Consumer Rights to Privacy

Members of Associated Credit Bureaus, Inc., endorse a consumer's rights to privacy in keeping with a consumer's desire to participate in the marketplace. These rights include:

3.

4.

The right to challenge information in the file.

The right to request reverification of information in the file and to have
it removed if inaccurate or unverifiable.

5.

6.

The right to know who has received information in the past six months
or in the last two years if for employment purposes.

The right to have an updated report sent to those credit granters who
received a report in the last six months.

The right to place a statement in the credit reporting file if the accuracy
of the information is disputed.

7.

8.

The right to have adverse information purged after seven years (including
successfully completed Chapter 13) or 10 years if an unsuccessfully
completed Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

The right to have his/her name and address removed from any direct marketing solicitation which uses data from a credit reporting repository. Name removal can be accomplished by contacting any one of the following:

Direct Marketing Association
1101 17th St., N.W., Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 10036-4704

Consumer Relations

TRW Target Marketing Division
901 N. International Parkway
Richardson, TX 75081

Consumer Relations

Equifax Credit Information
P.O. Box 4091

Atlanta, GA 30302-4091

Consumer Relations
Trans Union Corporation
111 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL. 60604

Associated Credit Bureaus, Inc.

Statement of

KENNETH E. HOERR

Chairman & CEO

USA Financial Services, Inc.

Peoria, Illinois

on behalf of the

AMERICAN FINANCIAL SERVICES ASSOCIATION

on

Consumer Credit Protection Amendments of 1990, H.R. 4213; Fair Credit Reporting Amendments of 1990, H.R. 4122; and Credit Reporting Reform Act of 1989, H.R. 3740

Before the

SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONSUMER AFFAIRS AND COINAGE,
COMMITTEE ON BANKING, FINANCE AND URBAN AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 12, 1990

Mr.

Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:

My name is Kenneth E. Hoerr, Chairman and CEO of USA

Financial Services, Inc., Peoria, Illinois, a consumer finance company operating 195 branches in ten states. I am a director and member of the Government Affairs Committee of the American Financial Services Association (AFSA)*. I would like to express my appreciation for the opportunity to present AFSA's view on proposed legislation to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Virtually every AFSA member company relies on the credit reporting system in order to make informed decisions in the cases of thousands of consumer credit applications that are processed daily by finance companies.

THE SYSTEM WORKS

In September 1989, AFSA sent this Subcommittee a letter which emphasized that the system works. Despite the fact that

the statute was enacted twenty years ago and considerable technological advances have taken place since then, the FCRA still remains a balanced approach to the area of credit reporting that has served the credit industry and served and protected the consumer well.

AFSA is the nation's largest trade association representing nonbank providers of consumer financial services. Organized in 1916, AFSA represents 402 companies operating 10,970 offices engaged in the extension of consumer credit throughout the United States. These companies range from independently-owned consumer finance offices to the nation's largest financial services, retail and automobile companies. Retail and automobile credit is extended through thousands of stores and dealers. Consumer finance companies hold over $142 billion of consumer credit outstanding and over $50 billion in second mortgage credit representing one quarter of all consumer credit outstanding in the United States.