II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1816 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to enhance fraud alert procedures 

and provide free access to credit freezes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 

Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. 

WYDEN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. FRANKEN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to enhance fraud 

alert procedures and provide free access to credit freezes, 

and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom from Equifax 

5 Exploitation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF CREDIT FREEZE. 

2 Section 603(q) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

3 U.S.C. 1681a(q)) is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(6) CREDIT FREEZE.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘credit 

7 freeze’ means a restriction placed at the request 

8 of a consumer or a personal representative of 

9 the consumer, on the consumer report of the 

10 consumer, that prohibits a consumer reporting 

11 agency from releasing the consumer report for 

12 a purpose relating to the extension of credit 

13 without the express authorization of the con14 sumer. 

15 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—A credit freeze shall 

16 not apply to the use of a consumer report by 

17 any of the following: 

18 ‘‘(i) A person, or the subsidiary, affil19 iate, agent, subcontractor, or assignee of 

20 the person, with whom the consumer has, 

21 or prior to assignment had, an account, 

22 contract, or debtor-creditor relationship for 

23 the purposes of reviewing the active ac24 count or collecting the financial obligation 

25 owed on the account, contract, or debt. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) A person, or the subsidiary, affil2 iate, agent, subcontractor, or assignee of 

3 the person, to whom access has been 

4 granted pursuant to a request by the con5 sumer described under section 

6 605A(i)(1)(B), for purposes of facilitating 

7 the extension of credit or other permissible 

8 use. 

9 ‘‘(iii) Any person acting pursuant to a 

10 court order, warrant, or subpoena. 

11 ‘‘(iv) A Federal, State, or local gov12 ernment, or an agent or assignee thereof. 

13 ‘‘(v) Any person for the sole purpose 

14 of providing a credit monitoring or identity 

15 theft protection service to which the con16 sumer has subscribed. 

17 ‘‘(vi) Any person for the purpose of 

18 providing a consumer with a copy of the 

19 consumer report or credit score of the con20 sumer upon request by the consumer. 

21 ‘‘(vii) Any person or entity for insur22 ance purposes, including use in setting or 

23 adjusting a rate, adjusting a claim, or un24 derwriting. 


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1 ‘‘(viii) Any person acting pursuant to 

2 an authorization from a consumer to use 

3 their consumer report for employment pur4 poses.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. ENHANCEMENT OF FRAUD ALERT PROTECTIONS. 

6 Section 605A of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

7 U.S.C. 1681c–1) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a)— 

9 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

10 ‘‘ONE-CALL’’ and inserting ‘‘ONE-YEAR’’; 

11 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

12 (i) in the paragraph heading, by strik13 ing ‘‘INITIAL ALERTS’’ and inserting ‘‘IN

14 GENERAL’’; 

15 (ii) in the matter preceding subpara16 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘or harmed by the 

17 unauthorized disclosure of the financial or 

18 personally identifiable information of the 

19 consumer,’’ after ‘‘identity theft,’’; 

20 (iii) in subparagraph (A)— 

21 (I) by striking ‘‘90 days’’ and in22 serting ‘‘1 year’’; and 

23 (II) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

24 (iv) in subparagraph (B)— 


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1 (I) by inserting ‘‘1-year’’ before 

2 ‘‘fraud alert’’; and 

3 (II) by striking the period at the 

4 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (v) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(C) upon the expiration of the 1-year pe7 riod described in subparagraph (A) or a subse8 quent 1-year period, and in response to a direct 

9 request by the consumer or such representative, 

10 continue the fraud alert for an additional period 

11 of 1 year if the information asserted in this 

12 paragraph remains applicable.’’; and 

13 (C) in paragraph (2)— 

14 (i) in the matter preceding subpara15 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘1-year’’ before 

16 ‘‘fraud alert’’; and 

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

18 ‘‘any request described in subparagraph 

19 (A)’’ and inserting ‘‘the consumer report20 ing agency includes the 1-year fraud alert 

21 in the file of the consumer’’; 

22 (2) in subsection (b)— 

23 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

24 ‘‘EXTENDED’’ and inserting ‘‘SEVEN-YEAR’’; 

25 (B) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (B)— 

2 (I) by striking ‘‘5-year period be3 ginning on the date of such request’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘the 7-year period de5 scribed in subparagraph (A)’’; and 

6 (II) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

7 (ii) in subparagraph (C)— 

8 (I) by striking ‘‘extended’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘7-year’’; and 

10 (II) by striking the period at the 

11 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (iii) by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(D) upon the expiration of the 7-year pe15 riod described in subparagraph (A) or a subse16 quent 7-year period, and in response to a direct 

17 request by the consumer or such representative, 

18 continue the fraud alert for an additional period 

19 of 7 years if the consumer or such representa20 tive submits an updated identity theft report.’’; 

