II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2181 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide protections for active 

duty military consumers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 30, 2017 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the 

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

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide 

protections for active duty military consumers. 

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 ‘‘Military Families 

5 Credit Reporting Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NOTICE OF STATUS AS AN ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY 

7 CONSUMER. 

8 The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et 

9 seq.) is amended— 


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

2 at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(i) NOTICE OF STATUS AS AN ACTIVE DUTY MILI4 TARY CONSUMER.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to an item of 

6 adverse information about a consumer that arises 

7 from the failure of the consumer to make any re8 quired payment on a debt or other obligation, if the 

9 action or inaction that gave rise to the item occurred 

10 while the consumer was an active duty military con11 sumer— 

12 ‘‘(A) the consumer may provide appro13 priate proof, including official orders, to a con14 sumer reporting agency that the consumer was 

15 an active duty military consumer at the time 

16 the action or inaction occurred; and 

17 ‘‘(B) any consumer report provided by the 

18 consumer reporting agency that includes the 

19 item shall clearly and conspicuously disclose 

20 that the consumer was an active duty military 

21 consumer when the action or inaction that gave 

22 rise to the item occurred. 

23 ‘‘(2) MODEL FORM.—The Bureau shall prepare 

24 a model form, which shall be made publicly availVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 01, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2181.IS S2181

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1 able, including in an electronic format, by which a 

2 consumer may— 

3 ‘‘(A) notify, and provide appropriate proof 

4 to, a consumer reporting agency in a simple 

5 and easy manner, including electronically, that 

6 the consumer is or was an active duty military 

7 consumer; and 

8 ‘‘(B) provide contact information of the 

9 consumer for the purpose of communicating 

10 with the consumer while the consumer is an ac11 tive duty military consumer. 

12 ‘‘(3) NO ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES.—Notice, 

13 whether provided by the model form described in 

14 paragraph (2) or otherwise, that a consumer is or 

15 was an active duty military consumer may not pro16 vide the sole basis for— 

17 ‘‘(A) with respect to a credit transaction 

18 between the consumer and a creditor, a cred19 itor— 

20 ‘‘(i) denying an application of credit 

21 submitted by the consumer; 

22 ‘‘(ii) revoking an offer of credit made 

23 to the consumer by the creditor; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) changing the terms of an exist2 ing credit arrangement with the consumer; 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(iv) refusing to grant credit to the 

5 consumer in a substantially similar amount 

6 or on substantially similar terms requested 

7 by the consumer; 

8 ‘‘(B) furnishing negative information relat9 ing to the creditworthiness of the consumer by 

10 or to a consumer reporting agency; or 

11 ‘‘(C) except as otherwise provided in this 

12 title, a creditor or consumer reporting agency 

13 noting in the file of the consumer that the con14 sumer is or was an active duty military con15 sumer.’’; 

16 (2) in section 605A (15 U.S.C. 1681c–1)— 

17 (A) in subsection (c)— 

18 (i) by redesignating paragraphs (1), 

19 (2), and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), 

20 and (C), respectively, and adjusting the 

21 margins accordingly; 

22 (ii) in the matter preceding subpara23 graph (A), as so redesignated, by striking 

24 ‘‘Upon’’ and inserting the following: 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon’’; and 


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1 (iii) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(2) NEGATIVE INFORMATION NOTIFICATION.— 

4 If a consumer reporting agency receives an item of 

5 adverse information about a consumer who has pro6 vided appropriate proof that the consumer is an ac7 tive duty military consumer, the consumer reporting 

8 agency shall promptly notify the consumer, with a 

9 frequency, in a manner, and according to a timeline 

10 determined by the Bureau or specified by the con11 sumer— 

12 ‘‘(A) that the consumer reporting agency 

13 has received the item of adverse information, 

14 along with a description of the item; and 

15 ‘‘(B) the method by which the consumer 

16 may dispute the validity of the item. 

17 ‘‘(3) CONTACT INFORMATION FOR ACTIVE DUTY

18 MILITARY CONSUMERS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a consumer who 

20 has provided appropriate proof to a consumer 

21 reporting agency that the consumer is an active 

22 duty military consumer provides the consumer 

23 reporting agency with contact information for 

24 the purpose of communicating with the con25 sumer while the consumer is an active duty 


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1 military consumer, the consumer reporting 

2 agency shall use that contact information for all 

3 communications with the consumer while the 

4 consumer is an active duty military consumer. 

5 ‘‘(B) DIRECT REQUEST.—Unless a con6 sumer directs otherwise, the provision of con7 tact information by the consumer under sub8 paragraph (A) shall be deemed to be a request 

9 for the consumer to receive an active duty alert 

10 under paragraph (1). 

11 ‘‘(4) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

12 Congress that any person making use of a consumer 

13 report that contains an item of adverse information 

14 with respect to a consumer should, if the action or 

15 inaction that gave rise to the item occurred while the 

16 consumer was an active duty military consumer, 

17 take that fact into account when evaluating the cred18 itworthiness of the consumer.’’; and 

19 (B) in subsection (e), by striking para20 graph (3) and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(3) subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection 

22 (c)(1), in the case of a referral under subsection 

23 (c)(1)(C).’’; and 

24 (3) in section 611(a)(1) (15 U.S.C. 

25 1681i(a)(1)), by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(D) NOTICE OF DISPUTE RELATED TO

2 ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY CONSUMERS.—With re3 spect to an item of information described under 

4 subparagraph (A) that is under dispute, if the 

5 consumer to whom the item relates has notified 

6 the consumer reporting agency conducting the 

7 investigation described in that subparagraph, 

8 and has provided appropriate proof, that the 

9 consumer was an active duty military consumer 

10 at the time the action or inaction that gave rise 

11 to the disputed item occurred, the consumer re12 porting agency shall— 

13 ‘‘(i) include that fact in the file of the 

14 consumer; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) indicate that fact in each con16 sumer report that includes the disputed 

17 item.’’. 

Æ 


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