II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1847 

To enhance the accuracy of credit reporting and provide greater rights to 

consumers who dispute errors in their credit reports, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 23, 2015 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. SANDERS, 

Mr. MERKLEY, and Mrs. MCCASKILL) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To enhance the accuracy of credit reporting and provide 

greater rights to consumers who dispute errors in their 

credit reports, 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 ‘‘Stop Errors in Credit 

5 Use and Reporting Act’’ or the ‘‘SECURE Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LEGAL RECOURSE FOR CONSUMERS. 

7 (a) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—The Fair Credit Report8 ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended— 

9 (1) in section 616— 

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1 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘(a) IN

2 GENERAL.—’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) DAMAGES.— 

3 ’’; 

4 (B) by redesignating subsections (c) and 

5 (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

6 (C) by inserting after subsection (b) the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(c) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—In addition to any other 

9 remedy set forth in this section, a court may award injunc10 tive relief to require compliance with the requirements im11 posed under this title with respect to any consumer. In 

12 the event of any successful action for injunctive relief 

13 under this subsection, the court may award to the pre14 vailing party costs and reasonable attorney fees (as deter15 mined by the court) incurred during the action by such 

16 party.’’; and 

17 (2) in section 617— 

18 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘(a) IN

19 GENERAL.—’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) DAMAGES.— 

20 ’’; 

21 (B) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub22 section (c); and 

23 (C) by inserting after subsection (a) the 

24 following: 

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1 ‘‘(b) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—In addition to any other 

2 remedy set forth in this section, a court may award injunc3 tive relief to require compliance with the requirements im4 posed under this title with respect to any consumer. In 

5 the event of any successful action for injunctive relief 

6 under this subsection, the court may award to the pre7 vailing party costs and reasonable attorney fees (as deter8 mined by the court) incurred during the action by such 

9 party.’’. 

10 (b) ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS11 SION.—Section 621(a)(2)(A) of the Fair Credit Reporting 

12 Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s(a)(2)(A)) is amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘(A) KNOWING VIOLATIONS.—’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘(A) NEGLIGENT, WILLFUL, OR

15 KNOWING VIOLATIONS.—’’; and 

16 (2) by inserting ‘‘negligent, willful, or’’ before 

17 ‘‘knowing’’. 

18 SEC. 3. INCREASED REQUIREMENTS FOR CONSUMER RE19 PORTING AGENCIES AND FURNISHERS OF IN20 FORMATION. 

21 (a) PROVISION AND CONSIDERATION OF DOCU22 MENTATION PROVIDED BY CONSUMERS.—The Fair Credit 

23 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended— 

24 (1) in section 611— 

25 (A) in subsection (a)— 

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1 (i) in paragraph (2)— 

2 (I) in subparagraph (A), by in3 serting ‘‘, including all documentation 

4 provided by the consumer’’ after ‘‘re5 ceived from the consumer or reseller’’; 

6 and 

7 (II) in subparagraph (B), by in8 serting ‘‘, including all documentation 

9 provided by the consumer,’’ after 

10 ‘‘from the consumer or reseller’’; and 

11 (ii) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘, 

12 including all documentation,’’ after ‘‘rel13 evant information’’; and 

14 (B) in subsection (f)(2)(B)(ii), by inserting 

15 ‘‘, including all documentation,’’ after ‘‘relevant 

16 information’’; and 

17 (2) in section 623— 

18 (A) in subsection (a)(8)(E), by striking 

19 clause (ii) and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(ii) review and consider all relevant 

21 information, including all documentation, 

22 provided by the consumer with the no23 tice;’’; and 

24 (B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking sub25 paragraph (B) and inserting the following: 

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1 ‘‘(B) review and consider all relevant infor2 mation, including all documentation, provided 

3 by the consumer reporting agency pursuant to 

4 section 611(a)(2);’’. 

5 (b) GATHERING AND REPORTING OF INFORMATION

6 RELATING TO CONSUMER DISPUTES.—Section 611 of the 

7 Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(g) GATHERING AND REPORTING OF INFORMATION

10 RELATING TO CONSUMER DISPUTES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) REPORTS REQUIRED.—The Bureau shall 

12 provide reports regarding the disputes described in 

13 subsection (a)(1) received by consumer reporting 

14 agencies in such intervals and to such parties as the 

15 Bureau deems appropriate. 

16 ‘‘(2) GATHERING OF INFORMATION.—The Bu17 reau shall prescribe rules for the gathering of infor18 mation relating to disputes described in subsection 

19 (a)(1) received by consumer reporting agencies to be 

20 used in generating the reports under paragraph (1), 

21 including rules establishing— 

22 ‘‘(A) the type and format of information 

23 that shall be received by the Bureau from each 

24 consumer reporting agency; and 

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1 ‘‘(B) the frequency of receipt of the infor2 mation from consumer reporting agencies.’’. 

