I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9991 

To amend the Credit Repair Organizations Act to add additional protections 

against harmful practices within the credit repair organization industry, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 15, 2024 

Mr. NICKEL (for himself and Mrs. KIM of California) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Credit Repair Organizations Act to add additional protections against harmful practices within the 

credit repair organization industry, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ending Scam Credit 

5 Repair Act’’ or the ‘‘ESCRA Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CREDIT REPAIR ORGANIZATION DEFINITION. 

7 Section 403(3) of the Credit Repair Organizations 

8 Act (15 U.S.C. 1679a(3))— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘(not in2 cluding anything received in return for representing 

3 a consumer in preparation for or during litigation)’’ 

4 after ‘‘consideration’’; and 

5 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

6 (A) by inserting ‘‘an entity or individual 

7 that is, in good faith and not for the purpose 

8 of evading this title’’ after ‘‘include’’; 

9 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘or’’; 

10 (C) in clause (iii), by striking the period 

11 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

12 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(iv) any attorney that provides legal 

14 services rendered or to be rendered to a 

15 consumer in contemplation of or in connec16 tion with a case filed, or to be filed within 

17 12 months, under title 11 or title 15, 

18 United States Code, by an attorney within 

19 the same law firm.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. PROHIBITED PRACTICES. 

21 (a) UNTRUE OR MISLEADING STATEMENTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 404(a)(1) of the 

23 Credit Repair Organizations Act (15 U.S.C. 

24 1679b(a)(1)) is amended— 


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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘knowingly’’ before ‘‘make 

2 any statement, or’’; 

3 (B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’; 

4 and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(C) the Bureau of Consumer Financial 

7 Protection directly or through an online portal 

8 established to receive complaints, disputes, or 

9 reports of fraud; 

10 ‘‘(D) the Federal Trade Commission di11 rectly or through an online portal established to 

12 receive complaints, disputes, or reports of 

13 fraud; or 

14 ‘‘(E) any Federal, State, local, or Tribal 

15 law enforcement agency, directly or through an 

16 online portal established to receive complaints, 

17 disputes, or reports of fraud;’’. 

18 (2) FINDING.—The Congress finds that it is al19 ready unlawful to make materially false, fictitious, or 

20 fraudulent statements or representations to the Bu21 reau of Consumer Financial Protection. 

22 (b) ADDITIONAL PROHIBITED PRACTICES.—Section 

23 404 of the Credit Repair Organizations Act (15 U.S.C. 

24 1679b) is amended— 

25 (1) in subsection (a)(2)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by inserting 

2 ‘‘or’’ after ‘‘credit;’’; and 

3 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(C) the Bureau of Consumer Financial 

5 Protection or the Federal Trade Commission;’’; 

6 (2) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol7 lows: 

8 ‘‘(b) PAYMENT IN ADVANCE.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No credit repair organiza10 tion may request or receive payment of any fee or 

11 consideration from a consumer for services rep12 resented to remove derogatory or inaccurate infor13 mation from, or improve, such consumer’s credit his14 tory, credit record, or credit rating, or services re15 lated to such a representation, until the credit repair 

16 organization has provided such consumer with docu17 mentation in the form of a consumer report, issued 

18 not less than 6 months after such service, from a 

19 consumer reporting agency that demonstrates that 

20 such representation has been achieved. 

21 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

22 this subsection shall be construed to alter the per23 missible purposes of furnishing a consumer report 

24 described in section 604 of the Fair Credit Report25 ing Act.’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(c) JAMMING.—A credit repair organization may not 

3 submit multiple disputes described in section 611 of the 

4 Fair Credit Reporting Act of the same information unless 

5 all of the following are true: 

6 ‘‘(1) The consumer reporting agency or data 

7 furnisher has had the time permitted under the Fair 

8 Credit Reporting Act to conduct a reasonable inves9 tigation on the prior dispute. 

10 ‘‘(2) The consumer reporting agency or data 

11 furnisher has returned the results of its investigation 

12 to the consumer with respect to such dispute, unless 

13 there are material changes to the information sub14 mitted with the dispute. 

15 ‘‘(3) The credit repair organization includes 

16 with the resubmitted dispute a specific description of 

17 what information is inaccurate.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. DISCLOSURES. 

19 Section 405 of the Credit Repair Organizations Act 

20 (15 U.S.C. 1679c) is amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (a)— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘due to fraud.’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘due to fraud. Credit repair organizations 

24 do not provide any services that you cannot do 

25 yourself for free.’’; 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘regulates’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Pro3 tection regulate’’; and 

4 (C) by inserting ‘‘The Bureau of Consumer 

5 Financial Protection 1700 G St. NW, Wash6 ington, DC, 20552 Tel: 855–411–2372 TTY/ 

7 TTD: 855–729–2372’’ after ‘‘20580’’; and 

8 (2) in subsection (c)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking the pe10 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘and any record11 ings of telephone communications with the con12 sumer.’’; and 

13 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

14 (i) by striking ‘‘2’’ in the heading and 

15 inserting ‘‘5’’; 

16 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and any telephone 

17 recordings with the consumer’’ after ‘‘con18 sumer’s statement’’; 

19 (iii) by striking ‘‘2’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘5’’; and 

21 (iv) by striking ‘‘statement is signed 

22 by the consumer’’ and inserting ‘‘statement 

23 or the telephone recordings are created’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. CONSUMER CONTRACT REQUIRED. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 407(c) of the Credit Re3 pair Organizations Act (15 U.S.C. 1679e(c)) is amended 

4 by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(3) copies of all communications sent on be6 half of the consumer, at the time the communication 

7 is sent.’’. 

