each nationwide credit bureau and from nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies. See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore for additional information.
You have the right to ask for a credit score. Credit scores are numerical summaries of your credit-worthiness based on information from credit bureaus. You may request a credit score from consumer reporting agencies that create scores or distribute scores used in residential real property loans, but you will have to pay for it. In some mortgage transactions, you will receive credit score information for free from the mortgage lender.
You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. If you identify information in your file that is incomplete or inaccurate, and report it to the consumer reporting agency, the agency must investigate unless your dispute is frivolous. See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore for an explanation of dispute procedures.
Consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information. Inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information must be removed or corrected, usually within 30 days. However, a consumer reporting agency may continue to report information it has verified as accurate.
Consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information. In most cases, a consumer reporting agency may not report negative information that is more than seven years old, or bankruptcies that are more than 10 years old.
Access to your file is limited. A consumer reporting agency may provide information about you only to people with a valid need – usually to consider an application with a creditor, insurer, employer, landlord, or other business. The FCRA specifies those with a valid need for access.
You must give your consent for reports to be provided to employers. A consumer reporting agency may not give out information about you to your employer, or a potential employer, without your written consent given to the employer. Written consent generally is not required in the trucking industry. For more information, go to www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.
You may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your credit report. Unsolicited “prescreened” offers for credit and insurance must include a toll-free phone number you can call if you choose to remove your name and address from the lists these offers are based on. You may opt out with the nationwide credit bureaus at 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688).
The following FCRA right applies with respect to nationwide consumer reporting agencies:
CONSUMERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO OBTAIN A SECURITY FREEZE
You have a right to place a “security freeze” on your credit report, which will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing information in your credit report without your express authorization. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit.
As an alternative to a security freeze, you have the right to place an initial or extended fraud alert on your credit file at no cost. An initial fraud alert is a 1-year alert that is placed on a consumer’s credit file. Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer’s credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer’s identity before extending new credit. If you are a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting 7 years.
A security freeze does not apply to a person or entity, or its affiliates, or collection agencies acting on behalf of the person or entity, with which you have an existing account that requests information in your credit report for the purposes of reviewing or collecting the account. Reviewing the account includes activities related to account maintenance, monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades and enhancements.
You may seek damages from violators. If a consumer reporting agency, or, in some cases, a user of consumer reports or a furnisher of information to a consumer reporting agency violates the FCRA, you may be able to sue in state or federal court.
Identity theft victims and active duty military personnel have additional rights. For more information, visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.

States may enforce the FCRA, and many states have their own consumer reporting laws. In some cases, you may have more rights under state law. For more information, contact your state or local consumer protection agency or your state Attorney General. For information about your federal rights, contact:

TYPE OF BUSINESS:	CONTACT:
1. Banks, savings associations, and credit unions with total assets of over $10 billion and their affiliates Such affiliates that are not banks, savings associations, or credit unions also should list, in addition to the CFPB:	Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 1700 G Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20552 Federal Trade Commission Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20580 (877) 382-4357
2. To the extent not included in item 1 above: National banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and federal agencies of foreign banks State member banks, branches and agencies of foreign banks (other than federal branches, federal agencies, and Insured State Branches of Foreign Banks), commercial lending companies owned or controlled by foreign banks, and organizations operating under section 25 or 25A of the Federal Reserve Act. Nonmember Insured Banks, Insured State Branches of Foreign Banks, and insured state savings associations Federal Credit Unions	Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Customer Assistance Group 1301 McKinney Street, Suite 3450 Houston, TX 77010-9050 Federal Reserve Consumer Help Center P.O. Box 1200 Minneapolis, MN 55480 FDIC Consumer Response Center 1100 Walnut Street, Box #11 Kansas City, MO 64106 National Credit Union Administration Office of Consumer Financial Protection (OCFP) Division of Consumer Compliance Policy and Outreach 1775 Duke Street Alexandria, VA 22314
3. Air carriers	Asst. General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement & Proceedings Aviation Consumer Protection Division Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. Washington, DC 20590
4. Creditors Subject to the Surface Transportation Board	Office of Proceedings, Surface Transportation Board Department of Transportation 395 E Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20423
5. Creditors Subject to the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921	Nearest Packers and Stockyards Administration area supervisor
6. Small Business Investment Companies	Associate Deputy Administrator for Capital Access United States Small Business Administration 409 Third Street, S.W., Suite 8200 Washington, DC 20416
7. Brokers and Dealers	Securities and Exchange Commission 100 F Street, N.E. Washington, DC 20549
8. Federal Land Banks, Federal Land Bank Associations, Federal Intermediate Credit Banks, and Production Credit Associations	Farm Credit Administration 1501 Farm Credit Drive McLean, VA 22102-5090
9. Retailers, Finance Companies, and All Other Creditors Not Listed Above	Federal Trade Commission Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20580 (877) 382-4357

Para información en español, visite www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore o escribe al Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street N.W., Washington, DC 20552.

Remedying the Effects of Identity Theft

You are receiving this information because you have notified a consumer reporting company that you believe that you are a victim of identity theft. Identity theft occurs when someone uses your name, Social Security number, date of birth, or other identifying information, without authority, to commit fraud. For example, someone may have committed identity theft by using your personal information to open a credit card account or to get a loan in your name. For more information, visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore or write to: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street N.W., Washington, DC 20552.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) gives you specific rights when you are, or believe that you are, the victim of identity theft. Here is a brief summary of the rights designed to help you recover from identity theft.

You have the right to ask that nationwide consumer reporting companies place “fraud alerts” in your file to let potential creditors and others know that you may be a victim of identity theft. A fraud alert can make it more difficult for someone to get credit in your name because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect you. It also may delay your ability to obtain credit. You may place a fraud alert in your file by calling just one of the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies. As soon as the agency processes your fraud alert, it will notify the other two, which then also must place fraud alerts in your file.
- Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; www.equifax.com
- Experian: 1-888-397-3742; www.experian.com
- TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com
An initial fraud alert stays in your file for at least 90 days. An extended alert stays in your file for seven years. To place either of these alerts, a consumer reporting agency will require you to provide appropriate proof of your identity, which may include your Social Security number. If you ask for an extended alert, you will also have to provide an identity theft report. An identity theft report includes a copy of a report you have files with a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency, and additional information a consumer reporting agency may require you to submit. For more detailed information about the identity theft report, visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.
You have the right to free copies of the information in your file (your “file disclosure”). An initial fraud alert entitles you to a copy of all the information in your file at each of the three nationwide agencies, and an extended alert entitles you to two free file disclosures in a 12-month period following the placing of the alert. These additional disclosures may help you detect signs of fraud, for example, whether fraudulent accounts have been opened in your name or whether someone has reported a change in your address. Once a year, you also have the right to a free copy of the information in your file at any consumer reporting agency, if you believe it has inaccurate information due to fraud, such as identity theft. You also have the ability to obtain additional free file disclosures under other provisions of the FCRA. See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.
You have the right to obtain documents relating to fraudulent transactions made or accounts opened using your personal information. A creditor or other business must give you copies of applications and other business records relating to transactions and accounts that resulted from the theft of your identity, if you ask for them in writing. A business may ask you for proof of your identity, a police report, and an affidavit before giving you the documents. It also may specify an address for you to send your request. Under certain circumstances, a business can refuse to provide you with these documents. See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.
You have the right to obtain information from a debt collector. If you ask, a debt collector must provide you with certain information about the debt you believe was incurred in your name by an identity thief - like the name of the credit and the amount of the debt.
If you believe information in your file results from identity theft, you have the right to ask that a consumer reporting agency block that information from your file. An identity thief may run up bills in your name and not pay them. Information about the unpaid bills may appear on your consumer report. Should you decide to ask a consumer reporting agency to block the reporting of this information, you must identify the information to block, and provide the consumer reporting agency with proof of your identity and a copy of your identity theft report. The consumer reporting agency can refuse or cancel your request for a block if, for example, you don’t provide the necessary documentation, or where the block results from an error or a material misrepresentation of fact made by you. If the agency declines or rescinds the block, it must notify you. Once a debt resulting from identity theft has been blocked, a person or business with notice of the block may not sell, transfer, or place the debt for collection.
You also may prevent businesses from reporting information about you to consumer reporting agencies if you believe the information is a result of identity theft. To do so, you must send your request to the address specified by the business that reports the information to the consumer reporting agency. The business will expect you to identify what information you do not want reported and to provide an identity theft report.

To learn more about identity theft and how to deal with its consequences, visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore, or write to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. You may have additional rights under state law. For more information, contact your local consumer protection agency or your state Attorney General.

In addition to the new rights and procedures to help consumers deal with the effects of identity theft, the FCRA has many other important consumer protections. They are described in more detail at www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.

State Notices of Consumer Rights

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Alabama Consumer Rights Notice

Alaska Consumer Rights Notice

Arkansas Consumer Rights Notice

California Consumer Rights Notice

Colorado Consumer Rights Notice

Connecticut Consumer Rights Notice

Delaware Consumer Rights Notice

District of Columbia Consumer Rights Notice

Florida Consumer Rights Notice

Georgia Consumer Rights Notice

Indiana Consumer Rights Notice

Maryland Consumer Rights Notice

Massachusetts Consumer Rights Notice

Missouri Consumer Rights Notice

Montana Consumer Rights Notice

Nevada Consumer Rights Notice

New Hampshire Consumer Rights Notice

New Jersey Consumer Rights Notice

New Mexico Consumer Rights Notice

New York Consumer Rights Notice

North Carolina Consumer Rights Notice

North Dakota Consumer Rights Notice

Ohio Consumer Rights Notice

Oklahoma Consumer Rights Notice

Rhode Island Consumer Rights Notice

Tennessee Consumer Rights Notice

Texas Consumer Rights Notice

Vermont Consumer Rights Notice

Virginia Consumer Rights Notice

Washington Consumer Rights Notice

West Virginia Consumer Rights Notice

Wisconsin Consumer Rights Notice

Alabama Consumer Rights Notice

You have a right to place a security freeze on your credit report, which will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing information in your credit report without your express authorization. A security freeze must be requested in writing by certified mail or by electronic means as provided by a consumer reporting agency. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. If you are actively seeking a new credit, loan, utility, telephone, or insurance account, you should understand that the procedures involved in lifting a security freeze may slow your applications for credit. You should plan ahead and lift a freeze in advance of actually applying for new credit. When you place a security freeze on your credit report, you will be provided a personal identification number or password to use if you choose to remove the freeze on your credit report or authorize the release of your credit report for a period of time after the freeze is in place.