3 (c) ACCURACY COMPLIANCE PROCEDURES.—Section 

4 607 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681e) 

5 is amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(b) ACCURACY OF REPORT.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A consumer reporting 

9 agency shall follow reasonable procedures when pre10 paring a consumer report to assure maximum pos11 sible accuracy of the information concerning the in12 dividual to whom the consumer report relates. 

13 ‘‘(2) BUREAU RULE TO ASSURE MAXIMUM POS14 SIBLE ACCURACY.— 

15 ‘‘(A) PROPOSED RULE.—Not later than 1 

16 year after the date of enactment of the Stop 

17 Errors in Credit Use and Reporting Act, the 

18 Bureau shall issue a proposed rule establishing 

19 the procedures that a consumer reporting agen20 cy must follow to assure maximum possible ac21 curacy of all consumer reports furnished by the 

22 agency in compliance with this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—When formu24 lating the rule required under subparagraph 

25 (A), the Bureau shall consider if requiring the 

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1 matching of the following information would 

2 improve the accuracy of consumer reports: 

3 ‘‘(i) The first name and last name of 

4 a consumer. 

5 ‘‘(ii) The date of birth of a consumer. 

6 ‘‘(iii) All 9 digits of the social security 

7 number of a consumer. 

8 ‘‘(iv) Any other information that the 

9 Bureau determines would aid in assuring 

10 maximum possible accuracy of all con11 sumer reports furnished by consumer re12 porting agencies in compliance with this 

13 subsection.’’. 

14 (d) RESPONSIBILITIES OF FURNISHERS OF INFOR15 MATION TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES.—Section 

16 623(a)(8)(F)(i)(II) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

17 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)(8)(F)(i)(II)) is amended by inserting 

18 ‘‘, and does not include any new or additional information 

19 that would be relevant to a reinvestigation’’ before the pe20 riod. 

21 (e) DISCLOSURES TO CONSUMERS.—Section 609 of 

22 the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g) is 

23 amended— 

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1 (1) in subsection (a)(3)(B), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

2 and all that follows through the end of subparagraph 

3 (B) and inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘(ii) the address and telephone num5 ber of the person; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) the permissible purpose of the 

7 person for obtaining the consumer report, 

8 including the specific type of credit product 

9 that is extended, reviewed, or collected as 

10 described in section 604(a)(3)(A).’’; 

11 (2) in subsection (f)— 

12 (A) by amending paragraph (7)(A) to read 

13 as follows: 

14 ‘‘(A) supply the consumer with a credit 

15 score that— 

16 ‘‘(i) is derived from a credit scoring 

17 model that is widely distributed to users by 

18 the consumer reporting agency for the pur19 pose of any extension of credit or other 

20 transaction designated by the consumer 

21 who is requesting the credit score; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) is widely distributed to lenders of 

23 common consumer loan products and pre24 dicts the future credit behavior of the con25 sumer; and’’; and 

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1 (B) in paragraph (8), by inserting ‘‘, ex2 cept that a credit score shall be provided free 

3 of charge to the consumer if requested in con4 nection with a free annual consumer report de5 scribed in section 612(a)’’ before the period; 

6 and 

7 (3) in subsection (g)(1)— 

8 (A) by striking subparagraph (C); and 

9 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) 

10 through (G) as subparagraphs (C) through (F), 

11 respectively. 

12 (f) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

13 (1) ADVERSE INFORMATION NOTIFICATION.— 

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

15 seq.) is amended— 

16 (A) in section 612, by striking subsection 

17 (b) and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(b) FREE DISCLOSURE AFTER NOTICE OF AD19 VERSE ACTION OR OFFER OF CREDIT ON MATERIALLY

20 LESS FAVORABLE TERMS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days 

22 after the date on which a consumer reporting agency 

23 receives a notification under subsection (a)(2) or 

24 (h)(6) of section 615, or from a debt collection agen25 cy affiliated with the consumer reporting agency, the 

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1 consumer reporting agency shall make, without 

2 charge to the consumer, all disclosures required in 

3 accordance with the rules prescribed by the Bureau 

4 under section 609(h). 

