This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

20771 

Vol. 87, No. 68 

Friday, April 8, 2022 

1Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq. 

2National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

Year 2022 (2022 NDAA), Public Law 117–81, 

section 6102, 135 Stat. 2383–84 (2021) (to be 

codified at 15 U.S.C. 1681c–3), https://

www.congress.gov/117/plaws/publ81/PLAW117publ81.pdf (last visited Mar. 28, 2022). The 

sponsors of this section of the 2022 NDAA and 

some advocates refer to this law as the ‘‘Debt 

Bondage Repair Act,’’ in reference to H.R. 2332 

(introduced in the 117th Cong. on Apr. 1, 2021). 

3For purposes of this rule, the terms ‘‘severe 

forms of trafficking in persons’’ and ‘‘sex 

trafficking’’ will be referred to individually (as 

defined in the Section-by-Section Analysis of 

section 1022.142(b)) or collectively as ‘‘trafficking.’’ 

BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL 

PROTECTION 

12 CFR Part 1022 

[Docket No. CFPB–2022–0023] 

RIN 3170–AB12 

Prohibition on Inclusion of Adverse 

Information in Consumer Reporting in 

Cases of Human Trafficking 

(Regulation V) 

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Consumer Financial 

Protection Bureau (Bureau) seeks 

comment on regulations implementing 

amendments to the Fair Credit 

Reporting Act (FCRA) that assist 

consumers who are victims of 

trafficking. The proposed rule, which 

would implement a recent amendment 

to the FCRA, would establish a method 

for a victim of trafficking to submit 

documentation to consumer reporting 

agencies, including information 

identifying any adverse item of 

information about the consumer that 

resulted from certain types of human 

trafficking, and prohibit the consumer 

reporting agencies from furnishing a 

consumer report containing the adverse 

item(s) of information. The Bureau is 

taking this action as mandated by the 

National Defense Authorization Act for 

Fiscal Year 2022 and to assist 

consumers who are victims of 

trafficking in building or rebuilding 

financial stability and personal 

independence. 

DATES: Comments on the proposed rule 

must be received on or before May 9, 

2022. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by Docket No. CFPB–2022– 

0023 or RIN 3170–AB12, by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Email: 2022-NPRMFCRATrafficking@cfpb.gov. Include 

Docket No. CFPB–2022–0023 or RIN 

3170–AB12 in the subject line of the 

message. 

• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: 

Comment Intake—FCRA Trafficking, 

Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection, 1700 G Street NW, 

Washington, DC 20552. Please note that 

due to circumstances associated with 

the COVID–19 pandemic, the Bureau 

discourages the submission of 

comments by hand delivery, mail, or 

courier. 

Instructions: The Bureau encourages 

the early submission of comments. All 

submissions should include the agency 

name and docket number or Regulatory 

Information Number (RIN) for this 

rulemaking. Because paper mail in the 

Washington, DC area and at the Bureau 

is subject to delay, commenters are 

encouraged to submit comments 

electronically. In general, comments 

received will be posted without change 

to https://www.regulations.gov. In 

addition, once the Bureau’s 

headquarters reopens, comments will be 

available for public inspection and 

copying at 1700 G Street NW, 

Washington, DC 20552, on official 

business days between the hours of 10 

a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time. At that 

time, you can make an appointment to 

inspect the documents by telephoning 

202–435–7275. 

All comments, including attachments 

and other supporting materials, will 

become part of the public record and 

subject to public disclosure. Proprietary 

information or sensitive personal 

information, such as account numbers 

or Social Security numbers, or names of 

other individuals, should not be 

included. Comments will not be edited 

to remove any identifying or contact 

information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Daniel Tingley, Counsel, or Lanique 

Eubanks, Senior Counsel, Office of 

Regulations, at 202–435–7700 or https:// 

reginquiries.consumerfinance.gov/. If 

you require this document in an 

alternative electronic format, please 

contact CFPB_Accessibility@cfpb.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Summary of the Proposed Rule 

The Bureau is proposing several 

amendments to Regulation V to 

implement new section 605C of the Fair 

Credit Reporting Act (FCRA),1 added by 

the National Defense Authorization Act 

for Fiscal Year 2022 (2022 NDAA).2 In 

brief, section 605C provides that a 

consumer reporting agency may not 

furnish a consumer report containing 

any adverse item of information 

concerning a consumer that resulted 

from a severe form of trafficking in 

persons or sex trafficking if the 

consumer has provided trafficking 

documentation to the consumer 

reporting agency.3 Under section 605C, 

the Bureau is required to issue 

implementing regulations within 180 

days of the enactment of the 2022 

NDAA. Section 605C is effective 30 days 

after the Bureau issues its final 

implementing regulations. 

The Bureau is proposing to amend 

Regulation V as follows: 

• Create a new section in subpart O, 

the subpart on miscellaneous duties of 

consumer reporting agencies, to add the 

provisions implementing section 605C 

of the FCRA; 

• Apply the proposed regulations to 

any ‘‘consumer reporting agency’’ as 

defined in section 603(f) of the FCRA, 

namely nationwide consumer reporting 

agencies, nationwide specialty 

consumer reporting agencies, and all 

other consumer reporting agencies; 

• Define terms including, in 

particular, ‘‘trafficking documentation,’’ 

‘‘severe forms of trafficking in persons,’’ 

‘‘sex trafficking,’’ and ‘‘victim of 

trafficking’’; and 

• Establish procedures for 

implementation of the new prohibition, 

including establishing how affected 

consumers should submit the required 

documentation to consumer reporting 

agencies and recordkeeping 

requirements to ensure compliance. 


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4U.S. Dep’t of State, About Human Trafficking, 

https://www.state.gov/humantrafficking-abouthuman-trafficking (last visited Mar. 16, 2022). 

5 Id. 

6Coordination Collaboration Capacity, Federal 

Strategic Action Plan on Services for Victims of 

Human Trafficking in the United States 2013–2017, 

at 9, (Jan. 2014), https://ovc.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/ 

xyckuh226/files/media/document/ 

FederalHumanTraffickingStrategicPlan.pdf. 

7The Bureau recognizes that some individuals 

and advocates prefer the term ‘‘survivor’’ to 

‘‘victim.’’ As the State Department explained, 

‘‘[b]oth terms are important and have different 

implications when used in the context of victim 

advocacy and service provision. For example, the 

term ‘victim’ has legal implications within the 

criminal justice process and refers to an individual 

who suffered harm as a result of criminal conduct. 

The laws that give individuals particular rights and 

legal standing within the criminal justice system 

use the term ‘victim.’ . . . ‘Survivor’ is a term used 

widely in service providing organizations to 

recognize the strength and courage it takes to 

overcome victimization.’’ See Off. for Victims of 

Crime, Training & Tech. Assistance Ctr., U.S. Dep’t 

of Justice, Human Trafficking Task Force e-Guide, 

https://www.ovcttac.gov/taskforceguide/eguide/1- 

understanding-human-trafficking/13-victimcentered-approach/ (last visited Mar. 21, 2022). In 

this proposed rule, we have used the term ‘‘victim’’ 

because that is the wording of section 6102 of the 

2022 NDAA. 

8 Guimond v. Trans Union Credit Info. Co., 45 

F.3d 1329, 1333 (9th Cir. 1995). 

9 15 U.S.C. 1681(b). 

10 12 CFR part 1022. 

11 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 

Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), Public Law 111– 

203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010). 

12 Dodd-Frank Act section 1022(b)(1), 124 Stat. 

1980. 

13 Dodd-Frank Act section 1002(12)(F), 124 Stat. 

1957. Section 1002(12)(F) of the Dodd-Frank Act 

designates most of the FCRA as an ‘‘enumerated 

consumer law.’’ 

14 Dodd-Frank Act section 1061, 124 Stat. 2037. 

15 Dodd-Frank Act section 1088(a)(10)(E), 124 

Stat. 2090 (codified at 15 U.S.C. 1681s(e)). 

