I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3296

To amend various provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act to provide 

relief for victims of identity theft, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 15, 2003

Mr. GERLACH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL

To amend various provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act to provide relief for victims of identity theft, 

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 ‘‘Prevent Identity Theft 

5 From Affecting Lives and Livelihoods (PITFALL) Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RELIEF FOR IDENTITY THEFT VICTIMS FROM 

7 CREDITORS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Truth in Lending Act is 

9 amended by inserting after section 133 (15 U.S.C. 1643) 

10 the following new section: 
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1 ‘‘§ 133A. Nonliability of identity theft victims 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If—

3 ‘‘(1) a State maintains a procedure that pro4 vides for the investigation by the chief law enforce5 ment officer of the State, or an official or agency 

6 designated by the State, of a police report by any 

7 person alleging identity theft; and 

8 ‘‘(2) the officer, official, or agency issues a no9 fault letter upon completion of the investigation stat10 ing that such person was the victim of identity theft 

11 with respect to any creditor, 

12 such person shall not be liable for any credit extended in 

13 connection with the actions that such officer, official, or 

14 agency has determined to be involved in the identity theft, 

15 except as otherwise provided in this section. 

16 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF CREDITOR.—Upon receiving a copy 

17 of a no-fault letter described in subsection (a)(2) with re18 spect to any person, the creditor, or any transferee, as19 signee, or agent of the creditor—

20 ‘‘(1) may not attempt to collect any credit ex21 tended in the name of such person which the no22 fault letter identifies as having resulted from iden23 tity theft and shall hold such person harmless for 

24 the obligation (including any real or personal prop25 erty of such person in which the terms of any con-
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1 tract or agreement involved in the identity theft pur2 port to create a security interest for such credit); 

3 ‘‘(2) may not furnish any information to a con4 sumer reporting agency that identifies such credit as 

5 an obligation of such person; 

6 ‘‘(3) shall provide a copy of the no-fault letter 

7 (and such other information as may be appropriate 

8 to indicate that the person is not liable under this 

9 section for the obligation) to—

10 ‘‘(A) any consumer reporting agency to 

11 which the creditor had furnished any such in12 formation before the receipt of a copy of the no13 fault letter; and 

14 ‘‘(B) any office in which any such security 

15 interest was recorded; 

16 ‘‘(4) may not transfer or assign the credit to 

17 any other person, including a debt collector (as de18 fined in section 803), unless the creditor clearly 

19 states that the person in whose name the credit was 

20 extended is not liable for such obligation under this 

21 section; 

22 ‘‘(5) shall provide a copy of the no-fault letter 

23 (and such other information as may be appropriate 

24 to indicate that the person is not liable under this 

25 section for the obligation) to any transferee or as-
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1 signee, including a debt collector (as defined in sec2 tion 803), to which the creditor had transferred or 

3 assigned the obligation before the receipt of the no4 fault letter, or any agent acting on behalf of the 

5 creditor; 

6 ‘‘(6) shall remove any lien filed against any real 

7 or personal property of such person to secure the re8 payment of any such credit obligation by such per9 son; and 

10 ‘‘(7) shall comply with any requirement the 

11 Board and the Federal Trade Commission may 

12 jointly prescribe under this section. 

13 ‘‘(c) SCOPE OF PROVISION.—The exemptions pro14 vided in section 104 shall not apply to this section. 

15 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any 

16 creditor adversely affected by the determination by the 

17 chief law enforcement officer of any State, or an official 

18 or agency designated by the State, that is the basis for 

19 a no-fault letter described in subsection (a)(2) with respect 

20 to any person may—

21 ‘‘(1) seek any administrative review of such de22 termination that is available under the law of such 

23 State; 

24 ‘‘(2) provide such officer, official, or agency 

25 with additional relevant information and request fur-
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1 ther investigation of the facts and circumstances in2 volved in the alleged identity theft and a de novo re3 view of the prior determination on the basis of any 

4 relevant information not taken into account in mak5 ing the original determination; or 

6 ‘‘(3) bring an action in any appropriate State 

7 court in such State to determine the validity of any 

8 claim by the creditor against such person with re9 spect to any obligation to which the no-fault letter 

10 applies. 

