Opinion ID: 2191418
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: I-B The Federal Regulatory Scheme.

Text: It will assist us fully to understand the Maine regulatory scheme if we first examine various provisions of the Federal Act, which also regulates large parts of the consumer reporting industry as conducted in Maine. In October, 1970, the Congress of the United States enacted the Federal Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681-1681t (1974). While expressly recognizing the primacy of the value of maintaining a free flow of fair, accurate information, as well as that [c]onsumer reporting agencies have assumed a vital role in assembling and evaluating consumer credit and other information on consumers, 15 U.S.C. § 1681(a)(3) (1974), Congress sought to protect consumers from arbitrary, secretive reporting procedures, and inaccurate and intrusive reporting. See 15 U.S.C. § 1681(a)(1), (4) (1974). The regulatory scheme established by Congress includes the following provisions. It limits the purposes for which a consumer report [3] may be furnished, requiring that the reporting agency must reasonably believe that the user of the report has a legitimate business need for the information, as clarified by certain enumerated uses. See 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(3). For any other purpose, a reporting agency must obtain either prior consent of the subject-consumer or a court order. 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(1), (2). The Federal Act flatly prohibits the making of a consumer report containing certain dated public record information, such as a bankruptcy record over fourteen years old, or tax liens, arrest records, and any other adverse item of information over seven years old. 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(6). Section 1681d requires that when a user requests an investigative consumer report, [4] -a consumer report containing information relating to, among others, a consumer's character, general reputation or mode of living, see 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(e),  unless the report is to be used for the purpose specified in Section 1681d(a)(2), a consumer must be given clear, written notice that (1) such a report was requested and (2) the consumer is entitled to disclosure from the user of the nature and scope of the investigation. Furthermore, reporting agencies are required to establish procedures designed to keep information current, accurate, and confidential, and to disclose upon request of the consumer the substance of the information on file, (15 U.S.C. §§ 1681e, 1681g, 1681h), and to establish an investigation procedure to be followed when a consumer disputes the accuracy of any information (15 U.S.C. § 1681i). Certain users are required to notify a consumer who is denied employment, or insurance for personal, family, or household purposes, or who is denied credit or is charged more for such credit, where any such adverse decision results wholly, or partly, from information contained in a consumer report. Such notice includes the name and address of the consumer reporting firm. 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a). Section 1681m(b) requires that users, upon request, disclose the substance of the information that resulted in adverse action. The Federal Act provides civil liability and criminal sanctions for noncompliance with its provisions. 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681n, 1681 o, 1681q, 1681r. It expressly permits the states also to regulate provided that state regulation is not inconsistent with the Federal Act. 15 U.S.C. § 1681t.