8 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 407(c) of the 

9 Credit Repair Organizations Act (15 U.S.C. 1679e(c)) is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘at the time the contract or the 

12 other document is signed.’’; 

13 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘; and’’ insert14 ing ‘‘, at the time the contract or the other docu15 ment is signed;’’; and 

16 (3) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end ‘‘at 

17 the time the contract or the other document is 

18 signed; and’’. 

19 SEC. 6. NONCOMPLIANCE. 

20 Section 408 of the Credit Repair Organizations Act 

21 (15 U.S.C. 1679f) is amended by adding at the end fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(d) LEGAL SERVICES WITHIN CREDIT REPAIR OR24 GANIZATIONS.—A credit repair organization shall be sub25 ject to this title regardless of whether the organization is, 

26 or employs, an attorney who also provides legal services 


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1 to a consumer, except if such attorney is an attorney de2 scribed in section 403(3)(B)(iv). 

3 ‘‘(e) CREDIT REPAIR ORGANIZATIONS WITHOUT A

4 STATE LICENSE.—On or after January 1, 2026, no per5 son may act as a credit repair organization unless such 

6 person is licensed by a State.’’. 

7 SEC. 7. CREDIT REPAIR ORGANIZATION COMMUNICATIONS 

8 WITH FURNISHERS OF INFORMATION. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Credit Repair Organizations 

10 Act (15 U.S.C. 1679 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

11 section 408 the following new section: 

12 ‘‘§ 408A. Credit repair organization communications 

13 with furnishers of information 

14 ‘‘Disputes submitted to a person who furnishes infor15 mation to a consumer reporting agency by or on behalf 

16 of a credit repair organization shall meet the following re17 quirements: 

18 ‘‘(1) If sent by mail, the dispute shall be trans19 mitted by first class mail and list on the envelope 

20 the— 

21 ‘‘(A) name of the credit repair organiza22 tion; and 

23 ‘‘(B) State license number of the credit re24 pair organization, if applicable. 

25 ‘‘(2) The dispute shall list the— 


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1 ‘‘(A) name of the credit repair organiza2 tion; 

3 ‘‘(B) State license number of the credit re4 pair organization, if applicable; and 

5 ‘‘(C) name of the consumer on whose be6 half the dispute is submitted. 

7 ‘‘(3) In the case of any additional communica8 tion after an initial dispute, the additional commu9 nication shall clearly and conspicuously identify any 

10 material changes to the information provided in the 

11 initial written dispute and include the information 

12 described in paragraphs (1) and (2). 

13 ‘‘(4) In the case where a credit repair organiza14 tion sells or otherwise provides an online or paper 

15 blank dispute form to be completed and filed by the 

16 consumer, such form must contain the— 

17 ‘‘(A) name and address of such credit re18 pair organization; and 

19 ‘‘(B) State license number of such credit 

20 repair organization, if applicable. 

21 ‘‘(5) In the case where the person responds to 

22 a dispute submitted by a credit repair organization 

23 seeking clarifying information, verifying if the cus24 tomer has actually engaged with the credit repair or25 ganization, or denying the accuracy of the underVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Oct 25, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9991.IH H9991

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1 lying claim, the credit repair organization shall re2 spond in writing within 15 business days. 

3 ‘‘(6) In the case where the credit repair organi4 zation is an attorney, the attorney shall certify that 

5 any communication is consistent with any informa6 tion or documentation provided by the consumer, 

7 confirmed based upon methods or means proven to 

8 be historically reliable and accurate. 

9 ‘‘(7) A credit repair organization, when sending 

10 a dispute, shall disclose the fact that it is a credit 

11 repair organization by placing the following disclo12 sure on the dispute letter: ‘This communication was 

13 submitted or prepared on behalf of the consumer by 

14 a credit repair organization, as defined in section 

15 403 of the Credit Repair Organizations Act (15 

16 U.S.C. 1679a).’ ’’. 

17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

18 for the Credit Repair Organizations Act is amended by 

19 inserting after the item relating to section 408 the fol20 lowing: 

‘‘408A. Credit repair organization communications with furnishers of information.’’. 

21 SEC. 8. CIVIL LIABILITY. 

22 Section 409(a)(1) of the Credit Repair Organizations 

23 Act (15 U.S.C. 1679g(a)(1)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘ACTUAL DAMAGES’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘DAMAGES’’; 

3 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’; 

4 (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

5 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

6 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(C) the amount of $500 in damages for 

8 each violation of this title.’’. 

Æ 


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