PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

FAIR AND ACCURATE CREDIT TRANSACTIONS

ACT OF 2003

117 STAT. 1952 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

Public Law 108–159

108th Congress

An Act

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act, to prevent identity theft, improve resolution

of consumer disputes, improve the accuracy of consumer records, make improvements in the use of, and consumer access to, credit information, and for other

purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair and

Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003’’.

(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for this Act

is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Definitions.

Sec. 3. Effective dates.

TITLE I—IDENTITY THEFT PREVENTION AND CREDIT HISTORY

RESTORATION

Subtitle A—Identity Theft Prevention

Sec. 111. Amendment to definitions.

Sec. 112. Fraud alerts and active duty alerts.

Sec. 113. Truncation of credit card and debit card account numbers.

Sec. 114. Establishment of procedures for the identification of possible instances of

identity theft.

Sec. 115. Authority to truncate social security numbers.

Subtitle B—Protection and Restoration of Identity Theft Victim Credit History

Sec. 151. Summary of rights of identity theft victims.

Sec. 152. Blocking of information resulting from identity theft.

Sec. 153. Coordination of identity theft complaint investigations.

Sec. 154. Prevention of repollution of consumer reports.

Sec. 155. Notice by debt collectors with respect to fraudulent information.

Sec. 156. Statute of limitations.

Sec. 157. Study on the use of technology to combat identity theft.

TITLE II—IMPROVEMENTS IN USE OF AND CONSUMER ACCESS TO CREDIT

INFORMATION

Sec. 211. Free consumer reports.

Sec. 212. Disclosure of credit scores.

Sec. 213. Enhanced disclosure of the means available to opt out of prescreened

lists.

Sec. 214. Affiliate sharing.

Sec. 215. Study of effects of credit scores and credit-based insurance scores on

availability and affordability of financial products.

Sec. 216. Disposal of consumer report information and records.

Sec. 217. Requirement to disclose communications to a consumer reporting agency.

TITLE III—ENHANCING THE ACCURACY OF CONSUMER REPORT

INFORMATION

Sec. 311. Risk-based pricing notice.

15 USC 1601

note.

Fair and

Accurate Credit

Transactions Act

of 2003.

Dec. 4, 2003

[H.R. 2622]

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1953

Sec. 312. Procedures to enhance the accuracy and integrity of information furnished to consumer reporting agencies.

Sec. 313. FTC and consumer reporting agency action concerning complaints.

Sec. 314. Improved disclosure of the results of reinvestigation.

Sec. 315. Reconciling addresses.

Sec. 316. Notice of dispute through reseller.

Sec. 317. Reasonable reinvestigation required.

Sec. 318. FTC study of issues relating to the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Sec. 319. FTC study of the accuracy of consumer reports.

TITLE IV—LIMITING THE USE AND SHARING OF MEDICAL INFORMATION

IN THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM

Sec. 411. Protection of medical information in the financial system.

Sec. 412. Confidentiality of medical contact information in consumer reports.

TITLE V—FINANCIAL LITERACY AND EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT

Sec. 511. Short title.

Sec. 512. Definitions.

Sec. 513. Establishment of Financial Literacy and Education Commission.

Sec. 514. Duties of the Commission.

Sec. 515. Powers of the Commission.

Sec. 516. Commission personnel matters.

Sec. 517. Studies by the Comptroller General.

Sec. 518. The national public service multimedia campaign to enhance the state of

financial literacy.

Sec. 519. Authorization of appropriations.

TITLE VI—PROTECTING EMPLOYEE MISCONDUCT INVESTIGATIONS

Sec. 611. Certain employee investigation communications excluded from definition

of consumer report.

TITLE VII—RELATION TO STATE LAWS

Sec. 711. Relation to State laws.

TITLE VIII—MISCELLANEOUS

Sec. 811. Clerical amendments.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

As used in this Act—

(1) the term ‘‘Board’’ means the Board of Governors of

the Federal Reserve System;

(2) the term ‘‘Commission’’, other than as used in title

V, means the Federal Trade Commission;

(3) the terms ‘‘consumer’’, ‘‘consumer report’’, ‘‘consumer

reporting agency’’, ‘‘creditor’’, ‘‘Federal banking agencies’’, and

‘‘financial institution’’ have the same meanings as in section

603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, as amended by this

Act; and

(4) the term ‘‘affiliates’’ means persons that are related

by common ownership or affiliated by corporate control.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATES.

Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Act and the

amendments made by this Act—

(1) before the end of the 2-month period beginning on

the date of enactment of this Act, the Board and the Commission shall jointly prescribe regulations in final form establishing

effective dates for each provision of this Act; and

(2) the regulations prescribed under paragraph (1) shall

establish effective dates that are as early as possible, while

allowing a reasonable time for the implementation of the provisions of this Act, but in no case shall any such effective date

be later than 10 months after the date of issuance of such

regulations in final form.

Regulations.

15 USC 1681

note.

15 USC 1681

note.

117 STAT. 1954 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

TITLE I—IDENTITY THEFT PREVENTION

AND CREDIT HISTORY RESTORATION

Subtitle A—Identity Theft Prevention

SEC. 111. AMENDMENT TO DEFINITIONS.

Section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a)

is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(q) DEFINITIONS RELATING TO FRAUD ALERTS.— ‘‘(1) ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY CONSUMER.—The term ‘active

duty military consumer’ means a consumer in military service

who—

‘‘(A) is on active duty (as defined in section 101(d)(1)

of title 10, United States Code) or is a reservist performing

duty under a call or order to active duty under a provision

of law referred to in section 101(a)(13) of title 10, United

States Code; and

‘‘(B) is assigned to service away from the usual duty

station of the consumer.

‘‘(2) FRAUD ALERT; ACTIVE DUTY ALERT.—The terms ‘fraud

alert’ and ‘active duty alert’ mean a statement in the file

of a consumer that—

‘‘(A) notifies all prospective users of a consumer report

relating to the consumer that the consumer may be a

victim of fraud, including identity theft, or is an active

duty military consumer, as applicable; and

‘‘(B) is presented in a manner that facilitates a clear

and conspicuous view of the statement described in

subparagraph (A) by any person requesting such consumer

report.

‘‘(3) IDENTITY THEFT.—The term ‘identity theft’ means a

fraud committed using the identifying information of another

person, subject to such further definition as the Commission

may prescribe, by regulation.

‘‘(4) IDENTITY THEFT REPORT.—The term ‘identity theft

report’ has the meaning given that term by rule of the Commission, and means, at a minimum, a report—

‘‘(A) that alleges an identity theft;

‘‘(B) that is a copy of an official, valid report filed

by a consumer with an appropriate Federal, State, or local

law enforcement agency, including the United States Postal

Inspection Service, or such other government agency

deemed appropriate by the Commission; and

‘‘(C) the filing of which subjects the person filing the

report to criminal penalties relating to the filing of false

information if, in fact, the information in the report is

false.

‘‘(5) NEW CREDIT PLAN.—The term ‘new credit plan’ means

a new account under an open end credit plan (as defined

in section 103(i) of the Truth in Lending Act) or a new credit

transaction not under an open end credit plan.

‘‘(r) CREDIT AND DEBIT RELATED TERMS—

‘‘(1) CARD ISSUER.—The term ‘card issuer’ means—

‘‘(A) a credit card issuer, in the case of a credit card;

and

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1955

‘‘(B) a debit card issuer, in the case of a debit card.

‘‘(2) CREDIT CARD.—The term ‘credit card’ has the same

meaning as in section 103 of the Truth in Lending Act.

‘‘(3) DEBIT CARD.—The term ‘debit card’ means any card

issued by a financial institution to a consumer for use in

initiating an electronic fund transfer from the account of the

consumer at such financial institution, for the purpose of

transferring money between accounts or obtaining money, property, labor, or services.

‘‘(4) ACCOUNT AND ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFER.—The terms

‘account’ and ‘electronic fund transfer’ have the same meanings

as in section 903 of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.

‘‘(5) CREDIT AND CREDITOR.—The terms ‘credit’ and ‘creditor’

have the same meanings as in section 702 of the Equal Credit

Opportunity Act.

‘‘(s) FEDERAL BANKING AGENCY.—The term ‘Federal banking

agency’ has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Federal

Deposit Insurance Act.

‘‘(t) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term ‘financial institution’

means a State or National bank, a State or Federal savings and

loan association, a mutual savings bank, a State or Federal credit

union, or any other person that, directly or indirectly, holds a

transaction account (as defined in section 19(b) of the Federal

Reserve Act) belonging to a consumer.

‘‘(u) RESELLER.—The term ‘reseller’ means a consumer reporting

agency that—

‘‘(1) assembles and merges information contained in the

database of another consumer reporting agency or multiple

consumer reporting agencies concerning any consumer for purposes of furnishing such information to any third party, to

the extent of such activities; and

‘‘(2) does not maintain a database of the assembled or

merged information from which new consumer reports are produced.

‘‘(v) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’ means the Federal

Trade Commission.

‘‘(w) NATIONWIDE SPECIALTY CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY.—

The term ‘nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency’ means

a consumer reporting agency that compiles and maintains files

on consumers on a nationwide basis relating to—

‘‘(1) medical records or payments;

‘‘(2) residential or tenant history;

‘‘(3) check writing history;

‘‘(4) employment history; or

‘‘(5) insurance claims.’’.

SEC. 112. FRAUD ALERTS AND ACTIVE DUTY ALERTS.

(a) FRAUD ALERTS.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.

1681 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 605 the following:

‘‘§ 605A. Identity theft prevention; fraud alerts and active

duty alerts

‘‘(a) ONE-CALL FRAUD ALERTS.—

‘‘(1) INITIAL ALERTS.—Upon the direct request of a consumer, or an individual acting on behalf of or as a personal

representative of a consumer, who asserts in good faith a suspicion that the consumer has been or is about to become a

15 USC 1681c–1.

117 STAT. 1956 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

victim of fraud or related crime, including identity theft, a

consumer reporting agency described in section 603(p) that

maintains a file on the consumer and has received appropriate

proof of the identity of the requester shall—

‘‘(A) include a fraud alert in the file of that consumer,

and also provide that alert along with any credit score

generated in using that file, for a period of not less than

90 days, beginning on the date of such request, unless

the consumer or such representative requests that such

fraud alert be removed before the end of such period,

and the agency has received appropriate proof of the

identity of the requester for such purpose; and

‘‘(B) refer the information regarding the fraud alert

under this paragraph to each of the other consumer

reporting agencies described in section 603(p), in accordance with procedures developed under section 621(f).

‘‘(2) ACCESS TO FREE REPORTS.—In any case in which a

consumer reporting agency includes a fraud alert in the file

of a consumer pursuant to this subsection, the consumer

reporting agency shall—

‘‘(A) disclose to the consumer that the consumer may

request a free copy of the file of the consumer pursuant

to section 612(d); and

‘‘(B) provide to the consumer all disclosures required

to be made under section 609, without charge to the consumer, not later than 3 business days after any request

described in subparagraph (A).

‘‘(b) EXTENDED ALERTS.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the direct request of a consumer,

or an individual acting on behalf of or as a personal representative of a consumer, who submits an identity theft report to

a consumer reporting agency described in section 603(p) that

maintains a file on the consumer, if the agency has received

appropriate proof of the identity of the requester, the agency

shall—

‘‘(A) include a fraud alert in the file of that consumer,

and also provide that alert along with any credit score

generated in using that file, during the 7-year period beginning on the date of such request, unless the consumer

or such representative requests that such fraud alert be

removed before the end of such period and the agency

has received appropriate proof of the identity of the

requester for such purpose;

‘‘(B) during the 5-year period beginning on the date

of such request, exclude the consumer from any list of

consumers prepared by the consumer reporting agency and

provided to any third party to offer credit or insurance

to the consumer as part of a transaction that was not

initiated by the consumer, unless the consumer or such

representative requests that such exclusion be rescinded

before the end of such period; and

‘‘(C) refer the information regarding the extended fraud

alert under this paragraph to each of the other consumer

reporting agencies described in section 603(p), in accordance with procedures developed under section 621(f).

‘‘(2) ACCESS TO FREE REPORTS.—In any case in which a

consumer reporting agency includes a fraud alert in the file

Deadline.

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1957

of a consumer pursuant to this subsection, the consumer

reporting agency shall—

‘‘(A) disclose to the consumer that the consumer may

request 2 free copies of the file of the consumer pursuant

to section 612(d) during the 12-month period beginning

on the date on which the fraud alert was included in

the file; and

‘‘(B) provide to the consumer all disclosures required

to be made under section 609, without charge to the consumer, not later than 3 business days after any request

described in subparagraph (A).

‘‘(c) ACTIVE DUTY ALERTS.—Upon the direct request of an active

duty military consumer, or an individual acting on behalf of or

as a personal representative of an active duty military consumer,

a consumer reporting agency described in section 603(p) that maintains a file on the active duty military consumer and has received

appropriate proof of the identity of the requester shall—

‘‘(1) include an active duty alert in the file of that active

duty military consumer, and also provide that alert along with

any credit score generated in using that file, during a period

of not less than 12 months, or such longer period as the

Commission shall determine, by regulation, beginning on the

date of the request, unless the active duty military consumer

or such representative requests that such fraud alert be

removed before the end of such period, and the agency has

received appropriate proof of the identity of the requester for

such purpose;

‘‘(2) during the 2-year period beginning on the date of

such request, exclude the active duty military consumer from

any list of consumers prepared by the consumer reporting

agency and provided to any third party to offer credit or insurance to the consumer as part of a transaction that was not

initiated by the consumer, unless the consumer requests that

such exclusion be rescinded before the end of such period;

and

‘‘(3) refer the information regarding the active duty alert

to each of the other consumer reporting agencies described

in section 603(p), in accordance with procedures developed

under section 621(f).

‘‘(d) PROCEDURES.—Each consumer reporting agency described

in section 603(p) shall establish policies and procedures to comply

with this section, including procedures that inform consumers of

the availability of initial, extended, and active duty alerts and

procedures that allow consumers and active duty military consumers to request initial, extended, or active duty alerts (as

applicable) in a simple and easy manner, including by telephone.

‘‘(e) REFERRALS OF ALERTS.—Each consumer reporting agency

described in section 603(p) that receives a referral of a fraud alert

or active duty alert from another consumer reporting agency pursuant to this section shall, as though the agency received the request

from the consumer directly, follow the procedures required under—

‘‘(1) paragraphs (1)(A) and (2) of subsection (a), in the

case of a referral under subsection (a)(1)(B);

‘‘(2) paragraphs (1)(A), (1)(B), and (2) of subsection (b),

in the case of a referral under subsection (b)(1)(C); and

‘‘(3) paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (c), in the case

of a referral under subsection (c)(3).

Deadline.

117 STAT. 1958 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

‘‘(f) DUTY OF RESELLER TO RECONVEY ALERT.—A reseller shall

include in its report any fraud alert or active duty alert placed

in the file of a consumer pursuant to this section by another

consumer reporting agency.

‘‘(g) DUTY OF OTHER CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES TO PRO- VIDE CONTACT INFORMATION.—If a consumer contacts any consumer

reporting agency that is not described in section 603(p) to communicate a suspicion that the consumer has been or is about to

become a victim of fraud or related crime, including identity theft,

the agency shall provide information to the consumer on how to

contact the Commission and the consumer reporting agencies

described in section 603(p) to obtain more detailed information

and request alerts under this section.

‘‘(h) LIMITATIONS ON USE OF INFORMATION FOR CREDIT EXTEN- SIONS.—‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS FOR INITIAL AND ACTIVE DUTY ALERTS.— ‘‘(A) NOTIFICATION.—Each initial fraud alert and active

duty alert under this section shall include information that

notifies all prospective users of a consumer report on the

consumer to which the alert relates that the consumer

does not authorize the establishment of any new credit

plan or extension of credit, other than under an openend credit plan (as defined in section 103(i)), in the name

of the consumer, or issuance of an additional card on an

existing credit account requested by a consumer, or any

increase in credit limit on an existing credit account

requested by a consumer, except in accordance with

subparagraph (B).

‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON USERS.—

‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—No prospective user of a consumer report that includes an initial fraud alert or

an active duty alert in accordance with this section

may establish a new credit plan or extension of credit,

other than under an open-end credit plan (as defined

in section 103(i)), in the name of the consumer, or

issue an additional card on an existing credit account

requested by a consumer, or grant any increase in

credit limit on an existing credit account requested

by a consumer, unless the user utilizes reasonable

policies and procedures to form a reasonable belief

that the user knows the identity of the person making

the request.

‘‘(ii) VERIFICATION.—If a consumer requesting the

alert has specified a telephone number to be used

for identity verification purposes, before authorizing

any new credit plan or extension described in clause

(i) in the name of such consumer, a user of such consumer report shall contact the consumer using that

telephone number or take reasonable steps to verify

the consumer’s identity and confirm that the application for a new credit plan is not the result of identity

theft.

‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR EXTENDED ALERTS.—

‘‘(A) NOTIFICATION.—Each extended alert under this

section shall include information that provides all prospective users of a consumer report relating to a consumer

with—

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1959

‘‘(i) notification that the consumer does not

authorize the establishment of any new credit plan

or extension of credit described in clause (i), other

than under an open-end credit plan (as defined in

section 103(i)), in the name of the consumer, or

issuance of an additional card on an existing credit

account requested by a consumer, or any increase in

credit limit on an existing credit account requested

by a consumer, except in accordance with subparagraph (B); and

‘‘(ii) a telephone number or other reasonable contact method designated by the consumer.

‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON USERS.—No prospective user of

a consumer report or of a credit score generated using

the information in the file of a consumer that includes

an extended fraud alert in accordance with this section

may establish a new credit plan or extension of credit,

other than under an open-end credit plan (as defined in

section 103(i)), in the name of the consumer, or issue an

additional card on an existing credit account requested

by a consumer, or any increase in credit limit on an existing

credit account requested by a consumer, unless the user

contacts the consumer in person or using the contact

method described in subparagraph (A)(ii) to confirm that

the application for a new credit plan or increase in credit

limit, or request for an additional card is not the result

of identity theft.’’.

(b) RULEMAKING.—The Commission shall prescribe regulations

to define what constitutes appropriate proof of identity for purposes

of sections 605A, 605B, and 609(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting

Act, as amended by this Act.

SEC. 113. TRUNCATION OF CREDIT CARD AND DEBIT CARD ACCOUNT

NUMBERS.

Section 605 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c)

is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(g) TRUNCATION OF CREDIT CARD AND DEBIT CARD NUMBERS.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in this

subsection, no person that accepts credit cards or debit cards

for the transaction of business shall print more than the last

5 digits of the card number or the expiration date upon any

receipt provided to the cardholder at the point of the sale

or transaction.

‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—This subsection shall apply only to

receipts that are electronically printed, and shall not apply

to transactions in which the sole means of recording a credit

card or debit card account number is by handwriting or by

an imprint or copy of the card.

‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall become

effective—

‘‘(A) 3 years after the date of enactment of this subsection, with respect to any cash register or other machine

or device that electronically prints receipts for credit card

or debit card transactions that is in use before January

1, 2005; and

‘‘(B) 1 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, with respect to any cash register or other machine

Applicability.

15 USC 1681c–1

note.

117 STAT. 1960 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

or device that electronically prints receipts for credit card

or debit card transactions that is first put into use on

or after January 1, 2005.’’.

SEC. 114. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROCEDURES FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF POSSIBLE INSTANCES OF IDENTITY THEFT.

Section 615 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681m)

is amended—

(1) by striking ‘‘(e)’’ at the end; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(e) RED FLAG GUIDELINES AND REGULATIONS REQUIRED.— ‘‘(1) GUIDELINES.—The Federal banking agencies, the

National Credit Union Administration, and the Commission

shall jointly, with respect to the entities that are subject to

their respective enforcement authority under section 621—

‘‘(A) establish and maintain guidelines for use by each

financial institution and each creditor regarding identity

theft with respect to account holders at, or customers of,

such entities, and update such guidelines as often as necessary;

‘‘(B) prescribe regulations requiring each financial

institution and each creditor to establish reasonable policies

and procedures for implementing the guidelines established

pursuant to subparagraph (A), to identify possible risks

to account holders or customers or to the safety and soundness of the institution or customers; and

‘‘(C) prescribe regulations applicable to card issuers

to ensure that, if a card issuer receives notification of

a change of address for an existing account, and within

a short period of time (during at least the first 30 days

after such notification is received) receives a request for

an additional or replacement card for the same account,

the card issuer may not issue the additional or replacement

card, unless the card issuer, in accordance with reasonable

policies and procedures—

‘‘(i) notifies the cardholder of the request at the

former address of the cardholder and provides to the

cardholder a means of promptly reporting incorrect

address changes;

‘‘(ii) notifies the cardholder of the request by such

other means of communication as the cardholder and

the card issuer previously agreed to; or

‘‘(iii) uses other means of assessing the validity

of the change of address, in accordance with reasonable

policies and procedures established by the card issuer

in accordance with the regulations prescribed under

subparagraph (B).

‘‘(2) CRITERIA.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In developing the guidelines

required by paragraph (1)(A), the agencies described in

paragraph (1) shall identify patterns, practices, and specific

forms of activity that indicate the possible existence of

identity theft.

‘‘(B) INACTIVE ACCOUNTS.—In developing the guidelines

required by paragraph (1)(A), the agencies described in

paragraph (1) shall consider including reasonable guidelines providing that when a transaction occurs with respect

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1961

to a credit or deposit account that has been inactive for

more than 2 years, the creditor or financial institution

shall follow reasonable policies and procedures that provide

for notice to be given to a consumer in a manner reasonably

designed to reduce the likelihood of identity theft with

respect to such account.

‘‘(3) CONSISTENCY WITH VERIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.— Guidelines established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not

be inconsistent with the policies and procedures required under

section 5318(l) of title 31, United States Code.’’.

SEC. 115. AUTHORITY TO TRUNCATE SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS.

Section 609(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.

1681g(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘except that nothing’’ and

inserting the following: ‘‘except that—

‘‘(A) if the consumer to whom the file relates requests

that the first 5 digits of the social security number (or

similar identification number) of the consumer not be

included in the disclosure and the consumer reporting

agency has received appropriate proof of the identity of

the requester, the consumer reporting agency shall so truncate such number in such disclosure; and

‘‘(B) nothing’’.

Subtitle B—Protection and Restoration of

Identity Theft Victim Credit History

SEC. 151. SUMMARY OF RIGHTS OF IDENTITY THEFT VICTIMS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—

(1) SUMMARY.—Section 609 of the Fair Credit Reporting

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g) is amended by adding at the end the

following:

‘‘(d) SUMMARY OF RIGHTS OF IDENTITY THEFT VICTIMS.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, in consultation with

the Federal banking agencies and the National Credit Union

Administration, shall prepare a model summary of the rights

of consumers under this title with respect to the procedures

for remedying the effects of fraud or identity theft involving

credit, an electronic fund transfer, or an account or transaction

at or with a financial institution or other creditor.

‘‘(2) SUMMARY OF RIGHTS AND CONTACT INFORMATION.—

Beginning 60 days after the date on which the model summary

of rights is prescribed in final form by the Commission pursuant

to paragraph (1), if any consumer contacts a consumer reporting

agency and expresses a belief that the consumer is a victim

of fraud or identity theft involving credit, an electronic fund

transfer, or an account or transaction at or with a financial

institution or other creditor, the consumer reporting agency

shall, in addition to any other action that the agency may

take, provide the consumer with a summary of rights that

contains all of the information required by the Commission

under paragraph (1), and information on how to contact the

Commission to obtain more detailed information.

‘‘(e) INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO VICTIMS.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of documenting fraudulent transactions resulting from identity theft, not later thanDeadline.

Effective date.

117 STAT. 1962 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

30 days after the date of receipt of a request from a victim

in accordance with paragraph (3), and subject to verification

of the identity of the victim and the claim of identity theft

in accordance with paragraph (2), a business entity that has

provided credit to, provided for consideration products, goods,

or services to, accepted payment from, or otherwise entered

into a commercial transaction for consideration with, a person

who has allegedly made unauthorized use of the means of

identification of the victim, shall provide a copy of application

and business transaction records in the control of the business

entity, whether maintained by the business entity or by another

person on behalf of the business entity, evidencing any transaction alleged to be a result of identity theft to—

‘‘(A) the victim;

‘‘(B) any Federal, State, or local government law

enforcement agency or officer specified by the victim in

such a request; or

‘‘(C) any law enforcement agency investigating the

identity theft and authorized by the victim to take receipt

of records provided under this subsection.

‘‘(2) VERIFICATION OF IDENTITY AND CLAIM.—Before a business entity provides any information under paragraph (1),

unless the business entity, at its discretion, otherwise has

a high degree of confidence that it knows the identity of the

victim making a request under paragraph (1), the victim shall

provide to the business entity—

‘‘(A) as proof of positive identification of the victim,

at the election of the business entity—

‘‘(i) the presentation of a government-issued identification card;

‘‘(ii) personally identifying information of the same

type as was provided to the business entity by the

unauthorized person; or

‘‘(iii) personally identifying information that the

business entity typically requests from new applicants

or for new transactions, at the time of the victim’s

request for information, including any documentation

described in clauses (i) and (ii); and

‘‘(B) as proof of a claim of identity theft, at the election

of the business entity—

‘‘(i) a copy of a police report evidencing the claim

of the victim of identity theft; and

‘‘(ii) a properly completed—

‘‘(I) copy of a standardized affidavit of identity

theft developed and made available by the

Commission; or

‘‘(II) an affidavit of fact that is acceptable to

the business entity for that purpose.

‘‘(3) PROCEDURES.—The request of a victim under paragraph (1) shall—

‘‘(A) be in writing;

‘‘(B) be mailed to an address specified by the business

entity, if any; and

‘‘(C) if asked by the business entity, include relevant

information about any transaction alleged to be a result

of identity theft to facilitate compliance with this section

including—

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1963

‘‘(i) if known by the victim (or if readily obtainable

by the victim), the date of the application or transaction; and

‘‘(ii) if known by the victim (or if readily obtainable

by the victim), any other identifying information such

as an account or transaction number.

‘‘(4) NO CHARGE TO VICTIM.—Information required to be

provided under paragraph (1) shall be so provided without

charge.

‘‘(5) AUTHORITY TO DECLINE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION.—

A business entity may decline to provide information under

paragraph (1) if, in the exercise of good faith, the business

entity determines that—

‘‘(A) this subsection does not require disclosure of the

information;

‘‘(B) after reviewing the information provided pursuant

to paragraph (2), the business entity does not have a high

degree of confidence in knowing the true identity of the

individual requesting the information;

‘‘(C) the request for the information is based on a

misrepresentation of fact by the individual requesting the

information relevant to the request for information; or

‘‘(D) the information requested is Internet navigational

data or similar information about a person’s visit to a

website or online service.

‘‘(6) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—Except as provided in section 621, sections 616 and 617 do not apply to any violation

of this subsection.

‘‘(7) LIMITATION ON CIVIL LIABILITY.—No business entity

may be held civilly liable under any provision of Federal, State,

or other law for disclosure, made in good faith pursuant to

this subsection.

‘‘(8) NO NEW RECORDKEEPING OBLIGATION.—Nothing in this

subsection creates an obligation on the part of a business entity

to obtain, retain, or maintain information or records that are

not otherwise required to be obtained, retained, or maintained

in the ordinary course of its business or under other applicable

law.

‘‘(9) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No provision of subtitle A of title

V of Public Law 106–102, prohibiting the disclosure of

financial information by a business entity to third parties

shall be used to deny disclosure of information to the

victim under this subsection.

‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Except as provided in subparagraph

(A), nothing in this subsection permits a business entity

to disclose information, including information to law

enforcement under subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph

(1), that the business entity is otherwise prohibited from

disclosing under any other applicable provision of Federal

or State law.

‘‘(10) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.—In any civil action brought

to enforce this subsection, it is an affirmative defense (which

the defendant must establish by a preponderance of the evidence) for a business entity to file an affidavit or answer

stating that—

117 STAT. 1964 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

‘‘(A) the business entity has made a reasonably diligent

search of its available business records; and

‘‘(B) the records requested under this subsection do

not exist or are not reasonably available.

‘‘(11) DEFINITION OF VICTIM.—For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘victim’ means a consumer whose means of

identification or financial information has been used or transferred (or has been alleged to have been used or transferred)

without the authority of that consumer, with the intent to

commit, or to aid or abet, an identity theft or a similar crime.

‘‘(12) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall become effective 180 days after the date of enactment of this subsection.

‘‘(13) EFFECTIVENESS STUDY.—Not later than 18 months

after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Comptroller

General of the United States shall submit a report to Congress

assessing the effectiveness of this provision.’’.

(2) RELATION TO STATE LAWS.—Section 625(b)(1) of the Fair

Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681t(b)(1), as so redesignated)

is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

‘‘(G) section 609(e), relating to information available

to victims under section 609(e);’’.

(b) PUBLIC CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT.—Not later

than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission

shall establish and implement a media and distribution campaign

to teach the public how to prevent identity theft. Such campaign

shall include existing Commission education materials, as well as

radio, television, and print public service announcements, video

cassettes, interactive digital video discs (DVD’s) or compact audio

discs (CD’s), and Internet resources.

SEC. 152. BLOCKING OF INFORMATION RESULTING FROM IDENTITY

THEFT.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.

1681 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 605A, as added

by this Act, the following:

‘‘§ 605B. Block of information resulting from identity theft

‘‘(a) BLOCK.—Except as otherwise provided in this section, a

consumer reporting agency shall block the reporting of any information in the file of a consumer that the consumer identifies as

information that resulted from an alleged identity theft, not later

than 4 business days after the date of receipt by such agency

of—

‘‘(1) appropriate proof of the identity of the consumer;

‘‘(2) a copy of an identity theft report;

‘‘(3) the identification of such information by the consumer;

and

‘‘(4) a statement by the consumer that the information

is not information relating to any transaction by the consumer.

‘‘(b) NOTIFICATION.—A consumer reporting agency shall

promptly notify the furnisher of information identified by the consumer under subsection (a)—

‘‘(1) that the information may be a result of identity theft;

‘‘(2) that an identity theft report has been filed;

‘‘(3) that a block has been requested under this section;

and

Deadline.

15 USC 1681c–2.

Deadline.

15 USC 1681c–1

note.

Deadline.

Reports.

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1965

‘‘(4) of the effective dates of the block.

‘‘(c) AUTHORITY TO DECLINE OR RESCIND.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A consumer reporting agency may

decline to block, or may rescind any block, of information

relating to a consumer under this section, if the consumer

reporting agency reasonably determines that—

‘‘(A) the information was blocked in error or a block

was requested by the consumer in error;

‘‘(B) the information was blocked, or a block was

requested by the consumer, on the basis of a material

misrepresentation of fact by the consumer relevant to the

request to block; or

‘‘(C) the consumer obtained possession of goods, services, or money as a result of the blocked transaction or

transactions.

‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION TO CONSUMER.—If a block of information

is declined or rescinded under this subsection, the affected

consumer shall be notified promptly, in the same manner as

consumers are notified of the reinsertion of information under

section 611(a)(5)(B).

‘‘(3) SIGNIFICANCE OF BLOCK.—For purposes of this subsection, if a consumer reporting agency rescinds a block, the

presence of information in the file of a consumer prior to

the blocking of such information is not evidence of whether

the consumer knew or should have known that the consumer

obtained possession of any goods, services, or money as a result

of the block.

‘‘(d) EXCEPTION FOR RESELLERS.—

‘‘(1) NO RESELLER FILE.—This section shall not apply to

a consumer reporting agency, if the consumer reporting

agency—

‘‘(A) is a reseller;

‘‘(B) is not, at the time of the request of the consumer

under subsection (a), otherwise furnishing or reselling a

consumer report concerning the information identified by

the consumer; and

‘‘(C) informs the consumer, by any means, that the

consumer may report the identity theft to the Commission

to obtain consumer information regarding identity theft.

‘‘(2) RESELLER WITH FILE.—The sole obligation of the consumer reporting agency under this section, with regard to any

request of a consumer under this section, shall be to block

the consumer report maintained by the consumer reporting

agency from any subsequent use, if—

‘‘(A) the consumer, in accordance with the provisions

of subsection (a), identifies, to a consumer reporting agency,

information in the file of the consumer that resulted from

identity theft; and

‘‘(B) the consumer reporting agency is a reseller of

the identified information.

‘‘(3) NOTICE.—In carrying out its obligation under paragraph (2), the reseller shall promptly provide a notice to the

consumer of the decision to block the file. Such notice shall

contain the name, address, and telephone number of each consumer reporting agency from which the consumer information

was obtained for resale.

117 STAT. 1966 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

‘‘(e) EXCEPTION FOR VERIFICATION COMPANIES.—The provisions

of this section do not apply to a check services company, acting

as such, which issues authorizations for the purpose of approving

or processing negotiable instruments, electronic fund transfers, or

similar methods of payments, except that, beginning 4 business

days after receipt of information described in paragraphs (1)

through (3) of subsection (a), a check services company shall not

report to a national consumer reporting agency described in section

603(p), any information identified in the subject identity theft report

as resulting from identity theft.

‘‘(f) ACCESS TO BLOCKED INFORMATION BY LAW ENFORCEMENT

AGENCIES.—No provision of this section shall be construed as

requiring a consumer reporting agency to prevent a Federal, State,

or local law enforcement agency from accessing blocked information

in a consumer file to which the agency could otherwise obtain

access under this title.’’.

(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections for the Fair

Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by

inserting after the item relating to section 605 the following new

items:

‘‘605A. Identity theft prevention; fraud alerts and active duty alerts.

‘‘605B. Block of information resulting from identity theft.’’.

SEC. 153. COORDINATION OF IDENTITY THEFT COMPLAINT INVESTIGATIONS.

Section 621 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s)

is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(f) COORDINATION OF CONSUMER COMPLAINT INVESTIGATIONS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each consumer reporting agency

described in section 603(p) shall develop and maintain procedures for the referral to each other such agency of any consumer

complaint received by the agency alleging identity theft, or

requesting a fraud alert under section 605A or a block under

section 605B.

‘‘(2) MODEL FORM AND PROCEDURE FOR REPORTING IDENTITY

THEFT.—The Commission, in consultation with the Federal

banking agencies and the National Credit Union Administration, shall develop a model form and model procedures to be

used by consumers who are victims of identity theft for contacting and informing creditors and consumer reporting agencies of the fraud.

