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Other short titles | Financial Literacy and Education Improvement Act |
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Long title | An Act to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act, to prevent identity theft, improve resolution of consumer disputes, improve the accuracy of consumer records, make improvements in the use of, and consumer access to, credit information, and for other purposes. |
Acronyms (colloquial) | FACTA, FLEIA |
Nicknames | Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 |
Enacted by | the 108th United States Congress |
Effective | December 4, 2003 |
Citations | |
Public law | 108-159 |
Statutes at Large | 117 Stat. 1952 |
Codification | |
Titles amended | 15 U.S.C.: Commerce and Trade |
U.S.C. sections amended |
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Legislative history | |
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The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act or FACTA, Pub. L. 108–159 (text) (PDF)) is a U.S. federal law, passed by the United States Congress on November 22, 2003,[1] and signed by President George W. Bush on December 4, 2003,[2] as an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The act allows consumers to request and obtain a free credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). In cooperation with the Federal Trade Commission, the three major credit reporting agencies set up the web site AnnualCreditReport.com to provide free access to annual credit reports.[3]
The act also contains provisions to help reduce identity theft, such as the ability for individuals to place alerts on their credit histories if identity theft is suspected, or if deploying overseas in the military, thereby making fraudulent applications for credit more difficult. Further, it requires secure disposal of consumer information.