The Fair Credit Reporting Act(FCRA) is the federal law which regulates all credit reporting agencies to ensure that all information gathered and distributed is a fair and accurate reflection of each consumer’s credit history and/or identity.

The Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act specifies a consumer’s right to grant or deny consent of access to their personal records or information for employment or to obtain credit of any sort. This summary also notifies all consumers of their right to know what is on their files and how to handle negative information, if any.

Templates are available. An adverse action letter is used if an adverse decision, such as denial is the final result of the interviews, information gathering & screenings.

Instructional Videos to assist our clients in navigating the AccuProfiles system.

Pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and regulations promulgated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), victims of trafficking can now seek to have adverse information that resulted from trafficking blocked from consumer reports about them. San Antionio Retail Merchants Association (“Sarma”) is committed to assisting those who are victims of trafficking in compliance with applicable law. Please click this link for more information.

Sarma is a consumer reporting agency.  It is required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. §1681 et seq. (“FCRA”) to maintain the confidentiality of all consumer information.

Sarma obtains information on an individual consumer only upon the request of a user who has a permissible purpose under the FCRA to request information on that consumer in order to provide consumer reports.  The FCRA requires a user for employment purposes to certify to us that it has a permissible purpose for the report and has obtained the written consent of the consumer to request information before we can supply the requested information.  The user must submit to reasonable audits by us to confirm that it is, in fact, obtaining such consents.  All users must certify that they have a permissible purpose to request a report such as credit, insurance, and renting an apartment.  Our customers agree to keep your information confidential and secure.

Sarma does not maintain a database of consumer information.

Personal Information Disclosure, United States or overseas.  We do not send consumer information outside of the United States or its territories for any purpose other than to deliver a report to an end user.  Of course, if information is sought from outside of the United States, the information is gathered in that country and then transmitted to us here in the United States where it is treated as any other consumer information.

Any information gathered on any consumer may only be provided to the user authorized by the consumer or permitted by the FCRA or similar state law to receive the information.  We cannot and do not share, sell or distribute consumer information with or to any third party other than the requesting party thereof.  Any consumer, upon proper identification, has the right under the FCRA to request us to furnish to the consumer any and all information we may have on that consumer.   The consumer has the right to dispute the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the consumer’s file.

However, we may be required, upon receipt of a court order to release the information in civil litigation, or as otherwise required by law, to disclose information regarding a consumer to law enforcement agencies.

If you have any questions regarding our policy, you may contact us at:

Email: bgssupport@sarma.com
Telephone: 800-955-5238
Mailing Address: 555 E Ramsey, San Antonio, Texas 78216

Other privacy initiatives and procedures include, but are not limited to:

• Access to confidential consumer information is limited within Sarma to those who have a need to know the information: obtaining and transmitting information on the consumer or those dealing with a consumer request for information or consumer disputes.
• Access to Sarma’s computer terminals, file cabinets, fax machines, trash bins, desktops, etc. are secure from unauthorized access.
• Sarma maintains a secure network to safeguard consumer information from internal and external threat.
• Any backup data is maintained in an encrypted form.
• Sarma maintains records on each request for information and identifies each user who requested information on a consumer.
• Employees are prohibited from “browsing” files or databases without a business justification.
• Destruction of consumer information follows the Federal Trade Commission’s requirements that the information be unreadable upon disposal.

Effective 11/27/2019

1 There is an exception for employer investigations of suspected employee misconduct or for compliance with law or employer policies, e.g., sexual harassment investigations.