---
title: Commercial Lenders & FCRA
description: Learn about the Fair Credit Reporting Act's impact on commercial lenders and their responsibilities when using consumer reports for business credit applications.
---

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# [Commercial Lenders & FCRA](https://blog.bankerscompliance.com/en/commercial-lenders-fcra)

 Written by [Kevin Edwards](https://blog.bankerscompliance.com/en/author/kevin-edwards) | Feb 17, 2025 3:43:54 PM

The [Fair Credit Reporting Act](https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/statutes/fair-credit-reporting-act) lays out responsibilities for financial institutions that obtain or use a consumer report. Just because we’re talking “consumer” reports, doesn’t mean that commercial lenders can ignore the requirements, however. If a consumer report is pulled on an individual in connection with an application for a business or commercial purpose, it’s still a consumer report. Lenders must also have a legitimate business need to pull a consumer report. This includes co-signers and guarantors who will be personally liable for business purpose credit. The 2011 FTC Staff Interpretations state:

> *A lender has a permissible purpose to obtain a consumer report on a consumer in connection with a business credit transaction **when the consumer is or will be personally liable on the loan** as a co-signer or guarantor, because such a transaction involves the “extension of credit to ... the consumer” by virtue of the individual’s liability. A lender would not have a permissible purpose to obtain a consumer report on a consumer who will not be personally liable for repayment of the credit… because this section does not include the extension of credit to commercial entities. *

Kevin explains more in the video.

<https://blog.bankerscompliance.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLKPMJ9sgRsEolUKZWD04mIr1ozW1I0rI5PcSzU7Itvqy%2FwmSTW%2FmN8tXtpS3INCJ%2BaBmsKYuDh2s43fO0uLvB3CSnzb3%2BGxUCC3cEhHUJxYCfxKf4JRm9m6%2BJ%2BmcTsX29Asv1swbcKuxKCLEZn%2FfCFKq2gJIS6VfE5beDdz4aQr8ABUZQdzl2EtTka1pDKVH31J&webInteractiveContentId=181387517823&portalId=21201105> 

Published  
2025/02/17

 

[View full post](https://blog.bankerscompliance.com/en/commercial-lenders-fcra)

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