11 ‘‘(e) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—This section shall cease 

12 to apply with respect to any credit extended to any person 

13 as of the earlier of—

14 ‘‘(1) the date that any determination, pursuant 

15 to an administrative review or redetermination under 

16 paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (d), that such 

17 person was not the victim of identity theft becomes 

18 final; or

19 ‘‘(2) the date any decision of any Federal or 

20 State court that such person is obligated for such 

21 credit becomes final. 

22 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

23 following definitions shall apply: 

24 ‘‘(1) IDENTITY THEFT.—The term ‘identity 

25 theft’ means a fraud committed using another per-
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1 son’s identifying information, subject to such further 

2 definition as the Board and the Federal Trade Com3 mission may prescribe, jointly, by regulation. 

4 ‘‘(2) POLICE REPORT.—The term ‘police report’ 

5 means a copy of any official valid report filed by a 

6 person with any appropriate Federal, State, or local 

7 government law enforcement agency, or any com8 parable official government document that the 

9 Board and the Federal Trade Commission shall 

10 jointly prescribe in regulations, that is subject to a 

11 criminal penalty for false statements.’’. 

12 (b) STATE ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY.—Section 

13 130(e) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1640(e)) 

14 is amended by inserting ‘‘or section 133A’’ after section 

15 129’’. 

16 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF CREDIT AND OTHER INFORMATION 

17 IN CASES OF IDENTITY THEFT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act is 

19 amended by inserting after section 605 (15 U.S.C. 1681c) 

20 the following new section: 

21 ‘‘§ 605A. Treatment of credit and other information in 

22 cases of identity theft 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If—

24 ‘‘(1) a State maintains a procedure that pro25 vides for the investigation by the chief law enforce-
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1 ment officer of the State, or an official or agency 

2 designated by the State, of a police report filed by 

3 any person alleging identity theft; and 

4 ‘‘(2) the officer, official, or agency issues a no5 fault letter upon completion of the investigation stat6 ing that such person was the victim of identity theft, 

7 no information concerning any transaction involved in the 

8 identity theft with respect to such person may be included 

9 or maintained by a consumer reporting agency in any file 

10 of such person, except as otherwise provided in this section 

11 or taken into account in connection with preparing or pro12 viding any credit scores or any other risk scores or predic13 tors relating to the person. 

14 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY.—

15 Upon receiving a copy of a no-fault letter described in sub16 section (a)(2) with respect to any person, the consumer 

17 reporting agency—

18 ‘‘(1) shall remove any reference to any informa19 tion described in subsection (a) that is covered by 

20 the no-fault letter from the file of such person; 

21 ‘‘(2) may not provide any such information to 

22 any person, whether or not the information is in23 cluded in a consumer report, for any purpose; 

24 ‘‘(3) shall notify any user to which the con25 sumer reporting agency had furnished any such in-
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1 formation before the receipt of a copy of the no-fault 

2 letter that—

3 ‘‘(A) such information may not be used by 

4 the user for any purpose; and 

5 ‘‘(B) under section 133A or 910A, the per6 son is not liable for any obligation covered by 

7 the no-fault letter; 

8 ‘‘(4) shall provide a copy of the no-fault letter 

9 (and such other information as may be appropriate 

10 to indicate that the person is not liable under section 

11 133A or 910A for the obligation) to the furnisher of 

12 such information to the consumer reporting agency 

13 (unless the no-fault letter was supplied by the fur14 nisher); and 

15 ‘‘(5) shall comply with any requirement the 

16 Board and the Federal Trade Commission may 

17 jointly prescribe under this section. 

18 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—This section shall cease 

19 to apply with respect to any information concerning any 

20 person that was covered by a no-fault letter described in 

21 subsection (a) as of the earlier of—

22 ‘‘(1) the date that any determination, pursuant 

23 to an administrative review or redetermination that 

24 such person was not the victim of identity theft be25 comes final; or 
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1 ‘‘(2) the date any decision of any Federal or 

2 State court that such person is liable on the obliga3 tion to which such information refers becomes final. 

4 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section 

5 (and sections 616, 617, 619, 620, 621, and 624 with re6 spect to information and duties covered by this section), 

7 the following definitions shall apply: 

8 ‘‘(1) CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY.—The 

9 term ‘consumer reporting agency’ includes any per10 son which—

11 ‘‘(A) for monetary fees or dues, or on a co12 operative basis, regularly engages in whole or in 

