What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act and why was it created?

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) was written in 1970 as an amendment to the Consumer Credit Protection Act. The FCRA provides additional measures of consumer protection in the areas of fairness, accuracy, and privacy of the information collected by the credit bureaus. It also allows you to personally engage in credit repair and maintenance processes, verifying that the information in your credit report is correct.