II. Background 

A. Introduction 

According to the United States 

Department of State, in the United 

States human traffickers compel victims 

to engage in commercial sex and to 

work in legal and non-legal industries 

and sectors, including, for example, 

agriculture, janitorial services, 

construction, landscaping, restaurants, 

factories, child care, care for persons 

with disabilities, domestic work, salon 

services, massage parlors, peddling and 

begging, and drug smuggling and 

distribution.4 As the State Department 

has noted, it is difficult to find reliable 

statistics related to human trafficking for 

a number of reasons, including the 

hidden nature of the crime and barriers 

to identifying victims of trafficking and 

sharing information about them.5

U.S. Government efforts to respond to 

the needs of victims of trafficking 

recognize that victims need both 

immediate and longer-term services, 

including services to improve financial 

stability to support their long-term 

independence.6 Accurate consumer 

reporting that does not disadvantage 

victims 7 with adverse information 

resulting from them having been 

trafficked is critical to the ability of 

victims to be able to take basic steps 

such as obtaining housing and 

employment and to move toward greater 

financial stability and independence. 

B. The Fair Credit Reporting Act 

The FCRA, enacted in 1970 and 

significantly amended in 1996, 2003, 

2010, and 2018, regulates consumer 

reporting. It was enacted to protect 

consumers by preventing the 

transmission of inaccurate information 

in consumer reports and establishing 

confidential and responsible credit 

reporting practices.8 The FCRA’s 

statutory scheme was designed to 

ensure that consumer reporting agencies 

adopt reasonable procedures for meeting 

the needs of commerce in a manner 

which is fair and equitable to consumers 

and protects the confidentiality, 

accuracy, relevancy, and proper 

utilization of consumer information.9

Together with its implementing 

regulation, Regulation V,10 the FCRA 

creates a regulatory framework for 

furnishing, using, and disclosing 

information in reports associated with 

credit, insurance, employment, and 

other decisions made about consumers. 

In doing so, the FCRA and Regulation V 

impose obligations on entities that 

qualify as ‘‘consumer reporting 

agencies.’’ They also impose obligations 

on those who use consumer report 

information or furnish information to 

consumer reporting agencies 

(furnishers). 

C. The National Defense Authorization 

Act for Fiscal Year 2022 

Section 6102 of the 2022 NDAA 

amended the FCRA by inserting a new 

section 605C, which provides at section 

605C(b) that a consumer reporting 

agency may not furnish a consumer 

report containing any adverse item of 

information concerning a consumer that 

resulted from a severe form of 

trafficking in persons or sex trafficking 

if the consumer has provided trafficking 

documentation to the consumer 

reporting agency. As described in more 

detail in the Section-by-Section 

Analysis parts of this proposed rule, 

section 605C(a) provides statutory 

definitions for a number of the terms 

used therein. Section 605C(c)(1) directs 

the Bureau to issue implementing rules 

within 180 days of enactment, and 

section 605C(c)(2) mandates that the 

rules must establish a method by which 

consumers must submit trafficking 

documentation to consumer reporting 

agencies. 

III. Legal Authority 

The Bureau is issuing this proposal 

pursuant to its authority under the 

FCRA, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street 

Reform and Consumer Protection Act 

(Dodd-Frank Act),11 and section 6102 of 

the 2022 NDAA. 

A. Dodd-Frank Act Section 1022(b) and 

the FCRA 

Section 1022(b)(1) of the Dodd-Frank 

Act authorizes the Bureau to prescribe 

rules as may be necessary or appropriate 

to enable the Bureau to administer and 

carry out the purposes and objectives of 

the Federal consumer financial laws, 

and to prevent evasions thereof.12

Effective July 21, 2011, section 1061 of 

the Dodd-Frank Act transferred to the 

Bureau the rulemaking and certain other 

authorities of the Federal Trade 

Commission (FTC) and the prudential 

banking regulators (i.e., the Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System (FRB), the Federal Deposit 

Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the 

National Credit Union Administration 

(NCUA), and the Office of the 

Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)) 

relating to specific ‘‘enumerated 

consumer laws’’ listed in the DoddFrank Act, including most rulemaking 

authority under the FCRA.13 Likewise, 

section 1088 of the Dodd-Frank Act 

made conforming amendments to the 

FCRA, transferring rulemaking authority 

under much of the FCRA to the 

Bureau.14 As amended by the DoddFrank Act, section 621(e) of the FCRA 

authorizes the Bureau to issue 

regulations as may be necessary or 

appropriate to administer and carry out 

the purposes and objectives of the 

FCRA, and to prevent evasions thereof 

or to facilitate compliance therewith.15

The Bureau is issuing this proposed rule 

pursuant to its authority under section 

1022(b)(1) of the Dodd-Frank Act and 

section 621(e) of the FCRA. 

B. The National Defense Authorization 

Act for Fiscal Year 2022 

Section 6102(a) of the 2022 NDAA 

directs the Bureau to issue a rule 

implementing the new section 605C of 

the FCRA. Section 6102(c) provides that 

the rule issued to implement section 

605C shall be limited to preventing a 

consumer reporting agency from 

furnishing a consumer report containing 

any adverse item of information about a 

consumer (as such terms are defined, 

respectively, in section 603 of the FCRA 


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16A list of many self-identified consumer 

reporting companies is available on the Bureau’s 

website at https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ 

consumer-tools/credit-reports-and-scores/ 

consumer-reporting-companies/companies-list/(last 

visited Mar. 21, 2022). 

17For purposes of discussing the documentation 

requirements and options identifying victims of 

trafficking, the Bureau held meetings with: (1) 

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); (2) Department of 

Health and Human Services (HHS): Office of 

Trafficking in Persons (OTIP); (3) Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS): Center for Countering 

Human Trafficking; (4) Department of Justice: 

Money Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Section, 

Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), Human 

Trafficking Prosecution Unit, Executive Office of 

the United States Attorneys; and the (5) Federal 

Trade Commission. The Bureau separately held 

meetings with industry and consumer advocacy 

groups for input on section 6102 of NDAA. 

(15 U.S.C. 1681a)) that resulted from 

trafficking. 

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis 

Section 1022.142 Prohibition on 

Inclusion of Adverse Information in 

Consumer Reporting in Cases of Human 

Trafficking 

142(a) Scope 

The Bureau is proposing to apply the 

requirement to prohibit the furnishing 

of adverse items of information about 

victims of trafficking to any ‘‘consumer 

reporting agency’’ as defined in section 

603(f), as directed by section 6102(c) of 

the 2022 NDAA. Thus, consistent with 

section 603(f) of the FCRA, the Bureau 

is proposing to define ‘‘consumer 

reporting agency’’ to apply to all 

consumer reporting agencies. This 

means that the nationwide consumer 

reporting agencies, nationwide specialty 

consumer reporting agencies, and all 

other consumer reporting agencies such 

as those focused on employment 

screening, tenant screening, check and 

bank screening, personal property 

insurance, medical, low-income and 

subprime, supplementary reports, 

utilities, retail, and gaming would be 

covered.16

142(b) Definitions 

142(b)(1) Appropriate Proof of Identity 

Proposed section 1022.142(b)(1) 

defines the term ‘‘appropriate proof of 

identity’’ as meaning proof of identity 

that meets the requirements in section 

1022.123. This section, which concerns 

proof of identify for consumers 

regarding identity theft, provides that 

consumer reporting agencies must 

develop and implement reasonable 

requirements specifying what 

information consumers must provide to 

constitute proof of identity. The 

requirements of proposed section 

1022.142(b)(1) are not prescriptive; the 

Bureau is proposing this approach in 

light of the challenges commonly faced 

by victims of trafficking. For instance, 

certain victims may have been 

displaced, may live at an address not 

reported to consumer reporting 

agencies, or may lack access to 

information or documentation 

commonly used for proof of identity. 

While a consumer reporting agency 

would need to take reasonable steps to 

ensure that the required information in 

the context of human trafficking is 

sufficient to enable it to match the 

consumer with a credit file and 

commensurate with an identifiable risk 

of harm arising from misidentifying the 

consumer, the requirements to establish 

proof of identity should be sensitive to 

the particular needs of victims of 

trafficking. For example, consumer 

reporting agencies could include 

methods of validation of a person’s 

identity such as the consumer’s ability 

to answer questions to which only the 

consumer might be expected to know 

the answer. 

