Charges for Certain Disclosures

The Federal Trade Commission announces that the ceiling on allowable charges under section 612(f) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA") will increase from $9.00 to $9.50 on January 1, 2005. Under 1996 amendments to the FCRA, the Federal Trade Commission is required to increase the $8.00 amount referred to in paragraph (1)(A)(i) of section 612(f) on January 1 of each year, based proportionally on changes in the Consumer Price Index ("CPI"), with fractional changes rounded to the nearest fifty cents. The CPI increased 17.80 percent between September 1997, the date the FCRA amendments took effect, and September 2004. This increase in the CPI and the requirement that any increase be rounded to the nearest fifty cents results in an increase in the current maximum allowable charge to $9.50 effective January 1, 2005.