However, most notable for employers is a new requirement to provide consumers with a security freeze notice anytime a consumer is required to receive an FCRA Summary of Rights document (titled, "A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act") under the FCRA, including when providing consumers with an investigative consumer report disclosure and pre-adverse and adverse action notifications.
The pertinent text of the new law provides as follows:
"(5) NOTICE OF RIGHTS.—At any time a consumer is required to receive a summary of rights required under section 609, the following notice shall be included:
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.
Effective Sept. 21, 2018, employers should include the above notice with the Summary of Rights document whenever providing that document to consumers.
The CFPB has indicated that it is considering amending the FCRA Summary of Rights to incorporate this new notice, although it is not clear whether the CFPB will be able to accomplish this by the Sept. 21 deadline.
Thus, pending further guidance from the CFPB, employers should include the above notice with the Summary of Rights form every time it is sent to a consumer.
Posted: August 9, 2018