‘‘(3) ANNUAL SUMMARY REPORTS.—Each consumer reporting

agency described in section 603(p) shall submit an annual summary report to the Commission on consumer complaints

received by the agency on identity theft or fraud alerts.’’.

SEC. 154. PREVENTION OF REPOLLUTION OF CONSUMER REPORTS.

(a) PREVENTION OF REINSERTION OF ERRONEOUS INFORMATION.—Section 623(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.

1681s–2(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(6) DUTIES OF FURNISHERS UPON NOTICE OF IDENTITY

THEFT-RELATED INFORMATION.—

‘‘(A) REASONABLE PROCEDURES.—A person that furnishes information to any consumer reporting agency shall

have in place reasonable procedures to respond to any

notification that it receives from a consumer reporting

agency under section 605B relating to information resulting

Procedures.

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1967

from identity theft, to prevent that person from refurnishing such blocked information.

‘‘(B) INFORMATION ALLEGED TO RESULT FROM IDENTITY

THEFT.—If a consumer submits an identity theft report

to a person who furnishes information to a consumer

reporting agency at the address specified by that person

for receiving such reports stating that information maintained by such person that purports to relate to the consumer resulted from identity theft, the person may not

furnish such information that purports to relate to the

consumer to any consumer reporting agency, unless the

person subsequently knows or is informed by the consumer

that the information is correct.’’.

(b) PROHIBITION ON SALE OR TRANSFER OF DEBT CAUSED BY

IDENTITY THEFT.—Section 615 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act

(15 U.S.C. 1681m), as amended by this Act, is amended by adding

at the end the following:

‘‘(f) PROHIBITION ON SALE OR TRANSFER OF DEBT CAUSED BY

IDENTITY THEFT.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No person shall sell, transfer for consideration, or place for collection a debt that such person has

been notified under section 605B has resulted from identity

theft.

‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—The prohibitions of this subsection

shall apply to all persons collecting a debt described in paragraph (1) after the date of a notification under paragraph

(1).

‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this subsection

shall be construed to prohibit—

‘‘(A) the repurchase of a debt in any case in which

the assignee of the debt requires such repurchase because

the debt has resulted from identity theft;

‘‘(B) the securitization of a debt or the pledging of

a portfolio of debt as collateral in connection with a borrowing; or

‘‘(C) the transfer of debt as a result of a merger, acquisition, purchase and assumption transaction, or transfer of

substantially all of the assets of an entity.’’.

SEC. 155. NOTICE BY DEBT COLLECTORS WITH RESPECT TO FRAUDULENT INFORMATION.

Section 615 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681m),

as amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the end the

following:

‘‘(g) DEBT COLLECTOR COMMUNICATIONS CONCERNING IDENTITY

THEFT.—If a person acting as a debt collector (as that term is

defined in title VIII) on behalf of a third party that is a creditor

or other user of a consumer report is notified that any information

relating to a debt that the person is attempting to collect may

be fraudulent or may be the result of identity theft, that person

shall—

‘‘(1) notify the third party that the information may be

fraudulent or may be the result of identity theft; and

‘‘(2) upon request of the consumer to whom the debt

purportedly relates, provide to the consumer all information

117 STAT. 1968 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

to which the consumer would otherwise be entitled if the consumer were not a victim of identity theft, but wished to dispute

the debt under provisions of law applicable to that person.’’.

SEC. 156. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.

Section 618 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681p)

is amended to read as follows:

‘‘§ 618. Jurisdiction of courts; limitation of actions

‘‘An action to enforce any liability created under this title

may be brought in any appropriate United States district court,

without regard to the amount in controversy, or in any other court

of competent jurisdiction, not later than the earlier of—

‘‘(1) 2 years after the date of discovery by the plaintiff

of the violation that is the basis for such liability; or

‘‘(2) 5 years after the date on which the violation that

is the basis for such liability occurs.’’.

SEC. 157. STUDY ON THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY TO COMBAT IDENTITY

THEFT.

(a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall

conduct a study of the use of biometrics and other similar technologies to reduce the incidence and costs to society of identity

theft by providing convincing evidence of who actually performed

a given financial transaction.

(b) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall consult

with Federal banking agencies, the Commission, and representatives of financial institutions, consumer reporting agencies, Federal,

State, and local government agencies that issue official forms or

means of identification, State prosecutors, law enforcement agencies, the biometric industry, and the general public in formulating

and conducting the study required by subsection (a).

(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized

to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Treasury for fiscal year

2004, such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions

of this section.

(d) REPORT REQUIRED.—Before the end of the 180-day period

beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary

shall submit a report to Congress containing the findings and

conclusions of the study required under subsection (a), together

with such recommendations for legislative or administrative actions

as may be appropriate.

TITLE II—IMPROVEMENTS IN USE OF

AND CONSUMER ACCESS TO CREDIT

INFORMATION

SEC. 211. FREE CONSUMER REPORTS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 612 of the Fair Credit Reporting

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681j) is amended—

(1) by redesignating subsection (a) as subsection (f), and

transferring it to the end of the section;

(2) by inserting before subsection (b) the following:

‘‘(a) FREE ANNUAL DISCLOSURE.— ‘‘(1) NATIONWIDE CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES.—

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PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1969

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—All consumer reporting agencies

described in subsections (p) and (w) of section 603 shall

make all disclosures pursuant to section 609 once during

any 12-month period upon request of the consumer and

without charge to the consumer.

‘‘(B) CENTRALIZED SOURCE.—Subparagraph (A) shall

apply with respect to a consumer reporting agency

described in section 603(p) only if the request from the

consumer is made using the centralized source established

for such purpose in accordance with section 211(c) of the

Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003.

‘‘(C) NATIONWIDE SPECIALTY CONSUMER REPORTING

AGENCY.—

‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall prescribe

regulations applicable to each consumer reporting

agency described in section 603(w) to require the

establishment of a streamlined process for consumers

to request consumer reports under subparagraph (A),

which shall include, at a minimum, the establishment

by each such agency of a toll-free telephone number

for such requests.

‘‘(ii) CONSIDERATIONS.—In prescribing regulations

under clause (i), the Commission shall consider—

‘‘(I) the significant demands that may be

placed on consumer reporting agencies in providing

such consumer reports;

‘‘(II) appropriate means to ensure that consumer reporting agencies can satisfactorily meet

those demands, including the efficacy of a system

of staggering the availability to consumers of such

consumer reports; and

‘‘(III) the ease by which consumers should be

able to contact consumer reporting agencies with

respect to access to such consumer reports.

‘‘(iii) DATE OF ISSUANCE.—The Commission shall

issue the regulations required by this subparagraph

in final form not later than 6 months after the date

of enactment of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003.

‘‘(iv) CONSIDERATION OF ABILITY TO COMPLY.—The

regulations of the Commission under this subparagraph shall establish an effective date by which each

nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency (as

defined in section 603(w)) shall be required to comply

with subsection (a), which effective date—

‘‘(I) shall be established after consideration of

the ability of each nationwide specialty consumer

reporting agency to comply with subsection (a);

and

‘‘(II) shall be not later than 6 months after

the date on which such regulations are issued

in final form (or such additional period not to

exceed 3 months, as the Commission determines

appropriate).

‘‘(2) TIMING.—A consumer reporting agency shall provide

a consumer report under paragraph (1) not later than 15 days

Deadline.

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Effective date.

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Regulations.

Applicability.

117 STAT. 1970 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

after the date on which the request is received under paragraph

(1).

‘‘(3) REINVESTIGATIONS.—Notwithstanding the time periods

specified in section 611(a)(1), a reinvestigation under that section by a consumer reporting agency upon a request of a consumer that is made after receiving a consumer report under

this subsection shall be completed not later than 45 days after

the date on which the request is received.

‘‘(4) EXCEPTION FOR FIRST 12 MONTHS OF OPERATION.—This

subsection shall not apply to a consumer reporting agency

that has not been furnishing consumer reports to third parties

on a continuing basis during the 12-month period preceding

a request under paragraph (1), with respect to consumers

residing nationwide.’’;

(3) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e);

(4) by inserting before subsection (e), as redesignated, the

following:

‘‘(d) FREE DISCLOSURES IN CONNECTION WITH FRAUD ALERTS.—

Upon the request of a consumer, a consumer reporting agency

described in section 603(p) shall make all disclosures pursuant

to section 609 without charge to the consumer, as provided in

subsections (a)(2) and (b)(2) of section 605A, as applicable.’’;

(5) in subsection (e), as redesignated, by striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (f)’’; and

(6) in subsection (f), as redesignated, by striking ‘‘Except

as provided in subsections (b), (c), and (d), a’’ and inserting

‘‘In the case of a request from a consumer other than a request

that is covered by any of subsections (a) through (d), a’’.

(b) CIRCUMVENTION PROHIBITED.—The Fair Credit Reporting

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by adding after section

628, as added by section 216 of this Act, the following new section:

‘‘§ 629. Corporate and technological circumvention prohibited

‘‘The Commission shall prescribe regulations, to become effective not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this

section, to prevent a consumer reporting agency from circumventing

or evading treatment as a consumer reporting agency described

in section 603(p) for purposes of this title, including—

‘‘(1) by means of a corporate reorganization or restructuring, including a merger, acquisition, dissolution, divestiture,

or asset sale of a consumer reporting agency; or

‘‘(2) by maintaining or merging public record and credit

account information in a manner that is substantially equivalent to that described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section

603(p), in the manner described in section 603(p).’’.

(c) SUMMARY OF RIGHTS TO OBTAIN AND DISPUTE INFORMATION

IN CONSUMER REPORTS AND TO OBTAIN CREDIT SCORES.—Section

609(c) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g) is amended

to read as follows:

‘‘(c) SUMMARY OF RIGHTS TO OBTAIN AND DISPUTE INFORMATION

IN CONSUMER REPORTS AND TO OBTAIN CREDIT SCORES.—

‘‘(1) COMMISSION SUMMARY OF RIGHTS REQUIRED.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall prepare a

model summary of the rights of consumers under this

title.

Regulations.

Effective date.

15 USC 1681x.

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PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1971

‘‘(B) CONTENT OF SUMMARY.—The summary of rights

prepared under subparagraph (A) shall include a description of—

‘‘(i) the right of a consumer to obtain a copy of

a consumer report under subsection (a) from each consumer reporting agency;

‘‘(ii) the frequency and circumstances under which

a consumer is entitled to receive a consumer report

without charge under section 612;

‘‘(iii) the right of a consumer to dispute information

in the file of the consumer under section 611;

‘‘(iv) the right of a consumer to obtain a credit

score from a consumer reporting agency, and a description of how to obtain a credit score;

‘‘(v) the method by which a consumer can contact,

and obtain a consumer report from, a consumer

reporting agency without charge, as provided in the

regulations of the Commission prescribed under section

211(c) of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions

Act of 2003; and

‘‘(vi) the method by which a consumer can contact,

and obtain a consumer report from, a consumer

reporting agency described in section 603(w), as provided in the regulations of the Commission prescribed

under section 612(a)(1)(C).

‘‘(C) AVAILABILITY OF SUMMARY OF RIGHTS.—The

Commission shall—

‘‘(i) actively publicize the availability of the summary of rights prepared under this paragraph;

‘‘(ii) conspicuously post on its Internet website the

availability of such summary of rights; and

‘‘(iii) promptly make such summary of rights available to consumers, on request.

‘‘(2) SUMMARY OF RIGHTS REQUIRED TO BE INCLUDED WITH

AGENCY DISCLOSURES.—A consumer reporting agency shall provide to a consumer, with each written disclosure by the agency

to the consumer under this section—

‘‘(A) the summary of rights prepared by the Commission under paragraph (1);

‘‘(B) in the case of a consumer reporting agency

described in section 603(p), a toll-free telephone number

established by the agency, at which personnel are accessible

to consumers during normal business hours;

‘‘(C) a list of all Federal agencies responsible for

enforcing any provision of this title, and the address and

any appropriate phone number of each such agency, in

a form that will assist the consumer in selecting the appropriate agency;

‘‘(D) a statement that the consumer may have additional rights under State law, and that the consumer may

wish to contact a State or local consumer protection agency

or a State attorney general (or the equivalent thereof)

to learn of those rights; and

‘‘(E) a statement that a consumer reporting agency

is not required to remove accurate derogatory information

from the file of a consumer, unless the information is

outdated under section 605 or cannot be verified.’’.

Public

information.

117 STAT. 1972 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

(d) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall prescribe regulations applicable to consumer reporting agencies described in

section 603(p) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, to require

the establishment of—

(A) a centralized source through which consumers may

obtain a consumer report from each such consumer

reporting agency, using a single request, and without

charge to the consumer, as provided in section 612(a) of

the Fair Credit Reporting Act (as amended by this section);

and

(B) a standardized form for a consumer to make such

a request for a consumer report by mail or through an

Internet website.

(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In prescribing regulations under

paragraph (1), the Commission shall consider—

(A) the significant demands that may be placed on

consumer reporting agencies in providing such consumer

reports;

(B) appropriate means to ensure that consumer

reporting agencies can satisfactorily meet those demands,

including the efficacy of a system of staggering the availability to consumers of such consumer reports; and

(C) the ease by which consumers should be able to

contact consumer reporting agencies with respect to access

to such consumer reports.

(3) CENTRALIZED SOURCE.—The centralized source for a

request for a consumer report from a consumer required by

this subsection shall provide for—

(A) a toll-free telephone number for such purpose;

(B) use of an Internet website for such purpose; and

(C) a process for requests by mail for such purpose.

(4) TRANSITION.—The regulations of the Commission under

paragraph (1) shall provide for an orderly transition by consumer reporting agencies described in section 603(p) of the

Fair Credit Reporting Act to the centralized source for consumer

report distribution required by section 612(a)(1)(B), as amended

by this section, in a manner that—

(A) does not temporarily overwhelm such consumer

reporting agencies with requests for disclosures of consumer reports beyond their capacity to deliver; and

(B) does not deny creditors, other users, and consumers

access to consumer reports on a time-sensitive basis for

specific purposes, such as home purchases or suspicions

of identity theft, during the transition period.

(5) TIMING.—Regulations required by this subsection

shall—

(A) be issued in final form not later than 6 months

after the date of enactment of this Act; and

(B) become effective not later than 6 months after

the date on which they are issued in final form.

(6) SCOPE OF REGULATIONS.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall, by rule, determine whether to require a consumer reporting agency that

compiles and maintains files on consumers on substantially

a nationwide basis, other than one described in section

Effective date.

Deadline.

15 USC 1681j

note.

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1973

603(p) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, to make free consumer reports available upon consumer request, and if

so, whether such consumer reporting agencies should make

such free reports available through the centralized source

described in paragraph (1)(A).

(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—Before making any determination under subparagraph (A), the Commission shall

consider—

(i) the number of requests for consumer reports

to, and the number of consumer reports generated

by, the consumer reporting agency, in comparison with

consumer reporting agencies described in subsections

(p) and (w) of section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting

Act;

(ii) the overall scope of the operations of the consumer reporting agency;

(iii) the needs of consumers for access to consumer

reports provided by consumer reporting agencies free

of charge;

(iv) the costs of providing access to consumer

reports by consumer reporting agencies free of charge;

and

(v) the effects on the ongoing competitive viability

of such consumer reporting agencies if such free access

is required.

SEC. 212. DISCLOSURE OF CREDIT SCORES.

(a) STATEMENT ON AVAILABILITY OF CREDIT SCORES.—Section

609(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g(a)) is

amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

‘‘(6) If the consumer requests the credit file and not the

credit score, a statement that the consumer may request and

obtain a credit score.’’.

(b) DISCLOSURE OF CREDIT SCORES.—Section 609 of the Fair

Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g), as amended by this Act,

is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(f) DISCLOSURE OF CREDIT SCORES.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the request of a consumer for

a credit score, a consumer reporting agency shall supply to

the consumer a statement indicating that the information and

credit scoring model may be different than the credit score

that may be used by the lender, and a notice which shall

include—

‘‘(A) the current credit score of the consumer or the

most recent credit score of the consumer that was previously calculated by the credit reporting agency for a

purpose related to the extension of credit;

‘‘(B) the range of possible credit scores under the model

used;

‘‘(C) all of the key factors that adversely affected the

credit score of the consumer in the model used, the total

number of which shall not exceed 4, subject to paragraph

(9);

‘‘(D) the date on which the credit score was created;

and

117 STAT. 1974 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

‘‘(E) the name of the person or entity that provided

the credit score or credit file upon which the credit score

was created.

‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this subsection, the following definitions shall apply:

‘‘(A) CREDIT SCORE.—The term ‘credit score’—

‘‘(i) means a numerical value or a categorization

derived from a statistical tool or modeling system used

by a person who makes or arranges a loan to predict

the likelihood of certain credit behaviors, including

default (and the numerical value or the categorization

derived from such analysis may also be referred to

as a ‘risk predictor’ or ‘risk score’); and

‘‘(ii) does not include—

‘‘(I) any mortgage score or rating of an automated underwriting system that considers one or

more factors in addition to credit information,

including the loan to value ratio, the amount of

down payment, or the financial assets of a consumer; or

‘‘(II) any other elements of the underwriting

process or underwriting decision.

‘‘(B) KEY FACTORS.—The term ‘key factors’ means all

relevant elements or reasons adversely affecting the credit

score for the particular individual, listed in the order of

their importance based on their effect on the credit score.

