AOL taps RealtyTrac's vast databases

No free credit reports--yetMortgagePress.comFree credit report,FTC Despite recent efforts to add a provision to the Fair Credit Reporting Act that would provide consumers with one free credit report annually, the Federal Trade Commission has announced that the ceiling on allowable charges for certain disclosures, including credit reports, will remain at $9, until December 2004. At the end of the year, the FCRA extension bill, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, will go into effect and finally establish the free credit report privilege. For now, though, in those cases where the FCRA does not require the disclosure to be made without charge, a consumer reporting agency may charge up to $9 for making a disclosure to a consumer, provided the charge is indicated to the consumer before the disclosure is made. In preparation for the free credit report disclosure provision that will be introduced next year, the FTC has been charged by Congress to establish a central source through which consumers will obtain the reports. In structuring the distribution system, FTC staffers are focusing on keeping consumers' credit information protected from identity theft. They also want to shield credit bureaus from the sudden surge of requests they expect when the free reports first become available.