5 ‘‘(2) TRANSITION PERIOD.—After the effective 

6 date of the provisions of the Stop Errors in Credit 

7 Use and Reporting Act and before the Bureau has 

8 finalized the rule required under section 609(h), a 

9 consumer reporting agency that is required to make 

10 disclosures under this subsection shall provide to the 

11 consumer a copy of the current credit report on the 

12 consumer and any other disclosures required under 

13 this Act or the Stop Errors in Credit Use and Re14 porting Act, without charge to the consumer.’’; and 

15 (B) in section 615(a)— 

16 (i) by redesignating paragraphs (2), 

17 (3), and (4) as paragraphs (3), (4), and 

18 (5) respectively; 

19 (ii) by inserting after paragraph (1) 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘(2) direct the consumer reporting agency that 

22 provided the consumer report used in the decision to 

23 take the adverse action to provide the consumer with 

24 the disclosures described in section 612(b);’’; and 

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1 (iii) in paragraph (5), as redesignated 

2 by this paragraph— 

3 (I) in the matter preceding sub4 paragraph (A), by striking ‘‘of the 

5 consumer’s right’’; 

6 (II) by striking subparagraph (A) 

7 and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) that the consumer will receive a copy 

9 of the consumer report on the consumer, free of 

10 charge, from the consumer reporting agency 

11 that furnished the consumer report; and’’; and 

12 (III) in subparagraph (B), by in13 serting ‘‘of the right of the consumer’’ 

14 before ‘‘to dispute’’. 

15 (2) NOTIFICATION IN CASES OF LESS FAVOR16 ABLE TERMS.—Section 615(h) of the Fair Credit 

17 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681m(h)) is amended— 

18 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘para19 graph (6)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (7)’’; 

20 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘para21 graph (6)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (7)’’; 

22 (C) in paragraph (5)(C), by striking ‘‘may 

23 obtain’’ and inserting ‘‘will receive’’; 

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1 (D) by redesignating paragraphs (6), (7), 

2 and (8) as paragraphs (7), (8), and (9), respec3 tively; and 

4 (E) by inserting after paragraph (5) the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(6) REPORTS PROVIDED TO CONSUMERS.—A 

7 person who uses a consumer report as described in 

8 paragraph (1) shall notify and direct the consumer 

9 reporting agency that provided the consumer report 

10 to provide the consumer with the disclosures de11 scribed in section 612(b).’’. 

12 (3) NOTIFICATION OF SUBSEQUENT SUBMIS13 SIONS OF NEGATIVE INFORMATION.—Section 

14 623(a)(7)(A)(ii) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act 

15 (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)(7)(A)(ii)) is amended by 

16 striking ‘‘or customer’’ and inserting ‘‘or’’ before 

17 ‘‘account’’. 

18 (4) BUREAU RULE DEFINING CERTAIN DISCLO19 SURE REQUIREMENTS.—Section 609 of the Fair 

20 Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g) is amended 

21 by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(h) BUREAU RULE DEFINING CERTAIN DISCLO23 SURE REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) PROPOSED RULE.—Not later than 1 year 

25 after the date of enactment of the Stop Errors in 

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1 Credit Use and Reporting Act, the Bureau shall 

2 publish a proposed rule to implement the disclosure 

3 requirements described in section 612(b). 

4 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In formulating the 

5 rule required under paragraph (1), the Bureau shall 

6 consider— 

7 ‘‘(A) what information would enable con8 sumers to determine the reasons for which a 

9 person took adverse action or offered credit on 

10 materially less favorable terms and to verify the 

11 accuracy of such information; and 

12 ‘‘(B) how to provide the information de13 scribed in subparagraph (A) while protecting 

14 consumer privacy, including procedures to en15 sure that such information is provided to the 

16 consumer at the appropriate address.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. REGULATORY REFORM. 

18 Section 621 of the Federal Credit Reporting Act (15 

19 U.S.C. 1681s) is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(h) CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY REGISTRY.— 

22 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF REGISTRY.—Not later 

23 than 180 days after the date of enactment of the 

24 Stop Errors in Credit Use and Reporting Act, the 

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1 Bureau shall establish 3 publicly available registries 

2 of consumer reporting agencies, including— 

3 ‘‘(A) a registry of nationwide consumer re4 porting agencies as described in section 603(p); 

5 ‘‘(B) a registry of nationwide specialty con6 sumer reporting agencies as defined in section 

7 603(x); and 

8 ‘‘(C) a registry of all other consumer re9 porting agencies included under section 603(f) 

10 that are not included under section 603(p) or 

11 603(x). 

12 ‘‘(2) REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT.—All con13 sumer reporting agencies as defined in section 

14 603(f) must register with one of the registries estab15 lished by the Bureau under this subsection in a 

16 timeframe established by the Bureau.’’. 