‘‘(3) TIMEFRAME AND MANNER OF DISCLOSURE.—The

information required by this subsection shall be provided in

the same timeframe and manner as the information described

in subsection (a).

‘‘(4) APPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN USES.—This subsection shall

not be construed so as to compel a consumer reporting agency

to develop or disclose a score if the agency does not—

‘‘(A) distribute scores that are used in connection with

residential real property loans; or

‘‘(B) develop scores that assist credit providers in

understanding the general credit behavior of a consumer

and predicting the future credit behavior of the consumer.

‘‘(5) APPLICABILITY TO CREDIT SCORES DEVELOPED BY

ANOTHER PERSON.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—This subsection shall not be construed to require a consumer reporting agency that distributes credit scores developed by another person or entity

to provide a further explanation of them, or to process

a dispute arising pursuant to section 611, except that the

consumer reporting agency shall provide the consumer with

the name and address and website for contacting the person

or entity who developed the score or developed the methodology of the score.

‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—This paragraph shall not apply to

a consumer reporting agency that develops or modifies

scores that are developed by another person or entity.

‘‘(6) MAINTENANCE OF CREDIT SCORES NOT REQUIRED.—This

subsection shall not be construed to require a consumer

reporting agency to maintain credit scores in its files.

‘‘(7) COMPLIANCE IN CERTAIN CASES.—In complying with

this subsection, a consumer reporting agency shall—

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1975

‘‘(A) supply the consumer with a credit score that is

derived from a credit scoring model that is widely distributed to users by that consumer reporting agency in connection with residential real property loans or with a credit

score that assists the consumer in understanding the credit

scoring assessment of the credit behavior of the consumer

and predictions about the future credit behavior of the

consumer; and

‘‘(B) a statement indicating that the information and

credit scoring model may be different than that used by

the lender.

‘‘(8) FAIR AND REASONABLE FEE.—A consumer reporting

agency may charge a fair and reasonable fee, as determined

by the Commission, for providing the information required

under this subsection.

‘‘(9) USE OF ENQUIRIES AS A KEY FACTOR.—If a key factor

that adversely affects the credit score of a consumer consists

of the number of enquiries made with respect to a consumer

report, that factor shall be included in the disclosure pursuant

to paragraph (1)(C) without regard to the numerical limitation

in such paragraph.’’.

(c) DISCLOSURE OF CREDIT SCORES BY CERTAIN MORTGAGE

LENDERS.—Section 609 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.

1681g), as amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the

end the following:

‘‘(g) DISCLOSURE OF CREDIT SCORES BY CERTAIN MORTGAGE

LENDERS.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who makes or arranges loans

and who uses a consumer credit score, as defined in subsection

(f), in connection with an application initiated or sought by

a consumer for a closed end loan or the establishment of an

open end loan for a consumer purpose that is secured by 1

to 4 units of residential real property (hereafter in this subsection referred to as the ‘lender’) shall provide the following

to the consumer as soon as reasonably practicable:

‘‘(A) INFORMATION REQUIRED UNDER SUBSECTION (f).—

‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A copy of the information identified in subsection (f) that was obtained from a consumer reporting agency or was developed and used

by the user of the information.

‘‘(ii) NOTICE UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH (D).—In addition to the information provided to it by a third party

that provided the credit score or scores, a lender is

only required to provide the notice contained in

subparagraph (D).

‘‘(B) DISCLOSURES IN CASE OF AUTOMATED UNDERWRITING SYSTEM.—

‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If a person that is subject to

this subsection uses an automated underwriting

system to underwrite a loan, that person may satisfy

the obligation to provide a credit score by disclosing

a credit score and associated key factors supplied by

a consumer reporting agency.

‘‘(ii) NUMERICAL CREDIT SCORE.—However, if a

numerical credit score is generated by an automated

underwriting system used by an enterprise, and that

score is disclosed to the person, the score shall be

117 STAT. 1976 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

disclosed to the consumer consistent with subparagraph (C).

‘‘(iii) ENTERPRISE DEFINED.—For purposes of this

subparagraph, the term ‘enterprise’ has the same

meaning as in paragraph (6) of section 1303 of the

Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and

Soundness Act of 1992.

‘‘(C) DISCLOSURES OF CREDIT SCORES NOT OBTAINED

FROM A CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY.—A person that is

subject to the provisions of this subsection and that uses

a credit score, other than a credit score provided by a

consumer reporting agency, may satisfy the obligation to

provide a credit score by disclosing a credit score and

associated key factors supplied by a consumer reporting

agency.

‘‘(D) NOTICE TO HOME LOAN APPLICANTS.—A copy of

the following notice, which shall include the name, address,

and telephone number of each consumer reporting agency

providing a credit score that was used:

‘NOTICE TO THE HOME LOAN APPLICANT

‘In connection with your application for a home loan, the lender

must disclose to you the score that a consumer reporting agency

distributed to users and the lender used in connection with your

home loan, and the key factors affecting your credit scores.

‘The credit score is a computer generated summary calculated

at the time of the request and based on information that a consumer

reporting agency or lender has on file. The scores are based on

data about your credit history and payment patterns. Credit scores

are important because they are used to assist the lender in determining whether you will obtain a loan. They may also be used

to determine what interest rate you may be offered on the mortgage.

Credit scores can change over time, depending on your conduct,

how your credit history and payment patterns change, and how

credit scoring technologies change.

‘Because the score is based on information in your credit history, it is very important that you review the credit-related information that is being furnished to make sure it is accurate. Credit

records may vary from one company to another.

‘If you have questions about your credit score or the credit

information that is furnished to you, contact the consumer reporting

agency at the address and telephone number provided with this

notice, or contact the lender, if the lender developed or generated

the credit score. The consumer reporting agency plays no part

in the decision to take any action on the loan application and

is unable to provide you with specific reasons for the decision

on a loan application.

‘If you have questions concerning the terms of the loan, contact

the lender.’.

‘‘(E) ACTIONS NOT REQUIRED UNDER THIS SUBSECTION.—

This subsection shall not require any person to—

‘‘(i) explain the information provided pursuant to

subsection (f);

‘‘(ii) disclose any information other than a credit

score or key factors, as defined in subsection (f);

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1977

‘‘(iii) disclose any credit score or related information obtained by the user after a loan has closed;

‘‘(iv) provide more than 1 disclosure per loan transaction; or

‘‘(v) provide the disclosure required by this subsection when another person has made the disclosure

to the consumer for that loan transaction.

‘‘(F) NO OBLIGATION FOR CONTENT.—

‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The obligation of any person

pursuant to this subsection shall be limited solely to

providing a copy of the information that was received

from the consumer reporting agency.

‘‘(ii) LIMIT ON LIABILITY.—No person has liability

under this subsection for the content of that information or for the omission of any information within

the report provided by the consumer reporting agency.

‘‘(G) PERSON DEFINED AS EXCLUDING ENTERPRISE.—As

used in this subsection, the term ‘person’ does not include

an enterprise (as defined in paragraph (6) of section 1303

of the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and

Soundness Act of 1992).

‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON DISCLOSURE CLAUSES NULL AND VOID.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any provision in a contract that

prohibits the disclosure of a credit score by a person who

makes or arranges loans or a consumer reporting agency

is void.

‘‘(B) NO LIABILITY FOR DISCLOSURE UNDER THIS SUBSECTION.—A lender shall not have liability under any

contractual provision for disclosure of a credit score pursuant to this subsection.’’.

(d) INCLUSION OF KEY FACTOR IN CREDIT SCORE INFORMATION

IN CONSUMER REPORT.—Section 605(d) of the Fair Credit Reporting

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(d)) is amended—

(1) by striking ‘‘DISCLOSED.—Any consumer reporting

agency’’ and inserting ‘‘DISCLOSED.—

‘‘(1) TITLE 11 INFORMATION.—Any consumer reporting

agency’’; and

(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

‘‘(2) KEY FACTOR IN CREDIT SCORE INFORMATION.—Any consumer reporting agency that furnishes a consumer report that

contains any credit score or any other risk score or predictor

on any consumer shall include in the report a clear and conspicuous statement that a key factor (as defined in section

609(f)(2)(B)) that adversely affected such score or predictor

was the number of enquiries, if such a predictor was in fact

a key factor that adversely affected such score. This paragraph

shall not apply to a check services company, acting as such,

which issues authorizations for the purpose of approving or

processing negotiable instruments, electronic fund transfers,

or similar methods of payments, but only to the extent that

such company is engaged in such activities.’’.

(e) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 625(b)

of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681t(b)), as so designated by section 214 of this Act, is amended—

(1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph (2); and

(2) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:

117 STAT. 1978 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

‘‘(3) with respect to the disclosures required to be made

under subsection (c), (d), (e), or (g) of section 609, or subsection

(f) of section 609 relating to the disclosure of credit scores

for credit granting purposes, except that this paragraph—

‘‘(A) shall not apply with respect to sections 1785.10,

1785.16, and 1785.20.2 of the California Civil Code (as

in effect on the date of enactment of the Fair and Accurate

Credit Transactions Act of 2003) and section 1785.15

through section 1785.15.2 of such Code (as in effect on

such date);

‘‘(B) shall not apply with respect to sections 5–3–106(2)

and 212–14.3–104.3 of the Colorado Revised Statutes (as

in effect on the date of enactment of the Fair and Accurate

Credit Transactions Act of 2003); and

‘‘(C) shall not be construed as limiting, annulling,

affecting, or superseding any provision of the laws of any

State regulating the use in an insurance activity, or regulating disclosures concerning such use, of a credit-based

insurance score of a consumer by any person engaged in

the business of insurance;

‘‘(4) with respect to the frequency of any disclosure under

section 612(a), except that this paragraph shall not apply—

‘‘(A) with respect to section 12–14.3–105(1)(d) of the

Colorado Revised Statutes (as in effect on the date of

enactment of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions

Act of 2003);

‘‘(B) with respect to section 10–1–393(29)(C) of the

Georgia Code (as in effect on the date of enactment of

the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003);

‘‘(C) with respect to section 1316.2 of title 10 of the

Maine Revised Statutes (as in effect on the date of enactment of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act

of 2003);

‘‘(D) with respect to sections 14–1209(a)(1) and 14–

1209(b)(1)(i) of the Commercial Law Article of the Code

of Maryland (as in effect on the date of enactment of

the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003);

‘‘(E) with respect to section 59(d) and section 59(e)

of chapter 93 of the General Laws of Massachusetts (as

in effect on the date of enactment of the Fair and Accurate

Credit Transactions Act of 2003);

‘‘(F) with respect to section 56:11–37.10(a)(1) of the

New Jersey Revised Statutes (as in effect on the date

of enactment of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions

Act of 2003); or

‘‘(G) with respect to section 2480c(a)(1) of title 9 of

the Vermont Statutes Annotated (as in effect on the date

of enactment of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions

Act of 2003); or’’.

SEC. 213. ENHANCED DISCLOSURE OF THE MEANS AVAILABLE TO OPT

OUT OF PRESCREENED LISTS.

(a) NOTICE AND RESPONSE FORMAT FOR USERS OF REPORTS.—

Section 615(d)(2) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.

1681m(d)(2)) is amended to read as follows:

‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE OF ADDRESS AND TELEPHONE NUMBER; FOR- MAT.—A statement under paragraph (1) shall—

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1979

‘‘(A) include the address and toll-free telephone number

of the appropriate notification system established under

section 604(e); and

‘‘(B) be presented in such format and in such type

size and manner as to be simple and easy to understand,

as established by the Commission, by rule, in consultation

with the Federal banking agencies and the National Credit

Union Administration.’’.

(b) RULEMAKING SCHEDULE.—Regulations required by section

615(d)(2) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, as amended by this

section, shall be issued in final form not later than 1 year after

the date of enactment of this Act.

(c) DURATION OF ELECTIONS.—Section 604(e) of the Fair Credit

Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(e)) is amended in each of paragraphs

(3)(A) and (4)(B)(i)), by striking ‘‘2-year period’’ each place that

term appears and inserting ‘‘5-year period’’.

(d) PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN.—The Commission shall

actively publicize and conspicuously post on its website any address

and the toll-free telephone number established as part of a notification system for opting out of prescreening under section 604(e)

of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(e)), and otherwise

take measures to increase public awareness regarding the availability of the right to opt out of prescreening.

(e) ANALYSIS OF FURTHER RESTRICTIONS ON OFFERS OF CREDIT

OR INSURANCE.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall conduct a study of—

(A) the ability of consumers to avoid receiving written

offers of credit or insurance in connection with transactions

not initiated by the consumer; and

(B) the potential impact that any further restrictions

on providing consumers with such written offers of credit

or insurance would have on consumers.

(2) REPORT.—The Board shall submit a report summarizing

the results of the study required under paragraph (1) to the

Congress not later than 12 months after the date of enactment

of this Act, together with such recommendations for legislative

or administrative action as the Board may determine to be

appropriate.

(3) CONTENT OF REPORT.—The report described in paragraph (2) shall address the following issues:

(A) The current statutory or voluntary mechanisms

that are available to a consumer to notify lenders and

insurance providers that the consumer does not wish to

receive written offers of credit or insurance.

(B) The extent to which consumers are currently utilizing existing statutory and voluntary mechanisms to avoid

receiving offers of credit or insurance.

(C) The benefits provided to consumers as a result

of receiving written offers of credit or insurance.

(D) Whether consumers incur significant costs or are

otherwise adversely affected by the receipt of written offers

of credit or insurance.

(E) Whether further restricting the ability of lenders

and insurers to provide written offers of credit or insurance

to consumers would affect—

(i) the cost consumers pay to obtain credit or insurance;

Deadline.

15 USC 1601

note.

Internet.

15 USC 1681b

note.

Deadline.

15 USC 1681m

note.

117 STAT. 1980 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

(ii) the availability of credit or insurance;

(iii) consumers’ knowledge about new or alternative products and services;

(iv) the ability of lenders or insurers to compete

with one another; and

(v) the ability to offer credit or insurance products

to consumers who have been traditionally underserved.

SEC. 214. AFFILIATE SHARING.

(a) LIMITATION.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1601

et seq.) is amended—

(1) by redesignating sections 624 (15 U.S.C. 1681t), 625

(15 U.S.C. 1681u), and 626 (15 U.S.C. 6181v) as sections 625,

626, and 627, respectively; and

(2) by inserting after section 623 the following:

‘‘§ 624. Affiliate sharing

‘‘(a) SPECIAL RULE FOR SOLICITATION FOR PURPOSES OF MARKETING.—

‘‘(1) NOTICE.—Any person that receives from another person

related to it by common ownership or affiliated by corporate

control a communication of information that would be a consumer report, but for clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of section

603(d)(2)(A), may not use the information to make a solicitation

for marketing purposes to a consumer about its products or

services, unless—

‘‘(A) it is clearly and conspicuously disclosed to the

consumer that the information may be communicated

among such persons for purposes of making such solicitations to the consumer; and

‘‘(B) the consumer is provided an opportunity and a

simple method to prohibit the making of such solicitations

to the consumer by such person.

‘‘(2) CONSUMER CHOICE.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The notice required under paragraph (1) shall allow the consumer the opportunity to prohibit all solicitations referred to in such paragraph, and

may allow the consumer to choose from different options

when electing to prohibit the sending of such solicitations,

including options regarding the types of entities and

information covered, and which methods of delivering solicitations the consumer elects to prohibit.

‘‘(B) FORMAT.—Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the

notice required under paragraph (1) shall be clear, conspicuous, and concise, and any method provided under

paragraph (1)(B) shall be simple. The regulations prescribed to implement this section shall provide specific

guidance regarding how to comply with such standards.

‘‘(3) DURATION.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The election of a consumer pursuant

to paragraph (1)(B) to prohibit the making of solicitations

shall be effective for at least 5 years, beginning on the

date on which the person receives the election of the consumer, unless the consumer requests that such election

be revoked.

‘‘(B) NOTICE UPON EXPIRATION OF EFFECTIVE PERIOD.— At such time as the election of a consumer pursuant to

15 USC 1681s–3.

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1981

paragraph (1)(B) is no longer effective, a person may not

use information that the person receives in the manner

described in paragraph (1) to make any solicitation for

marketing purposes to the consumer, unless the consumer

receives a notice and an opportunity, using a simple

method, to extend the opt-out for another period of at

least 5 years, pursuant to the procedures described in

paragraph (1).

‘‘(4) SCOPE.—This section shall not apply to a person—

‘‘(A) using information to make a solicitation for marketing purposes to a consumer with whom the person has

a pre-existing business relationship;

‘‘(B) using information to facilitate communications to

an individual for whose benefit the person provides

employee benefit or other services pursuant to a contract

with an employer related to and arising out of the current

employment relationship or status of the individual as

a participant or beneficiary of an employee benefit plan;

‘‘(C) using information to perform services on behalf

of another person related by common ownership or affiliated by corporate control, except that this subparagraph

shall not be construed as permitting a person to send

solicitations on behalf of another person, if such other

person would not be permitted to send the solicitation

on its own behalf as a result of the election of the consumer

to prohibit solicitations under paragraph (1)(B);

‘‘(D) using information in response to a communication

initiated by the consumer;

‘‘(E) using information in response to solicitations

authorized or requested by the consumer; or

‘‘(F) if compliance with this section by that person

would prevent compliance by that person with any provision of State insurance laws pertaining to unfair discrimination in any State in which the person is lawfully doing

business.