142(b)(2) Consumer Report 

Proposed section 1022.142(b)(2) 

defines the term ‘‘consumer report’’ to 

have the same meaning as that provided 

in section 603(d) of the FCRA. The use 

of this definition is directed by section 

6102(c) of the 2022 NDAA (which 

provides that the Bureau’s rule shall be 

limited to preventing a consumer 

reporting agency from furnishing a 

consumer report containing any adverse 

item of information about a consumer 

that resulted from trafficking as the 

terms used in that provision are defined 

in section 603 of the FCRA). 

142(b)(3) Consumer Reporting Agency 

Proposed section 1022.142(b)(3) 

defines ‘‘consumer reporting agency’’ to 

have the meaning provided in section 

603(f) of the FCRA. The use of this 

definition is directed by section 6102(c) 

of the 2022 NDAA. 

142(b)(4) Severe Forms of Trafficking in 

Persons 

Section 605C(a)(2) provides that the 

term ‘‘severe forms of trafficking in 

persons’’ has the meaning given in 

section 103 of the Trafficking Victims 

Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102). 

Proposed section 1022.142(b)(4) 

accordingly adopts the definition set 

forth in that statute, which defines 

‘‘severe forms of trafficking in persons’’ 

as: 

(i) Sex trafficking in which a 

commercial sex act is induced by force, 

fraud, or coercion, or in which the 

person induced to perform such act has 

not attained 18 years of age; or 

(ii) The recruitment, harboring, 

transportation, provision, or obtaining 

of a person for labor or services, through 

the use of force, fraud, or coercion for 

the purpose of subjection to involuntary 

servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or 

slavery. 

142(b)(5) Sex Trafficking 

Section 605C(a)(2) provides that the 

term ‘‘sex trafficking’’ has the meaning 

given in section 103 of the Trafficking 

Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 

U.S.C. 7102). Section 103 of the 

Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 

2000 was amended by section 108 of the 

Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 

2015, 22 U.S.C. 7102(12). Proposed 

section 1022.142(b)(5) adopts the 

definition in section 103 as amended in 

2015. Under that definition, the term 

means the recruitment, harboring, 

transportation, provision, obtaining, 

patronizing, or soliciting of a person for 

the purpose of a commercial sex act. 

142(b)(6) Trafficking Documentation 

142(b)(6)(i)(A) and (B) 

Section 605C(a)(1) defines ‘‘trafficking 

documentation’’ as documentation of a 

determination that a consumer is a 

victim of trafficking, made by a Federal, 

State, or Tribal governmental entity, or 

by a court of competent jurisdiction; 

and documentation that identifies items 

of adverse information that should not 

be furnished by a consumer reporting 

agency because the items resulted from 

a severe form of trafficking in persons or 

sex trafficking of which the a consumer 

is the victim. The Bureau is proposing 

to incorporate this statutory definition 

with certain clarifying interpretations 

regarding documentation identifying a 

consumer who is a victim of trafficking 

involving a ‘‘court of a competent 

jurisdiction,’’ to clarify that the 

documentation may consist of one or 

more documents as long as the 

collective documentation satisfies the 

definition. As discussed in detail below, 

the proposed rule would define 

‘‘trafficking documentation’’ to include 

documents filed in a court of competent 

jurisdiction indicating that a consumer 

is a victim of trafficking. 

As provided above, the proposed 

definition of ‘‘trafficking 

documentation’’ applies to a ‘‘Federal 

governmental entity.’’ In drafting the 

proposed rule, the Bureau sought 

information from other Federal agencies 

and consumer and industry groups 

about the types of documentation issued 

by various governmental entities that 

consumers may be able to provide to 

consumer reporting agencies as 

trafficking documentation.17 The 

Bureau found that documentation 


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18For example, HHS issues certification letters to 

foreign national adults who have experienced a 

severe form of trafficking in persons after receiving 

notification that DHS has granted the person a 

continued presence, a T visa, or that a bona fide T 

visa application has not been denied. This 

certification letter provides that foreign national 

adult victims of trafficking are eligible for certain 

Federal and state benefits (health insurance, 

housing, food assistance, cash assistance, Federal 

student financial aid). Whereas, U.S. citizens and 

lawful permanent residents do not need a 

Certification Letter to access services and benefits 

available to victims of trafficking and such as a 

letter identifying persons as victims of trafficking is 

generally not provided to U.S. citizens or 

permanent residents. This information is available 

at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/otip/victim-assistance/ 

certification (last visited Mar. 2, 2022). 

19Off. for Victims of Crime, U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 

Faces of Human Trafficking Video 2: An 

Introduction to Sex Trafficking, YouTube (Jan. 15, 

2016) https://youtu.be/JygGZH0cGV4. 

20 Id. 

21A map and list of OVC-funded human 

trafficking services and task forces is available on 

OVC’s website at https://ovc.ojp.gov/program/ 

human-trafficking/map. (last visited Mar. 21, 2022). 

HHS also provides funding to various organizations 

offering trafficking assistance to victims. A list of 

the grantees is available at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ 

otip/grants (last visited Mar. 21, 2022). 

22Off. for Victims of Crime, U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 

Matrix of OVC-Funded Human Trafficking Services 

Grantees and Task Forces, https://ovc.ojp.gov/ 

matrix-ovc-funded-human-trafficking-servicesgrantees-and-task-forces (last visited Mar. 14, 2022). 

23Off. for Victims of Crime, U.S. Dept of Justice, 

OVC Human Trafficking Program FAQs, at 

comment 33 ‘‘Can I provide services to a client who 

does not self-identify as a victim of human 

trafficking?’’, https://ovc.ojp.gov/program/humantrafficking/ovc-human-trafficking-program-faqs 

(last visited Mar. 16, 2022). 

24See, e.g., Victims’ Rights & Restitution Act of 

1990, 42 U.S.C. 10607; Crime Victims’ Rights Act, 

18 U.S.C. 3771. In these Federal statutes and in 

some state laws, victims’ rights attach during an 

investigation (and independent of trial) and 

therefore rely on a law-enforcement determination, 

which is quite often made by a local governmental 

entity. 

25See, e.g., 23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5702(a) (requiring 

county agencies to report to law enforcement 

children whom they ‘‘identif[y] as being a sex 

trafficking victim’’ within 24 hours); Va. Code Ann. 

§ 9.1–116.5 (creating a statewide Sex Trafficking 

Response Coordinator who is responsible for 

‘‘creat[ing] a statewide plan for local and state 

agencies to identify and respond to victims of sex 

trafficking’’). 

directly identifying a person as a victim 

of trafficking is scarce and is primarily 

limited to foreign-born persons.18 The 

Bureau has also learned that victims of 

trafficking are often not identified and 

thus many victims will not have 

documentation determining that they 

are a victim of trafficking. One reason 

victims are not identified is because 

persons in the best position to identify 

people who may be victims of 

trafficking are not properly trained to do 

so.19 Another possible reason may be 

because some victims do not selfidentify as a victim of trafficking even 

if they meet the definition.20 To the 

extent a person self-identifies as a 

victim of trafficking (or is so identified 

by others such as health care or social 

service providers, law enforcement 

officials, or judges), the victim’s names, 

addresses, phone numbers, and any 

other identifying information are often 

protected for confidentiality and privacy 

reasons. 

The Bureau is aware of programs in 

which government agencies grant 

money to certain organizations to assist 

victims of trafficking.21 For instance, the 

Department of Justice’s Office for 

Victims of Crime (OVC) is the largest 

Federal funder of services for human 

trafficking victims in the United 

States.22 The Bureau understands this 

office does not make or document 

determinations as to who is a victim of 

trafficking. However, grantees that are 

non-governmental organizations who 

receive funding from the OVC to 

provide trafficking services to clients do 

make determinations that individuals 

are victims of trafficking, even when the 

person does not self-identify as a 

victim.23 The Bureau anticipates that 

these non-governmental organizations 

may be able to provide documentation 

that would support a determination that 

an individual is a victim of trafficking 

comparable to the documentation that 

might be available from governmental 

sources. The Bureau is interested in 

comments about whether and how such 

non-governmental sources of 

information might be considered in 

making a determination under section 

605C. For example, might entities that 

receive funding from a governmental 

entity, and are subject to the terms and 

conditions of a government program, 

provide documentation in the form of a 

determination identifying a person as a 

victim of trafficking that would satisfy 

section 605C(a)(1)(A)? Could an 

attestation or documentation submitted 

to a Federal, State, or Tribal 

governmental entity by a person who 

self-identifies as a victim of trafficking, 

or by another person or entity acting on 

that person’s behalf, constitute a 

documented determination under 

section 605C(a)(1)(A)? 

