Each written summary of a consumer's rights under state and federal consumer credit reporting statutes shall be in a form substantially similar to the following:

“You have a right to obtain a copy of your credit file from a credit rating agency. You may be charged a reasonable fee not exceeding five dollars for your first request in twelve months or seven dollars and fifty cents for any subsequent request in that same twelve-month period. There is no fee, however, if you have been turned down for credit, employment, insurance or a rental dwelling because of information in your credit report within the preceding sixty days. The credit rating agency must provide someone to help you interpret the information in your credit file.

You have a right to dispute inaccurate information by contacting the credit rating agency directly. However, neither you nor any credit repair company or credit service organization has the right to have accurate, current and verifiable information removed from your credit report. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, the credit rating agency must remove accurate, negative information from your report only if it is over seven years old. Bankruptcy information can be reported for ten years.

If you have notified a credit rating agency in writing that you dispute the accuracy of information in your file, the credit rating agency must then, within thirty business days, reinvestigate and modify or remove inaccurate information. If you provide additional information to the credit rating agency, the agency may extend this time period by fifteen business days. The credit rating agency shall provide you with a toll-free telephone number to use in resolving the dispute.

The credit rating agency may not charge a fee for this service. Any pertinent information and copies of all documents you have concerning an error should be given to the credit rating agency.

If reinvestigation does not resolve the dispute to your satisfaction, you may send a brief statement to the credit rating agency to keep in your file, explaining why you think the record is inaccurate. The credit rating agency must include your statement about disputed information in a report it issues about you.

You have a right to receive a record of all inquiries relating to a credit transaction initiated in twelve months preceding your request which resulted in the provision of a credit report.

You may request in writing that the information contained in your file not be provided to a third party for marketing purposes.

If you have reviewed your credit report with the credit rating agency and are dissatisfied, you may contact the Connecticut Department of Banking. You have a right to bring civil action against anyone who knowingly or wilfully misuses file data or improperly obtains access to your file.”

(P.A. 95-104, S. 2.)