II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3518 

To amend the Credit Repair Organizations Act to establish a new disclosure 

statement. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 15, 2006 

Mr. BENNETT introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Credit Repair Organizations Act to establish 

a new disclosure statement. 

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

3 SECTION. 1. REVISION OF DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS. 

4 Section 405(a) of the Credit Repair Organizations 

5 Act (15 U.S.C. 1679c) is amended by striking everything 

6 after the heading of the disclosure statement contained in 

7 such section and inserting the following new text of the 

8 disclosure statement: 

9 ‘‘ ‘You have a right to dispute inaccurate infor10 mation in your credit report by contacting the credit 
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•S 3518 IS 

1 bureau directly. However, neither you nor any ‘‘cred2 it repair’’ company or credit repair organization has 

3 the right to have accurate, current, and verifiable in4 formation removed from your credit report. The 

5 credit bureau must remove accurate, negative infor6 mation from your report only if it is over 7 years 

7 old. Bankruptcy information can be reported for 10 

8 years. 

9 ‘‘ ‘You have a right to obtain a free copy of 

10 your credit report once every 12 months from each 

11 of the nationwide consumer reporting agencies. To 

12 request your free annual credit report, you may go 

13 to www.annualcreditreport.com, or call 877–322– 

14 8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request 

15 Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request 

16 Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348– 

17 5281. You can obtain additional copies of your cred18 it report from a credit bureau, for which you may 

19 be charged a reasonable fee. There is no fee, how20 ever, if you have been turned down for credit, em21 ployment, insurance, or a rental dwelling because of 

22 information in your credit report within the pre23 ceding 60 days. The credit bureau must provide 

24 someone to help you interpret the information in 

25 your credit file. You are entitled to receive a free 
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•S 3518 IS 

1 copy of your credit report if you are unemployed and 

2 intend to apply for employment in the next 60 days, 

3 if you are a recipient of public welfare assistance, or 

4 if you have reason to believe that there is inaccurate 

5 information in your credit report due to fraud. 

6 ‘‘ ‘You have a right to sue a credit repair orga7 nization that violates the Credit Repair Organization 

8 Act. This law prohibits deceptive practices by credit 

9 repair organizations. 

10 ‘‘ ‘You have the right to cancel your contract 

11 with any credit repair organization for any reason 

12 within 3 business days from the date you signed it. 

13 ‘‘ ‘Credit bureaus are required to follow reason14 able procedures to ensure that the information they 

15 report is accurate. However, mistakes may occur. 

16 ‘‘ ‘You may, on your own, notify a credit bureau 

17 in writing that you dispute the accuracy of informa18 tion in your credit file. The credit bureau must then 

19 reinvestigate and modify or remove inaccurate or in20 complete information. The credit bureau may not 

21 charge any fee for this service. Any pertinent infor22 mation and copies of all documents you have con23 cerning an error should be given to the credit bu24 reau. 
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•S 3518 IS 

1 ‘‘ ‘If the credit bureau’s reinvestigation does not 

2 resolve the dispute to your satisfaction, you may 

3 send a brief statement to the credit bureau, to be 

4 kept in your file, explaining why you think the 

5 record is inaccurate. The credit bureau must include 

6 a summary of your statement about disputed infor7 mation with any report it issues about you. 

8 ‘‘ ‘The Federal Trade Commission regulates 

9 credit bureaus and credit repair organizations. For 

10 more information contact: 

11 ‘‘ ‘Federal Trade Commission 

12 ‘‘ ‘Washington, D.C. 20580 

13 ‘‘ ‘1–877–FTC–HELP 

14 ‘‘ ‘(877 382–4357) 

15 ‘‘ ‘www.ftc.gov.’ ’’. 

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