The Bureau is proposing to treat 

documentation of a determination that a 

consumer is a victim of trafficking by a 

‘‘State governmental entity’’ as 

including documentation created at 

both the state and local level. Local law 

enforcement, as part of a local 

government, may have documentation 

of a determination identifying victims of 

trafficking, including but not limited to 

items in a police report. The Bureau 

understands that there are Federal and 

State victims’ rights acts in addition to 

Tribal codes that depend on a 

determination that a victim has been 

identified as such, including by Federal, 

State, Tribal, or local jurisdictions.24 In 

fact, some state laws explicitly 

contemplate local entities making this 

determination for sex trafficking victims 

which triggers various rights for the 

victim and obligations for the 

government under State and Federal 

law.25 While sometimes documentation 

determining that a person is a victim 

may be shared with State, Federal, or 

Tribal governmental entities, it is likely 

that sometimes it is not, and that as a 

result some victims of trafficking would 

not be able to take steps under section 

605C to prohibit the furnishing by 

consumer reporting agencies of adverse 

information about them that results 

from their having been trafficked under 

too narrow a definition. For these 

reasons, the Bureau is proposing to 

include local governmental entities, 

such as local law enforcement, as 

entities that may make determinations 

of someone’s status as a victim under 

state law. The Bureau is concerned that 

a narrower definition could 

substantially limit the availability of 

documentation for victims of trafficking 

to submit to consumer reporting 

agencies. By proposing to interpret 

documentation of a determination that a 

consumer is a victim of trafficking by a 

‘‘State governmental entity’’ as 

discussed above, the Bureau is making 

clear that trafficking documentation 

consumers are to use will prevent 

consumer reporting agencies from 

furnishing consumer reports containing 

adverse items of information about a 

consumer that resulted from trafficking. 

This provision of the rule is also 

supported by the Bureau’s regulatory 

authority under section 621(e) of the 

FCRA, which authorizes the Bureau to 

prescribe regulations that promote 

accuracy and fairness in credit 

reporting, and on the general 

rulemaking authority granted the 

Bureau under section 1022(b)(1) of the 

Dodd-Frank Act. Therefore, the Bureau 

is proposing that documentation 

generated by both statewide and local 

entities should be understood as having 

been generated by a ‘‘State 

governmental entity’’ for the purposes of 

this rule. 

The Bureau is soliciting comments on 

whether it should interpret the phrase 

‘‘a determination that a consumer is a 

victim of trafficking made by a Federal, 

State, or Tribal governmental entity’’ to 

mean any determination, including 

those made by local government 

officials, where a Federal, State or Tribal 

governmental entity could reasonably be 

construed as making a determination 


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26Examples of court documents made by a court 

of competent jurisdiction could be a restitution 

order that provides a victim of trafficking with 

restitution after a criminal conviction or a criminal 

record relief court order (such as a vacatur, 

expungement, or sealing of records) where victims 

of trafficking may obtain an order to clear 

convictions of criminal offenses the victims were 

forced to commit. 

27An example of a document filed in a court of 

competent jurisdiction indicating a consumer is a 

victim of trafficking could be where victims of 

trafficking file suit against their traffickers where 

they identify as a victim of trafficking. A prior 

iteration of section 6102 of the 2022 NDAA in H.R. 

2332 (introduced in the 117th Cong.) and S. 2040 

(introduced in the 117th Cong.) provided that 

‘‘trafficking documentation’’ included 

‘‘documentation of . . . a determination by a court 

of competent jurisdiction that a consumer is a 

victim of trafficking.’’ This language was 

subsequently changed and enacted into law to 

instead read ‘‘documentation of . . . by a court of 

competent jurisdiction.’’ 

that a consumer is a victim of 

trafficking. For example, determinations 

made by local governments, including 

local law enforcement, may qualify a 

trafficking victim to avail themselves of 

Federal, State or Tribal victims’ rights 

laws. The Bureau is also interested in 

comments concerning the nature of 

information on trafficking in the 

possession of local governments, the 

extent to which such information is or 

might usefully be shared with Federal, 

State, and Tribal governmental entities, 

and the sort of documentation generated 

by these governmental entities. 

The Bureau is proposing to include 

two categories of documentation 

involving a ‘‘court of competent 

jurisdiction’’ in the definition of 

‘‘trafficking documentation.’’ The first 

category of documents concerning a 

‘‘court of competent jurisdiction,’’ is 

documentation, in the form of a 

determination, that the consumer is a 

victim of trafficking made by a court of 

competent jurisdiction.26 The second 

category is documentation consisting of 

documents filed in a court of competent 

jurisdiction indicating that a consumer 

is a victim of trafficking.27 The Bureau 

is also interested in comments on 

whether it should clarify in the 

regulation what documents filed in a 

court of competent jurisdiction 

indicating that a consumer is a victim of 

trafficking means. For example, can or 

should a filing in a court or a court 

opinion in which a consumer’s status as 

a victim of trafficking is an accepted 

fact, but not the central issue in the 

case, be considered a ‘‘determination’’ 

sufficient to satisfy section 

605C(a)(1)(A)? Would such an 

interpretation allow more victims of 

trafficking to make use of the procedure 

created by section 605C? 

As discussed above, the proposed 

‘‘trafficking documentation’’ definition 

does not contain a description or 

example of what is a ‘‘determination 

that a consumer is a victim of 

trafficking.’’ Furthermore, the Bureau 

has not identified any standard 

‘‘determination’’ procedures or forms in 

use by any governmental entities or 

courts concerning human trafficking for 

persons who are not foreign national 

adults (i.e., U.S. citizens or lawful 

permanent residents). Accordingly, 

rather than propose to prescribe a 

specific form of determination, the 

Bureau is proposing to adopt the 

statutory definition with the proposed 

changes discussed in this section above. 

This approach affords the greatest 

flexibility to victims of trafficking 

seeking to gather and submit to 

consumer reporting agencies the 

documentation of determinations 

specified in section 605C(a)(1)(A). The 

Bureau may consider issuing 

interpretations in the future that provide 

specific examples to provide clarity on 

the types of ‘‘determinations’’ that 

establish a consumer is a ‘‘victim of 

trafficking.’’ The Bureau seeks comment 

on this issue and solicits feedback on 

the types of documents that could serve 

as a ‘‘determination.’’ 

142(b)(6)(ii) 

In addition to specifying that the 

source of trafficking documentation be a 

Federal, State, or Tribal governmental 

entity or a court of competent 

jurisdiction, section 605(C)(a)(1)(B) 

provides that ‘‘trafficking 

documentation’’ is documentation that 

identifies items of adverse information 

that should not be furnished by a 

consumer reporting agency because the 

items resulted from a severe form of 

trafficking in persons or sex trafficking 

of which the consumer is a victim. The 

Bureau has incorporated the statutory 

provision into proposed section 

1022.142(b)(6)(ii) with a clarification 

that this documentation may consist of 

a statement by the consumer identifying 

such information. This part of the 

definition is significant because it 

identifies for victims information that 

must be provided to consumer reporting 

agencies in order to prohibit them from 

furnishing adverse information in their 

consumer report when the information 

results from human trafficking. 

