The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) is an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) that sets out to safeguard consumers from the growing dangers of identity theft.
FACTA establishes guidelines for the manner in which consumer information can be shared and sets parameters for the use, privacy and accuracy of this information.
What is the FACTA Act?
The FACTA Act was established in order to protect consumers from identity theft by increasing accuracy, privacy and information sharing. FACTA was passed by the U.S. Congress as an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) on Nov. 22, 2003.
One component of FACTA is that consumers are entitled to a free copy of their credit report once a year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union. FACTA also allows credit and debit card consumers to place fraud alerts and deployment notifications on their credit reports making fraudulent applications more difficult to cultivate.
Another step taken in protecting consumers against identity theft under FACTA prohibits retailers from printing more than five digits of a credit or debit card or expiration dates on receipts. Failure to comply with this provision is punishable with statutory damages ranging from $100 up to $1000 in individual actions and in a class action fines can grow exponentially.
In order to protect consumers, FACTA compliance essentially requires the three main credit reporting agencies, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union to provide credit reports free of charge annually; allows consumers to place fraud alerts on their credit reports if they are believed to have been a victim of identity theft; and third, FACTA requires merchants to truncate a consumer’s bank or credit card number and card expiration date on customer debit and credit card receipts.
FACTA Violations
FACTA provides for substantial civil liability. In some cases, consumers may be entitled to recover their actual damages sustained as a result of a violation of the rule which, in the case of identity theft, could be very large. In other cases, consumers may be able to recover statutory damages of up to $1,000 for each consumer affected by a violation of FACTA rules.
When large numbers of consumers are affected, they may be able to bring a FACTA class action lawsuit seeking potentially massive statutory damages.
For example, if 1,000 consumers were affected by a FACTA violation, a class action lawsuit might seek up to one million in statutory damages. Courts are also authorized to award punitive damages in either an individual lawsuit or a FACTA class action lawsuit. Finally, a successful plaintiff, or class members, may recover reasonable attorney’s fees.
The federal government is also authorized to bring enforcement actions in federal court for violations of the disposal rule. In some cases, the government may bring an action in federal district court for up to $2,500 in penalties for each independent FACTA violation.
If you were provided an electronically printed credit or debit card receipt at the point of sale or transaction on which the expiration date or number of your credit or debit card was printed, you may be eligible to file a FACTA lawsuit.
Free FACTA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation
If you made one or more purchases and the retailer provided you with a receipt that contained more than the last five digits of your credit or debit card number or the expiration date, you may be eligible for a free class action lawsuit investigation and to pursue compensation for these FACTA violations.
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