Q: Is it legal for a business to send your credit report (copy or original) to a lender? Credit application is signed.
Financial lender is requesting that credit report is to be mailed to them for further underwriting, since the customer got approved. The customer did sign a credit application, which will be sent along with the credit report.
We are the lender. The business that sold the customer the goods is saying we would be violationg privacy laws.
Am I breaking any privacy law by mailing the original credit application as well as the credit report to the lender?
A: Unless you tell us who you are in this situation we cannot answer intelligently.
William John Light agrees with this answer
A:
If you "are the lender", why are asking if you can mail the report "to the lender"? Doesn't make sense.
The easiest solution to any possible legal issues would be to obtain the applicant's written consent to disclosure of the information.
The potential legal issues include violation of the the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The FCRA restricts use of credit information to those with a valid need. That would usually be banks, insurance companies, employers, landlords or others doing business that involves offering credit. Users of consumer credit information are restricted to permissible purposes under the FCRA.
Without knowing what information you are being asked to disclose, to whom, and for what specific purpose, it would be irresponsible to venture a guess as to whether the disclosure is allowed or not. I would recommend retaining an attorney for some research on the issue.
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