The Bureau is not proposing to 

prescribe what an ‘‘adverse item of 

information’’ in a ‘‘consumer report’’ is, 

because it may vary depending on the 

weight each individual user of a 

consumer report gives to certain items 

of information as well as the consumer’s 

individual circumstances. This 

information could include the 

evaluation of factors enumerated in 

section 603(d) of the FCRA on consumer 

reports such as: Credit worthiness, 

credit standing, credit capacity, 

character, general reputation, personal 

characteristics, or mode of living. In 

addition, victims of trafficking may 

wish to have items of information 

blocked from their consumer report that 

are the result trafficking because they do 

not believe those items accurately 

reflect them even if the item does not 

result in, for example, a lower credit 

score or less favorable evaluation by a 

user. Examples of adverse items of 

information include records containing 

derogatory information, such as 

payment delinquencies or defaults, 

reported to a consumer reporting agency 

on a loan or large purchase, records of 

coerced debt where a loan is taken out 

by a trafficking victim under force or 

threat, records of criminal arrests and 

convictions, and records of evictions or 

non-payment of rent. 

142(b)(7) Victim of Trafficking 

Section 605C(a)(3) defines ‘‘victim of 

trafficking’’ as a person who is a victim 

of a severe form of trafficking in persons 

or sex trafficking. Proposed section 

1022.142(b)(7) adopts this definition. 

142(c) Prohibition on Inclusion of 

Adverse Information of Trafficking 

Victims 

Section 605C(b) provides that a 

consumer reporting agency may not 

furnish a consumer report containing 

any adverse item of information about a 

consumer that resulted from a severe 

form of trafficking in persons or sex 

trafficking if the consumer has provided 

trafficking documentation to the 

consumer reporting agency. The Bureau 

is proposing to interpret this provision 

to mean a consumer reporting agency 

may not furnish any adverse item of 

information in a consumer report to the 

extent such information resulted from 

the consumer’s involvement in a severe 

form of trafficking or sex trafficking and 

the consumer submitted trafficking 

documentation to the consumer 

reporting agency. Proposed section 

1022.142(c) adopts this statutory 

language. The Bureau is interested in 

comments on whether this provision 

warrants further clarification. 

142(d) Method of Submission to 

Consumer Reporting Agencies 

142(d)(1)–(d)(3) 

Section 605C(c) requires that the 

Bureau’s implementing rules establish a 

method by which consumers shall 

submit trafficking documentation to 

consumer reporting agencies. The 

information to be provided by the 

consumer to a consumer reporting 


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agency is by nature highly sensitive and 

confidential. Under proposed section 

1022.142(d)(1), consumer reporting 

agencies would provide a mailing 

address or website address if the 

consumer reporting agency allows for 

electronic submissions, for a consumer 

to submit trafficking documentation. To 

facilitate this, proposed section 

1022.142(d)(2) provides that a consumer 

reporting agency must add information 

on the publicly available website stating 

how submissions for the blocking of 

adverse items of information resulting 

from trafficking can be submitted. 

Consumer reporting agencies must 

accept submissions of trafficking 

documentation at the mailing address 

used for disputes under section 611 of 

the FCRA. Also, if the consumer 

reporting agency takes disputes under 

section 611 of the FCRA through a 

website, it must also accept submission 

of trafficking documentation at that 

same website by establishing a secure 

online portal. Further, a consumer 

reporting agency must maintain another 

mailing address and, if the consumer 

reporting agency accepts electronic 

submissions of trafficking 

documentation, another website address 

dedicated to blocking adverse items of 

information resulting from trafficking. 

In addition, proposed section 

1022.142(d)(3) provides that consumer 

reporting agencies must allocate a 

reasonable amount of personnel to 

respond to inquiries about the process 

for and status of trafficking 

documentation submissions at the tollfree number for disputes and establish 

a toll-free telephone number dedicated 

to blocking adverse items of information 

resulting from trafficking. 

The Bureau proposes these 

requirements under its authority in 

sections 605C(c) and 621(e) of the FCRA 

as necessary to assist victims in their 

efforts to prevent a consumer reporting 

agency from furnishing a consumer 

report containing an adverse item of 

information that resulted from 

trafficking. Trafficking victims seeking 

to block adverse items of information 

may have difficulty receiving 

communications from consumer 

reporting agencies because, for example, 

they may be in the process of 

establishing new permanent residence 

or may have inconsistent or no access to 

the internet. To ensure that consumer 

reporting agencies are not furnishing 

adverse items of information for which 

the consumer has provided the 

necessary trafficking documentation, 

consumers need to be able to 

understand where and how to submit 

trafficking documentation and to be able 

to verify that a consumer reporting 

agency has received and acted upon 

such documentation. The reason the 

Bureau is proposing that a consumer 

reporting agency needs to accept 

submissions of trafficking 

documentation at both the specific 

address(es) the consumer reporting 

agency uses for FCRA section 611 

disputes and at separate address(es) the 

consumer reporting agency uses only for 

submission of trafficking documentation 

is to maximize the chances of 

consumers being able to find an address 

to which to submit documentation. 

Some consumers may use the address 

for disputes as that may be the most 

widely known and available address, 

while other consumers may seek a 

specific address for trafficking 

documentation and may not understand 

that they can submit to the address for 

disputes. The Bureau solicits comment 

on these proposed provisions. 

142(e)–(h) Overview 

In order to fully implement the 

consumer protection provisions of 

section 605C, the Bureau looked at preexisting statutory and regulatory 

requirements concerning the procedures 

used by consumers in reporting identity 

theft and in disputing the accuracy of 

information in consumer files and 

consumer reports and the obligations 

those regulations place on consumer 

reporting agencies to identify what 

aspects of those regulations might be 

useful in helping a consumer seeking to 

report items of adverse information that 

result from a severe form of trafficking 

or sex trafficking of which the consumer 

is a victim. Proposed paragraphs 142(e)– 

(h) set forth: (1) Provisions to address 

limited situations in which the 

consumer reporting agency may decline 

or rescind a block pursuant to section 

605C; (2) the obligations on consumer 

reporting agencies to notify the 

consumer of the outcome of its actions 

with respect to the submission; (3) a 

record retention requirement of seven 

years from the date the submission is 

received by consumer reporting 

agencies; and (4) a requirement that 

consumer reporting agencies establish 

and maintain written policies and 

procedures to ensure and monitor 

compliance with section 605C and these 

implementing regulations. 

The Bureau is proposing these 

procedural requirements under its 

authority in FCRA section 621(e) to 

prescribe regulations that are necessary 

and appropriate to administer and carry 

out the purposes and objectives of the 

FCRA, and to prevent evasions or to 

facilitate compliance. If the consumer is 

not notified of the outcome by the 

consumer reporting agency, the 

consumer would either have to 

separately request a copy of their credit 

report, perhaps incurring a fee, or wait 

to see if they are subject to an adverse 

action the next time their consumer 

report is used which may mean missing 

out on credit, employment, or housing 

opportunities. Many victims of 

trafficking will be in particularly urgent 

need of housing, employment, or credit, 

and knowing within a reasonable time 

that a consumer reporting agency has 

blocked adverse items of information 

may facilitate a victim’s ability to obtain 

these vital services. The Bureau also 

believes that these requirements are 

necessary for preventing a consumer 

reporting agency from furnishing a 

consumer report containing any adverse 

item of information about a consumer 

that resulted from trafficking because it 

provides consumers with the 

opportunity to review the outcome and 

if the consumer reporting agency 

incorrectly rejected a submission to 

dispute that outcome. 

Section 605C of the FCRA does not 

expressly address the development of 

written policies and procedures or 

notification by consumer reporting 

agencies to furnishers of the adverse 

items of information blocked for a 

victim of trafficking. Notifying the 

furnisher of the block could give a 

furnisher the opportunity to cease 

furnishing the blocked information to 

the consumer reporting agency that 

provided the notification, which can 

help ensure that blocked information is 

not refurnished and reinserted in a 

consumer report. If the furnisher stops 

furnishing to other consumer reporting 

agencies it may also help to prevent the 

adverse items of information from being 

furnished by those consumer reporting 

agencies. The Bureau is seeking 

comment on whether a consumer 

reporting agency should be required to 

notify a furnisher about the consumer’s 

submission to prevent a consumer 

reporting agency from furnishing a 

consumer report containing any adverse 

item of information about a consumer 

that resulted from trafficking. 