To provide that authorization you must contact the consumer reporting agency and provide all of the following:

(1) Your personal identification number or password.

(2) Proper identification to verify your identity.

(3) The proper information regarding the period of time for which the report shall be available. A consumer reporting agency must authorize the release of your credit report no later than 15 minutes after receiving the above information if the request is by electronic means or by telephone, or no later than three business days when a written request is submitted.

A security freeze does not apply to a person or entity, or its affiliates or collection agencies acting on behalf of the person or entity, with which you have an existing account, that requests information in your credit report for the purposes of reviewing or collecting the account. Reviewing the account includes activities related to account maintenance. Unless you are a victim of identity theft with a police report or other official document acceptable to a consumer reporting agency to verify the crime, or you are 65 years of age or older, a consumer reporting agency has the right to charge you a fee of no more than ten dollars ($10) to place a freeze on your credit report.

Alaska Consumer Rights Notice

You may obtain a security freeze on your credit report and credit score for $5 to protect your privacy and ensure that credit is not granted in your name without your knowledge. You may not have to pay the $5 charge if you are a victim of identity theft. You have a right to place a security freeze on your credit report and credit score under state law (AS 45.48.100--45.48.290).

The security freeze will prohibit a consumer credit reporting agency from releasing your credit score and any information in your credit report without your express authorization or approval.

The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and other services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report and credit score may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, a mortgage, a governmental service, a governmental payment, a cellular telephone, a utility, an Internet credit card application, an extension of credit at point of sale, and other items and services.

When you place a security freeze on your credit report and credit score, within 10 business days, you will be provided a personal identification number, password, or similar device to use if you choose to remove the freeze on your credit report and credit score or to temporarily authorize the release of your credit report and credit score to a specific third party or specific third parties or for a specific period of time after the freeze is in place. To provide that authorization, you must contact the consumer credit reporting agency and provide all of the following:

(1) proper identification to verify your identity;

(2) the personal identification number, password, or similar device provided by the consumer credit reporting agency;

(3) proper information necessary to identify the third party or third parties who are authorized to receive the credit report and credit score or the specific period of time for which the credit report and credit score are to be available to third parties.

A consumer credit reporting agency that receives your request to temporarily lift a freeze on a credit report and credit score is required to comply with the request within 15 minutes, except after normal business hours and under certain other conditions, after receiving your request if you make the request by telephone, or an electronic method if the agency provides an electronic method, or within three business days after receiving your request if you make the request by mail. The consumer credit reporting agency may charge you $2 to temporarily lift the freeze.

A security freeze does not apply to circumstances where you have an existing account relationship and a copy of your credit report and credit score are requested by your existing creditor or its agents or affiliates for certain types of account review, collection, fraud control, or similar activities.

If you are actively seeking credit, you should understand that the procedures involved in lifting a security freeze may slow your own applications for credit. You should plan ahead and lift a freeze, either completely if you are shopping around, or specifically for a certain creditor, days before applying for new credit.

You have a right to bring a civil action against someone who violates your rights under these laws on security freezes. The action can be brought against a consumer credit reporting agency.

Arkansas Consumer Rights Notice

You have the right to place a “security freeze” on your credit report, which will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing information in your credit report without your express authorization.

The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, government services or payments, rental housing, employment, investment, license, cellular phone, utilities, digital signature, Internet credit card transaction, or other services, including an extension of credit at point of sale.

When you place a security freeze on your credit report, you will be provided a personal identification number or password to use if you choose to remove the security freeze on your credit report or authorize the release of your credit report for a period of time after the security freeze is in place. To provide that authorization you must contact the consumer reporting agency by one (1) of the methods that it requires and provide all of the following:

(1) Your personal identification number or password;

(2) Proper identification to verify your identity; and

(3) The proper information regarding the period of time for which the credit report shall be available.

A consumer reporting agency must authorize the release of your credit report for a period of time within fifteen (15) minutes or as soon as practical if good cause exists for the delay, and must remove a security freeze no later than three (3) business days after receiving all of the above items by any method that the consumer reporting agency allows.

A security freeze does not apply to a person or an entity, or its affiliates, or collection agencies acting on behalf of the person or entity with which you have an existing account that requests information in your credit report for the purposes of reviewing or collecting the account. Reviewing the account includes activities related to account maintenance, monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades and enhancements.

You have a right to bring a civil action against anyone, including a consumer reporting agency, that willfully or negligently fails to comply with any requirement of the Arkansas Consumer Report Security Freeze Act.

A consumer reporting agency has the right to charge you up to five dollars ($5.00) to place a security freeze on your credit report, to temporarily lift a security freeze on your credit report, or to remove a security freeze from your credit report. However, you shall not be charged any fee if you are at least sixty-five (65) years of age or if you are a victim of identity theft and have submitted, in conjunction with the security freeze request, a copy of a valid investigative report or incident report or complaint with a law enforcement agency alleging the unlawful use of your identifying information by another person.

California Consumer Rights Notice

You have a right to obtain a copy of your credit file from a consumer credit reporting agency. You may be charged a reasonable fee not exceeding eight dollars ($8). There is no fee, however, if you have been turned down for credit, employment, insurance, or a rental dwelling because of information in your credit report within the preceding 60 days. The consumer credit reporting agency must provide someone to help you interpret the information in your credit file.

You have a right to dispute inaccurate information by contacting the consumer credit reporting agency directly. However, neither you nor any credit repair company or credit service organization has the right to have accurate, current, and verifiable information removed from your credit report. Under the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, the consumer credit reporting agency must remove accurate, negative information from your report only if it is over seven years old. Bankruptcy information can be reported for 10 years.

If you have notified a consumer credit reporting agency in writing that you dispute the accuracy of information in your file, the consumer credit reporting agency must then, within 30 business days, reinvestigate and modify or remove inaccurate information. The consumer credit reporting agency may not charge a fee for this service. Any pertinent information and copies of all documents you have concerning an error should be given to the consumer credit reporting agency.

If reinvestigation does not resolve the dispute to your satisfaction, you may send a brief statement to the consumer credit reporting agency to keep in your file, explaining why you think the record is inaccurate. The consumer credit reporting agency must include your statement about disputed information in a report it issues about you.

You have a right to receive a record of all inquiries relating to a credit transaction initiated in 12 months preceding your request. This record shall include the recipients of any consumer credit report.

You may request in writing that the information contained in your file not be provided to a third party for marketing purposes.

You have a right to place a “security alert” in your credit report, which will warn anyone who receives information in your credit report that your identity may have been used without your consent. Recipients of your credit report are required to take reasonable steps, including contacting you at the telephone number you may provide with your security alert, to verify your identity prior to lending money, extending credit, or completing the purchase, lease, or rental of goods or services. The security alert may prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent.

However, you should be aware that taking advantage of this right may delay or interfere with the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or cellular phone or other new account, including an extension of credit at point of sale. If you place a security alert on your credit report, you have a right to obtain a free copy of your credit report at the time the 90-day security alert period expires. A security alert may be requested by calling the following toll-free telephone number: (Insert applicable toll-free telephone number). California consumers also have the right to obtain a “security freeze.”

You have a right to place a “security freeze” on your credit report, which will prohibit a consumer credit reporting agency from releasing any information in your credit report without your express authorization. A security freeze must be requested in writing by mail. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or cellular phone or other new account, including an extension of credit at point of sale. When you place a security freeze on your credit report, you will be provided a personal identification number or password to use if you choose to remove the freeze on your credit report or authorize the release of your credit report for a specific party or period of time after the freeze is in place. To provide that authorization you must contact the consumer credit reporting agency and provide all of the following:

(1) The personal identification number or password.

(2) Proper identification to verify your identity.

(3) The proper information regarding the third party who is to receive the credit report or the period of time for which the report shall be available to users of the credit report.

A consumer credit reporting agency must authorize the release of your credit report no later than three business days after receiving the above information.

A security freeze does not apply when you have an existing account and a copy of your report is requested by your existing creditor or its agents or affiliates for certain types of account review, collection, fraud control, or similar activities.

If you are actively seeking credit, you should understand that the procedures involved in lifting a security freeze may slow your application for credit. You should plan ahead and lift a freeze, either completely if you are shopping around, or specifically for a certain creditor, before applying for new credit.

A consumer credit reporting agency may not charge a fee to a consumer for placing or removing a security freeze if the consumer is a victim of identity theft and submits a copy of a valid police report or valid Department of Motor Vehicles investigative report. A person 65 years of age or older with proper identification shall not be charged a fee for placing an initial security freeze, but may be charged a fee of no more than five dollars ($5) for lifting, removing, or replacing a security freeze. All other consumers may be charged a fee of no more than ten dollars ($10) for each of these steps.

You have a right to bring civil action against anyone, including a consumer credit reporting agency, who improperly obtains access to a file, knowingly or willfully misuses file data, or fails to correct inaccurate file data.