13 part in the practice of assembling or evaluating 

14 credit information or other information on any 

15 person for the purpose of furnishing, to third 

16 parties, any written, oral, or other communica17 tion of any information by a consumer report18 ing agency bearing on a person’s credit worthi19 ness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, 

20 general reputation, personal characteristics, or 

21 mode of living which is used or expected to be 

22 used or collected in whole or in part for the 

23 purpose of serving as a factor in establishing 

24 the person’s eligibility for—

25 ‘‘(i) credit or insurance; 
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1 ‘‘(ii) employment purposes; or 

2 ‘‘(iii) any other purpose authorized 

3 under section 604; and 

4 ‘‘(B) uses any means or facility of inter5 state commerce for the purpose of preparing or 

6 furnishing such reports. 

7 ‘‘(2) IDENTITY THEFT.—The term ‘identity 

8 theft’ means a fraud committed using another per9 son’s identifying information, subject to such further 

10 definition as the Board and the Federal Trade Com11 mission may prescribe, jointly, by regulation. 

12 ‘‘(3) POLICE REPORT.—The term ‘police report’ 

13 means a copy of any official valid report filed by a 

14 person with any appropriate Federal, State, or local

15 government law enforcement agency, or any com16 parable official government document that the 

17 Board and the Federal Trade Commission shall 

18 jointly prescribe in regulations, that is subject to a 

19 criminal penalty for false statements.’’. 

20 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

21 Section 623(a)(1)(A) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

22 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)(1)(A)) is amended—

23 (1) by striking ‘‘relating to any consumer’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘relating to any person’’; 
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1 (2) by inserting before the period at the end 

2 ‘‘or if the person knows or has reason to know that 

3 the information relates to a transaction involving 

4 identity theft’’; and 

5 (3) by inserting after the period, the following 

6 new sentence: ‘‘For purposes of the preceding sen7 tence, a person shall be deemed to know or have rea8 son to know that information relates to a trans9 action involving identity theft if the person knows or 

10 reasonably should have known that the information 

11 or the transaction is described in a no-fault letter 

12 issued by the chief law enforcement officer of the 

13 State, or an official or agency designated by the 

14 State, in accordance with section 605A(a), as involv15 ing identity theft.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF DEBT COLLECTORS IN CASES OF IDEN17 TITY THEFT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Debt Collection Prac19 tices Act is amended by inserting after section 808 (15 

20 U.S.C. 1692f) the following new section: 

21 ‘‘§ 808A. Identity theft 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If—

23 ‘‘(1) a State maintains a procedure that pro24 vides for the investigation by the chief law enforce25 ment officer of the State, or an official or agency 
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1 designated by the State, of a police report filed by 

2 any person alleging identity theft; and 

3 ‘‘(2) the officer, official, or agency issues a no4 fault letter upon completion of the investigation stat5 ing that such person was the victim of identity 

6 theft—

7 no obligation that is identified in the no-fault letter as 

8 being involved in the identity theft with respect to such 

9 person shall be treated as a debt of such person by any 

10 debt collector. 

11 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF DEBT COLLECTOR.—Upon receiving 

12 a copy of a no-fault described in subsection (a)(2) with 

13 respect to any person, a debt collector—

14 ‘‘(1) may not take any action, or attempt to 

15 take any action, directly or indirectly, against such 

16 person to collect on any obligation that is subject to 

17 subsection (a); 

18 ‘‘(2) may not take any action, or attempt to 

19 take any action, to enforce any purported interest in 

20 any real or personal property of such person that is 

21 securing any such obligation; 

22 ‘‘(3) if the debt collector is acting as an agent 

23 of the creditor or any other person with respect to 

24 collecting any such obligation, shall promptly notify 

25 the creditor or other person of the prohibition under 
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1 this section on collection and provide such creditor 

2 or other person with a copy of the no-fault letter; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(4) shall comply with any requirement the 

5 Board and the Federal Trade Commission may 

6 jointly prescribe under this section. 