21 and 

22 (C) in paragraph (2), by amending sub23 paragraph (A) to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(A) disclose to the consumer that the con25 sumer may request a free copy of the file of the 


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1 consumer pursuant to section 612(d) during 

2 each 12-month period beginning on the date on 

3 which the 7-year fraud alert was included in the 

4 file and ending on the date of the last day that 

5 the 7-year fraud alert applies to the file of the 

6 consumer; and’’; 

7 (3) in subsection (c)— 

8 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), 

9 and (3), as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), 

10 respectively, and adjusting the margins accord11 ingly; 

12 (B) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

13 (A), as so redesignated, by striking ‘‘Upon the 

14 direct request’’ and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the direct request’’; 

16 and 

17 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(2) ACCESS TO FREE REPORTS.—If a con19 sumer reporting agency includes an active duty alert 

20 in the file of an active duty military consumer, the 

21 consumer reporting agency shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) disclose to the active duty military 

23 consumer that the active duty military con24 sumer may request a free copy of the file of the 

25 active duty military consumer pursuant to secVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Sep 21, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1816.IS S1816

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1 tion 612(d), during each 12-month period be2 ginning on the date on which the activity duty 

3 military alert is requested and ending on the 

4 date of the last day that the active duty alert 

5 applies to the file of the active duty military 

6 consumer; and 

7 ‘‘(B) not later than 3 business days after 

8 the date on which the active duty military con9 sumer makes a request described in subpara10 graph (A), provide to the active duty military 

11 consumer all disclosures required to be made 

12 under section 609, without charge to the active 

13 duty military consumer.’’; 

14 (4) by amending subsection (d) to read as fol15 lows: 

16 ‘‘(d) PROCEDURES.—Each consumer reporting agen17 cy described in section 603(p) shall establish and make 

18 available to the public on the Internet website of the con19 sumer reporting agency policies and procedures to comply 

20 with this section, including policies and procedures— 

21 ‘‘(1) that inform consumers of the availability 

22 of 1-year fraud alerts, 7-year fraud alerts, active 

23 duty alerts, and credit freezes, as applicable; 

24 ‘‘(2) that allow consumers to request 1-year 

25 fraud alerts, 7-year fraud alerts, and active duty 


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1 alerts, as applicable, and to place, temporarily lift, 

2 or fully remove a credit freeze in a simple and easy 

3 manner; and 

4 ‘‘(3) for asserting in good faith a suspicion that 

5 the consumer has been or is about to become a vic6 tim of identity theft, fraud, or a related crime, or 

7 harmed by the unauthorized disclosure of the finan8 cial or personally identifiable information of the con9 sumer, for a consumer seeking a 1-year fraud alert 

10 or credit freeze.’’; 

11 (5) in subsection (e), in the matter preceding 

12 paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘1-year or 7-year’’ be13 fore ‘‘fraud alert’’; 

14 (6) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘or active duty 

15 alert’’ and inserting ‘‘active duty alert, or credit 

16 freeze, as applicable,’’; 

17 (7) in subsection (g)— 

18 (A) by inserting ‘‘or has been harmed by 

19 the unauthorized disclosure of the financial or 

20 personally identifiable information of the con21 sumer,’’ after ‘‘identity theft,’’; and 

22 (B) by inserting ‘‘or credit freezes’’ after 

23 ‘‘request alerts’’; and 

24 (8) in subsection (h)— 

25 (A) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (i) in the paragraph heading, by strik2 ing ‘‘INITIAL’’ and inserting ‘‘1-YEAR’’; 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

4 ‘‘initial’’ and inserting ‘‘1-year’’; and 

5 (iii) in subparagraph (B)(i), by strik6 ing ‘‘an initial’’ and inserting ‘‘a 1-year’’; 

7 and 

8 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

9 (i) in the paragraph heading, by strik10 ing ‘‘EXTENDED’’ and inserting ‘‘7-YEAR’’; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (A), in the mat12 ter preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘ex13 tended’’ and inserting ‘‘7-year’’; and 

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

15 ‘‘an extended’’ and inserting ‘‘a 7-year’’. 

16 SEC. 4. PROVIDING FREE ACCESS TO CREDIT FREEZES. 

17 Section 605A of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

18 U.S.C. 1681c–1) is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(i) CREDIT FREEZES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the direct request of 

22 a consumer, or an individual acting on behalf of or 

23 as a personal representative of a consumer, a con24 sumer reporting agency that maintains a file on the 

25 consumer and has received appropriate proof of the 


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1 identity of the requester (as described in section 

2 1022.123 of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations, 

3 or any successor thereto) shall— 

4 ‘‘(A)(i) not later than 1 business day after 

5 receiving the request sent by postal mail, toll6 free telephone, or secure electronic means as es7 tablished by the agency, place a credit freeze on 

8 the file of the consumer; 