If you are a victim of identity theft and provide to a consumer credit reporting agency a copy of a valid police report or a valid investigative report made by a Department of Motor Vehicles investigator with peace officer status describing your circumstances, the following shall apply:

(1) You have a right to have any information you list on the report as allegedly fraudulent promptly blocked so that the information cannot be reported. The information will be unblocked only if (A) the information you provide is a material misrepresentation of the facts, (B) you agree that the information is blocked in error, or (C) you knowingly obtained possession of goods, services, or moneys as a result of the blocked transactions. If blocked information is unblocked, you will be promptly notified.

(2) You have a right to receive, free of charge and upon request, one copy of your credit report each month for up to 12 consecutive months.

Colorado Consumer Rights Notice

You may obtain a security freeze on your consumer report to protect your privacy and ensure that credit is not granted in your name without your knowledge, except as provided by law. You have a right to place a security freeze on your consumer report to prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing any information in your consumer report without your express authorization or approval, except as the law allows.

You will not be initially charged to place a security freeze on your consumer report. However, you will be charged a fee of no more than ten dollars to temporarily lift the freeze for a period of time, to permanently remove the freeze from your consumer report, or when you make a subsequent request for a freeze to be placed on your consumer report. As well, you may be charged a fee of no more than twelve dollars to temporarily lift the freeze for a specific party.

The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. When you place a security freeze on your consumer report, within five business days you will be provided procedures for the temporary release of your consumer report to a specific party or parties or for a period of time after the security freeze is in place. To provide that authorization, you must contact the consumer reporting agency and provide the proper information regarding the third party or parties who are to receive the consumer report or the period of time for which the report shall be available to users of the consumer report.

A consumer reporting agency that receives a request from a consumer to temporarily lift a security freeze on a consumer report shall comply with the request no later than three business days after receiving the request.

A security freeze does not apply to circumstances where you have an existing account relationship, and a copy of your report is requested by your existing creditor or its agents or affiliates for certain types of account review, collection, fraud control, or similar activities.

You should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gains access to the personal and financial information in your consumer report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding new loans, credit, mortgage, insurance, government services or payments, rental housing, employment, investment, license, cellular phone, utilities, digital signature, internet credit card transaction, or other services, including an extension of credit at the point of sale. You should plan ahead and lift a security freeze either completely if you are shopping around, or specifically for a certain creditor a few days before actually applying for new credit.

You have the right to bring a civil action or submit to binding arbitration against a consumer reporting agency to enforce an obligation under the security freeze law after following specified dispute procedures and having received the necessary notice.

State Consumers Have the Right to Obtain a Security Freeze for Their Children or Legal Wards

You may obtain from a consumer reporting agency a credit report security freeze for your child who is under sixteen years of age or for your legal ward. If a consumer report has not yet been created for your child or legal ward, you may request that a consumer reporting agency create a consumer record for him or her and place a security freeze on his or her consumer record. You will not be charged to have a security freeze placed on your child’s or legal ward’s consumer report or to have a consumer record created for your child or legal ward and to have a security freeze placed on the consumer record. You will not be charged to have a security freeze placed on or removed from your child’s or legal ward’s credit report or record.

Connecticut Consumer Rights Notice

You have a right to obtain a copy of your credit file from a credit rating agency. You may be charged a reasonable fee not exceeding five dollars for your first request in twelve months or seven dollars and fifty cents for any subsequent request in that same twelve-month period. There is no fee, however, if you have been turned down for credit, employment, insurance or a rental dwelling because of information in your credit report within the preceding sixty days. The credit rating agency must provide someone to help you interpret the information in your credit file.

You have a right to dispute inaccurate information by contacting the credit rating agency directly. However, neither you nor any credit repair company or credit service organization has the right to have accurate, current and verifiable information removed from your credit report. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, the credit rating agency must remove accurate, negative information from your report only if it is over seven years old. Bankruptcy information can be reported for ten years.

If you have notified a credit rating agency in writing that you dispute the accuracy of information in your file, the credit rating agency must then, within thirty business days, reinvestigate and modify or remove inaccurate information. If you provide additional information to the credit rating agency, the agency may extend this time period by fifteen business days. The credit rating agency shall provide you with a toll-free telephone number to use in resolving the dispute.

The credit rating agency may not charge a fee for this service. Any pertinent information and copies of all documents you have concerning an error should be given to the credit rating agency.

If reinvestigation does not resolve the dispute to your satisfaction, you may send a brief statement to the credit rating agency to keep in your file, explaining why you think the record is inaccurate. The credit rating agency must include your statement about disputed information in a report it issues about you.

You have a right to receive a record of all inquiries relating to a credit transaction initiated in twelve months preceding your request which resulted in the provision of a credit report.

You may request in writing that the information contained in your file not be provided to a third party for marketing purposes.

If you have reviewed your credit report with the credit rating agency and are dissatisfied, you may contact the Connecticut Department of Banking. You have a right to bring civil action against anyone who knowingly or willfully misuses file data or improperly obtains access to your file.

Delaware Consumer Rights Notice

You may obtain a security freeze on your credit report for no more than ten dollars to protect your privacy and ensure that credit is not granted in your name without your knowledge. You have a right to place a security freeze on your credit report pursuant to Delaware law. The security freeze will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing any information in your credit report without your express authorization or approval. You must separately request, by certified mail, that it be frozen by the three consumer reporting agencies and pay each a ten dollar fee to do so. After January 31, 2009, you will be able to request this freeze from the agencies by e-mail.

The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. When you place a security freeze on your credit report, you will be sent a personal identification number or password to use if you choose to remove the freeze on your credit report or to temporarily authorize the release of your credit report for a specific period of time after the freeze is in place. To provide that authorization, you must contact the consumer reporting agency and provide all of the following:

1. The unique personal identification number or password provided by the consumer reporting agency.

2. Proper identification to verify your identity.

3. The proper information regarding the period of time for which the report shall be available to users of the credit report.

4. A consumer reporting agency that receives a request from a consumer to lift temporarily a freeze on a credit report shall comply with the request no later than three business days after receiving the request. By January 31, 2009, the consumer reporting agency must temporarily lift the freeze within 15 minutes of receiving the request.

A security freeze does not apply to circumstances where you have an existing account relationship and a copy of your report is requested by your existing creditor or its agents or affiliates for certain types of account review, collection, fraud control or similar activities.

If you are actively seeking a new credit, loan, utility, telephone, or insurance account, you should understand that the procedures involved in lifting a security freeze may slow your own applications for credit. You should plan ahead and lift a freeze with enough advance notice before you apply for new credit for the lifting to take effect. Until January 31, 2009, you should lift the freeze at least 3 business days before applying, and after that date you should lift the freeze at least 15 minutes before applying for a new account.

You have a right to bring a civil action against someone who violates your rights under the credit reporting laws. The action can be brought against a consumer reporting agency.

District of Columbia Consumer Rights Notice

District of Columbia law gives you the right to place a “security freeze” on your credit report. A security freeze restricts when a credit reporting agency may release information in your credit report without your express authorization or approval.

A security freeze is designed to help prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. To obtain a security freeze, you should contact each credit reporting agency. When you place a security freeze on your credit report, the credit reporting agency will send you a personal identification number or password to use if you later choose to lift the freeze from your credit report, or to authorize the release of your credit report to a specific party or parties, or for a specific period of time after the freeze is in place. To provide that authorization, you must contact the credit reporting agency and provide all of the following:

1. The unique personal identification number or password provided by the credit reporting agency.

2. Verification of your identity.

3. Information regarding who may receive the credit report or the period of time for which the report shall be made available.

Upon receiving your proper request to lift temporarily a freeze from your credit report, the credit reporting agency shall comply within 3 business days. Beginning September 1, 2008, the credit reporting agency is required to provide methods, including web-based and telephonic methods, for you to request that the freeze be temporarily lifted within 15 minutes.

A security freeze does not apply when you have an existing account relationship and a copy of your report is requested by your existing creditor or its agents or affiliates for certain types of account review, collection, fraud control or similar activities.

If you are actively seeking credit, the procedures involved in lifting a security freeze may slow your own applications for credit. You should plan ahead and consider lifting a freeze--either completely if you are shopping around, or for a specific creditor before actually applying for new credit. Beginning September 1, 2008, you will be able to have a credit reporting agency temporarily lift a freeze on your credit report within 15 minutes of your request.

You have a right to take legal action against someone who violates your rights under the credit reporting laws. The action can be brought against a credit reporting agency or anyone who fraudulently caused the release of your credit information.

Florida Consumer Rights Notice

You have a right to place a “security freeze” on your consumer report, which will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing any information in your consumer report without your express authorization. A security freeze must be requested in writing by certified mail to a consumer reporting agency. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent.

YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT USING A SECURITY FREEZE TO CONTROL ACCESS TO THE PERSONAL AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION IN YOUR CONSUMER REPORT MAY DELAY, INTERFERE WITH, OR PROHIBIT THE TIMELY APPROVAL OF ANY SUBSEQUENT REQUEST OR APPLICATION YOU MAKE REGARDING A NEW LOAN, CREDIT, MORTGAGE, INSURANCE, GOVERNMENT SERVICES OR PAYMENTS, RENTAL HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT, INVESTMENT, LICENSE, CELLULAR PHONE, UTILITIES, DIGITAL SIGNATURE, INTERNET CREDIT CARD TRANSACTION, OR OTHER SERVICES, INCLUDING AN EXTENSION OF CREDIT AT POINT OF SALE.

When you place a security freeze on your consumer report, you will be provided a personal identification number or password to use if you choose to remove the freeze on your consumer report or authorize the release of your consumer report for a designated period of time after the security freeze is in place. To provide that authorization, you must contact the consumer reporting agency and provide all of the following:

1. The personal identification number or password.

2. Proper identification to verify your identity.

3. Information specifying the period of time for which the report shall be made available.

A consumer reporting agency must authorize the release of your consumer report no later than 3 business days after receiving the above information.