7 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—This section shall cease 

8 to apply with respect to any obligation of any person that 

9 was covered by a no-fault letter described in subsection 

10 (a) as of the earlier of—

11 ‘‘(1) the date that any determination, pursuant 

12 to an administrative review or redetermination that 

13 such person was not the victim of identity theft with 

14 respect to such obligation becomes final; or 

15 ‘‘(2) the date any decision of any Federal or 

16 State court that such person is liable on the obliga17 tion becomes final. 

18 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section 

19 (and sections 813 and 814 with respect to obligations and 

20 duties covered by this section), the following definitions 

21 shall apply: 

22 ‘‘(1) DEBT.—The term ‘debt’ includes any obli23 gation or alleged obligation of any person to pay 

24 money, whether or not such obligation has been re25 duced to judgment. 
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1 ‘‘(2) DEBT COLLECTOR.—The term ‘debt col2 lector’ includes any person described in subpara3 graphs (A), (B), (C), (D), (E), or (F) of section 

4 803(6). 

5 ‘‘(3) IDENTITY THEFT.—The term ‘identity 

6 theft’ means a fraud committed using another per7 son’s identifying information, subject to such further 

8 definition as the Board and the Federal Trade Com9 mission may prescribe, jointly, by regulation. 

10 ‘‘(4) POLICE REPORT.—The term ‘police report’ 

11 means a copy of any official valid report filed by a 

12 person with any appropriate Federal, State, or local 

13 government law enforcement agency, or any com14 parable official government document that the 

15 Board and the Federal Trade Commission shall 

16 jointly prescribe in regulations, that is subject to a 

17 criminal penalty for false statements.’’. 

18 (b) STATE ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY.—Section 

19 814 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 

20 1692l) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

21 subsection: 

22 ‘‘(e) STATE ACTION FOR VIOLATIONS.—

23 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF STATES.—In addition to 

24 such other remedies as are provided under State 

25 law, whenever the chief law enforcement officer of a 
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1 State, or an official or agency designated by a State, 

2 has reason to believe that any person has violated or 

3 is violating this title, the State—

4 ‘‘(A) may bring an action to enjoin such 

5 violation; 

6 ‘‘(B) may bring an action on behalf of its 

7 residents to recover damages for which the per8 son is liable to such residents under section 813 

9 as a result of the violation; and 

10 ‘‘(C) in the case of any successful action 

11 under subparagraph (A) or (B), shall be award12 ed the costs of the action and reasonable attor13 ney fees as determined by the court. 

14 ‘‘(2) RIGHTS OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—

15 ‘‘(A) NOTICE TO FEDERAL AGENCY.—The 

16 State shall serve prior written notice of any civil 

17 action under paragraph (1) upon the Federal

18 agency responsible for enforcement under this 

19 section and provide such agency with a copy of 

20 its complaint, except in any case where such 

21 prior notice is not feasible, in which case the 

22 State shall serve such notice immediately upon 

23 instituting such action. 
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1 ‘‘(B) INTERVENTION.—The Federal agen2 cy responsible for enforcement under this sec3 tion shall have the right—

4 ‘‘(i) to intervene in any action re5 ferred to in subparagraph (A); 

6 ‘‘(ii) upon so intervening, to be heard 

7 on all matters arising in the action; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) to file petitions for appeal. 

9 ‘‘(3) INVESTIGATORY POWERS.—For purposes 

10 of bringing any action under this subsection, no pro11 vision of this subsection shall construed as pre12 venting the chief law enforcement officer, or an offi13 cial or agency designated by a State, from exercising 

14 the powers conferred on the chief law enforcement 

15 officer or such official by the laws of such State to 

16 conduct investigations or to administer oaths or af17 firmations or to compel the attendance of witnesses 

18 or the production of documentary and other evi19 dence. 

20 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—Whenever the Federal agen21 cy responsible for enforcement under this section has 

22 instituted a civil action for violation of this title, no 

23 State may, during the pendency of such action, 

24 bring an action under this section against any de25 fendant named in the complaint of such agency for 
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1 any violation of this title that is alleged in that com2 plaint.’’. 

3 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—

4 Section 808 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 

5 U.S.C. 1692f) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new paragraphs: 

7 ‘‘(9) Taking any action, or attempting to take 

8 any action, directly or indirectly, against any person 

9 to collect on any debt after the debt collector knows 

10 or has reason to believe that such person may be the 

11 victim of identity theft with regard to such debt. 

