Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a consumer reporting agency is defined as a company that does what?

• A. Assembles or evaluates employment information
• B. Provides legal services
• C. Files taxes for individuals
• D. Regulates consumer lending rates

Answer: (A)

A consumer reporting agency is defined as a company that regularly gathers and evaluates information about consumers for the purpose of producing consumer reports for third parties. Assembling or evaluating employment information fits this definition because employment records and related data are types of information that can appear in a consumer report used by lenders, employers, or others. The CRA’s role centers on collecting and assessing such data to create reports. The other options describe activities that aren’t about compiling or evaluating consumer information to furnish reports, so they don’t define a consumer reporting agency.