NOTICE – BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION

WASHINGTON STATE RESIDENTS

Washington State Residents or Employees – this summary of the provisions of the Washington

State Fair Credit Reporting Act (WFCRA) is being provided to you pursuant to state law. The

WFCRA is designed to promote accuracy, fairness, consumer confidentiality and the proper use

of credit data by each consumer reporting agency (CRA) in accordance with the requirements of

the WFCRA.

The complete text of the WFCRA RCW 19.182, can be obtained from the Washington Code

Revisers Office,

P.O. Box 40551, Olympia, WA 98504, or online at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=

19.182&full=true%20-%2019.182.070. One significant distinction between the FCRA and the

WFCRA is that in Washington, an employer may not obtain a consumer report that indicates the

consumer’s credit worthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity, unless (1) the information is

substantially job related and the employer’s reason(s) for using the information are disclosed in

writing, or (2) the information is required by law.

The following is a summary of your major rights under the WFCRA:

applicable, or by any other reasonable means. A CRA will provide trained personnel to

explain to you any information in your consumer report. Upon request, and proper

identification, you may be permitted to bring one additional person with you to review your

consumer file. If the CRA provides you with a credit score, the agency will also provide

you with an explanation for that credit score.

 You have a right to know what is in your file. Upon proper identification, you may

request and obtain all the information about you in the CRA’s files, although medical

information may be withheld, and instead will be disclosed to a health care provider of

your choice. Your health care provider may disclose your medical information to you

credit transaction that was not initiated by you in the six-months prior to your file disclosure

request. Each of these records will include the name of the person or trade name of the

business that sought your consumer file, and upon your request, their respective addresses.

 You are entitled to one free consumer report every 12 months, upon request. In many

cases, your file disclosure will be free. You may be charged a limited fee for a second or

subsequent report requested by you during a 12 month period. You will also not be charged

for:

o a consumer report if a person has taken adverse action against you because of

information in your report;

o the reinvestigation of information you dispute; or

o corrected reports resulting from the deletion of inaccurate or unverifiable

information.

 You have a right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. If you identify

information in your file that is incomplete or inaccurate, and you notify the CRA directly

of the dispute, the CRA will reinvestigate without charge and record the current status of

the disputed information before the end of thirty business days, unless your dispute is

frivolous. Upon completion of the reinvestigation, within five business days of the CRA’s

decision, the agency will provide you notice in writing or through another authorized

means, of the results of the reinvestigation. If the CRA determines that your dispute is

frivolous the agency will inform you of that determination, along with its reasons, and your

inaccurate will not be reinserted into your consumer file, unless the furnisher of the

information verifies the accuracy and completeness of that information. In such

circumstances, you will be notified, within thirty business days that the information is being

reinserted into your file. If the reinvestigation does not resolve your dispute, you may file

with the CRA a brief statement (that may be limited to 100 words) setting forth the nature

of your dispute. The statement will be placed in your consumer file and in any subsequent

report containing the information you disputed.

 You have the right to request that users of your consumer report be notified of any

disputed information they previously received within the statutory time frame. After

any person you designate who has, within two years received your consumer report for

employment purposes, or who has within six months received your report for any other

purpose, if the furnished report contained the deleted or disputed information.

 Consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information. In most

cases, a CRA may not report negative information that is more than seven years old, or

bankruptcies that are more than ten years old.

 Access to your file is limited. A CRA 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 CRA may not give out

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 report. A current employer may not receive a report unless it has given you

written notice that reports may be used for employment purposes.

 You may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on

information in your credit report. You may elect not to receive unsolicited “prescreened”

offers for credit and insurance by using the CRA’s notification system 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).

 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 or insurance companies when making determinations

can place the block on your report.

 You may seek damages from violators. If a CRA, a user of consumer reports, or a

furnisher of information to a CRA violates the WFCRA, and you have a legal basis for a

claim under the WFCRA, you may be able to bring a legal action in court to assert your

rights under the WFCRA. The applicable statute of limitations is specified in Wash. Stat.

§ 19.182.120 —which is generally two years from the date the cause of action accrued.

Consumers who prevail on claims to enforce the WCFRA may obtain actual damages,

monetary penalties, reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs, and other relief.

For questions or concerns regarding the WFCRA, please contact:

Office of the Attorney General

Consumer Protection Division

Phone 1-800-551-4636 or (206) 464-6684

Statewide Toll-Free TDD: 800-833-6388

Additional information about consumer issues can be found at:

http://www.atg.wa.gov/consumer-issues