12 ‘‘(10) Taking any action, attempting to take 

13 any action, or failing to remedy any prior action to 

14 enforce any purported interest in any real or per15 sonal property of a person that is securing any debt 

16 after the debt collector knows or has reason to be17 lieve that such person may be the victim of identity 

18 theft with regard to such debt.’’. 

19 SEC. 5. RELIEF FOR IDENTITY THEFT VICTIMS FROM FI20 NANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Electronic Fund Transfer 

22 Act is amended by inserting after section 910 (15 U.S.C. 

23 1693h) the following new section: 

24 ‘‘§ 910A. Nonliability of identity theft victims 

25 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If—
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1 ‘‘(1) a State maintains a procedure that pro2 vides for the investigation by the chief law enforce3 ment officer of the State, or an official or agency 

4 designated by the State, of a police report by any 

5 person alleging identity theft; and 

6 ‘‘(2) the officer, official, or agency issues a no7 fault letter upon completion of the investigation stat8 ing that such person was the victim of identity theft 

9 with respect to any electronic fund transfer from an 

10 account of such person at a financial institution—

11 such person shall not be liable for any electronic fund 

12 transfer that such officer, official, or agency has deter13 mined resulted from an identity theft, except as otherwise 

14 provided in this section. 

15 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—Upon re16 ceiving a copy of a no-fault letter described in subsection 

17 (a)(2) with respect to any person, a financial institution—

18 ‘‘(1) shall immediately recredit the person’s ac19 count for the amount of the electronic fund transfer, 

20 together with any interest due on such amount; 

21 ‘‘(2) shall reimburse the account of the person 

22 for any fees imposed on such account in connection 

23 with or as a result of the electronic fund transfer 

24 that resulted from identity theft; and 
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1 ‘‘(3) shall comply with any requirement the 

2 Board and the Federal Trade Commission may 

3 jointly prescribe under this section. 

4 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any 

5 financial institution adversely affected by the determina6 tion by the chief law enforcement officer of any State, or 

7 an official or agency designated by the State, that is the 

8 basis for a no-fault letter described in subsection (a)(2) 

9 with respect to any person may—

10 ‘‘(1) seek any administrative review of such de11 termination that is available under the law of such 

12 State; 

13 ‘‘(2) provide such officer, official, or agency 

14 with additional relevant information and request fur15 ther investigation of the facts and circumstances in16 volved in the alleged identity theft and a de novo re17 view of the prior determination on the basis of any 

18 relevant information not taken into account in mak19 ing the original determination; or 

20 ‘‘(3) bring an action in any appropriate State 

21 court in such State to determine the validity of any 

22 claim by the creditor against such person with re23 spect to any obligation to which the no-fault letter 

24 applies. 
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1 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—This section shall cease 

2 to apply with respect to any electronic fund transfer ex3 tended to any person as of the earlier of—

4 ‘‘(1) the date that any determination, pursuant 

5 to an administrative review or redetermination under 

6 paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (c), that such 

7 person was not the victim of identity theft becomes 

8 final; or 

9 ‘‘(2) the date any decision of any Federal or 

10 State court that such person is obligated for such 

11 credit becomes final. 

12 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

13 following definitions shall apply: 

14 ‘‘(1) IDENTITY THEFT.—The term ‘identity 

15 theft’ means a fraud committed using another per16 son’s identifying information, subject to such further 

17 definition as the Board and the Federal Trade Com18 mission may prescribe, jointly, by regulation.

19 ‘‘(2) POLICE REPORT.—The term ‘police report’ 

20 means a copy of any official valid report filed by a 

21 person with any appropriate Federal, State, or local 

22 government law enforcement agency, or any com23 parable official government document that the 

24 Board and the Federal Trade Commission shall 
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1 jointly prescribe in regulations, that is subject to a 

2 criminal penalty for false statements.’’. 

3 (b) STATE ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY.—Section 

4 917 of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 

5 1693o) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

6 subsection: 

7 ‘‘(d) STATE ACTION FOR VIOLATIONS.—

8 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF STATES.—In addition to 

9 such other remedies as are provided under State 

10 law, whenever the chief law enforcement officer of a 

11 State, or an official or agency designated by a State, 

12 has reason to believe that any person has violated or 

13 is violating this title, the State—

14 ‘‘(A) may bring an action to enjoin such 

15 violation; 

16 ‘‘(B) may bring an action on behalf of its 

17 residents to recover damages for which the per18 son is liable to such residents under section 915 

19 as a result of the violation; and 

20 ‘‘(C) in the case of any successful action 

21 under subparagraph (A) or (B), shall be award22 ed the costs of the action and reasonable attor23 ney fees as determined by the court. 