‘‘(5) NO RETROACTIVITY.—This subsection shall not prohibit

the use of information to send a solicitation to a consumer

if such information was received prior to the date on which

persons are required to comply with regulations implementing

this subsection.

‘‘(b) NOTICE FOR OTHER PURPOSES PERMISSIBLE.—A notice or

other disclosure under this section may be coordinated and consolidated with any other notice required to be issued under any other

provision of law by a person that is subject to this section, and

a notice or other disclosure that is equivalent to the notice required

by subsection (a), and that is provided by a person described in

subsection (a) to a consumer together with disclosures required

by any other provision of law, shall satisfy the requirements of

subsection (a).

‘‘(c) USER REQUIREMENTS.—Requirements with respect to the

use by a person of information received from another person related

to it by common ownership or affiliated by corporate control, such

as the requirements of this section, constitute requirements with

respect to the exchange of information among persons affiliated

by common ownership or common corporate control, within the

meaning of section 625(b)(2).

117 STAT. 1982 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the following

definitions shall apply:

‘‘(1) PRE-EXISTING BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP.—The term ‘preexisting business relationship’ means a relationship between

a person, or a person’s licensed agent, and a consumer, based

on—

‘‘(A) a financial contract between a person and a consumer which is in force;

‘‘(B) the purchase, rental, or lease by the consumer

of that person’s goods or services, or a financial transaction

(including holding an active account or a policy in force

or having another continuing relationship) between the

consumer and that person during the 18-month period

immediately preceding the date on which the consumer

is sent a solicitation covered by this section;

‘‘(C) an inquiry or application by the consumer

regarding a product or service offered by that person,

during the 3-month period immediately preceding the date

on which the consumer is sent a solicitation covered by

this section; or

‘‘(D) any other pre-existing customer relationship

defined in the regulations implementing this section.

‘‘(2) SOLICITATION.—The term ‘solicitation’ means the marketing of a product or service initiated by a person to a particular consumer that is based on an exchange of information

described in subsection (a), and is intended to encourage the

consumer to purchase such product or service, but does not

include communications that are directed at the general public

or determined not to be a solicitation by the regulations prescribed under this section.’’.

(b) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal banking agencies, the

National Credit Union Administration, and the Commission,

with respect to the entities that are subject to their respective

enforcement authority under section 621 of the Fair Credit

Reporting Act and the Securities and Exchange Commission,

and in coordination as described in paragraph (2), shall prescribe regulations to implement section 624 of the Fair Credit

Reporting Act, as added by this section.

(2) COORDINATION.—Each agency required to prescribe

regulations under paragraph (1) shall consult and coordinate

with each other such agency so that, to the extent possible,

the regulations prescribed by each such entity are consistent

and comparable with the regulations prescribed by each other

such agency.

(3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In promulgating regulations under

this subsection, each agency referred to in paragraph (1) shall—

(A) ensure that affiliate sharing notification methods

provide a simple means for consumers to make determinations and choices under section 624 of the Fair Credit

Reporting Act, as added by this section;

(B) consider the affiliate sharing notification practices

employed on the date of enactment of this Act by persons

that will be subject to that section 624; and

(C) ensure that notices and disclosures may be coordinated and consolidated, as provided in subsection (b) of

that section 624.

15 USC 1681s–3

note.

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1983

(4) TIMING.—Regulations required by this subsection

shall—

(A) be issued in final form not later than 9 months

after the date of enactment of this Act; and

(B) become effective not later than 6 months after

the date on which they are issued in final form.

(c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— (1) DEFINITIONS.—Section 603(d)(2)(A) of the Fair Credit

Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681(d)(2)(A)) is amended by inserting

‘‘subject to section 624,’’ after ‘‘(A)’’.

(2) RELATION TO STATE LAWS.—Section 625(b)(1) of the Fair

Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681t(b)(1)), as so designated

by subsection (a) of this section, is amended—

(A) by striking ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon at the end

of subparagraph (E); and

(B) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

‘‘(H) section 624, relating to the exchange and use

of information to make a solicitation for marketing purposes; or’’.

(3) CROSS REFERENCE CORRECTION.—Section 627(d) of the

Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681v(d)), as so designated

by subsection (a) of this section, is amended by striking ‘‘section

625’’ and inserting ‘‘section 626’’.

(4) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections for title

VI of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1601

et seq.) is amended by striking the items relating to sections

624 through 626 and inserting the following:

‘‘624. Affiliate sharing.

‘‘625. Relation to State laws.

‘‘626. Disclosures to FBI for counterintelligence purposes.

‘‘627. Disclosures to governmental agencies for counterintelligence purposes.’’.

(e) STUDIES OF INFORMATION SHARING PRACTICES.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal banking agencies, the

National Credit Union Administration, and the Commission

shall jointly conduct regular studies of the consumer information sharing practices by financial institutions and other persons that are creditors or users of consumer reports with their

affiliates.

(2) MATTERS FOR STUDY.—In conducting the studies

required by paragraph (1), the agencies described in paragraph

(1) shall—

(A) identify—

(i) the purposes for which financial institutions

and other creditors and users of consumer reports

share consumer information;

(ii) the types of information shared by such entities

with their affiliates;

(iii) the number of choices provided to consumers

with respect to the control of such sharing, and the

degree to and manner in which consumers exercise

such choices, if at all; and

(iv) whether such entities share or may share

personally identifiable transaction or experience

information with affiliates for purposes—

(I) that are related to employment or hiring,

including whether the person that is the subject

15 USC 1681s–3

note.

15 USC 1681a.

Effective date.

Deadline.

117 STAT. 1984 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

of such information is given notice of such sharing,

and the specific uses of such shared information;

or

(II) of general publication of such information;

and

(B) specifically examine the information sharing practices that financial institutions and other creditors and

users of consumer reports and their affiliates employ for

the purpose of making underwriting decisions or credit

evaluations of consumers.

(3) REPORTS.—

(A) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the

date of enactment of this Act, the Federal banking agencies,

the National Credit Union Administration, and the

Commission shall jointly submit a report to the Congress

on the results of the initial study conducted in accordance

with this subsection, together with any recommendations

for legislative or regulatory action.

(B) FOLLOWUP REPORTS.—The Federal banking agencies, the National Credit Union Administration, and the

Commission shall, not less frequently than once every 3

years following the date of submission of the initial report

under subparagraph (A), jointly submit a report to the

Congress that, together with any recommendations for

legislative or regulatory action—

(i) documents any changes in the areas of study

referred to in paragraph (2)(A) occurring since the

date of submission of the previous report;

(ii) identifies any changes in the practices of financial institutions and other creditors and users of consumer reports in sharing consumer information with

their affiliates for the purpose of making underwriting

decisions or credit evaluations of consumers occurring

since the date of submission of the previous report;

and

(iii) examines the effects that changes described

in clause (ii) have had, if any, on the degree to which

such affiliate sharing practices reduce the need for

financial institutions, creditors, and other users of consumer reports to rely on consumer reports for such

decisions.

SEC. 215. STUDY OF EFFECTS OF CREDIT SCORES AND CREDIT-BASED

INSURANCE SCORES ON AVAILABILITY AND AFFORDABILITY OF FINANCIAL PRODUCTS.

(a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Commission and the Board, in consultation with the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity

of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, shall conduct a study of—

(1) the effects of the use of credit scores and credit-based

insurance scores on the availability and affordability of financial

products and services, including credit cards, mortgages, auto

loans, and property and casualty insurance;

(2) the statistical relationship, utilizing a multivariate analysis that controls for prohibited factors under the Equal Credit

Opportunity Act and other known risk factors, between credit

15 USC 1681

note.

Deadlines.

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1985

scores and credit-based insurance scores and the quantifiable

risks and actual losses experienced by businesses;

(3) the extent to which, if any, the use of credit scoring

models, credit scores, and credit-based insurance scores impact

on the availability and affordability of credit and insurance

to the extent information is currently available or is available

through proxies, by geography, income, ethnicity, race, color,

religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, and creed,

including the extent to which the consideration or lack of consideration of certain factors by credit scoring systems could result

in negative or differential treatment of protected classes under

the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and the extent to which,

if any, the use of underwriting systems relying on these models

could achieve comparable results through the use of factors

with less negative impact; and

(4) the extent to which credit scoring systems are used

by businesses, the factors considered by such systems, and

the effects of variables which are not considered by such systems.

(b) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Commission shall seek public

input about the prescribed methodology and research design of

the study described in subsection (a), including from relevant Federal regulators, State insurance regulators, community, civil rights,

consumer, and housing groups.

(c) REPORT REQUIRED.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Before the end of the 24-month period

beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission

shall submit a detailed report on the study conducted pursuant

to subsection (a) to the Committee on Financial Services of

the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking,

Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.

(2) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report submitted under

paragraph (1) shall include the findings and conclusions of

the Commission, recommendations to address specific areas

of concerns addressed in the study, and recommendations for

legislative or administrative action that the Commission may

determine to be necessary to ensure that credit and creditbased insurance scores are used appropriately and fairly to

avoid negative effects.

SEC. 216. DISPOSAL OF CONSUMER REPORT INFORMATION AND

RECORDS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.

1681 et seq.), as amended by this Act, is amended by adding

at the end the following:

‘‘§ 628. Disposal of records

‘‘(a) REGULATIONS.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date

of enactment of this section, the Federal banking agencies,

the National Credit Union Administration, and the Commission

with respect to the entities that are subject to their respective

enforcement authority under section 621, and the Securities

and Exchange Commission, and in coordination as described

in paragraph (2), shall issue final regulations requiring any

person that maintains or otherwise possesses consumer

information, or any compilation of consumer information,

Deadline.

15 USC 1681w.

Deadline.

117 STAT. 1986 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

derived from consumer reports for a business purpose to properly dispose of any such information or compilation.

‘‘(2) COORDINATION.—Each agency required to prescribe

regulations under paragraph (1) shall—

‘‘(A) consult and coordinate with each other such

agency so that, to the extent possible, the regulations prescribed by each such agency are consistent and comparable

with the regulations by each such other agency; and

‘‘(B) ensure that such regulations are consistent with

the requirements and regulations issued pursuant to Public

Law 106–102 and other provisions of Federal law.

‘‘(3) EXEMPTION AUTHORITY.—In issuing regulations under

this section, the Federal banking agencies, the National Credit

Union Administration, the Commission, and the Securities and

Exchange Commission may exempt any person or class of persons from application of those regulations, as such agency

deems appropriate to carry out the purpose of this section.

‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall

be construed—

‘‘(1) to require a person to maintain or destroy any record

pertaining to a consumer that is not imposed under other

law; or

‘‘(2) to alter or affect any requirement imposed under any

other provision of law to maintain or destroy such a record.’’.

(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections for title VI

of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)

is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 627,

as added by section 214 of this Act, the following:

‘‘628. Disposal of records.

‘‘629. Corporate and technological circumvention prohibited.’’.

SEC. 217. REQUIREMENT TO DISCLOSE COMMUNICATIONS TO A CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 623(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)) as amended by this Act, is amended

by inserting after paragraph (6), the following new paragraph:

‘‘(7) NEGATIVE INFORMATION.—

‘‘(A) NOTICE TO CONSUMER REQUIRED.—

‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If any financial institution that

extends credit and regularly and in the ordinary course

of business furnishes information to a consumer

reporting agency described in section 603(p) furnishes

negative information to such an agency regarding

credit extended to a customer, the financial institution

shall provide a notice of such furnishing of negative

information, in writing, to the customer.

‘‘(ii) NOTICE EFFECTIVE FOR SUBSEQUENT SUBMISSIONS.—After providing such notice, the financial

institution may submit additional negative information

to a consumer reporting agency described in section

603(p) with respect to the same transaction, extension

of credit, account, or customer without providing additional notice to the customer.

‘‘(B) TIME OF NOTICE.—

‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The notice required under

subparagraph (A) shall be provided to the customer

prior to, or no later than 30 days after, furnishing

Deadline.

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1987

the negative information to a consumer reporting

agency described in section 603(p).

‘‘(ii) COORDINATION WITH NEW ACCOUNT DISCLOSURES.—If the notice is provided to the customer prior

to furnishing the negative information to a consumer

reporting agency, the notice may not be included in

the initial disclosures provided under section 127(a)

of the Truth in Lending Act.

‘‘(C) COORDINATION WITH OTHER DISCLOSURES.—The

notice required under subparagraph (A)—

‘‘(i) may be included on or with any notice of

default, any billing statement, or any other materials

provided to the customer; and

‘‘(ii) must be clear and conspicuous.

‘‘(D) MODEL DISCLOSURE.—

‘‘(i) DUTY OF BOARD TO PREPARE.—The Board shall

prescribe a brief model disclosure a financial institution

may use to comply with subparagraph (A), which shall

not exceed 30 words.

‘‘(ii) USE OF MODEL NOT REQUIRED.—No provision

of this paragraph shall be construed as requiring a

financial institution to use any such model form prescribed by the Board.

‘‘(iii) COMPLIANCE USING MODEL.—A financial

institution shall be deemed to be in compliance with

subparagraph (A) if the financial institution uses any

such model form prescribed by the Board, or the financial institution uses any such model form and

rearranges its format.

‘‘(E) USE OF NOTICE WITHOUT SUBMITTING NEGATIVE

INFORMATION.—No provision of this paragraph shall be construed as requiring a financial institution that has provided

a customer with a notice described in subparagraph (A)

to furnish negative information about the customer to a

consumer reporting agency.

‘‘(F) SAFE HARBOR.—A financial institution shall not

be liable for failure to perform the duties required by

this paragraph if, at the time of the failure, the financial

institution maintained reasonable policies and procedures

to comply with this paragraph or the financial institution

reasonably believed that the institution is prohibited, by

law, from contacting the consumer.

‘‘(G) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this paragraph, the

following definitions shall apply:

‘‘(i) NEGATIVE INFORMATION.—The term ‘negative

information’ means information concerning a customer’s delinquencies, late payments, insolvency, or

any form of default.

‘‘(ii) CUSTOMER; FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The

terms ‘customer’ and ‘financial institution’ have the

same meanings as in section 509 Public Law 106–

102.’’.

(b) MODEL DISCLOSURE FORM.—Before the end of the 6-month

period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Board

shall adopt the model disclosure required under the amendment

Deadline.

Federal Register,

publication.

15 USC 1681s–2

note.

117 STAT. 1988 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

made by subsection (a) after notice duly given in the Federal Register and an opportunity for public comment in accordance with

section 553 of title 5, United States Code.

TITLE III—ENHANCING THE ACCURACY

OF CONSUMER REPORT INFORMATION

SEC. 311. RISK-BASED PRICING NOTICE.

(a) DUTIES OF USERS.—Section 615 of the Fair Credit Reporting

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681m), as amended by this Act, is amended by

adding at the end the following:

‘‘(h) DUTIES OF USERS IN CERTAIN CREDIT TRANSACTIONS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to rules prescribed as provided

in paragraph (6), if any person uses a consumer report in

connection with an application for, or a grant, extension, or

other provision of, credit on material terms that are materially

less favorable than the most favorable terms available to a

substantial proportion of consumers from or through that person, based in whole or in part on a consumer report, the

person shall provide an oral, written, or electronic notice to

the consumer in the form and manner required by regulations

prescribed in accordance with this subsection.

‘‘(2) TIMING.—The notice required under paragraph (1) may

be provided at the time of an application for, or a grant,

extension, or other provision of, credit or the time of communication of an approval of an application for, or grant, extension,

or other provision of, credit, except as provided in the regulations prescribed under paragraph (6).

‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.—No notice shall be required from a person under this subsection if—

‘‘(A) the consumer applied for specific material terms

and was granted those terms, unless those terms were

initially specified by the person after the transaction was

initiated by the consumer and after the person obtained

a consumer report; or

‘‘(B) the person has provided or will provide a notice

to the consumer under subsection (a) in connection with

the transaction.

‘‘(4) OTHER NOTICE NOT SUFFICIENT.—A person that is

required to provide a notice under subsection (a) cannot meet

that requirement by providing a notice under this subsection.

‘‘(5) CONTENT AND DELIVERY OF NOTICE.—A notice under

this subsection shall, at a minimum—

‘‘(A) include a statement informing the consumer that

the terms offered to the consumer are set based on information from a consumer report;

‘‘(B) identify the consumer reporting agency furnishing

the report;

‘‘(C) include a statement informing the consumer that

the consumer may obtain a copy of a consumer report

from that consumer reporting agency without charge; and

‘‘(D) include the contact information specified by that

consumer reporting agency for obtaining such consumer

reports (including a toll-free telephone number established

by the agency in the case of a consumer reporting agency

described in section 603(p)).

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1989

‘‘(6) RULEMAKING.— ‘‘(A) RULES REQUIRED.—The Commission and the Board

shall jointly prescribe rules.

‘‘(B) CONTENT.—Rules required by subparagraph (A)

shall address, but are not limited to—

‘‘(i) the form, content, time, and manner of delivery

of any notice under this subsection;

‘‘(ii) clarification of the meaning of terms used

in this subsection, including what credit terms are

material, and when credit terms are materially less

favorable;

‘‘(iii) exceptions to the notice requirement under

this subsection for classes of persons or transactions

regarding which the agencies determine that notice

would not significantly benefit consumers;

‘‘(iv) a model notice that may be used to comply

with this subsection; and

‘‘(v) the timing of the notice required under paragraph (1), including the circumstances under which

the notice must be provided after the terms offered

to the consumer were set based on information from

a consumer report.