142(e) Authority To Decline or Rescind 

a Block 

The Bureau understands consumer 

reporting agencies may encounter 

difficulty confirming certain 

information submitted by consumers. 

Under proposed section 1022.142(e), the 

Bureau is proposing to provide 

consumer reporting agencies with the 

authority to decline to act, or to rescind 

action (if applicable) on a submission. 

This provision is similar to section 

605B(c) of the FCRA, which allows a 

consumer reporting agency to decline to 


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28 15 U.S.C. 1681c–2(c). 

29See 12 CFR 1022.3(i)(1)(iii). 

30Section 611(a)(5) of the FCRA takes the latter 

approach with respect to successfully disputed 

information. 15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(5). 

block information relating to a 

consumer, or to rescind any block, if the 

consumer reporting agency makes 

certain reasonable determinations.28

Proposed section 1022.142(e) 

provides that a consumer reporting 

agency may decline to block, or may 

rescind any block, of adverse items of 

information resulting from a severe form 

of trafficking in persons or sex 

trafficking where: (1) The consumer 

reporting agency requests and cannot 

reasonably confirm the appropriate 

proof of identity under paragraph (b)(1); 

(2) the consumer cannot provide 

documentation under paragraph 

(b)(6)(i); or (3) the consumer reporting 

agency cannot properly identify the 

adverse items of information under 

paragraph (b)(6)(ii). 

The Bureau is not proposing to 

interpret section 605C as giving the 

consumer reporting agency the 

discretion to contest the merits of the 

submitted trafficking documentation, if 

it meets the definition in section 

605C(a) and in proposed 

1022.142(b)(6)(i), and is interested in 

comments on this approach. The Bureau 

also is not proposing to interpret the 

statute as giving a consumer reporting 

agency the discretion to challenge a 

consumer’s determination that an 

adverse item of information resulted 

from a severe form of trafficking in 

persons or sex trafficking under 

1022.142(b)(6)(ii), and is interested in 

comments on this approach. 

The Bureau is proposing to clarify in 

paragraph (e) that consumer reporting 

agencies can request appropriate proof 

of identity of the consumer who is a 

victim of trafficking as defined in 

paragraph (b)(1) and that consumer 

reporting agencies can decline or 

rescind a block if it cannot reasonably 

confirm the appropriate proof of 

identity. In order for consumer reporting 

agencies to prevent the furnishing of 

consumer reports that contain adverse 

items of information about a consumer 

who is a victim of trafficking, the 

consumer reporting agency must be able 

to identify the specific consumer to 

whom the report relates. The Bureau is 

relying on its regulatory authority under 

section 621(e) of the FCRA, which 

authorizes the Bureau to prescribe 

regulations that promote accuracy and 

fairness in credit reporting, and on the 

general rulemaking authority granted 

the Bureau under section 1022(b)(1) of 

the Dodd-Frank Act. Proposed section 

1022.142(e) also requires a consumer 

reporting agency, prior to exercising its 

authority to decline or rescind a block, 

notify the consumer and attempt to 

resolve any deficiency in the 

consumer’s submission. Requiring 

consumer reporting agencies to notify 

the consumer and attempt to resolve any 

deficiencies in the consumer’s 

submission will facilitate compliance 

and is appropriate to prevent a 

consumer reporting agency from 

furnishing a consumer report containing 

any adverse item of information about a 

consumer that resulted from trafficking 

by providing consumers an opportunity 

to complete their submission or correct 

mistakes with respect to information or 

documentation they provide initially, 

and making it less likely that a 

consumer reporting agency will decline 

to block or a rescind a block in error. 

The Bureau requests comment on 

whether additional clarification on the 

manner in which a consumer reporting 

agency must notify the consumer and 

attempt to resolve any deficiencies in 

the submission is warranted. For 

example, should the Bureau use or 

adapt the procedures in the existing 

process in Regulation V for consumer 

reporting agencies to make reasonable 

requests for additional information for 

the purpose of determining the validity 

of alleged identity theft? 29 The Bureau 

also seeks comment on whether the 

adverse items of information should 

simply be blocked from being reported 

as proposed, or should be deleted from 

the consumer’s file (or the file be 

modified as appropriate).30

142(f) Notification to Consumer of 

Actions Taken in Response to 

Trafficking Documentation Submission 

The Bureau is proposing in section 

1022.142(f)(1) to require a consumer 

reporting agency to provide written 

notice to a consumer of the results of a 

submission within five calendar days of 

receipt of the submission (or, if 

rescinding a previously applied block, 

five calendar days after rescinding). The 

notification to the consumer may be 

sent by mail or by other means available 

to the consumer reporting agency, if 

authorized by the consumer. 

Proposed section 1022.142(f)(2) 

would require a consumer reporting 

agency to provide notice in writing 

informing the consumer that the review 

of the submission is completed, a 

statement explaining the outcome, a 

consumer report provided at no cost to 

the consumer that is based upon the 

consumer’s revised file (if applicable), a 

description of the procedures used to 

determine the outcome, a method for 

contacting the consumer reporting 

agency to appeal the determination or 

revise the submission to cure any of the 

noted reasons for declining to block the 

requested adverse information, and the 

web page consumers can use to submit 

complaints to the Consumer Financial 

Protection Bureau. Requiring a notice to 

the consumer of the outcome of the 

consumer reporting agency’s review of 

the submission and providing the 

consumer with information on how to 

appeal or cure and how to submit a 

complaint to the Bureau will facilitate 

compliance and is appropriate to 

prevent a consumer reporting agency 

from furnishing a consumer report 

containing any adverse item of 

information about a consumer that 

resulted from trafficking by providing 

consumers with the information they 

need to determine if a consumer 

reporting agency declined to block or a 

rescind a block in error and with 

information about how to get any such 

error corrected. The Bureau is soliciting 

comments on whether, similar to 

section 611(a)(6)(B) of the FCRA, a 

consumer reporting agency should 

provide the consumer with a consumer 

report that is based upon the consumer’s 

revised file (if applicable) or a consumer 

reporting agency should be required to 

provide the consumer with instructions 

for how to obtain a copy of the revised 

report in order to protect the consumer’s 

privacy. 

142(g) Record Retention 

Proposed section 1022.142(g) requires 

a consumer reporting agency to retain 

evidence of submissions under section 

605C. The proposal would also require 

a consumer reporting agency to 

maintain documentation concerning the 

outcome of the submissions, reasons for 

declining or rescinding to act (if 

applicable), and compliance with 

section 1022.142. Consumer reporting 

agencies would need to retain this 

information for a period of seven years 

after the date the submission by the 

consumer is received. Under section 605 

of the FCRA, most adverse information 

would be excluded from consumer 

reports after seven years automatically. 

Requiring consumer reporting agencies 

to maintain records of compliance is 

appropriate to administer the rule by 

enabling the Bureau to assess consumer 

reporting agencies’ compliance with the 

rules and to facilitate compliance by 

supporting effective and efficient 

enforcement of the rule in order to 

prevent a consumer reporting agency 

from furnishing a consumer report 

containing any adverse item of 

information about a consumer that 

resulted from human trafficking. The 


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31 5 U.S.C. 553(d). 32 12 U.S.C. 5512(b)(2)(A). 

33This may occur if the consumer is not aware 

of the adverse information, or is not seeking any 

product or service that might rely on a consumer 

report including that information (e.g., if the 

adverse information relates to credit and the 

consumer is not currently seeking new credit). In 

addition, although the proposed rule is intended to 

make the submission process as straightforward as 

possible for victims of trafficking and intends to 

conduct outreach to ensure that victims are aware 

of their rights, consumers may not utilize the 

reporting process if they do not know their right to 

make a request, because they lack the required 

documentation, or because they believe the process 

to be more costly in time and effort than the 

potential benefits of blocking the adverse 

information. 

34Off. to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in 

Persons, U.S. Dep’t of State, 2021 Trafficking in 

Persons Report 591, https://www.state.gov/reports/ 

2021-trafficking-in-persons-report/ (last visited Mar. 

21, 2022). 