24 ‘‘(2) RIGHTS OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—
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1 ‘‘(A) NOTICE TO FEDERAL AGENCY.—The 

2 State shall serve prior written notice of any civil 

3 action under paragraph (1) upon the Federal

4 agency responsible for enforcement under this 

5 section and provide such agency with a copy of 

6 its complaint, except in any case where such 

7 prior notice is not feasible, in which case the 

8 State shall serve such notice immediately upon 

9 instituting such action. 

10 ‘‘(B) INTERVENTION.—The Federal agen11 cy responsible for enforcement under this sec12 tion shall have the right—

13 ‘‘(i) to intervene in any action re14 ferred to in subparagraph (A); 

15 ‘‘(ii) upon so intervening, to be heard 

16 on all matters arising in the action; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) to file petitions for appeal. 

18 ‘‘(3) INVESTIGATORY POWERS.—For purposes 

19 of bringing any action under this subsection, no pro20 vision of this subsection shall construed as pre21 venting the chief law enforcement officer, or an offi22 cial or agency designated by a State, from exercising 

23 the powers conferred on the chief law enforcement 

24 officer or such official by the laws of such State to 

25 conduct investigations or to administer oaths or af-
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1 firmations or to compel the attendance of witnesses 

2 or the production of documentary and other evi3 dence. 

4 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—Whenever the Federal agen5 cy responsible for enforcement under this section has 

6 instituted a civil action for violation of this title, no 

7 State may, during the pendency of such action, 

8 bring an action under this section against any de9 fendant named in the complaint of such agency for 

10 any violation of this title that is alleged in that com11 plaint.’’. 

12 SEC. 6. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

13 (a) MISTAKE OF FACT AND CONTRACT FORMA14 TION.—No provision of any amendment made by this Act 

15 shall be construed as implying that a contract involving 

16 identity theft (as defined in such amendments) is a valid 

17 and enforceable contract with respect to the victim of the 

18 identity theft. 

19 (b) FRAUD.—No provision of any amendment made 

20 by this Act shall be construed as implying that any at21 tempt by any person to enforce, collect on, transfer, or 

22 assign a contract when such person knows or has reason 

23 to believe that a purported party to the contract is a victim 

24 of identity theft (as defined in such amendments) with re-
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1 spect to such contract is not itself a fraudulent or other2 wise unlawful act under any Federal or State law. 

3 (c) OTHER ACTION.—No provision of any amend4 ment made by this Act shall be construed as implying that 

5 a person has no obligation to take any action with respect 

6 to any alleged identity theft, including to correct any 

7 record and to absolve any victim of the identity theft for 

8 any liability arising from the theft, whether or not—

9 (1) a State has in effect any procedure de10 scribed in section 133A(a), 605(a), 808A(a), or 

11 910A(a) of the Consumer Credit Protection Act; or 

12 (2) the chief law enforcement officer of any 

13 such State, or an official or agency designated by 

14 the State, has initiated any investigation or issued 

15 any no-fault letter or other statement pursuant to 

16 such procedure. 

17 SEC. 7. CLERICAL AMENDMENTS. 

18 The Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 

19 1601 et seq.) is amended—

20 (1) in the table of sections for chapter 2 of title 

21 I, by inserting after the item relating to section 133 

22 the following new item:

‘‘133A. Nonliability of identity theft victims.’’;
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1 (2) in the table of sections for title VI, by in2 serting after the item relating to section 605 the fol3 lowing new item:

‘‘605A. Treatment of credit and other information in cases of identity theft.’’;

4 (3) in the table of sections for title VIII, by in5 serting after the item relating to section 808 the fol6 lowing new item:

‘‘808A. Identity theft.’’;

7 and

8 (4) in the table of sections for title IX, by in9 serting after the item relating to section 910 the fol10 lowing new item:

‘‘910A. Nonliability of identity theft victims.’’.

Æ