‘‘(7) COMPLIANCE.—A person shall not be liable for failure

to perform the duties required by this section if, at the time

of the failure, the person maintained reasonable policies and

procedures to comply with this section.

‘‘(8) ENFORCEMENT.—

‘‘(A) NO CIVIL ACTIONS.—Sections 616 and 617 shall

not apply to any failure by any person to comply with

this section.

‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT.—This section

shall be enforced exclusively under section 621 by the Federal agencies and officials identified in that section.’’.

(b) RELATION TO STATE LAWS.—Section 625(b)(1) of the Fair

Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681t(b)(1)), as so designated by

section 214 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end the

following:

‘‘(I) section 615(h), relating to the duties of users of

consumer reports to provide notice with respect to terms

in certain credit transactions;’’.

SEC. 312. PROCEDURES TO ENHANCE THE ACCURACY AND INTEGRITY

OF INFORMATION FURNISHED TO CONSUMER

REPORTING AGENCIES.

(a) ACCURACY GUIDELINES AND REGULATIONS.—Section 623 of

the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2) is amended

by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(e) ACCURACY GUIDELINES AND REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—

‘‘(1) GUIDELINES.—The Federal banking agencies, the

National Credit Union Administration, and the Commission

shall, with respect to the entities that are subject to their

respective enforcement authority under section 621, and in

coordination as described in paragraph (2)—

‘‘(A) establish and maintain guidelines for use by each

person that furnishes information to a consumer reporting

agency regarding the accuracy and integrity of the information relating to consumers that such entities furnish to

117 STAT. 1990 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

consumer reporting agencies, and update such guidelines

as often as necessary; and

‘‘(B) prescribe regulations requiring each person that

furnishes information to a consumer reporting agency to

establish reasonable policies and procedures for implementing the guidelines established pursuant to subparagraph (A).

‘‘(2) COORDINATION.—Each agency required to prescribe

regulations under paragraph (1) shall consult and coordinate

with each other such agency so that, to the extent possible,

the regulations prescribed by each such entity are consistent

and comparable with the regulations prescribed by each other

such agency.

‘‘(3) CRITERIA.—In developing the guidelines required by

paragraph (1)(A), the agencies described in paragraph (1)

shall—

‘‘(A) identify patterns, practices, and specific forms of

activity that can compromise the accuracy and integrity

of information furnished to consumer reporting agencies;

‘‘(B) review the methods (including technological

means) used to furnish information relating to consumers

to consumer reporting agencies;

‘‘(C) determine whether persons that furnish information to consumer reporting agencies maintain and enforce

policies to assure the accuracy and integrity of information

furnished to consumer reporting agencies; and

‘‘(D) examine the policies and processes that persons

that furnish information to consumer reporting agencies

employ to conduct reinvestigations and correct inaccurate

information relating to consumers that has been furnished

to consumer reporting agencies.’’.

(b) DUTY OF FURNISHERS TO PROVIDE ACCURATE INFORMATION.—Section 623(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.

1681s–2(a)(1)) is amended—

(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘knows or consciously

avoids knowing that the information is inaccurate’’ and

inserting ‘‘knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the

information is inaccurate’’; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(D) DEFINITION.—For purposes of subparagraph (A),

the term ‘reasonable cause to believe that the information

is inaccurate’ means having specific knowledge, other than

solely allegations by the consumer, that would cause a

reasonable person to have substantial doubts about the

accuracy of the information.’’.

(c) ABILITY OF CONSUMER TO DISPUTE INFORMATION DIRECTLY

WITH FURNISHER.—Section 623(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act

(15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)), as amended by this Act, is amended by

adding at the end the following:

‘‘(8) ABILITY OF CONSUMER TO DISPUTE INFORMATION

DIRECTLY WITH FURNISHER.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal banking agencies, the

National Credit Union Administration, and the Commission

shall jointly prescribe regulations that shall identify the

circumstances under which a furnisher shall be required

to reinvestigate a dispute concerning the accuracy of

Regulations.

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1991

information contained in a consumer report on the consumer, based on a direct request of a consumer.

‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In prescribing regulations

under subparagraph (A), the agencies shall weigh—

‘‘(i) the benefits to consumers with the costs on

furnishers and the credit reporting system;

‘‘(ii) the impact on the overall accuracy and integrity of consumer reports of any such requirements;

‘‘(iii) whether direct contact by the consumer with

the furnisher would likely result in the most expeditious resolution of any such dispute; and

‘‘(iv) the potential impact on the credit reporting

process if credit repair organizations, as defined in

section 403(3), including entities that would be a credit

repair organization, but for section 403(3)(B)(i), are

able to circumvent the prohibition in subparagraph

(G).

‘‘(C) APPLICABILITY.—Subparagraphs (D) through (G)

shall apply in any circumstance identified under the regulations promulgated under subparagraph (A).

‘‘(D) SUBMITTING A NOTICE OF DISPUTE.—A consumer

who seeks to dispute the accuracy of information shall

provide a dispute notice directly to such person at the

address specified by the person for such notices that—

‘‘(i) identifies the specific information that is being

disputed;

‘‘(ii) explains the basis for the dispute; and

‘‘(iii) includes all supporting documentation

required by the furnisher to substantiate the basis

of the dispute.

‘‘(E) DUTY OF PERSON AFTER RECEIVING NOTICE OF DISPUTE.—After receiving a notice of dispute from a consumer

pursuant to subparagraph (D), the person that provided

the information in dispute to a consumer reporting agency

shall—

‘‘(i) conduct an investigation with respect to the

disputed information;

‘‘(ii) review all relevant information provided by

the consumer with the notice;

‘‘(iii) complete such person’s investigation of the

dispute and report the results of the investigation to

the consumer before the expiration of the period under

section 611(a)(1) within which a consumer reporting

agency would be required to complete its action if

the consumer had elected to dispute the information

under that section; and

‘‘(iv) if the investigation finds that the information

reported was inaccurate, promptly notify each consumer reporting agency to which the person furnished

the inaccurate information of that determination and

provide to the agency any correction to that information

that is necessary to make the information provided

by the person accurate.

‘‘(F) FRIVOLOUS OR IRRELEVANT DISPUTE.—

‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—This paragraph shall not apply

if the person receiving a notice of a dispute from a

117 STAT. 1992 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

consumer reasonably determines that the dispute is

frivolous or irrelevant, including—

‘‘(I) by reason of the failure of a consumer

to provide sufficient information to investigate the

disputed information; or

‘‘(II) the submission by a consumer of a dispute

that is substantially the same as a dispute previously submitted by or for the consumer, either

directly to the person or through a consumer

reporting agency under subsection (b), with respect

to which the person has already performed the

person’s duties under this paragraph or subsection

(b), as applicable.

‘‘(ii) NOTICE OF DETERMINATION.—Upon making

any determination under clause (i) that a dispute is

frivolous or irrelevant, the person shall notify the consumer of such determination not later than 5 business

days after making such determination, by mail or,

if authorized by the consumer for that purpose, by

any other means available to the person.

‘‘(iii) CONTENTS OF NOTICE.—A notice under clause

(ii) shall include—

‘‘(I) the reasons for the determination under

clause (i); and

‘‘(II) identification of any information required

to investigate the disputed information, which may

consist of a standardized form describing the general nature of such information.

‘‘(G) EXCLUSION OF CREDIT REPAIR ORGANIZATIONS.—

This paragraph shall not apply if the notice of the dispute

is submitted by, is prepared on behalf of the consumer

by, or is submitted on a form supplied to the consumer

by, a credit repair organization, as defined in section 403(3),

or an entity that would be a credit repair organization,

but for section 403(3)(B)(i).’’.

(d) FURNISHER LIABILITY EXCEPTION.—Section 623(a)(5) of the

Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)(5)) is amended—

(1) by striking ‘‘A person’’ and inserting the following:

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A person’’;

(2) by inserting ‘‘date of delinquency on the account, which

shall be the’’ before ‘‘month’’;

(3) by inserting ‘‘on the account’’ before ‘‘that immediately

preceded’’; and

(4) by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of this

paragraph only, and provided that the consumer does not

dispute the information, a person that furnishes information on a delinquent account that is placed for collection,

charged for profit or loss, or subjected to any similar action,

complies with this paragraph, if—

‘‘(i) the person reports the same date of delinquency as that provided by the creditor to which the

account was owed at the time at which the commencement of the delinquency occurred, if the creditor previously reported that date of delinquency to a consumer

reporting agency;

Deadline.

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1993

‘‘(ii) the creditor did not previously report the date

of delinquency to a consumer reporting agency, and

the person establishes and follows reasonable procedures to obtain the date of delinquency from the creditor or another reliable source and reports that date

to a consumer reporting agency as the date of delinquency; or

‘‘(iii) the creditor did not previously report the

date of delinquency to a consumer reporting agency

and the date of delinquency cannot be reasonably

obtained as provided in clause (ii), the person establishes and follows reasonable procedures to ensure the

date reported as the date of delinquency precedes the

date on which the account is placed for collection,

charged to profit or loss, or subjected to any similar

action, and reports such date to the credit reporting

agency.’’.

(e) LIABILITY AND ENFORCEMENT.—

(1) CIVIL LIABILITY.—Section 623 of the Fair Credit

Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2) is amended by striking subsections (c) and (d) and inserting the following:

‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—Except as provided in section

621(c)(1)(B), sections 616 and 617 do not apply to any violation

of—

‘‘(1) subsection (a) of this section, including any regulations

issued thereunder;

‘‘(2) subsection (e) of this section, except that nothing in

this paragraph shall limit, expand, or otherwise affect liability

under section 616 or 617, as applicable, for violations of subsection (b) of this section; or

‘‘(3) subsection (e) of section 615.

‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON ENFORCEMENT.—The provisions of law

described in paragraphs (1) through (3) of subsection (c) (other

than with respect to the exception described in paragraph (2) of

subsection (c)) shall be enforced exclusively as provided under section 621 by the Federal agencies and officials and the State officials

identified in section 621.’’.

(2) STATE ACTIONS.—Section 621(c) of the Fair Credit

Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s(c)) is amended—

(A) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘of section

623(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘described in any of paragraphs (1)

through (3) of section 623(c)’’; and

(B) in paragraph (5)—

(i) in each of subparagraphs (A) and (B), by

striking ‘‘of section 623(a)(1)’’ each place that term

appears and inserting ‘‘described in any of paragraphs

(1) through (3) of section 623(c)’’; and

(ii) by amending the paragraph heading to read

as follows:

‘‘(5) LIMITATIONS ON STATE ACTIONS FOR CERTAIN VIOLATIONS.—’’.

(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section, the

amendments made by this section, or any other provision of this

Act shall be construed to affect any liability under section 616

or 617 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681n, 1681o)

that existed on the day before the date of enactment of this Act.

15 USC 1681n

note.

117 STAT. 1994 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

SEC. 313. FTC AND CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY ACTION CONCERNING COMPLAINTS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i) is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(e) TREATMENT OF COMPLAINTS AND REPORT TO CONGRESS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall—

‘‘(A) compile all complaints that it receives that a file

of a consumer that is maintained by a consumer reporting

agency described in section 603(p) contains incomplete or

inaccurate information, with respect to which, the consumer appears to have disputed the completeness or

accuracy with the consumer reporting agency or otherwise

utilized the procedures provided by subsection (a); and

‘‘(B) transmit each such complaint to each consumer

reporting agency involved.

‘‘(2) EXCLUSION.—Complaints received or obtained by the

Commission pursuant to its investigative authority under the

Federal Trade Commission Act shall not be subject to paragraph

(1).

‘‘(3) AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each consumer reporting

agency described in section 603(p) that receives a complaint

transmitted by the Commission pursuant to paragraph (1)

shall—

‘‘(A) review each such complaint to determine whether

all legal obligations imposed on the consumer reporting

agency under this title (including any obligation imposed

by an applicable court or administrative order) have been

met with respect to the subject matter of the complaint;

‘‘(B) provide reports on a regular basis to the Commission regarding the determinations of and actions taken

by the consumer reporting agency, if any, in connection

with its review of such complaints; and

‘‘(C) maintain, for a reasonable time period, records

regarding the disposition of each such complaint that is

sufficient to demonstrate compliance with this subsection.

‘‘(4) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—The Commission may prescribe regulations, as appropriate to implement this subsection.

‘‘(5) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Commission shall submit to

the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of

the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the

House of Representatives an annual report regarding information gathered by the Commission under this subsection.’’.

(b) PROMPT INVESTIGATION OF DISPUTED CONSUMER INFORMATION.—

(1) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Board and the Commission shall

jointly study the extent to which, and the manner in which,

consumer reporting agencies and furnishers of consumer

information to consumer reporting agencies are complying with

the procedures, time lines, and requirements under the Fair

Credit Reporting Act for the prompt investigation of the disputed accuracy of any consumer information, the completeness

of the information provided to consumer reporting agencies,

and the prompt correction or deletion, in accordance with such

Act, of any inaccurate or incomplete information or information

that cannot be verified.

(2) REPORT REQUIRED.—Before the end of the 12-month

period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the

Deadline.

15 USC 1681i

note.

Records.

Records.

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1995

Board and the Commission shall jointly submit a progress

report to the Congress on the results of the study required

under paragraph (1).

(3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In preparing the report required

under paragraph (2), the Board and the Commission shall

consider information relating to complaints compiled by the

Commission under section 611(e) of the Fair Credit Reporting

Act, as added by this section.

(4) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The report required under paragraph (2) shall include such recommendations as the Board

and the Commission jointly determine to be appropriate for

legislative or administrative action, to ensure that—

(A) consumer disputes with consumer reporting agencies over the accuracy or completeness of information in

a consumer’s file are promptly and fully investigated and

any incorrect, incomplete, or unverifiable information is

corrected or deleted immediately thereafter;

(B) furnishers of information to consumer reporting

agencies maintain full and prompt compliance with the

duties and responsibilities established under section 623

of the Fair Credit Reporting Act; and

(C) consumer reporting agencies establish and maintain appropriate internal controls and management review

procedures for maintaining full and continuous compliance

with the procedures, time lines, and requirements under

the Fair Credit Reporting Act for the prompt investigation

of the disputed accuracy of any consumer information and

the prompt correction or deletion, in accordance with such

Act, of any inaccurate or incomplete information or information that cannot be verified.

SEC. 314. IMPROVED DISCLOSURE OF THE RESULTS OF REINVESTIGATION.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 611(a)(5)(A) of the Fair Credit

Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(5)(A)) is amended by striking

‘‘shall’’ and all that follows through the end of the subparagraph,

and inserting the following: ‘‘shall—

‘‘(i) promptly delete that item of information from

the file of the consumer, or modify that item of information, as appropriate, based on the results of the reinvestigation; and

‘‘(ii) promptly notify the furnisher of that information that the information has been modified or deleted

from the file of the consumer.’’.

(b) FURNISHER REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO INACCURATE,

INCOMPLETE, OR UNVERIFIABLE INFORMATION.—Section 623(b)(1) of

the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(b)(1)) is

amended—

(1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end;

and

(2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the

end and inserting the following: ‘‘; and

‘‘(E) if an item of information disputed by a consumer

is found to be inaccurate or incomplete or cannot be verified

after any reinvestigation under paragraph (1), for purposes

Notification.

117 STAT. 1996 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

of reporting to a consumer reporting agency only, as appropriate, based on the results of the reinvestigation

promptly—

‘‘(i) modify that item of information;

‘‘(ii) delete that item of information; or

‘‘(iii) permanently block the reporting of that item

of information.’’.

SEC. 315. RECONCILING ADDRESSES.

Section 605 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c),

as amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the end the

following:

‘‘(h) NOTICE OF DISCREPANCY IN ADDRESS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a person has requested a consumer

report relating to a consumer from a consumer reporting agency

described in section 603(p), the request includes an address

for the consumer that substantially differs from the addresses

in the file of the consumer, and the agency provides a consumer

report in response to the request, the consumer reporting

agency shall notify the requester of the existence of the discrepancy.

‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—

‘‘(A) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The Federal banking

agencies, the National Credit Union Administration, and

the Commission shall jointly, with respect to the entities

that are subject to their respective enforcement authority

under section 621, prescribe regulations providing guidance

regarding reasonable policies and procedures that a user

of a consumer report should employ when such user has

received a notice of discrepancy under paragraph (1).

‘‘(B) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TO BE INCLUDED.—The

regulations prescribed under subparagraph (A) shall

describe reasonable policies and procedures for use by a

user of a consumer report—

‘‘(i) to form a reasonable belief that the user knows

the identity of the person to whom the consumer report

pertains; and

‘‘(ii) if the user establishes a continuing relationship with the consumer, and the user regularly and

in the ordinary course of business furnishes information to the consumer reporting agency from which the

notice of discrepancy pertaining to the consumer was

obtained, to reconcile the address of the consumer with

the consumer reporting agency by furnishing such

address to such consumer reporting agency as part

of information regularly furnished by the user for the

period in which the relationship is established.’’.

SEC. 316. NOTICE OF DISPUTE THROUGH RESELLER.