35Fed. Trade Comm’n, Consumer Sentinel 

Network Data Book 2020, at 7 (Feb. 2021), https:// 

www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/reports/

consumer-sentinel-network-data-book-2020/csn_

annual_data_book_2020.pdf. 

Bureau requests comment on the record 

retention requirement, particularly with 

respect to the proposed seven-year 

retention period. 

142(h) Policies and Procedures To 

Ensure and Maintain Compliance 

Proposed section 1022.142(h) would 

require consumer reporting agencies to 

establish and maintain written policies 

and procedures reasonably designed to 

ensure and monitor the compliance of 

the consumer reporting agency and its 

employees with the requirements of this 

section. Rather than proposing a onesize-fits-all approach, proposed section 

1022.142(h) specifies that these written 

policies and procedures must be 

appropriate to the nature, size, 

complexity, and scope of the activities 

of the consumer reporting agency and 

its employees. For example, consumer 

reporting agencies must develop 

policies and procedures that address 

how requests are evaluated and 

processed, and the limited 

circumstances a consumer reporting 

agency may decline or rescind a block 

under section 1022.142(e). Requiring 

consumer reporting agencies to 

maintain written policies and 

procedures is appropriate to administer 

the rule by enabling the Bureau to assess 

consumer reporting agencies’ 

compliance with the rules and to 

facilitate compliance in order to prevent 

a consumer reporting agency from 

furnishing a consumer report containing 

any adverse item of information about a 

consumer that resulted from human 

trafficking. 

V. Proposed Effective Date for Final 

Rule 

Pursuant to section 6102 of the 2022 

NDAA, the amendments to the FCRA 

shall apply 30 days after the Bureau 

issues a final rule. The Bureau proposes 

that the amendments included in this 

proposal take effect 30 days after the 

date of the final rule’s publication in the 

Federal Register. Under section 553(d) 

of the Administrative Procedure Act, the 

required publication or service of a 

substantive rule must be made not less 

than 30 days before its effective date, 

with certain exceptions not applicable 

here.31 Thus, the final rule would take 

effect at the same time as section 605C, 

which would avoid uncertainty for 

consumers who are victims of 

trafficking as well as for consumer 

reporting agencies. The Bureau seeks 

comment on the proposed effective date. 

VI. Dodd-Frank Act Section 1022(b)(2) 

Analysis 

In developing this proposed rule, the 

Bureau has considered the proposed 

rule’s potential benefits, costs, and 

impacts in accordance with section 

1022(b)(2)(A) of the Consumer Financial 

Protection Act of 2010 (CFPA).32 The 

Bureau requests comment on the 

preliminary analysis presented below as 

well as submissions of additional data 

that could inform the Bureau’s analysis 

of the benefits, costs, and impacts. In 

developing the proposed rule, the 

Bureau has consulted or offered to 

consult with the prudential banking 

regulators (the FDIC, FRB, NCUA, and 

OCC) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

several offices in the Department of 

Justice, Department of Health and 

Human Services, Department of 

Homeland Security, and the FTC, 

including regarding consistency of this 

rule with any prudential, market, or 

systemic objectives administered by 

those agencies, in accordance with 

section 1022(b)(2)(B) of the CFPA. 

The Bureau expects that the proposed 

rule would benefit consumers who are 

victims of a severe form of trafficking in 

persons or sex trafficking and have 

adverse information on file with a 

consumer reporting agency as a result of 

that trafficking. The potential benefits to 

individual consumers who are victims 

of trafficking could be considerable— 

adverse information from consumer 

reporting agencies could negatively 

affect a consumer’s ability to obtain 

housing, employment, credit or other 

immediate and longer-term services 

necessary to support long-term 

independence and financial stability. 

Conversely, the proposed rule would 

impose costs on consumer reporting 

agencies in the form of compliance costs 

associated with processing requests 

from consumers to block adverse 

information and effecting the necessary 

blocks. While the Bureau does not have 

data to quantify these costs, the Bureau 

expects the costs of complying with the 

requirements of the proposed rule to be 

small in magnitude. Consumer reporting 

agencies are already required by 15 

U.S.C. 1681c-2 to have systems in place 

to accept reports of identity theft, and to 

respond to those reports by suppressing 

information on any consumer reports. 

Consumer reporting agencies also have 

systems in place to address treatment of 

inaccurate and unverifiable information 

as required by 15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(5) and 

concerning the notice of results of 

reinvestigation under 15 U.S.C. 

1681i(a)(6). This proposed rule’s 

procedural requirements are modeled 

on these requirements. 

Although the Bureau characterizes 

qualitatively the nature of the benefits to 

consumers and the costs to firms above, 

it is not able to quantify the overall 

magnitude of the likely costs and 

benefits of the proposed rule. 

Quantifying these costs and benefits 

would require an estimate of the 

number of consumers likely to submit 

information to support a block under 

the proposed rule in a typical year. Not 

all victims of trafficking will necessarily 

have adverse information with a 

consumer reporting agency, and among 

those who do, not all will make a 

submission or be able to provide the 

required documentation.33 The Bureau 

does not have a way to estimate the 

number of trafficking victims who will 

make a request, and according to the 

State Department, there is no reliable 

estimate of the annual number of 

trafficking victims in the United States. 

To provide a rough sense of scale, the 

Bureau compares available statistics on 

human trafficking in the United States 

to statistics on identity theft, which 

have a similar treatment under the 

FCRA as under the proposed rule. In 

2020, the National Human Trafficking 

Hotline made 8,701 referrals for 

potential victims of trafficking.34 For 

comparison, the FTC received nearly 1.4 

million complaints related to identity 

theft in 2020.35 Both the number of 

referrals from the National Human 

Trafficking Hotline and the number of 

identity theft complaints to the FTC 

likely undercount the true incidence of 

trafficking and identity theft, 

respectively. However, given that not all 

victims of trafficking will have adverse 

information with a consumer reporting 

agency, it seems reasonable to assume 


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36 It is possible that consumer reporting agencies 

may incur some costs associated with submissions 

from individuals who claim fraudulently that 

adverse items of information in their consumer 

reports result from a severe form of trafficking or 

sex trafficking of which they allege to be a victim. 

Given the documentation requirements in the 

proposed rule, the Bureau does not expect this 

would happen often. The Bureau seeks comment on 

this assessment. 

37 5 U.S.C. 601 through 612. 

38 5 U.S.C. 609. 39 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. 

that the annual number of consumer 

submissions to consumer reporting 

agencies under the proposed rule would 

be at least two orders of magnitude less 

than the volume similar requests related 

to identity theft. As a result, the Bureau 

expects that although the potential 

benefits of the proposed rule to 

individual consumers who are victims 

of trafficking may be considerable, the 

aggregate benefits to consumers and the 

aggregate costs to consumer reporting 

agencies are likely to be small.36

The proposed rule may increase 

consumer access to credit, to the extent 

that consumers who are victims of 

trafficking and have adverse information 

related to that trafficking present on a 

credit report, and blocking that adverse 

information makes it easier for those 

consumers to obtain credit. 

The proposed rule would not have a 

unique impact on insured depository 

institutions or insured credit unions 

with less than $10 billion in assets 

described in section 1026(a) of the 

Dodd-Frank Act. Finally, the proposed 

rule would not have a unique impact on 

rural consumers. 

VII. Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

generally requires an agency to conduct 

an initial regulatory flexibility analysis 

(IRFA) and a final regulatory flexibility 

analysis (FRFA) of any rule subject to 

notice-and-comment rulemaking 

requirements, unless the head of the 

agency certifies that the rule will not, if 

promulgated, have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities.37 The Bureau 

also is subject to certain additional 

procedures under the RFA involving the 

convening of a panel to consult with 

small business representatives prior to 

proposing a rule for which an IRFA is 

required.38 The proposed rule would 

apply to all consumer reporting 

agencies, including all those that are 

small businesses under the RFA. 

