A nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency that provides casinos credit reports used to assess customers’ eligibility for credit and check cashing will pay $150,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), FTC officials said today.
Central Credit LLC, according to FTC officials, failed to inform casinos that use its credit reports of their legal obligations under the FCRA - such as providing adverse-action notices to consumers when credit is declined or a check is not cashed. It also allegedly failed to inform companies that furnish information for credit reports of their legal obligation to provide accurate information about consumers.
Central Credit further failed to inform consumers of their rights under FCRA, such as the right to obtain a free annual credit report. Finally, the company did not establish a streamlined process for consumers to request free annual credit reports, including publishing a toll-free number and providing clear instructions about how to request a free report.
In addition to the civil penalty, the settlement requires Central Credit, a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Cash Access Inc., to provide FCRA-required notices to users and furnishers of consumer report information, to provide a “Summary of Rights” to consumers who obtain reports from Central Credit, and to have a streamlined process for consumers to obtain a free annual credit report via a toll-free number.