17 SEC. 5. IDENTITY THEFT PROTECTION FOR MINORS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act 

19 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

20 section 605B (15 U.S.C. 1681c–2) the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 605C. ADDITIONAL PROTECTIONS FOR CREDIT RE22 PORTS OF MINOR CONSUMERS. 

23 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘blocked file’ means a file of a 

2 minor consumer in which, under this section, a con3 sumer reporting agency— 

4 ‘‘(A) maintains a file with the name, social 

5 security number, date of birth, and, if applica6 ble, any credit information of the minor con7 sumer; 

8 ‘‘(B) may not provide any person with a 

9 consumer report of the minor consumer; and 

10 ‘‘(C) blocks the input of any information 

11 into the file, except with permission from a cov12 ered guardian of the minor consumer; 

13 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered guardian’ means— 

14 ‘‘(A) the legal guardian of a minor child; 

15 ‘‘(B) the custodian of a minor child; or 

16 ‘‘(C) in the case of a child in foster care, 

17 the State agency or Indian tribe or tribal orga18 nization responsible for the foster care of the 

19 child; and 

20 ‘‘(3) the term ‘minor consumer’ means a con21 sumer who has not attained 16 years of age. 

22 ‘‘(b) BLOCKING A FILE.—A consumer reporting 

23 agency described in section 603(p) shall, upon request by, 

24 and receipt of appropriate proof of identity of, the covered 

25 guardian or minor consumer, create a blocked file for the 

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1 minor consumer or convert a file of the minor consumer 

2 already in existence to a blocked file. 

3 ‘‘(c) UNBLOCKING A FILE.—A consumer reporting 

4 agency described in section 603(p) shall unblock a blocked 

5 file— 

6 ‘‘(1) upon request by the covered guardian of a 

7 minor consumer; 

8 ‘‘(2) if the file was blocked as a result of a ma9 terial misrepresentation, including— 

10 ‘‘(A) a representation that the consumer 

11 was a minor consumer when the consumer was 

12 not a minor consumer at the time of the rep13 resentation; and 

14 ‘‘(B) a representation that an individual 

15 was the covered guardian of a minor consumer 

16 when the individual was not the covered guard17 ian of the minor consumer at the time of the 

18 representation; 

19 ‘‘(3) on the date of the 16th birthday of the 

20 minor consumer; or 

21 ‘‘(4) if the minor consumer becomes emanci22 pated under the law of the State in which the minor 

23 consumer resides, on the date of the emancipation of 

24 the minor consumer. 

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1 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.—The Bureau shall promulgate 

2 regulations carrying out this section. 

3 ‘‘(e) FEES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A credit reporting agency 

5 may charge a fair and reasonable fee, as determined 

6 by the Bureau, to create a blocked file or to unblock 

7 a file. 

8 ‘‘(2) EXEMPTION.—The Bureau may exempt an 

9 individual who suspects that the individual has been 

10 a victim of fraud or identity theft from a fee de11 scribed in paragraph (1). 

12 ‘‘(f) EXCEPTIONS.—No provision of this section shall 

13 be construed as requiring a consumer reporting agency de14 scribed in section 603(p) to prevent a Federal, State, or 

15 local law enforcement agency from accessing a blocked 

16 file.’’. 

17 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 

18 of contents of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 

19 1681 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item re20 lated to section 605B the following new item: 

‘‘605C. Additional protections for credit reports of minor consumers.’’. 

21 SEC. 6. STUDY OF A PUBLIC CREDIT REPORTING SYSTEM. 

22 (a) STUDY.—Not later than 6 months after the date 

23 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 

24 United States shall undertake a study— 

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1 (1) of credit systems in the international credit 

2 system with government-administered consumer 

3 credit reporting systems; 

4 (2) of available information regarding the accu5 racy of existing government-administered consumer 

6 credit reporting systems; 

7 (3) to evaluate the feasibility of a national, gov8 ernment-administered consumer credit reporting sys9 tem; 

10 (4) of any consumer benefits that might reason11 ably be expected to result from a government-admin12 istered consumer credit report; and 

13 (5) of any costs that might result from a gov14 ernment-administered consumer credit reporting sys15 tem in the United States. 

16 (b) PUBLICATION OF FINDINGS.—Not later than 18 

17 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comp18 troller General of the United States shall publish the find19 ings under subsection (a). 

20 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

21 Except as otherwise provided in this Act and the 

22 amendments made by this Act, the provisions of this Act 

23 and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

24 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 

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