3.112- What are Permissible times when a credit report may be accessed?

Essentially before anything else we must recognize that a ‘permissible purpose’ is a necessary condition to be fulfilled prior to acquiring a credit report. The FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) sets forth stipulations through means of Section 604 of the last- mentioned Act (15 U.S.C 1681b). Only specific provisions from this are relevant to financial institutions when utilizing a consumer’s report. This could be either for the purposes of seeking credit or opening a deposit account.


However the FCRA does curtail who can pull your credit report. It may be surprising for you to note that more than just businesses and creditors can have access to your credit information and this extends to utility companies, landlords, employers and insurance companies etc. Now coming back to instances where such a credit can be asked for that is,’permissible purpose’, includes when one applies for credit, when credit is granted, applying for insurance, relevant to reasons of employment, a court or jury orders for such a report to be set forth, applying for certain licenses and finally when you propose a business transaction. An important aspect is always the consumer's consent and a permissible purpose before accessing a credit report.