You have the right to bring a civil action against anyone, including a consumer reporting agency, who fails to comply with the provisions of s. 501.005, Florida Statutes, which governs the placing of a consumer report security freeze on your consumer report.

Georgia Consumer Rights Notice

You have a right to place a ‘security freeze’ on your credit report, which will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing information in your credit report without your express authorization. A security freeze must be requested in writing by certified mail or by electronic means as provided by a consumer reporting agency. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. If you are actively seeking a new credit, loan, utility, telephone, or insurance account, you should understand that the procedures involved in lifting a security freeze may slow your applications for credit. You should plan ahead and lift a freeze in advance of actually applying for new credit. When you place a security freeze on your credit report, you will be provided a personal identification number or password to use if you choose to remove the freeze on your credit report or authorize the release of your credit report for a period of time after the freeze is in place.

To provide that authorization you must contact the consumer reporting agency and provide all of the following:

(1) The personal identification number or password.

(2) Proper identification to verify your identity.

(3) The proper information regarding the period of time for which the report shall be available.

A consumer reporting agency must authorize the release of your credit report no later than fifteen (15) minutes after receiving the above information if the request is by electronic means or by telephone, or no later than three business days when a written request is submitted.

A security freeze does not apply to a person or entity, or its affiliates, or collection agencies acting on behalf of the person or entity, with which you have an existing account, that requests information in your credit report for the purposes of reviewing or collecting the account. Reviewing the account includes activities related to account maintenance. You have a right to bring civil action against anyone, including a consumer reporting agency, who improperly obtains access to a file, knowingly or willfully misuses file data, or fails to correct inaccurate file data. Unless you are a victim of identity theft with a police report or other official document acceptable to a consumer reporting agency to verify the crimes, or you are 65 or older, a consumer reporting agency has the right to charge you a fee of no more than $3.00 to place a freeze on your credit report.

Indiana Consumer Rights Notice

UNDER IC 24-5-24, YOU MAY OBTAIN A SECURITY FREEZE ON YOUR CONSUMER REPORT TO PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY AND ENSURE THAT CREDIT IS NOT GRANTED IN YOUR NAME WITHOUT YOUR KNOWLEDGE. THE SECURITY FREEZE WILL PROHIBIT A CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY FROM RELEASING ANY INFORMATION IN YOUR CONSUMER REPORT WITHOUT YOUR EXPRESS AUTHORIZATION OR APPROVAL.

THE SECURITY FREEZE IS DESIGNED TO PREVENT CREDIT LOANS AND SERVICES FROM BEING APPROVED IN YOUR NAME WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT. WHEN YOU PLACE A SECURITY FREEZE ON YOUR CONSUMER REPORT, WITHIN TEN (10) BUSINESS DAYS YOU WILL BE PROVIDED A PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER TO USE IF YOU CHOOSE TO REMOVE THE SECURITY FREEZE OR TO TEMPORARILY AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF YOUR CONSUMER REPORT FOR A PERIOD OF TIME OR TO A SPECIFIC PERSON AFTER THE SECURITY FREEZE IS IN PLACE. A SECURITY FREEZE DOES NOT APPLY TO PERSONS OR ENTITIES LISTED IN IC 24-5-24-11. IF YOU ARE ACTIVELY SEEKING CREDIT, YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT THE PROCEDURES INVOLVED IN LIFTING A SECURITY FREEZE MAY SLOW YOUR OWN APPLICATIONS FOR CREDIT. YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO BRING A CIVIL ACTION AGAINST SOMEONE WHO VIOLATES YOUR RIGHTS UNDER IC 24-5-24.

Maryland Consumer Rights Notice

You have a right, under § 14-1212.1 of the Commercial Law Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, to place a security freeze on your credit report. The security freeze will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing your credit report or any information derived from your credit report without your express authorization. The purpose of a security freeze is to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. A consumer reporting agency may not charge you a fee for any service relating to a security freeze, including for any placement, temporary lift, or removal of a security freeze.

You may elect to have a consumer reporting agency place a security freeze on your credit report by written request sent by certified mail or by electronic mail or the Internet if the consumer reporting agency provides a secure electronic connection. The consumer reporting agency must place a security freeze on your credit report within 3 business days after your request is received. Within 5 business days after a security freeze is placed on your credit report, you will be provided with a unique personal identification number or password to use if you want to remove the security freeze or temporarily lift the security freeze to release your credit report to a specific person or for a specific period of time. You also will receive information on the procedures for removing or temporarily lifting a security freeze.

If you want to temporarily lift the security freeze on your credit report, you must contact the consumer reporting agency and provide all of the following:

(1) The unique personal identification number or password provided by the consumer reporting agency;

(2) The proper identifying information to verify your identity; and

(3) The proper information regarding the person who is to receive the credit report or the period of time for which the credit report is to be available to users of the credit report.

A consumer reporting agency must comply with a request to temporarily lift a security freeze on a credit report within 3 business days after the request is received, or within 15 minutes for certain requests. A consumer reporting agency must comply with a request to remove a security freeze on a credit report within 3 business days after the request is received.

If you are actively seeking credit, you should be aware that the procedures involved in lifting a security freeze may slow your own applications for credit. You should plan ahead and lift a security freeze, either completely if you are seeking credit from a number of sources, or just for a specific creditor if you are applying only to that creditor, a few days before actually applying for new credit.

A security freeze does not apply if you have an existing account relationship and a copy of your credit report is requested by your existing creditor or its agents or affiliates for certain types of account review, collection, fraud control, or similar activities.

Massachusetts Consumer Rights Notice

You have a right to obtain a copy of your credit file from a consumer credit reporting agency. You may be charged a reasonable fee not exceeding $8. There is no fee, however, if you have been turned down for credit, employment, insurance or rental dwelling because of information in your credit report within the preceding 60 days. The consumer credit reporting agency must provide someone to help you interpret the information in your credit file. Each calendar year you are entitled to receive, upon request, one free consumer credit report.

You have a right to dispute inaccurate information by contacting the consumer reporting agency directly, either in writing, by mail or electronic communication through the credit reporting agency website, or by telephone. The consumer reporting agency shall provide, upon request and without unreasonable delay, a live representative of the consumer reporting agency to assist in dispute resolution whenever possible and practicable, or to the extent consistent with federal law. However, neither you nor any credit repair company or credit service organization has the right to have accurate, current and verifiable information removed from your credit report. In most cases, under state and federal law, the consumer credit reporting agency must remove accurate, negative information from your report only if it is more than 7 years old and must remove bankruptcy information only if it is more than 10 years old.

If you have notified a consumer credit reporting agency in writing that you dispute the accuracy of information in your file, the consumer credit reporting agency must then, within 30 business days, reinvestigate and modify or remove inaccurate information. The consumer credit reporting agency may not charge a fee for this service. Any pertinent information and copies of all documents you have concerning a dispute should be given to the consumer credit reporting agency.

If reinvestigation does not resolve the dispute to your satisfaction, you may send a statement to the consumer credit reporting agency to keep in your file, explaining why you think the record is inaccurate. The consumer credit reporting agency must include your statement about the disputed information in a report it issues about you.

You have a right to receive a record of all inquiries relating to a credit transaction initiated in the 6 months preceding your request, or 2 years in the case of a credit report used for employment purposes. This record shall include the recipients of any consumer credit report.

You have the right to opt out of any prescreening lists compiled by or with the assistance of a consumer credit reporting agency by calling the agency’s toll-free telephone number, or by contacting the agency through electronic communication or in writing. You may be entitled to collect compensation, in certain circumstances, if you are damaged by a person’s negligent or intentional failure to comply with the credit reporting act.

You have a right to request a “security freeze” on your consumer report. The security freeze will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing any information in your consumer report without your express authorization. A security freeze shall be requested by sending a request either by toll-free telephone, secure electronic means or mail consistent with 15 U.S.C. section 1681c-1 to a consumer reporting agency. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans or services from being approved in your name without your consent. You should be aware that using a security freeze may delay, interfere with, or prevent the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding new loans, credit, mortgage, insurance, government services or payments, rental housing, employment, investment, license, cellular phone, utilities, digital signature, internet credit card transactions or other services, including an extension of credit at point of sale.

When you place a security freeze on your consumer report, within 5 business days of receiving your request for a security freeze, the consumer reporting agency shall send confirmation of the security freeze consistent with 15 U.S.C. section 1681c-1.

Missouri Consumer Rights Notice

Missouri Consumers Have the Right to Obtain a Security Freeze.

You have a right to place a “security freeze” on your credit report, which will prohibit a consumer credit reporting agency from releasing information in your credit report without your express authorization. A security freeze must be requested in writing by mail or via other approved methods. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, government services or payments, rental housing, employment, investment, license, cellular phone, utilities, digital signature, internet credit card transaction, or other services, including an extension of credit at point of sale. When you place a security freeze on your credit report, you will be provided a personal identification number or password to use if you choose to remove the freeze on your credit report or authorize the release of your credit report for a period of time after the freeze is in place. To provide that authorization you must contact the consumer credit reporting agency and provide all of the following:

(1) The personal identification number or password;

(2) Proper identification to verify your identity;

(3) The proper information regarding the period of time for which the report shall be available.

A consumer credit reporting agency must authorize the release of your credit report no later than fifteen minutes after receiving the above information, under certain circumstances.

You have a right to bring civil action against anyone, including a consumer credit reporting agency, who improperly obtains access to a file, knowingly misuses file data, or fails to correct inaccurate file data.

Montana Consumer Rights Notice

Montana Consumers Have the Right to Obtain a Security Freeze.

You may obtain a security freeze on your credit report to protect your privacy and ensure that credit is not granted in your name without your knowledge. You have a right to place a security freeze on your credit report pursuant to Montana law.