9 ‘‘(ii) not later than 5 business days after 

10 placing a credit freeze described in clause (i), 

11 provide the consumer with written confirmation 

12 of the credit freeze and a unique personal iden13 tification number or password (other than the 

14 social security number of the consumer) for use 

15 to authorize the release of the file of the con16 sumer for a specific period of time; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) disclose all relevant information to 

18 the consumer relating to the procedures for 

19 temporarily lifting and fully removing a credit 

20 freeze, including a statement about the max21 imum amount of time given to an agency to 

22 conduct those actions; 

23 ‘‘(B) if the consumer provides a correct 

24 personal identification number or password, 

25 temporarily lift an existing credit freeze from 


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1 the file of the consumer for a period of time 

2 specified by the consumer for a specific user or 

3 category of users, as determined by the con4 sumer— 

5 ‘‘(i) not later than 1 business day 

6 after receiving the request by postal mail; 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(ii) not later than 15 minutes after 

9 receiving the request by toll-free telephone 

10 number or secure electronic means estab11 lished by the agency, if the request is re12 ceived during regular business hours, ex13 cept if the ability of the consumer report14 ing agency to temporarily lift the credit 

15 freeze is prevented by— 

16 ‘‘(I) an act of God, including 

17 earthquakes, hurricanes, storms, or 

18 similar natural disaster or phe19 nomenon, or fire; 

20 ‘‘(II) unauthorized or illegal acts 

21 by a third party including terrorism, 

22 sabotage, riot, vandalism, labor strikes 

23 or disputes disrupting operations, or a 

24 similar occurrence; 


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1 ‘‘(III) an operational interrup2 tion, including electrical failure, unan3 ticipated delay in equipment or re4 placement part delivery, computer 

5 hardware or software failures inhib6 iting response time, or a similar dis7 ruption; 

8 ‘‘(IV) governmental action, in9 cluding emergency orders or regula10 tions, judicial or law enforcement ac11 tion, or a similar directive; 

12 ‘‘(V) regularly scheduled mainte13 nance or updates to the systems of 

14 the consumer reporting agency occur15 ring outside of normal business hours; 

16 or 

17 ‘‘(VI) commercially reasonable 

18 maintenance of, or repair to, the sys19 tems of the consumer reporting agen20 cy that is unexpected or unscheduled; 

21 or 

22 ‘‘(C) if the consumer provides a correct 

23 personal identification number or password, 

24 fully remove an existing credit freeze from the 

25 file of the consumer not later than 21 business 


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1 days after receiving the request by postal mail, 

2 toll-free telephone, or secure electronic means 

3 established by the consumer reporting agency. 

4 ‘‘(2) NO FEE.—A consumer reporting agency 

5 may not charge a consumer a fee to place, tempo6 rarily lift, or fully remove a credit freeze. 

7 ‘‘(3) EXCLUSION FROM THIRD-PARTY LISTS.— 

8 During the period beginning on the date on which 

9 a consumer or a representative of the consumer re10 quests to place a credit freeze and ending the date 

11 on which the consumer or representative requests to 

12 fully remove a credit freeze, a consumer reporting 

13 agency shall exclude the consumer from any list of 

14 consumers prepared by the consumer reporting 

15 agency and provided to any third party to offer cred16 it or insurance to the consumer as part of a trans17 action that was not initiated by the consumer, unless 

18 the consumer or that representative requests that 

19 the exclusion be rescinded before end of the period.’’. 

20 SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL FREE CONSUMER REPORT. 

21 Section 612 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

22 U.S.C. 1681j) is amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (f)(1), in the matter preceding 

24 subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or subsection (h)’’ 

25 after ‘‘through (d)’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(h) FREE DISCLOSURES IN CONNECTION WITH

3 CREDIT FREEZE.—In addition to the free annual disclo4 sure required under subsection (a)(1)(A), each consumer 

5 reporting agency that maintains a file on a consumer who 

6 requests a credit freeze under section 605A(i) shall make 

7 all disclosures pursuant to section 609 once during any 

8 12-month period without charge to the consumer if the 

9 consumer makes a request under section 609.’’. 

10 SEC. 6. REFUNDS. 

11 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘con12 sumer’’, ‘‘consumer reporting agency’’, and ‘‘credit freeze’’ 

13 have the meanings given those terms in section 603 of the 

14 Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a), as amended 

15 by section 2. 

16 (b) REFUNDS.—With respect to any consumer who 

17 requested a credit freeze from a consumer reporting agen18 cy during the period beginning on September 7, 2017, and 

19 ending on the day before the date of enactment of this 

20 Act, the consumer reporting agency— 

21 (1) shall issue a refund to the consumer for any 

22 fees charged to the consumer relating to the request 

23 for a credit freeze; and 


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1 (2) may not impose a fee on the consumer to 

2 temporarily lift or fully remove the credit freeze. 

Æ 


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