(a) REQUIREMENT FOR REINVESTIGATION OF DISPUTED INFORMATION UPON NOTICE FROM A RESELLER.—Section 611(a) of the Fair

Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(1)(A)) is amended—

(1) in paragraph (1)(A)—

(A) by striking ‘‘If the completeness’’ and inserting

‘‘Subject to subsection (f), if the completeness’’;

(B) by inserting ‘‘, or indirectly through a reseller,’’

after ‘‘notifies the agency directly’’; and

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1997

(C) by inserting ‘‘or reseller’’ before the period at the

end;

(2) in paragraph (2)(A)—

(A) by inserting ‘‘or a reseller’’ after ‘‘dispute from

any consumer’’; and

(B) by inserting ‘‘or reseller’’ before the period at the

end; and

(3) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting ‘‘or the reseller’’ after

‘‘from the consumer’’.

(b) REINVESTIGATION REQUIREMENT APPLICABLE TO RE- SELLERS.—Section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.

1681i), as amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the

end the following:

‘‘(f) REINVESTIGATION REQUIREMENT APPLICABLE TO RE- SELLERS.—

‘‘(1) EXEMPTION FROM GENERAL REINVESTIGATION REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), a reseller shall

be exempt from the requirements of this section.

‘‘(2) ACTION REQUIRED UPON RECEIVING NOTICE OF A DISPUTE.—If a reseller receives a notice from a consumer of a

dispute concerning the completeness or accuracy of any item

of information contained in a consumer report on such consumer

produced by the reseller, the reseller shall, within 5 business

days of receiving the notice, and free of charge—

‘‘(A) determine whether the item of information is

incomplete or inaccurate as a result of an act or omission

of the reseller; and

‘‘(B) if—

‘‘(i) the reseller determines that the item of

information is incomplete or inaccurate as a result

of an act or omission of the reseller, not later than

20 days after receiving the notice, correct the information in the consumer report or delete it; or

‘‘(ii) if the reseller determines that the item of

information is not incomplete or inaccurate as a result

of an act or omission of the reseller, convey the notice

of the dispute, together with all relevant information

provided by the consumer, to each consumer reporting

agency that provided the reseller with the information

that is the subject of the dispute, using an address

or a notification mechanism specified by the consumer

reporting agency for such notices.

‘‘(3) RESPONSIBILITY OF CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY TO

NOTIFY CONSUMER THROUGH RESELLER.—Upon the completion

of a reinvestigation under this section of a dispute concerning

the completeness or accuracy of any information in the file

of a consumer by a consumer reporting agency that received

notice of the dispute from a reseller under paragraph (2)—

‘‘(A) the notice by the consumer reporting agency under

paragraph (6), (7), or (8) of subsection (a) shall be provided

to the reseller in lieu of the consumer; and

‘‘(B) the reseller shall immediately reconvey such notice

to the consumer, including any notice of a deletion by

telephone in the manner required under paragraph (8)(A).

‘‘(4) RESELLER REINVESTIGATIONS.—No provision of this subsection shall be construed as prohibiting a reseller from conducting a reinvestigation of a consumer dispute directly.’’.

Deadline.

Deadline.

117 STAT. 1998 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

(c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section

611(a)(2)(B) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.

1681i(a)(2)(B)) is amended in the subparagraph heading, by striking

‘‘FROM CONSUMER’’.

SEC. 317. REASONABLE REINVESTIGATION REQUIRED.

Section 611(a)(1)(A) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.

1681i(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘shall reinvestigate free of

charge’’ and inserting ‘‘shall, free of charge, conduct a reasonable

reinvestigation to determine whether the disputed information is

inaccurate’’.

SEC. 318. FTC STUDY OF ISSUES RELATING TO THE FAIR CREDIT

REPORTING ACT.

(a) STUDY REQUIRED.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall conduct a study

on ways to improve the operation of the Fair Credit Reporting

Act.

(2) AREAS FOR STUDY.—In conducting the study under paragraph (1), the Commission shall review—

(A) the efficacy of increasing the number of points

of identifying information that a credit reporting agency

is required to match to ensure that a consumer is the

correct individual to whom a consumer report relates before

releasing a consumer report to a user, including—

(i) the extent to which requiring additional points

of such identifying information to match would—

(I) enhance the accuracy of credit reports; and

(II) combat the provision of incorrect consumer

reports to users;

(ii) the extent to which requiring an exact match

of the first and last name, social security number,

and address and ZIP Code of the consumer would

enhance the likelihood of increasing credit report

accuracy; and

(iii) the effects of allowing consumer reporting

agencies to use partial matches of social security numbers and name recognition software on the accuracy

of credit reports;

(B) requiring notification to consumers when negative

information has been added to their credit reports,

including—

(i) the potential impact of such notification on the

ability of consumers to identify errors on their credit

reports; and

(ii) the potential impact of such notification on

the ability of consumers to remove fraudulent information from their credit reports;

(C) the effects of requiring that a consumer who has

experienced an adverse action based on a credit report

receives a copy of the same credit report that the creditor

relied on in taking the adverse action, including—

(i) the extent to which providing such reports to

consumers would increase the ability of consumers to

identify errors in their credit reports; and

(ii) the extent to which providing such reports

to consumers would increase the ability of consumers

15 USC 1681

note.

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 1999

to remove fraudulent information from their credit

reports;

(D) any common financial transactions that are not

generally reported to the consumer reporting agencies, but

would provide useful information in determining the credit

worthiness of consumers; and

(E) any actions that might be taken within a voluntary

reporting system to encourage the reporting of the types

of transactions described in subparagraph (D).

(3) COSTS AND BENEFITS.—With respect to each area of

study described in paragraph (2), the Commission shall consider

the extent to which such requirements would benefit consumers,

balanced against the cost of implementing such provisions.

(b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year after the date

of enactment of this Act, the chairman of the Commission shall

submit a report to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban

Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services

of the House of Representatives containing a detailed summary

of the findings and conclusions of the study under this section,

together with such recommendations for legislative or administrative actions as may be appropriate.

SEC. 319. FTC STUDY OF THE ACCURACY OF CONSUMER REPORTS.

(a) STUDY REQUIRED.—Until the final report is submitted under

subsection (b)(2), the Commission shall conduct an ongoing study

of the accuracy and completeness of information contained in consumer reports prepared or maintained by consumer reporting agencies and methods for improving the accuracy and completeness

of such information.

(b) BIENNIAL REPORTS REQUIRED.—

(1) INTERIM REPORTS.—The Commission shall submit an

interim report to the Congress on the study conducted under

subsection (a) at the end of the 1-year period beginning on

the date of enactment of this Act and biennially thereafter

for 8 years.

(2) FINAL REPORT.—The Commission shall submit a final

report to the Congress on the study conducted under subsection

(a) at the end of the 2-year period beginning on the date

on which the final interim report is submitted to the Congress

under paragraph (1).

(3) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under this subsection shall contain a detailed summary of the findings and

conclusions of the Commission with respect to the study

required under subsection (a) and such recommendations for

legislative and administrative action as the Commission may

determine to be appropriate.

TITLE IV—LIMITING THE USE AND

SHARING OF MEDICAL INFORMATION

IN THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM

SEC. 411. PROTECTION OF MEDICAL INFORMATION IN THE FINANCIAL

SYSTEM.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 604(g) of the Fair Credit Reporting

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(g)) is amended to read as follows:

15 USC 1681

note.

Deadline.

117 STAT. 2000 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

‘‘(g) PROTECTION OF MEDICAL INFORMATION.— ‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES.—A

consumer reporting agency shall not furnish for employment

purposes, or in connection with a credit or insurance transaction, a consumer report that contains medical information

about a consumer, unless—

‘‘(A) if furnished in connection with an insurance transaction, the consumer affirmatively consents to the furnishing of the report;

‘‘(B) if furnished for employment purposes or in connection with a credit transaction—

‘‘(i) the information to be furnished is relevant

to process or effect the employment or credit transaction; and

‘‘(ii) the consumer provides specific written consent

for the furnishing of the report that describes in clear

and conspicuous language the use for which the

information will be furnished; or

‘‘(C) the information to be furnished pertains solely

to transactions, accounts, or balances relating to debts

arising from the receipt of medical services, products, or

devises, where such information, other than account status

or amounts, is restricted or reported using codes that do

not identify, or do not provide information sufficient to

infer, the specific provider or the nature of such services,

products, or devices, as provided in section 605(a)(6).

‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON CREDITORS.—Except as permitted

pursuant to paragraph (3)(C) or regulations prescribed under

paragraph (5)(A), a creditor shall not obtain or use medical

information pertaining to a consumer in connection with any

determination of the consumer’s eligibility, or continued eligibility, for credit.

‘‘(3) ACTIONS AUTHORIZED BY FEDERAL LAW, INSURANCE

ACTIVITIES AND REGULATORY DETERMINATIONS.—Section

603(d)(3) shall not be construed so as to treat information

or any communication of information as a consumer report

if the information or communication is disclosed—

‘‘(A) in connection with the business of insurance or

annuities, including the activities described in section 18B

of the model Privacy of Consumer Financial and Health

Information Regulation issued by the National Association

of Insurance Commissioners (as in effect on January 1,

2003);

‘‘(B) for any purpose permitted without authorization

under the Standards for Individually Identifiable Health

Information promulgated by the Department of Health and

Human Services pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or referred to under

section 1179 of such Act, or described in section 502(e)

of Public Law 106–102; or

‘‘(C) as otherwise determined to be necessary and

appropriate, by regulation or order and subject to paragraph (6), by the Commission, any Federal banking agency

or the National Credit Union Administration (with respect

to any financial institution subject to the jurisdiction of

such agency or Administration under paragraph (1), (2),

or (3) of section 621(b), or the applicable State insurance

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 2001

authority (with respect to any person engaged in providing

insurance or annuities).

‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON REDISCLOSURE OF MEDICAL INFORMATION.—Any person that receives medical information pursuant

to paragraph (1) or (3) shall not disclose such information

to any other person, except as necessary to carry out the purpose for which the information was initially disclosed, or as

otherwise permitted by statute, regulation, or order.

‘‘(5) REGULATIONS AND EFFECTIVE DATE FOR PARAGRAPH

(2).— ‘‘(A) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Each Federal banking

agency and the National Credit Union Administration

shall, subject to paragraph (6) and after notice and opportunity for comment, prescribe regulations that permit

transactions under paragraph (2) that are determined to

be necessary and appropriate to protect legitimate operational, transactional, risk, consumer, and other needs (and

which shall include permitting actions necessary for

administrative verification purposes), consistent with the

intent of paragraph (2) to restrict the use of medical

information for inappropriate purposes.

‘‘(B) FINAL REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The Federal

banking agencies and the National Credit Union Administration shall issue the regulations required under subparagraph (A) in final form before the end of the 6-month

period beginning on the date of enactment of the Fair

and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003.

‘‘(6) COORDINATION WITH OTHER LAWS.—No provision of

this subsection shall be construed as altering, affecting, or

superseding the applicability of any other provision of Federal

law relating to medical confidentiality.’’.

(b) RESTRICTION ON SHARING OF MEDICAL INFORMATION.—Section 603(d) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(d))

is amended—

(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘The term’’ and inserting

‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (3), the term’’; and

(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

‘‘(3) RESTRICTION ON SHARING OF MEDICAL INFORMATION.—

Except for information or any communication of information

disclosed as provided in section 604(g)(3), the exclusions in

paragraph (2) shall not apply with respect to information disclosed to any person related by common ownership or affiliated

by corporate control, if the information is—

‘‘(A) medical information;

‘‘(B) an individualized list or description based on the

payment transactions of the consumer for medical products

or services; or

‘‘(C) an aggregate list of identified consumers based

on payment transactions for medical products or services.’’.

(c) DEFINITION.—Section 603(i) of the Fair Credit Reporting

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(i)) is amended to read as follows:

‘‘(i) MEDICAL INFORMATION.—The term ‘medical information’—

‘‘(1) means information or data, whether oral or recorded,

in any form or medium, created by or derived from a health

care provider or the consumer, that relates to—

‘‘(A) the past, present, or future physical, mental, or

behavioral health or condition of an individual;

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117 STAT. 2002 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

‘‘(B) the provision of health care to an individual; or

‘‘(C) the payment for the provision of health care to

an individual.

‘‘(2) does not include the age or gender of a consumer,

demographic information about the consumer, including a consumer’s residence address or e-mail address, or any other

information about a consumer that does not relate to the physical, mental, or behavioral health or condition of a consumer,

including the existence or value of any insurance policy.’’.

(d) EFFECTIVE DATES.—This section shall take effect at the

end of the 180-day period beginning on the date of enactment

of this Act, except that paragraph (2) of section 604(g) of the

Fair Credit Reporting Act (as amended by subsection (a) of this

section) shall take effect on the later of—

(1) the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date

on which the regulations required under paragraph (5)(B) of

such section 604(g) are issued in final form; or

(2) the date specified in the regulations referred to in

paragraph (1).

SEC. 412. CONFIDENTIALITY OF MEDICAL CONTACT INFORMATION IN

CONSUMER REPORTS.

(a) DUTIES OF MEDICAL INFORMATION FURNISHERS.—Section

623(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)),

as amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the end the

following:

‘‘(9) DUTY TO PROVIDE NOTICE OF STATUS AS MEDICAL

INFORMATION FURNISHER.—A person whose primary business

is providing medical services, products, or devices, or the person’s agent or assignee, who furnishes information to a consumer reporting agency on a consumer shall be considered

a medical information furnisher for purposes of this title, and

shall notify the agency of such status.’’.

(b) RESTRICTION OF DISSEMINATION OF MEDICAL CONTACT

INFORMATION.—Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act

(15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(6) The name, address, and telephone number of any medical information furnisher that has notified the agency of its

status, unless—

‘‘(A) such name, address, and telephone number are

restricted or reported using codes that do not identify,

or provide information sufficient to infer, the specific provider or the nature of such services, products, or devices

to a person other than the consumer; or

‘‘(B) the report is being provided to an insurance company for a purpose relating to engaging in the business

of insurance other than property and casualty insurance.’’.

(c) NO EXCEPTIONS ALLOWED FOR DOLLAR AMOUNTS.—Section

605(b) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(b)) is

amended by striking ‘‘The provisions of subsection (a)’’ and inserting

‘‘The provisions of paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (a)’’.

(d) COORDINATION WITH OTHER LAWS.—No provision of any

amendment made by this section shall be construed as altering,

affecting, or superseding the applicability of any other provision

of Federal law relating to medical confidentiality.

15 USC 1681b

note.

15 USC 1681a

note.

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 2003

(e) FTC REGULATION OF CODING OF TRADE NAMES.—Section

621 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s), as amended

by this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(g) FTC REGULATION OF CODING OF TRADE NAMES.—If the

Commission determines that a person described in paragraph (9)

of section 623(a) has not met the requirements of such paragraph,

the Commission shall take action to ensure the person’s compliance

with such paragraph, which may include issuing model guidance

or prescribing reasonable policies and procedures, as necessary

to ensure that such person complies with such paragraph.’’.

(f) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 604(g)

of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(g)), as amended

by section 411 of this Act, is amended—

(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘(other than medical

contact information treated in the manner required under section 605(a)(6))’’ after ‘‘a consumer report that contains medical

information’’; and

(2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘(other than medical

information treated in the manner required under section

605(a)(6))’’ after ‘‘a creditor shall not obtain or use medical

information’’.

(g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section

shall take effect at the end of the 15-month period beginning on

the date of enactment of this Act.

TITLE V—FINANCIAL LITERACY AND

EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT

SEC. 511. SHORT TITLE.

This title may be cited as the ‘‘Financial Literacy and Education

Improvement Act’’.

SEC. 512. DEFINITIONS.

As used in this title—

(1) the term ‘‘Chairperson’’ means the Chairperson of the

Financial Literacy and Education Commission; and

(2) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Financial Literacy

and Education Commission established under section 513.

SEC. 513. ESTABLISHMENT OF FINANCIAL LITERACY AND EDUCATION

COMMISSION.

(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a commission to be

known as the ‘‘Financial Literacy and Education Commission’’.

(b) PURPOSE.—The Commission shall serve to improve the

financial literacy and education of persons in the United States

through development of a national strategy to promote financial

literacy and education.

(c) MEMBERSHIP.—

(1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission shall be composed of—

(A) the Secretary of the Treasury;

(B) the respective head of each of the Federal banking

agencies (as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit

Insurance Act), the National Credit Union Administration,

the Securities and Exchange Commission, each of the

Departments of Education, Agriculture, Defense, Health

and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development,

20 USC 9702.

20 USC 9701.

20 USC 9701

note.

Financial

Literacy and

Education

Improvement

Act.

117 STAT. 2004 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

Labor, and Veterans Affairs, the Federal Trade Commission, the General Services Administration, the Small Business Administration, the Social Security Administration,

the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the

Office of Personnel Management; and

(C) at the discretion of the President, not more than

5 individuals appointed by the President from among the

administrative heads of any other Federal agencies, departments, or other Federal Government entities, whom the

President determines to be engaged in a serious effort

to improve financial literacy and education.

(2) ALTERNATES.—Each member of the Commission may

designate an alternate if the member is unable to attend a

meeting of the Commission. Such alternate shall be an individual who exercises significant decisionmaking authority.

(d) CHAIRPERSON.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall serve

as the Chairperson.