The security freeze will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing any information in your credit report without your express authorization or approval.

The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. When you place a security freeze on your credit report, within 5 business days you will be provided a personal identification number, password, or other device to use if you choose to remove the security freeze on your credit report or to temporarily authorize the release of your credit report for a specific party, parties, or period of time after the security freeze is in place. To provide that authorization, you shall contact the consumer reporting agency and provide all of the following:

(1) the unique personal identification number, password, or other device provided by the consumer reporting agency;

(2) the proper identification to verify your identity;

(3) the proper information regarding the third party or parties who are to receive the credit report or the period of time for which the credit report is to be available to users of the credit report; and

(4) a fee, if applicable.

A consumer reporting agency that receives a request from a consumer to temporarily lift a security freeze on a credit report shall comply no later than 3 business days after receiving the request or, after January 31, 2009, within 15 minutes of receiving a request by telephone or through a secure electronic connection.

A security freeze does not apply to circumstances in which you have an existing account relationship and a copy of your credit report is requested by your existing creditor or its agents or affiliates for certain types of account review, collection, fraud control, or similar activities.

You have a right to bring a civil action against someone who violates your rights under the credit reporting laws. The action may be brought against a consumer reporting agency or a user of your credit report.

Nevada Consumer Rights Notice

You have a right to place a security freeze in your file which will prohibit a reporting agency from releasing any information in your file without your express authorization. A security freeze must be requested in writing by certified mail. The security freeze is designed to prevent a reporting agency from releasing your consumer report without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who is allowed access to the personal and financial information in your file may delay, interfere with or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, insurance, government services or payments, rental housing, employment, investment, license, cellular telephone, utilities, digital signature, Internet credit card transaction or other services, including an extension of credit at point of sale. When you place a security freeze in your file, you will be provided a personal identification number or password to use if you choose to remove the security freeze from your file or to authorize the temporary release of your consumer report for a specific person or period after the security freeze is in place. To provide that authorization, you must contact the reporting agency and provide all the following:

Sufficient identification to verify your identity.
Your personal identification number or password provided by the reporting agency.
A statement that you choose to remove the security freeze from your file or that you authorize the reporting agency to temporarily release your consumer report. If you authorize the temporary release of your consumer report, you must name the person who is to receive your consumer report or the period for which your consumer report must be available.

A reporting agency must remove the security freeze from your file or authorize the temporary release of your consumer report not later than 3 business days after receiving the above information.

A security freeze does not apply to certain persons, including a person, or collection agencies acting on behalf of a person, with whom you have an existing account that requests information in your consumer report for the purposes of reviewing or collecting the account.

New Hampshire Consumer Rights Notice

Right to Security Freeze on Consumer Credit Report

You have a right to place a “security freeze” on your credit report pursuant to RSA 359-B:24. Under New Hampshire law, what is commonly known as a credit report is referred to as a consumer report.

The security freeze will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing any information in your consumer report without your express authorization. A security freeze can be requested in writing by first-class mail, by telephone, or electronically.

The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gains access to the personal and financial information in your consumer report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding new loans, credit, mortgage, insurance, rental housing, employment, investment, license, cellular phone, utilities, digital signature, Internet credit card transactions, or other services, including an extension of credit at point of sale.

The freeze will be placed within 3 business days if you request it by mail, or within 24 hours if you request it by telephone or electronically. When you place a security freeze on your credit report, within 3 business days, you will be sent a personal identification number or a password to use when you want to remove the security freeze, temporarily lift it, or lift it with respect to a particular third party.

A freeze does not apply when you have an existing account relationship and a copy of your report is requested by your existing creditor or its agents or affiliates for certain types of account review, collection, fraud control, or similar activities.

You should plan ahead and lift a freeze if you are actively seeking credit or services as a security freeze may slow your applications, as mentioned above.

You can remove a freeze, temporarily lift a freeze, or lift a freeze with respect to a particular third party by contacting the consumer reporting agency and providing all of the following:

(1) Your personal identification number or password.

(2) Proper identification to verify your identity.

(3) Proper information regarding the period of time you want your report available to users of the consumer report, or the third party with respect to which you want to lift the freeze.

A consumer reporting agency that receives a request from you to temporarily lift a freeze or to lift a freeze with respect to a particular third party on a consumer report shall comply with the request no later than 3 business days after receiving the request by mail and no later than 15 minutes after receiving a request by telephone or electronically.

A consumer reporting agency may not charge you a fee to freeze, remove a freeze, temporarily lift a freeze, or lift a freeze with respect to a particular third party.

You have a right to bring a civil action against someone who violates your rights under the credit reporting laws. The action can be brought against a consumer reporting agency or a user of your credit report.

New Jersey Consumer Rights Notice

New Jersey Consumers Have the Right to Obtain a Security Freeze.

The security freeze will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing any information in your credit report without your express authorization or approval.

The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. When you place a security freeze on your credit report, within five business days you will be provided a personal identification number or password to use if you choose to remove the freeze on your credit report or to temporarily authorize the release of your credit report for a specific party, parties or period of time after the freeze is in place. To provide that authorization, you must contact the consumer reporting agency and provide all of the following:

(i) The unique personal identification number or password provided by the consumer reporting agency;

(ii) Proper identification to verify your identity; and

(iii) The proper information regarding the third party or parties who are to receive the credit report or the period of time for which the report shall be available to users of the credit report.

A consumer reporting agency that receives a request from a consumer to lift temporarily a freeze on a credit report shall comply with the request no later than three business days or less, as provided by regulation, after receiving the request.

A security freeze does not apply to circumstances in which you have an existing account relationship and a copy of your report is requested by your existing creditor or its agents or affiliates for certain types of account review, collection, fraud control or similar activities.

New Mexico Consumer Rights Notice

New Mexico Consumers Have the Right to Obtain a Security Freeze or Submit a Declaration of Removal.

You may obtain a security freeze on your credit report to protect your privacy and ensure that credit is not granted in your name without your knowledge. You may submit a declaration of removal to remove information placed in your credit report as a result of being a victim of identity theft. You have a right to place a security freeze on your credit report or submit a declaration of removal pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting and Identity Security Act.

The security freeze will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing any information in your credit report without your express authorization or approval.

The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans and services from being approved in your name without your consent. When you place a security freeze on your credit report, you will be provided with a personal identification number, password or similar device to use if you choose to remove the freeze on your credit report or to temporarily authorize the release of your credit report to a specific party or parties or for a specific period of time after the freeze is in place. To remove the freeze or to provide authorization for the temporary release of your credit report, you must contact the consumer reporting agency and provide all of the following:

(1) the unique personal identification number, password or similar device provided by the consumer reporting agency;

(2) proper identification to verify your identity;

(3) information regarding the third party or parties who are to receive the credit report or the period of time for which the credit report may be released to users of the credit report; and

(4) payment of a fee, if applicable.

A consumer reporting agency that receives a request from a consumer to lift temporarily a freeze on a credit report shall comply with the request no later than three business days after receiving the request. As of September 1, 2008, a consumer reporting agency shall comply with the request within fifteen minutes of receiving the request by a secure electronic method or by telephone.

A security freeze does not apply in all circumstances, such as where you have an existing account relationship and a copy of your credit report is requested by your existing creditor or its agents for certain types of account review, collection, fraud control or similar activities; for use in setting or adjusting an insurance rate or claim or insurance underwriting; for certain governmental purposes; and for purposes of prescreening as defined in the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.

If you are actively seeking a new credit, loan, utility, telephone or insurance account, you should understand that the procedures involved in lifting a security freeze may slow your own applications for credit. You should plan ahead and lift a freeze, either completely if you are shopping around or specifically for a certain creditor, with enough advance notice before you apply for new credit for the lifting to take effect. You should contact a consumer reporting agency and request it to lift the freeze at least three business days before applying. As of September 1, 2008, if you contact a consumer reporting agency by a secure electronic method or by telephone, the consumer reporting agency should lift the freeze within fifteen minutes. You have a right to bring a civil action against a consumer reporting agency that violates your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting and Identity Security Act.

New York Consumer Rights Notice

NEW YORK CONSUMERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO OBTAIN A SECURITY FREEZE.

YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO PLACE A “SECURITY FREEZE” ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT, WHICH WILL PROHIBIT A CONSUMER CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY FROM RELEASING INFORMATION IN YOUR CREDIT REPORT WITHOUT YOUR EXPRESS AUTHORIZATION. A CONSUMER CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY IS PROHIBITED FROM CHARGING YOU A FEE FOR THE PLACEMENT, REMOVAL, OR TEMPORARY LIFT OF A SECURITY FREEZE, OR FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A REPLACEMENT PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (PIN) OR PASSWORD IN THE EVENT THAT YOU FAIL TO RETAIN THE ORIGINAL PIN OR PASSWORD PROVIDED TO YOU BY SUCH CONSUMER CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY. A SECURITY FREEZE MUST BE REQUESTED IN WRITING DELIVERY CONFIRMATION REQUESTED OR VIA TELEPHONE, SECURE ELECTRONIC MEANS, OR OTHER METHODS DEVELOPED BY THE CONSUMER CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY. THE SECURITY FREEZE IS DESIGNED TO PREVENT CREDIT, LOANS, AND SERVICES FROM BEING APPROVED IN YOUR NAME WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT. HOWEVER, YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT USING A SECURITY FREEZE TO TAKE CONTROL OVER WHO GETS ACCESS TO THE PERSONAL AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION IN YOUR CREDIT REPORT MAY DELAY, INTERFERE WITH, OR PROHIBIT THE TIMELY APPROVAL OF ANY SUBSEQUENT REQUEST OR APPLICATION YOU MAKE REGARDING A NEW LOAN, CREDIT, MORTGAGE, GOVERNMENT SERVICES OR PAYMENTS, INSURANCE, RENTAL HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT, INVESTMENT, LICENSE, CELLULAR PHONE, UTILITIES, DIGITAL SIGNATURE, INTERNET CREDIT CARD TRANSACTION, OR OTHER SERVICES, INCLUDING AN EXTENSION OF CREDIT AT POINT OF SALE. WHEN YOU PLACE A SECURITY FREEZE ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT, YOU WILL BE PROVIDED A PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER OR PASSWORD TO USE IF YOU CHOOSE TO REMOVE THE FREEZE ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT OR AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF YOUR CREDIT REPORT TO A SPECIFIC PARTY OR FOR A PERIOD OF TIME AFTER THE FREEZE IS IN PLACE. TO PROVIDE THAT AUTHORIZATION YOU MUST CONTACT THE CONSUMER CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY AND PROVIDE ALL OF THE FOLLOWING:

(1) THE PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER OR PASSWORD;

(2) PROPER IDENTIFICATION TO VERIFY YOUR IDENTITY; AND

(3) THE PROPER INFORMATION REGARDING THE PARTY OR PARTIES WHO ARE TO RECEIVE THE CREDIT REPORT OR THE PERIOD OF TIME FOR WHICH THE REPORT SHALL BE AVAILABLE TO USERS OF THE CREDIT REPORT.

