Is Fair Isaac considered a CRA?

I know Fair Isaac does not keep detailed records of accounts and so forth. All they really do is provide a mathematical scoring algorithm to easily digest a person's credit history.

But I am trying to determine if they are governed by the FCRA just as credit reporting agencies are. I want to explore if the FICO scoring algorithm is using the wrong field to evaluate the "age" of collection or charge off accounts, and if they are, does that constitute a violation of some kind?

This has a huge bearing on the issue of re-aging if Fair Isaac is compelled to act under the same law as the CRAs.

 

Check this out:

FCRA section 603(f):

(bolding mine)

That looks pretty damn conclusive to me that it is. I'm going to get an FTC opinion letter about this.

 

And a corollary question: Is the product distributed by Fair Isaac (the FICO score) a consumer report? This question could help determine whether Fair Isaac is a Consumer Reporting Agency.

§603(d)(1):

(again bolding mine).

This is somewhat of a circular definition. 603(d) says a consumer report is something communicating information from a CRA. But 603(f) says a CRA is someone who provides consumer reports. Hmmmm......

I think Fair Isaac looks like it's a CRA.

 

And the Kane staff letter http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcra/cast.htm partly addresses a related issue:

(bolding mine)

But what about Fair Isaac, who does provide its credit evaluation product to third parties? To continue...

(bolding mine)

But if that software (read "scoring algorithm") remains solely in the possession of Fair Isaac, which I'm pretty sure it does, then Fair Isaac does have a connection to the source information.