(e) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall hold, at the call of the

Chairperson, at least 1 meeting every 4 months. All such meetings

shall be open to the public. The Commission may hold, at the

call of the Chairperson, such other meetings as the Chairperson

sees fit to carry out this title.

(f) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the Commission

shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number of members may

hold hearings.

(g) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission shall hold its first

meeting not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of

this Act.

SEC. 514. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.

(a) DUTIES.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, through the authority

of the members referred to in section 513(c), shall take such

actions as it deems necessary to streamline, improve, or augment the financial literacy and education programs, grants,

and materials of the Federal Government, including curricula

for all Americans.

(2) AREAS OF EMPHASIS.—To improve financial literacy and

education, the Commission shall emphasize, among other elements, basic personal income and household money management and planning skills, including how to—

(A) create household budgets, initiate savings plans,

and make strategic investment decisions for education,

retirement, home ownership, wealth building, or other

savings goals;

(B) manage spending, credit, and debt, including credit

card debt, effectively;

(C) increase awareness of the availability and significance of credit reports and credit scores in obtaining credit,

the importance of their accuracy (and how to correct inaccuracies), their effect on credit terms, and the effect

common financial decisions may have on credit scores;

(D) ascertain fair and favorable credit terms;

(E) avoid abusive, predatory, or deceptive credit offers

and financial products;

(F) understand, evaluate, and compare financial products, services, and opportunities;

20 USC 9703.

Deadline.

President.

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 2005

(G) understand resources that ought to be easily accessible and affordable, and that inform and educate investors

as to their rights and avenues of recourse when an investor

believes his or her rights have been violated by unprofessional conduct of market intermediaries;

(H) increase awareness of the particular financial

needs and financial transactions (such as the sending of

remittances) of consumers who are targeted in multilingual

financial literacy and education programs and improve the

development and distribution of multilingual financial literacy and education materials;

(I) promote bringing individuals who lack basic

banking services into the financial mainstream by opening

and maintaining an account with a financial institution;

and

(J) improve financial literacy and education through

all other related skills, including personal finance and

related economic education, with the primary goal of programs not simply to improve knowledge, but rather to

improve consumers’ financial choices and outcomes.

(b) WEBSITE.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall establish and

maintain a website, such as the domain name

‘‘FinancialLiteracy.gov’’, or a similar domain name.

(2) PURPOSES.—The website established under paragraph

(1) shall—

(A) serve as a clearinghouse of information about Federal financial literacy and education programs;

(B) provide a coordinated entry point for accessing

information about all Federal publications, grants, and

materials promoting enhanced financial literacy and education;

(C) offer information on all Federal grants to promote

financial literacy and education, and on how to target,

apply for, and receive a grant that is most appropriate

under the circumstances;

(D) as the Commission considers appropriate, feature

website links to efforts that have no commercial content

and that feature information about financial literacy and

education programs, materials, or campaigns; and

(E) offer such other information as the Commission

finds appropriate to share with the public in the fulfillment

of its purpose.

(c) TOLL-FREE HOTLINE.—The Commission shall establish a

toll-free telephone number that shall be made available to members

of the public seeking information about issues pertaining to financial literacy and education.

(d) DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION OF MATERIALS.—The

Commission shall—

(1) develop materials to promote financial literacy and education; and

(2) disseminate such materials to the general public.

(e) COORDINATION OF EFFORTS.—The Commission shall take

such steps as are necessary to coordinate and promote financial

literacy and education efforts at the State and local level, including

promoting partnerships among Federal, State, and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and private enterprises.

117 STAT. 2006 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

(f) NATIONAL STRATEGY.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall—

(A) not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, develop a national strategy to promote

basic financial literacy and education among all American

consumers; and

(B) coordinate Federal efforts to implement the

strategy developed under subparagraph (A).

(2) STRATEGY.—The strategy to promote basic financial literacy and education required to be developed under paragraph

(1) shall provide for—

(A) participation by State and local governments and

private, nonprofit, and public institutions in the creation

and implementation of such strategy;

(B) the development of methods—

(i) to increase the general financial education level

of current and future consumers of financial services

and products; and

(ii) to enhance the general understanding of financial services and products;

(C) review of Federal activities designed to promote

financial literacy and education, and development of a plan

to improve coordination of such activities; and

(D) the identification of areas of overlap and duplication among Federal financial literacy and education activities and proposed means of eliminating any such overlap

and duplication.

(3) NATIONAL STRATEGY REVIEW.—The Commission shall,

not less than annually, review the national strategy developed

under this subsection and make such changes and recommendations as it deems necessary.

(g) CONSULTATION.—The Commission shall actively consult with

a variety of representatives from private and nonprofit organizations and State and local agencies, as determined appropriate by

the Commission.

(h) REPORTS.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after the date

of the first meeting of the Commission, and annually thereafter,

the Commission shall issue a report, the Strategy for Assuring

Financial Empowerment (‘‘SAFE Strategy’’), to the Committee

on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and

the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives on the progress of the Commission in carrying out this

title.

(2) CONTENTS.—The report required under paragraph (1)

shall include—

(A) the national strategy for financial literacy and education, as described under subsection (f);

(B) information concerning the implementation of the

duties of the Commission under subsections (a) through

(g);

(C) an assessment of the success of the Commission

in implementing the national strategy developed under

subsection (f);

(D) an assessment of the availability, utilization, and

impact of Federal financial literacy and education materials;

Deadline.

Deadline.

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 2007

(E) information concerning the content and public use

of—

(i) the website established under subsection (b);

and

(ii) the toll-free telephone number established

under subsection (c);

(F) a brief survey of the financial literacy and education

materials developed under subsection (d), and data

regarding the dissemination and impact of such materials,

as measured by improved financial decisionmaking;

(G) a brief summary of any hearings conducted by

the Commission, including a list of witnesses who testified

at such hearings;

(H) information about the activities of the Commission

planned for the next fiscal year;

(I) a summary of all Federal financial literacy and

education activities targeted to communities that have

historically lacked access to financial literacy materials

and education, and have been underserved by the mainstream financial systems; and

(J) such other materials relating to the duties of the

Commission as the Commission deems appropriate.

(3) INITIAL REPORT.—The initial report under paragraph

(1) shall include information regarding all Federal programs,

materials, and grants which seek to improve financial literacy,

and assess the effectiveness of such programs.

(i) TESTIMONY.—The Commission shall annually provide testimony by the Chairperson to the Committee on Banking, Housing,

and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial

Services of the House of Representatives.

SEC. 515. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

(a) HEARINGS.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall hold such hearings,

sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony,

and receive such evidence as the Commission deems appropriate to carry out this title.

(2) PARTICIPATION.—In hearings held under this subsection,

the Commission shall consider inviting witnesses from, among

other groups—

(A) other Federal Government officials;

(B) State and local government officials;

(C) consumer and community groups;

(D) nonprofit financial literacy and education groups

(such as those involved in personal finance and economic

education); and

(E) the financial services industry.

(b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The Commission

may secure directly from any Federal department or agency such

information as the Commission considers necessary to carry out

this title. Upon request of the Chairperson, the head of such department or agency shall furnish such information to the Commission.

(c) PERIODIC STUDIES.—The Commission may conduct periodic

studies regarding the state of financial literacy and education in

the United States, as the Commission determines appropriate.

(d) MULTILINGUAL.—The Commission may take any action to

develop and promote financial literacy and education materials

20 USC 9704.

117 STAT. 2008 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

in languages other than English, as the Commission deems appropriate, including for the website established under section 514(b),

at the toll-free number established under section 514(c), and in

the materials developed and disseminated under section 514(d).

SEC. 516. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.

(a) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—Each member of the Commission shall serve without compensation in addition to that received

for their service as an officer or employee of the United States.

(b) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the Commission shall

be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence,

at rates authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter

I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from

their homes or regular places of business in the performance of

services for the Commission.

(c) ASSISTANCE.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of Financial

Education of the Department of the Treasury shall provide

assistance to the Commission, upon request of the Commission,

without reimbursement.

(2) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Any Federal

Government employee may be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement, and such detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil service status or privilege.

SEC. 517. STUDIES BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL.

(a) EFFECTIVENESS STUDY.—Not later than 3 years after the

date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the

United States shall submit a report to Congress assessing the

effectiveness of the Commission in promoting financial literacy and

education.

(b) STUDY AND REPORT ON THE NEED AND MEANS FOR

IMPROVING FINANCIAL LITERACY AMONG CONSUMERS.— (1) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Comptroller General of the

United States shall conduct a study to assess the extent of

consumers’ knowledge and awareness of credit reports, credit

scores, and the dispute resolution process, and on methods

for improving financial literacy among consumers.

(2) FACTORS TO BE INCLUDED.—The study required under

paragraph (1) shall include the following issues:

(A) The number of consumers who view their credit

reports.

(B) Under what conditions and for what purposes do

consumers primarily obtain a copy of their consumer report

(such as for the purpose of ensuring the completeness and

accuracy of the contents, to protect against fraud, in

response to an adverse action based on the report, or in

response to suspected identity theft) and approximately

what percentage of the total number of consumers who

obtain a copy of their consumer report do so for each

such primary purpose.

(C) The extent of consumers’ knowledge of the data

collection process.

(D) The extent to which consumers know how to get

a copy of a consumer report.

(E) The extent to which consumers know and understand the factors that positively or negatively impact credit

scores.

Deadline.

Reports.

20 USC 9706.

20 USC 9705.

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 2009

(3) REPORT REQUIRED.—Before the end of the 12-month

period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the

Comptroller General shall submit a report to Congress on the

findings and conclusions of the Comptroller General pursuant

to the study conducted under this subsection, together with

such recommendations for legislative or administrative action

as the Comptroller General may determine to be appropriate,

including recommendations on methods for improving financial

literacy among consumers.

SEC. 518. THE NATIONAL PUBLIC SERVICE MULTIMEDIA CAMPAIGN

TO ENHANCE THE STATE OF FINANCIAL LITERACY.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury (in this section

referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), after review of the recommendations

of the Commission, as part of the national strategy, shall develop,

implement, and conduct a pilot national public service multimedia

campaign to enhance the state of financial literacy and education

in the United States.

(b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—

(1) PUBLIC SERVICE CAMPAIGN.—The Secretary, after review

of the recommendations of the Commission, shall select and

work with a nonprofit organization or organizations that are

especially well-qualified in the distribution of public service

campaigns, and have secured private sector funds to produce

the pilot national public service multimedia campaign.

(2) DEVELOPMENT OF MULTIMEDIA CAMPAIGN.—The Secretary, after review of the recommendations of the Commission,

shall develop, in consultation with nonprofit, public, or private

organizations, especially those that are well qualified by virtue

of their experience in the field of financial literacy and education, to develop the financial literacy national public service

multimedia campaign.

(3) FOCUS OF CAMPAIGN.—The pilot national public service

multimedia campaign shall be consistent with the national

strategy, and shall promote the toll-free telephone number and

the website developed under this title.

(c) MULTILINGUAL.—The Secretary may develop the multimedia

campaign in languages other than English, as the Secretary deems

appropriate.

(d) PERFORMANCE MEASURES.—The Secretary shall develop

measures to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot national public

service multimedia campaign, as measured by improved financial

decision making among individuals.

(e) REPORT.—For each fiscal year for which there are appropriations pursuant to the authorization in subsection (e), the Secretary

shall submit a report to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and

Urban Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate

and the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on

Appropriations of the House of Representatives, describing the

status and implementation of the provisions of this section and

the state of financial literacy and education in the United States.

(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized

to be appropriated to the Secretary, not to exceed $3,000,000 for

fiscal years 2004, 2005, and 2006, for the development, production,

and distribution of a pilot national public service multimedia campaign under this section.

20 USC 9707.

Deadline.

117 STAT. 2010 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

SEC. 519. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Commission

such sums as may be necessary to carry out this title, including

administrative expenses of the Commission.

TITLE VI—PROTECTING EMPLOYEE

MISCONDUCT INVESTIGATIONS

SEC. 611. CERTAIN EMPLOYEE INVESTIGATION COMMUNICATIONS

EXCLUDED FROM DEFINITION OF CONSUMER REPORT.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a), as amended by this Act is amended by

adding at the end the following:

‘‘(x) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS FOR EMPLOYEE

INVESTIGATIONS.—

‘‘(1) COMMUNICATIONS DESCRIBED IN THIS SUBSECTION.—

A communication is described in this subsection if—

‘‘(A) but for subsection (d)(2)(D), the communication

would be a consumer report;

‘‘(B) the communication is made to an employer in

connection with an investigation of—

‘‘(i) suspected misconduct relating to employment;

or

‘‘(ii) compliance with Federal, State, or local laws

and regulations, the rules of a self-regulatory organization, or any preexisting written policies of the

employer;

‘‘(C) the communication is not made for the purpose

of investigating a consumer’s credit worthiness, credit

standing, or credit capacity; and

‘‘(D) the communication is not provided to any person

except—

‘‘(i) to the employer or an agent of the employer;

‘‘(ii) to any Federal or State officer, agency, or

department, or any officer, agency, or department of

a unit of general local government;

‘‘(iii) to any self-regulatory organization with regulatory authority over the activities of the employer

or employee;

‘‘(iv) as otherwise required by law; or

‘‘(v) pursuant to section 608.

‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT DISCLOSURE.—After taking any adverse

action based in whole or in part on a communication described

in paragraph (1), the employer shall disclose to the consumer

a summary containing the nature and substance of the communication upon which the adverse action is based, except that

the sources of information acquired solely for use in preparing

what would be but for subsection (d)(2)(D) an investigative

consumer report need not be disclosed.

‘‘(3) SELF-REGULATORY ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘self-regulatory organization’

includes any self-regulatory organization (as defined in section

3(a)(26) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934), any entity

established under title I of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,

any board of trade designated by the Commodity Futures

20 USC 9708.

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003 117 STAT. 2011

Trading Commission, and any futures association registered

with such Commission.’’.

(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section

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

1681a(d)(2)(D)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or (x)’’ after ‘‘subsection

(o)’’.

TITLE VII—RELATION TO STATE LAWS

SEC. 711. RELATION TO STATE LAWS.

Section 625 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681t),

as so designated by section 214 of this Act, is amended—

(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘or for the prevention

or mitigation of identity theft,’’ after ‘‘information on consumers,’’;

(2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(5) with respect to the conduct required by the specific

provisions of—

‘‘(A) section 605(g);

‘‘(B) section 605A;

‘‘(C) section 605B;

‘‘(D) section 609(a)(1)(A);

‘‘(E) section 612(a);

‘‘(F) subsections (e), (f), and (g) of section 615;

‘‘(G) section 621(f);

‘‘(H) section 623(a)(6); or

‘‘(I) section 628.’’; and

(3) in subsection (d)—

(A) by striking paragraph (2);

(B) by striking ‘‘(c)—’’ and all that follows through

‘‘do not affect’’ and inserting ‘‘(c) do not affect’’; and

(C) by striking ‘‘1996; and’’ and inserting ‘‘1996.’’.

TITLE VIII—MISCELLANEOUS

SEC. 811. CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.

(a) SHORT TITLE.—Section 601 of the Fair Credit Reporting

Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 note) is amended by striking ‘‘the Fair Credit

Reporting Act.’’ and inserting ‘‘the ‘Fair Credit Reporting Act’.’’.

(b) SECTION 604.—Section 604(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(a)) is amended in paragraphs (1) through

(5), other than subparagraphs (E) and (F) of paragraph (3), by

moving each margin 2 ems to the right.

(c) SECTION 605.—

(1) Section 605(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15

U.S.C. 1681c(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘(1) cases’’ and

inserting ‘‘(1) Cases’’.

(2)(A) Section 5(1) of Public Law 105–347 (112 Stat. 3211)

is amended by striking ‘‘Judgments which’’ and inserting ‘‘judgments which’’.

(B) The amendment made by subparagraph (A) shall be

deemed to have the same effective date as section 5(1) of

Public Law 105–347 (112 Stat. 3211).

(d) SECTION 609.—Section 609(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g(a)) is amended—

15 USC 1681c

note.

15 USC 1681c.

117 STAT. 2012 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 2622 (S. 1753):

HOUSE REPORTS: Nos. 108–263 and Pt.2 (Comm. on Financial Services) and 108–

396 (Comm. of Conference).

SENATE REPORTS: No. 108–166 accompanying S. 1753 (Comm. on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs).

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 149 (2003):

Sept. 10, considered and passed House.

Nov. 5, considered and passed Senate, amended, in lieu of S. 1753.

Nov. 21, House agreed to conference report.

Nov. 22, Senate agreed to conference report.

WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 39 (2003):

Dec. 4, Presidential remarks.

Æ

(1) in paragraph (2), by moving the margin 2 ems to the

right; and

(2) in paragraph (3)(C), by moving the margins 2 ems

to the left.

(e) SECTION 617.—Section 617(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681o(a)(1)) is amended by adding ‘‘and’’ at the

end.

(f) SECTION 621.—Section 621(b)(1)(B) of the Fair Credit

Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s(b)(1)(B)) is amended by striking

‘‘25(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘25A’’.

(g) TITLE 31.—Section 5318 of title 31, United States Code,

is amended by redesignating the second item designated as subsection (l) (relating to applicability of rules) as subsection (m).

(h) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2411(c) of Public Law

104–208 (110 Stat. 3009–445) is repealed.

Approved December 4, 2003.

15 USC 1681m.