A CONSUMER CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY MUST AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF YOUR CREDIT REPORT NO LATER THAN THREE BUSINESS DAYS AFTER RECEIVING THE ABOVE INFORMATION. EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER FIRST, TWO THOUSAND NINE, A CONSUMER CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY THAT RECEIVES A REQUEST VIA TELEPHONE OR SECURE ELECTRONIC METHOD SHALL RELEASE A CONSUMER'S CREDIT REPORT WITHIN FIFTEEN MINUTES WHEN THE REQUEST IS RECEIVED.

A SECURITY FREEZE DOES NOT APPLY TO CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH YOU HAVE AN EXISTING ACCOUNT RELATIONSHIP AND A COPY OF YOUR REPORT IS REQUESTED BY YOUR EXISTING CREDITOR OR ITS AGENTS OR AFFILIATES FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF ACCOUNT REVIEW, COLLECTION, FRAUD CONTROL OR SIMILAR ACTIVITIES.

IF YOU ARE ACTIVELY SEEKING CREDIT, YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT THE PROCEDURES INVOLVED IN LIFTING A SECURITY FREEZE MAY SLOW YOUR APPLICATION FOR CREDIT. YOU SHOULD PLAN AHEAD AND LIFT A FREEZE, EITHER COMPLETELY IF YOU ARE SHOPPING AROUND, OR SPECIFICALLY FOR A CERTAIN CREDITOR, BEFORE APPLYING FOR NEW CREDIT. WHEN SEEKING CREDIT OR PURSUING ANOTHER TRANSACTION REQUIRING ACCESS TO YOUR CREDIT REPORT, IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO RELINQUISH YOUR PIN OR PASSWORD TO THE CREDITOR OR BUSINESS; YOU CAN CONTACT THE CONSUMER CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY DIRECTLY. IF YOU CHOOSE TO GIVE OUT YOUR PIN OR PASSWORD TO THE CREDITOR OR BUSINESS, IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU OBTAIN A NEW PIN OR PASSWORD FROM THE CONSUMER CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY.

North Carolina Consumer Rights Notice

North Carolina Consumers Have the Right to Obtain a Security Freeze.

You have a right to place a “security freeze” on your credit report pursuant to North Carolina law. The security freeze will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing any information in your credit report without your express authorization. You also may request a freeze by visiting the following Web site: https://plaid.com/plaid-check-consumer-report/consumer-request-form.

The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gains access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding new loans, credit, mortgage, insurance, rental housing, employment, investment, license, cellular phone, utilities, digital signature, Internet credit card transactions, or other services, including an extension of credit at point of sale.

The freeze will be placed within three business days if you request it by mail, or within 24 hours if you request it by telephone or electronically. When you place a security freeze on your credit report, within three business days, you will be sent a personal identification number or a password to use when you want to remove the security freeze, temporarily lift it, or lift it with respect to a particular third party.

You should plan ahead and lift a freeze if you are actively seeking credit or services as a security freeze may slow your applications, as mentioned above.

You can remove a freeze, temporarily lift a freeze, or lift a freeze with respect to a particular third party by contacting the consumer reporting agency and providing all of the following:

(1) Your personal identification number or password,

(2) Proper identification to verify your identity, and

(3) Proper information regarding the period of time you want your report available to users of the credit report, or the third party with respect to which you want to lift the freeze.

A consumer reporting agency that receives a request from you to temporarily lift a freeze or to lift a freeze with respect to a particular third party on a credit report shall comply with the request no later than three business days after receiving the request by mail and no later than 15 minutes after receiving a request by telephone or electronically. A consumer reporting agency may charge you up to three dollars ($3.00) to institute a freeze if your request is made by telephone or by mail. A consumer reporting agency may not charge you any amount to freeze, remove a freeze, temporarily lift a freeze, or lift a freeze with respect to a particular third party, if any of the following are true:

(1) Your request is made electronically.

(2) You are over the age of 62.

(3) You are the victim of identity theft and have submitted a copy of a valid investigative or incident report or complaint with a law enforcement agency about the unlawful use of your identifying information by another person, or you are the spouse of such a person.

North Dakota Consumer Rights Notice

North Dakota Consumers Have the Right to Obtain a Security Freeze.

You may obtain a security freeze on your consumer credit file at no charge to protect your privacy and ensure that credit is not granted in your name without your knowledge. You have a right to place a “security freeze” on your consumer credit file pursuant to North Dakota law.

The security freeze will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing any information in your consumer credit file without your express authorization or approval.

The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. When you place a security freeze on your credit file, within five business days you will be provided a personal identification number or password to use if you choose to remove the freeze on your credit file or to temporarily authorize the release of your credit report or credit score for a specific party, parties, or period of time after the freeze is in place. To provide that authorization, you must contact the consumer reporting agency and provide all of the following:

1. The unique personal identification number or password provided by the consumer reporting agency.

2. Proper identification to verify your identity.

3. The proper information regarding the third party or parties who are to receive the credit report or the period of time for which the report shall be available to users of the credit report.

A consumer reporting agency that receives a request from a consumer to lift temporarily a freeze shall comply with the request no later than three business days after receiving the request.

A consumer reporting agency may charge you up to five dollars each time you freeze or temporarily lift the freeze, except a consumer reporting agency may not charge any amount to a victim of identity theft who has submitted a copy of a valid investigative report or complaint to a law enforcement agency about the unlawful use of the victim's information by another person.

If you are actively seeking a new credit, loan, utility, or telephone account, you should understand that the procedures involved in lifting a security freeze may slow your own applications for credit. You should plan ahead and lift a freeze--either completely if you are shopping around, or specifically for a certain creditor--with enough advance notice before you apply for new credit for the lifting to take effect.

Ohio Consumer Rights Notice

Ohio Consumers Have the Right to Obtain a Security Freeze.

You may obtain a security freeze on your credit report to protect your privacy and ensure that credit is not granted in your name without your knowledge. You have a right to place a “security freeze” on your credit report pursuant to Ohio law. The security freeze will prohibit a consumer credit reporting agency from releasing any information in your credit report without your express authorization or approval. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. When you place a security freeze on your credit report, within five business days you will be provided a personal identification number or password to use if you choose to remove the security freeze on your credit report or to temporarily authorize the release of your credit report for a specific party or parties or for a specific period of time after the security freeze is in place. To provide that authorization, you must contact the consumer credit reporting agency and provide all of the following:

(a) Information generally considered sufficient to identify the consumer;

(b) The unique personal identification number or password provided by the consumer credit reporting agency;

(c) The proper information regarding the third party who is to receive the consumer credit report or the time period for which the credit report shall be available to users of the credit report.

A consumer credit reporting agency that receives a request from a consumer to temporarily lift a security freeze on a credit report shall comply with the request not later than fifteen minutes after receiving the request.

The parent or guardian of a minor under the age of sixteen or the guardian or conservator of an incapacitated or protected adult, collectively referred to as a “protected consumer” may seek a security freeze to protect the identity of a protected consumer and ensure that credit is not inappropriately granted in the protected consumer’s name. In order to request a security freeze for a protected consumer, the protected consumer’s parent, guardian, or conservator must present sufficient proof of authority to act on the protected consumer’s behalf. The parent, guardian, or conservator must also present sufficient proof of identity for the parent, guardian, or conservator, in addition to proof of identity for the protected consumer.

In order for the representative of a protected consumer to request the removal of a security freeze of a protected consumer, the representative must contact the consumer credit reporting agency and provide all of the following:

(a) Sufficient proof of identity for both the protected consumer and the protected consumer’s representative;

(b) Sufficient proof of authority to act on the behalf of the protected consumer.

A minor protected consumer, upon reaching sixteen years of age, may also request that the security freeze be removed. A minor protected consumer making such a request must provide proof of identity and age.

A consumer credit reporting agency that receives a proper request by certified mail or other comparable service, secure electronic method selected by the consumer credit reporting agency, telephone, or by any other means authorized by the consumer credit reporting agency to remove a security freeze on a credit report shall comply with the request not later than thirty days after receiving the request.

A security freeze does not apply to circumstances in which a protected consumer already has an existing account relationship and a copy of the protected consumer’s credit report is requested by the protected consumer’s existing creditor or its agents or affiliates for certain types of account review, collection, fraud control, or similar activities.

If a protected consumer is actively seeking credit, it should be understood that the procedures involved in removing a security freeze may slow any applications for credit. Plan ahead and remove a freeze a month before actually applying for new credit.

