II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1249 

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

duty military consumers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2015 

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

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

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide protections for active duty military consumers, 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 ‘‘Military Families 

5 Credit Reporting Act’’. 

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— 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1249 IS

1 (1) in section 605, by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

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, if the action 

7 or inaction that gave rise to the item occurred while 

8 the consumer was an active duty military consumer, 

9 the consumer may provide appropriate proof, includ10 ing official orders, to a consumer reporting agency 

11 that the consumer was an active duty military con12 sumer at the time such action or inaction occurred, 

13 and any consumer report provided by the consumer 

14 reporting agency that includes the item shall clearly 

15 and conspicuously disclose that the consumer was an 

16 active duty military consumer when the action or in17 action that gave rise to the item occurred. 

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

19 a model form, which shall be made publicly avail20 able, including in an electronic format, that allows a 

21 consumer to— 

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

23 to, a consumer reporting agency in a simple 

24 and easy manner, including electronically, that 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1249 IS

1 the consumer is an active duty military con2 sumer; and 

3 ‘‘(B) provide contact information of the 

4 consumer for the purpose of communicating 

5 with the consumer while the consumer is an ac6 tive duty military consumer.’’; 

7 (2) in section 605A— 

8 (A) in subsection (c)— 

9 (i) by redesignating paragraphs (1), 

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

11 and (C), respectively, and adjusting the 

12 margins accordingly; 

13 (ii) in the matter preceding subpara14 graph (A), as so redesignated, by striking 

15 ‘‘Upon’’ and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon’’; and 

17 (iii) by adding at the end the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(2) NEGATIVE INFORMATION NOTIFICATION.— 

20 If a consumer reporting agency receives an item of 

21 adverse information about a consumer who has pro22 vided appropriate proof that the consumer is an ac23 tive duty military consumer, the consumer reporting 

24 agency shall promptly notify the consumer— 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1249 IS

1 ‘‘(A) that the consumer reporting agency 

2 has received the item of adverse information, 

3 along with a description of the item; and 

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

5 may dispute the validity of the item. 

6 ‘‘(3) CONTACT INFORMATION FOR ACTIVE DUTY

7 MILITARY CONSUMERS.—If a consumer who has pro8 vided appropriate proof to a consumer reporting 

9 agency that the consumer is an active duty military 

10 consumer provides the consumer reporting agency 

11 with contact information for the purpose of commu12 nicating with the consumer while the consumer is an 

13 active duty military consumer, the consumer report14 ing agency shall use such contact information for all 

15 communications while the consumer is an active 

16 duty military consumer. 

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

18 Congress that any person making use of a consumer 

19 report that contains an item of adverse information 

20 should, if the action or inaction that gave rise to the 

21 item occurred while the consumer was an active duty 

22 military consumer, take such fact into account when 

23 evaluating the creditworthiness of the consumer.’’; 

24 and 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1249 IS

1 (B) in subsection (e), by striking para2 graph (3) and inserting the following: 

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

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

5 (c)(1)(C).’’; and 

6 (3) in section 611(a)(1), by adding at the end 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(D) NOTICE OF DISPUTE RELATED TO

9 ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY CONSUMERS.—With re10 spect to an item of information described under 

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

12 consumer to whom the item relates has notified 

13 the consumer reporting agency, and has pro14 vided appropriate proof, that the consumer was 

15 an active duty military consumer at the time 

16 the action or inaction that gave rise to the dis17 puted item occurred, the consumer reporting 

18 agency shall— 

19 ‘‘(i) include such fact in the file of the 

20 consumer; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) indicate such fact in each con22 sumer report that includes the disputed 

23 item.’’. 

Æ 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS