IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 435 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 26, 2018 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to clarify Federal 

law with respect to reporting certain positive consumer 

credit information to consumer reporting agencies, and 

for other purposes. 

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


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HR 435 RFS 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘The Credit Access and 

3 Inclusion Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. POSITIVE CREDIT REPORTING PERMITTED. 

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

6 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2) is amended by adding 

7 at the end the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(f) FULL-FILE CREDIT REPORTING.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the limitation in 

10 paragraph (2) and notwithstanding any other provi11 sion of law, a person or the Secretary of Housing 

12 and Urban Development may furnish to a consumer 

13 reporting agency information relating to the per14 formance of a consumer in making payments— 

15 ‘‘(A) under a lease agreement with respect 

16 to a dwelling, including such a lease in which 

17 the Department of Housing and Urban Devel18 opment provides subsidized payments for occu19 pancy in a dwelling; or 

20 ‘‘(B) pursuant to a contract for a utility or 

21 telecommunications service. 

22 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Information about a con23 sumer’s usage of any utility services provided by a 

24 utility or telecommunication firm may be furnished 

25 to a consumer reporting agency only to the extent 

26 that such information relates to payment by the conVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Jun 27, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H435.RFS H435

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HR 435 RFS 

1 sumer for the services of such utility or tele2 communication service or other terms of the provi3 sion of the services to the consumer, including any 

4 deposit, discount, or conditions for interruption or 

5 termination of the services. 

6 ‘‘(3) PAYMENT PLAN.—An energy utility firm 

7 may not report payment information to a consumer 

8 reporting agency with respect to an outstanding bal9 ance of a consumer as late if— 

10 ‘‘(A) the energy utility firm and the con11 sumer have entered into a payment plan (in12 cluding a deferred payment agreement, an ar13 rearage management program, or a debt for14 giveness program) with respect to such out15 standing balance; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the consumer is meeting the obliga17 tions of the payment plan, as determined by the 

18 energy utility firm. 

19 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol20 lowing definitions shall apply: 

21 ‘‘(A) ENERGY UTILITY FIRM.—The term 

22 ‘energy utility firm’ means an entity that pro23 vides gas or electric utility services to the pub24 lic. 


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HR 435 RFS 

1 ‘‘(B) UTILITY OR TELECOMMUNICATION

2 FIRM.—The term ‘utility or telecommunication 

3 firm’ means an entity that provides utility serv4 ices to the public through pipe, wire, landline, 

5 wireless, cable, or other connected facilities, or 

6 radio, electronic, or similar transmission (in7 cluding the extension of such facilities).’’. 

8 (b) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—Section 623(c) of 

9 the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s– 

10 2(c)) is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

12 end; 

13 (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para14 graph (4); and 

15 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol16 lowing new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(3) subsection (f) of this section, including any 

18 regulations issued thereunder; or’’. 

19 (c) GAO STUDY AND REPORT.—Not later than 2 

20 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

21 Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to 

22 Congress a report on the impact of furnishing information 

23 pursuant to subsection (f) of section 623 of the Fair CredVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Jun 27, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H435.RFS H435

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HR 435 RFS 

1 it Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2) (as added by this 

2 Act) on consumers. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 25, 2018. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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