Oklahoma Consumer Rights Notice

Oklahoma Consumers Have the Right to Obtain a Security Freeze.

You have a right to place a “security freeze” on your credit report, which will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing information in your credit report without your express authorization. A security freeze must be requested in writing by certified mail. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, government services or payments, rental housing, employment, investment, license, cellular phone, utilities, digital signature, Internet credit card transaction, or other services, including an extension of credit at point of sale. When you place a security freeze on your credit report, you will be provided a personal identification number or password to use if you choose to remove the freeze on your credit report or authorize the release of your credit report for a period of time after the freeze is in place. To provide that authorization you must contact the consumer reporting agency by one of the methods that it requires, and provide all of the following:

1. The personal identification number or password;

2. Proper identification to verify your identity;

3. The proper information regarding the period of time for which the report shall be available; and

4. The payment of the appropriate fee.

A consumer reporting agency must authorize the release of your credit report no later than three (3) business days after receiving all of the above items by any method that the consumer reporting agency allows.

A security freeze does not apply to a person or entity, or its affiliates, or collection agencies acting on behalf of the person or entity, with which you have an existing account that requests information in your credit report for the purposes of reviewing or collecting the account. Reviewing the account includes activities related to account maintenance, monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades and enhancements.

You have a right to bring civil action against anyone, including a consumer reporting agency who willfully or negligently fails to comply with any requirement of the Oklahoma Consumer Report Security Freeze Act.

A consumer reporting agency has the right to charge you up to Ten Dollars ($10.00) to place a freeze on your credit report, up to Ten Dollars ($10.00) to temporarily lift a freeze on your credit report, and up to Ten Dollars ($10.00) to remove a freeze from your credit report. However, you shall not be charged any fee if you are a victim of identity theft who has submitted, at the time the security freeze is requested, a copy of a valid investigative or incident report or complaint with a law enforcement agency about the unlawful use of your identifying information by another person, or if you are sixty-five (65) years of age or older for the initial placement and removal of a security freeze.

Rhode Island Consumer Rights Notice

Consumers have the right to obtain a security freeze

The security freeze will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing any information in your credit report without your express authorization or approval.

The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. When you place a security freeze on your credit report, within five (5) business days you will be provided a personal identification number or password to use if you choose to remove the freeze on your credit report or to temporarily authorize the release of your credit report for a specific period of time after the freeze is in place. To provide that authorization, you must contact the consumer reporting agency and provide all of the following:

(1) The unique personal identification number or password provided by the consumer reporting agency.

(2) Proper identification to verify your identity.

(3) The proper information regarding the period of time for which the report shall be available to users of the credit report.

A consumer reporting agency that receives a request from a consumer to temporarily lift a freeze on a credit report shall comply with the request no later than three (3) business days after receiving the request.

A security freeze does not apply to circumstances where you have an existing account relationship and a copy of your report is requested by your existing creditor or its agents or affiliates for certain types of an account review, collection, fraud control, or similar activities.

If you are actively seeking a new credit, loan, utility, telephone, or insurance account, you should understand that the procedures involved in lifting a security freeze may slow your own applications for credit. You should plan ahead and lift a freeze -- either completely, if you are shopping around, or specifically for a certain creditor -- with enough advance notice before you apply for new credit for the lifting to take effect.

Unless you are sixty-five (65) years of age or older, or you are a victim of identity theft with an incident report or complaint from a law enforcement agency, a consumer reporting agency has the right to charge you up to ten dollars ($10.00) to place a freeze on your credit report; up to ten dollars ($10.00) to temporarily lift a freeze on your credit report, depending on the circumstances; and up to ten dollars ($10.00) to remove a freeze from your credit report. If you are sixty-five (65) years of age or older or are a victim of identity theft with a valid incident report or complaint, you may not be charged a fee by a consumer reporting agency for placing, temporarily lifting, or removing a freeze.

Tennessee Consumer Rights Notice

TENNESSEE CONSUMERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO OBTAIN A SECURITY FREEZE

When you place a security freeze on your credit report, you will be provided a personal identification number or password to use if you choose to remove the freeze on your credit report or authorize the release of your credit report for a period of time after the freeze is in place. To provide that authorization you must contact the consumer reporting agency and provide all of the following:

(1) The personal identification number or password;

(2) Proper identification to verify your identity; and

(3) The proper information regarding the period of time for which the report shall be available.

A consumer reporting agency must authorize the release of your credit report no later than fifteen (15) minutes after receiving the above information.

You should consider filing a complaint regarding your identity theft situation with the federal trade commission and the attorney general and reporter, either in writing or via their web sites.

You have a right to bring civil action against anyone, including a consumer reporting agency, who improperly obtains access to a file, misuses file data, or fails to correct inaccurate file data.

Texas Consumer Rights Notice

Your rights under Texas law include:

You may obtain a copy of your consumer report or file from a consumer reporting agency. Upon request and with proper identification provided by you, the agency must disclose to you in writing all information about you in their file at the time of the request. The agency may charge a reasonable fee for a file disclosure request. However, the agency may not charge for such a request (1) made within 60 days of an adverse action taken against you or (2) made on the expiration of a 45-day security alert.

You may place a security alert or freeze on your consumer report. A security alert warns anyone who receives your consumer report that your identity may have been used without your consent. Upon request in writing or by telephone and with proper identification provided by you, a consumer reporting agency must place a security alert on your consumer file. You may include in your security alert request a telephone number to be used by persons to verify your identity before entering into a transaction. The security alert must remain in effect for not less than 45 days. At the end of the 45-day period, on request and with proper identification provided by the consumer, the consumer reporting agency must provide the consumer with a copy of their file.

You also may place a security freeze on your consumer report, which is intended to prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing any information in your consumer report without your express authorization. A security freeze request must be sent by certified mail and include proper identification. When you place a security freeze on your consumer report, you will be provided a personal identification number or password to use if you wish to remove the freeze or authorize the release of your consumer report for a specific party or period of time. You may request in writing a replacement for your personal identification number or password. Upon request in writing or by telephone and with proper identification, including your personal identification number or password, you may request that a security freeze be removed or temporarily lifted from your consumer report.

You may dispute incomplete or inaccurate information in your file. If you identify information in your file that you believe is incomplete or inaccurate, and you notify the consumer reporting agency directly of the dispute, the agency must reinvestigate without charge and record the current status of the disputed information before the end of 30 business days. A consumer reporting agency may terminate a reinvestigation of disputed information if the agency determines that the dispute is frivolous or irrelevant.

You may file a legal action in court to enforce an obligation of a consumer reporting agency. Or, if agreed to by both parties, after following the normal dispute procedures and receiving notice of the results of the dispute investigation, you may submit the matter to binding arbitration in the manner provided by the rules of the American Arbitration Association.

You can find the complete text of the Texas law, V.T.C.A., Bus. & C. § 20.03, at https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov. You may have additional rights under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq., which is available online at http://www.ftc.gov.

Vermont Consumer Rights Notice

NOTICE TO VERMONT CONSUMERS

Under Vermont law, you are allowed to receive one free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each credit reporting agency. If you would like to obtain your free credit report from Plaid Consumer Reporting Agency, Inc., you should request a copy from us by contacting us at https://plaid.com/plaid-check-consumer-report/consumer-request-form, or writing to the following address: Plaid CRA, Attn: Legal, P.O. Box 7775 #35278, San Francisco, California 94120-7775, U.S.A.

Under Vermont law, no one may access your credit report without your permission except under the following limited circumstances:

(A) in response to a court order;

(B) for direct mail offers of credit;

(C) if you have given ongoing permission and you have an existing relationship with the person requesting a copy of your credit report;

(D) where the request for a credit report is related to an education loan made, guaranteed, or serviced by the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation;

(E) where the request for a credit report is by the Office of Child Support when investigating a child support case;

(F) where the request for a credit report is related to a credit transaction entered into prior to January 1, 1993; or

(G) where the request for a credit report is by the Vermont Department of Taxes and is used for the purpose of collecting or investigating delinquent taxes.

If you believe a law regulating consumer credit reporting has been violated, you may file a complaint with the Vermont Attorney General's Consumer Assistance Program, 104 Morrill Hall, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405.

Vermont Consumers Have the Right to Obtain a Security Freeze

You have a right to place a “security freeze” on your credit report pursuant to 9 V.S.A. § 2480h at no charge. The security freeze will prohibit a credit reporting agency from releasing any information in your credit report without your express authorization. A security freeze must be requested in writing by certified mail.

The security freeze is designed to help prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gains access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding new loans, credit, mortgage, insurance, government services or payments, rental housing, employment, investment, license, cellular phone, utilities, digital signature, Internet credit card transaction, or other services, including an extension of credit at point of sale.

When you place a security freeze on your credit report, within ten business days you will be provided a personal identification number, password, or other equally or more secure method of authentication to use if you choose to remove the freeze on your credit report or authorize the release of your credit report for a specific party, parties, or period of time after the freeze is in place. To provide that authorization, you must contact the credit reporting agency and provide all of the following:

(1) The unique personal identification number, password, or other method of authentication provided by the credit reporting agency.

(2) Proper identification to verify your identity.

(3) The proper information regarding the third party or parties who are to receive the credit report or the period of time for which the report shall be available to users of the credit report.

A credit reporting agency may not charge a fee to remove the freeze on your credit report or authorize the release of your credit report for a specific party, parties, or period of time after the freeze is in place.

A credit reporting agency that receives a request from a consumer to lift temporarily a freeze on a credit report shall comply with the request no later than three business days after receiving the request.

