II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4471 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide requirements for landlords 

and consumer reporting agencies relating to housing court records, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 6, 2020 

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

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide requirements for landlords and consumer reporting agencies 

relating to housing court records, 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 ‘‘Tenant Protection 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TENANT BLACKLISTING. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

8 (1) the terms ‘‘consumer’’, ‘‘consumer report’’, 

9 and ‘‘nationwide specialty consumer reporting agenVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4471.IS S4471

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1 cy’’ have the meanings given those terms in section 

2 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 

3 1681a); and 

4 (2) the term ‘‘tenant rating agency’’ means a 

5 nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency de6 scribed in section 603(x)(2) of the Fair Credit Re7 porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(x)(2)). 

8 (b) AMENDMENTS TO THE FAIR CREDIT REPORTING

9 ACT.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 

10 et seq.) is amended— 

11 (1) in section 605 (15 U.S.C. 1681c), by adding 

12 at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(i) HOUSING COURT RECORDS.—A consumer re14 porting agency may not make a consumer report con15 taining a landlord-tenant court or other housing court 

16 record, unless— 

17 ‘‘(1) the case to which the record pertains re18 sulted in a judgment of possession; 

19 ‘‘(2) the decision of the court in the case to 

20 which the record pertains is not being appealed; and 

21 ‘‘(3) the record antedates the consumer report 

22 by not more than 3 years.’’; 

23 (2) in section 611(a) (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a))— 

24 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ‘‘or 

25 by submitting a notice of the dispute through 


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1 the centralized source described in section 

2 612(a)(1)(B) or the centralized source required 

3 to be established under section 2(c) of the Ten4 ant Protection Act’’ after ‘‘through a reseller’’; 

5 and 

6 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

7 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

8 (I) by striking ‘‘or a reseller’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘a reseller, or a central10 ized source’’; and 

11 (II) by striking ‘‘or reseller’’ and 

12 inserting ‘‘reseller, or centralized 

13 source’’; and 

14 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

15 ‘‘or the reseller’’ and inserting ‘‘the re16 seller, or the centralized source’’; 

17 (3) in section 615 (15 U.S.C. 1681m), by add18 ing at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(i) ADDITIONAL DUTY OF USERS TAKING ADVERSE

20 ACTIONS ON THE BASIS OF HOUSING COURT RECORDS

21 CONTAINED IN CONSUMER REPORTS.—If any person 

22 takes any adverse action with respect to a consumer that 

23 is based in whole or in part on a landlord-tenant court 

24 or other housing record contained in a consumer report, 

25 the person shall provide to the consumer a free copy of 


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1 the consumer report used by the person in taking the ad2 verse action.’’; 

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

4 ‘‘SEC. 630. CIVIL LIABILITY FOR CREATING REPORTS WITH 

5 INACCURATE HOUSING COURT RECORDS. 

6 ‘‘Any person who willfully makes a consumer report 

7 with respect to a consumer that contains an inaccurate 

8 landlord-tenant court or other housing record is liable to 

9 the consumer in an amount equal to the sum of— 

10 ‘‘(1) any actual damages sustained by the con11 sumer as a result of making that consumer report 

12 or damages of not less than $500 and not more than 

13 $1,500; 

14 ‘‘(2) such amount of punitive damages as the 

15 court may allow; and 

16 ‘‘(3) in the case of any successful action to en17 force any liability under this section, the costs of the 

18 action together with reasonable attorney’s fees as de19 termined by the court.’’; and 

20 (5) in the table of contents, by inserting after 

21 the item relating to section 629 the following: 

‘‘630. Civil liability for creating reports with inaccurate housing court records.’’. 

22 (c) REGULATIONS APPLICABLE TO CLEARINGHOUSE

23 SYSTEM.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enact24 ment of this Act, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Pro25 tection shall issue regulations— 


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1 (1) applicable to tenant rating agencies to re2 quire the establishment of— 

3 (A) a centralized source through which 

4 consumers may— 

5 (i) obtain a consumer report from 

6 each such tenant rating agency once dur7 ing any 12-month period, using a single re8 quest, and without charge to the consumer, 

9 as provided in section 612(a) of the Fair 

10 Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 

11 1681j(a)); and 

12 (ii) submit a notice of a dispute of in13 accurate information, as provided in sec14 tion 611(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting 

15 Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)); and 

16 (B) a standardized form for a consumer to 

17 make a request for a consumer report under 

18 subparagraph (A)(i) or submit a notice of dis19 pute under subparagraph (A)(ii) by mail or 

20 through an Internet website; and 

21 (2) to provide that a consumer may submit a 

22 notice of dispute of inaccurate information through 

23 the centralized source established in accordance with 

24 section 211(c) of the Fair and Accurate Credit 

25 Transactions Act of 2003 (15 U.S.C. 1681j note), as 


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1 provided in section 611(a) of the Fair Credit Re2 porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)), using the stand3 ardized form described in paragraph (1)(B). 

4 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

5 of enactment of this Act, the Bureau of Consumer Finan6 cial Protection shall conduct a study and submit to Con7 gress a report on the status of tenant rating agencies and 

8 the compliance of tenant rating agencies under the Fair 

9 Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), including 

10 a gap analysis of laws and resources to deter noncompli11 ance with the intent and purpose of the Fair Credit Re12 porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 

Æ 


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