A security freeze will not apply to “preauthorized approvals of credit.” If you want to stop receiving preauthorized approvals of credit, you should contact Plaid Consumer Reporting Agency, Inc. at https://plaid.com/plaid-check-consumer-report/consumer-request-form, or write to the following address: Plaid CRA, Attn: Legal, P.O. Box 7775 #35278, San Francisco, California 94120-7775, U.S.A..

A security freeze does not apply to a person or entity, or its affiliates, or collection agencies acting on behalf of the person or entity with which you have an existing account that requests information in your credit report for the purposes of reviewing or collecting the account, provided you have previously given your consent to this use of your credit reports. Reviewing the account includes activities related to account maintenance, monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades and enhancements.

You have a right to bring a civil action against someone who violates your rights under the credit reporting laws. The action can be brought against a credit reporting agency or a user of your credit report.

Virginia Consumer Rights Notice

Virginia Consumers Have the Right to Obtain a Security Freeze.

You have a right to place a “security freeze” on your credit report, which will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing information in your credit report without your express authorization. A security freeze must be requested in writing by certified mail. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, government services or payments, rental housing, employment, investment, license, cellular phone, utilities, digital signature, Internet credit card transaction, or other services, including an extension of credit at point of sale. When you place a security freeze on your credit report, you will be provided a personal identification number or password to use if you choose to remove the freeze on your credit report or authorize the release of your credit report for a period of time or for a specific party after the freeze is in place. To provide that authorization you must contact the consumer reporting agency and provide all of the following:

1. The personal identification number or password;

2. Proper identification to verify your identity; and

3. The proper information regarding the period of time or the specific party for which the report shall be available.

A consumer reporting agency must authorize the release of your credit report no later than three business days after receiving the above information. A consumer credit reporting agency must authorize the release of your credit report no later than 15 minutes after receiving the request.

You have a right to bring civil action against anyone, including a consumer reporting agency, who improperly obtains access to a file, knowingly or willfully misuses file data, or fails to correct inaccurate file data.

A consumer reporting agency does not have the right to charge you a fee to place a freeze on your credit report.

Washington Consumer Rights Notice

Your rights under the WFCRA include:

You may request all information about you in the files of a consumer reporting agency at any time (except medical information may be withheld and given directly to your medical provider). You may request and obtain a file disclosure in person or by telephone with proper identification, or by other reasonable means made available by the consumer reporting agency and authorized by the consumer. You are entitled to one free annual file disclosure in any 12-month period. You may be charged a limited fee for each additional disclosure request made during the 12-month period. However, you may not be charged for a consumer report if a person has taken adverse action against you because of information in your report, the reinvestigation of information you dispute, or corrected reports resulting from the deletion of inaccurate or unverifiable information.

You must be notified when information in your consumer file has been used against you. If a person takes an adverse action against you, such as a denial of credit, based in whole or part on information contained in a consumer report, that person must provide you with written notice of the adverse action. In addition, the person taking adverse action must provide you with the name, address, and telephone number of the consumer reporting agency that provided the consumer report.

You have a right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information in your file. If you identify information in your file that you believe is incomplete or inaccurate, and you notify the consumer reporting agency directly of the dispute, the agency must reinvestigate without charge and record the current status of the disputed information before the end of 30 business days. A consumer reporting agency may terminate a reinvestigation of disputed information if the agency determines that the dispute is frivolous or irrelevant.

Consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate or unverifiable information. Upon completion of the reinvestigation, if the information you disputed is found to be inaccurate or cannot be verified, the consumer reporting agency must delete the information from your file and notify you of the correction. If information is deleted the information may not be reinserted unless the person who furnishes the information verifies that it is complete and accurate. If the reinvestigation does not resolve your dispute, you may file with the consumer reporting agency a brief statement (which may be limited to 100 words) setting forth the nature of the dispute, which will be placed in your consumer file and any subsequent consumer report containing the disputed information.

Consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information, generally this means that agencies may not report negative information that is more than seven years old or bankruptcies that are more than ten years old.

Consumer reporting agencies may provide information about you only to people with a valid need, usually to consider an application with a creditor, insurer, employer, landlord, court or government agency, or in accordance with your written instructions.

You must be notified if reports are provided to employers. A consumer reporting agency may not provide information about you to employers without your knowledge. A potential employer must make a clear and conspicuous disclosure in writing to you or obtain your consent before obtaining a consumer report. A current employer may not receive a report unless it has provided you with written notice that reports may be used for employment purposes. In addition, the WFCRA imposes greater limitations than the federal FCRA on the reasons for which an employer may obtain a consumer report: an employer may not obtain a report that indicates the consumer’s credit worthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity, unless the information is substantially job related and the employer’s reasons for using the information are disclosed in writing, or the information is required by law.

You may elect to have your name and address excluded from any “prescreened” list provided by a consumer reporting agency for purposes of making unsolicited offers of credit to you if a consumer reporting agency provides prescreened lists.

You may place a security freeze on your credit report. Under certain circumstances, you may request that a security freeze be placed on your credit report to prevent it from being shared with potential creditors when making determinations related to your eligibility for credit.

You may be able to block information resulting from identity theft from appearing on your credit report. If you are a victim of identity theft, certain consumer reporting agencies must permanently block misinformation resulting from that from appearing on your credit report. You must provide the consumer reporting agency with a copy of a police report as evidence of your claim before it can place the block on your report.

You may seek damages from violators of the WFCRA. If a consumer reporting agency, a user of consumer report information, or a furnisher of information to a reporting agency violates the WFCRA, you may be able to bring a legal action in court to enforce your rights under the WFCRA.

For questions or complaints under the WFCRA may be directed to:

Office of the Attorney General
Consumer Protection Division
800 5th Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, Washington 98104
1-800-551-4636 or 206-464-6684

Information and forms related to filing a consumer complaint can be found at: http://www.atg.wa.gov/FileAComplaint.aspx.

You can find the complete text of the WFCRA, located at Chapter 19.182 RWC, at https://leg.wa.gov. You may have additional rights under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq., which is available online at http://www.ftc.gov.

West Virginia Consumer Rights Notice

West Virginia consumers have the right to obtain a security freeze.

The security freeze will prohibit a consumer-reporting agency from releasing any information in your credit report without your express authorization or approval.

The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans and services from being approved in your name without your consent. When you place a security freeze on your credit report, within five business days you will be provided a unique personal identification number or password to use if you choose to remove the freeze on your credit report or to temporarily authorize the distribution of your credit report for a period of time after the freeze is in place. To provide that authorization, you must contact the consumer-reporting agency and provide all of the following:

(1) The unique personal identification number or password provided by the consumer-reporting agency;

(2) Proper identification to verify your identity; and

(3) The period of time for which the report shall be available to users of the credit report.

A consumer-reporting agency that receives a request from a consumer to temporarily lift a freeze on a credit report shall comply with the request no later than three business days after receiving the request.

If you are actively seeking credit, you should understand that the procedures involved in lifting a security freeze may slow your own applications for credit. You should plan ahead and lift a freeze, either completely if you are shopping around or specifically for a certain creditor, a few days before actually applying for new credit.

You have the right to bring a civil action against someone who violates your rights under the credit reporting laws. The action can be brought against a consumer-reporting agency.

Wisconsin Consumer Rights Notice

Wisconsin Consumers Have the Right to Obtain a Security Freeze.

You have a right to include a “security freeze” with your credit report, which will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing information in your credit report in connection with a credit transaction without your express authorization. A security freeze must be requested in writing by certified mail or by any other means provided by a consumer reporting agency. The security freeze is designed to prevent an extension of credit, such as a loan, from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a loan, credit, mortgage, or Internet credit card transaction, including an extension of credit at point of sale.

When you request a security freeze for your credit report, you will be provided a personal identification number or password to use if you choose to remove the security freeze from your credit report or authorize the release of your credit report for a period of time after the security freeze is in place. To provide that authorization you must contact the consumer reporting agency and provide all of the following:

(1) The personal identification number or password.

(2) Proper identification to verify your identity.

(3) The period of time for which the report shall be made available.

(4) Payment of the appropriate fee.

A security freeze does not apply to a person or its affiliates, or collection agencies acting on behalf of a person, with which you have an existing account, that requests information in your credit report for the purposes of reviewing or collecting the account. Reviewing the account includes activities related to account maintenance, monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades and enhancements.

Unless you are a victim of identity theft with a police report to verify the crime, a consumer reporting agency has the right to charge you no more than $10 to include a security freeze with your credit report, no more than $10 to authorize release of a report that includes a security freeze, and no more than $10 to remove a security freeze from your credit report.

For consumers

For consumers

Federal Notices of Consumer Rights

A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

Remedying the Effects of Identity Theft

State Notices of Consumer Rights

Alabama Consumer Rights Notice

Alaska Consumer Rights Notice

Arkansas Consumer Rights Notice

California Consumer Rights Notice

Colorado Consumer Rights Notice

Connecticut Consumer Rights Notice

Delaware Consumer Rights Notice

District of Columbia Consumer Rights Notice

Florida Consumer Rights Notice

Georgia Consumer Rights Notice

Indiana Consumer Rights Notice

Maryland Consumer Rights Notice

Massachusetts Consumer Rights Notice

Missouri Consumer Rights Notice

Montana Consumer Rights Notice

Nevada Consumer Rights Notice

New Hampshire Consumer Rights Notice

New Jersey Consumer Rights Notice

New Mexico Consumer Rights Notice

New York Consumer Rights Notice

North Carolina Consumer Rights Notice

North Dakota Consumer Rights Notice

Ohio Consumer Rights Notice

Oklahoma Consumer Rights Notice

Rhode Island Consumer Rights Notice

Tennessee Consumer Rights Notice

Texas Consumer Rights Notice

Vermont Consumer Rights Notice

Virginia Consumer Rights Notice

Washington Consumer Rights Notice

West Virginia Consumer Rights Notice

Wisconsin Consumer Rights Notice