However, it is unlikely that any small 

business will experience a significant 

economic impact as a result of the 

proposal. As discussed in section VI 

above, the number of submissions for 

blocking adverse information each year 

are likely to be small, and consumer 

reporting agencies are already required 

to have processes in place for processing 

similar requests due to existing 

requirements related to identity theft 

and dispute procedures under section 

611 of the FCRA. Accordingly, the 

Director of the Bureau certifies that this 

proposal, if adopted, would not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

Thus, neither an IRFA nor a small 

business review panel is required for 

this proposal. The Bureau requests 

comment on the analysis above and 

requests any relevant data. 

VIII. Paperwork Reduction Act 

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act 

of 1995 (PRA),39 Federal agencies are 

generally required to seek approval from 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for data collection, disclosure, 

and recordkeeping requirements 

(collectively, information collection 

requirements) prior to implementation. 

Under the PRA, the Bureau may not 

conduct or sponsor, and, 

notwithstanding any other provision of 

law, a person is not required to respond 

to, an information collection unless the 

information collection displays a valid 

control number assigned by OMB. As 

part of its continuing effort to reduce 

paperwork and respondent burden, the 

Bureau conducts a preclearance 

consultation program to provide the 

general public and Federal agencies 

with an opportunity to comment on the 

information collection requirements in 

accordance with the PRA. This helps 

ensure that the public understands the 

Bureau’s requirements or instructions, 

respondents can provide the requested 

data in the desired format, reporting 

burden (time and financial resources) is 

minimized, information collection 

instruments are clearly understood, and 

the Bureau can properly assess the 

impact of information collection 

requirements on respondents. 

This proposed rule would amend 12 

CFR part 1022 (Regulation V). The 

Bureau’s OMB control number for 

Regulation V is 3170. As described 

below, the proposed rule would create 

the following new information 

collection requirements in Regulation V: 

• The proposed rule would require 

consumer reporting agencies to accept 

trafficking and other documentation 

from consumers, process the 

submissions, and block any adverse 

item of information identified by the 

consumer that resulted from a severe 

form of trafficking in persons or sex 

trafficking under proposed section 

1022.142(d)–(e). Consumer reporting 

agencies would be required to inform 

consumers of their decision and actions 

with respect to the submission under 

proposed section 1022.142(f). 

• The proposed rule would require 

consumer reporting agencies to retain 

evidence of all submissions by 

consumers pursuant to these 

regulations, including actions taken in 

response to the submissions, reasons for 

declining or rescinding the block 

requests, and compliance with this 

section for a seven-year period under 

proposed section 1022.142(g). 

• The proposed rule would require 

consumer reporting agencies to establish 

and maintain written policies and 

procedures reasonably designed to 

ensure and monitor the compliance of 

the consumer reporting agency and its 

employees with the requirements of this 

rule under proposed section 

1022.142(h). 

The collections of information 

contained in this proposed rule, and 

identified as such, have been submitted 

to OMB for review under section 

3507(d) of the PRA. A complete 

description of the information collection 

requirements (including the burden 

estimate methods) is provided in the 

information collection request (ICR) that 

the Bureau has submitted to OMB under 

the requirements of the PRA. Please 

send your comments to the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for the 

Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection. Send these comments by 

email to oira_submission@omb.eop.gov 

or by fax to 202- 395–6974. If you wish 

to share your comments with the 

Bureau, please send a copy of these 

comments as described in the 

ADDRESSES section above. The ICR 

submitted to OMB requesting approval 

under the PRA for the information 

collection requirements contained 

herein is available at 

www.regulations.gov as well as on 

OMB’s public-facing docket at 

www.reginfo.gov. 

Title of Collection: Regulation V: Fair 

Credit Reporting Act. 

OMB Control Number: 3170–0002. 

Type of Review: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Affected Public: Private Sector; 

Federal, State, and Tribal Governments. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

The Bureau does not have enough 

information to estimate the number of 

respondents and is assuming de 

minimis. The Bureau invites comment 

on this assumption. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: The Bureau does not have 

enough information to know how 

frequently this collection will occur or 


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the burden it will impose. The Bureau 

invites comment on this collection. 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the collection of information is 

necessary for the proper performance of 

the functions of the Bureau, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; (b) The accuracy of the 

Bureau’s estimate of the burden of the 

collection of information, including the 

validity of the methods and the 

assumptions used; (c) Ways to enhance 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (d) 

Ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on 

respondents, including through the use 

of automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Comments submitted in response to this 

notification will be summarized and/or 

included in the request for Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

approval. All comments will become a 

matter of public record. 

If applicable, the final rule will 

inform the public of OMB’s approval of 

the new information collection 

requirements proposed herein and 

adopted in the final rule. If OMB has not 

approved the new information 

collection requirements prior to 

publication of the final rule in the 

Federal Register, the Bureau will 

publish a separate notification in the 

Federal Register announcing OMB’s 

approval prior to the effective date of 

the final rule. 

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 1022 

Banks, Banking, Consumer protection, 

Credit unions, Holding companies, 

National banks, Privacy, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Savings 

associations. 

Authority and Issuance 

For the reasons set forth above, the 

Bureau proposes to amend Regulation 

V, 12 CFR part 1022, as set forth below: 

PART 1022—FAIR CREDIT 

REPORTING ACT (REGULATION V) 

■ 1. Revise the authority citation for part 

1022 to read as follows: 

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 5512, 5581; 15 U.S.C. 

1681a, 1681b, 1681c, 1681c–1, 1681c–3, 

1681e, 1681g, 1681i, 1681j, 1681m, 1681s, 

1681s–2, 1681s–3, and 1681t; Sec. 214, 

Public Law 108–159, 117 Stat. 1952. 

Subpart O—Miscellaneous Duties of 

Consumer Reporting Agencies 

■ 2. Add § 1022.142 to read as follows: 

§ 1022.142 Prohibition on inclusion of 

adverse information in consumer reporting 

in cases of human trafficking. 

(a) Scope. This section applies to any 

consumer reporting agency as defined in 

section 603(f) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 

1681a(f). 

(b) Definitions. For purposes of this 

section: 

(1) Appropriate proof of identity 

means proof of identity that meets the 

requirements in section 1022.123. 

(2) Consumer report has the meaning 

provided in section 603(d) of the FCRA, 

15 U.S.C. 1681a(d). 

(3) Consumer reporting agency has the 

meaning provided in section 603(f) of 

the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681a(f). 

(4) Severe forms of trafficking in 

persons has the meaning provided in 

section 103 of the Trafficking Victims 

Protection Act of 2000, 22 U.S.C. 

7102(11). 

(5) Sex trafficking has the meaning 

provided in section 103 of the 

Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 

2000, as amended by section 108 of the 

Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 

2015, 22 U.S.C. 7102(12). 

(6) Trafficking documentation means 

one or more documents that satisfy 

paragraph (b)(6)(i) and (ii) of this 

section: 

(i) Documentation that: 

(A) Is of a determination that a 

consumer is a victim of trafficking made 

by a Federal, State, or Tribal 

governmental entity or a court of 

competent jurisdiction; or 

(B) Consists of documents filed in a 

court of competent jurisdiction 

indicating that a consumer is a victim of 

trafficking; and 

(ii) Documentation, which may 

consist of a statement by the consumer, 

that identifies items of adverse 

information that should not be 

furnished by a consumer reporting 

agency because the items resulted from 

a severe form of trafficking in persons or 

sex trafficking of which the consumer is 

a victim. 

(7) Victim of trafficking means a 

person who is a victim of a severe form 

of trafficking in persons or sex 

trafficking. 

(c) Prohibition on inclusion of adverse 

information of trafficking victims. A 

consumer reporting agency may not 

furnish a consumer report containing 

any adverse item of information about a 

consumer that resulted from a severe 

form of trafficking in persons or sex 

trafficking if the consumer has provided 

trafficking documentation to the 

consumer reporting agency. 

(d) Method of submission to consumer 

reporting agencies. (1) Mailing and 

website address. A consumer reporting 

agency must provide a mailing address 

for a consumer to submit required 

documentation and may also establish a 

secure online portal for submissions. A 

consumer reporting agency must accept 

trafficking documentation sent to the 

mailing and, if applicable, website 

addresses used for disputes under 

section 611 of the FCRA, and a 

consumer reporting agency must 

maintain a dedicated mailing and, if 

applicable, website address for blocking 

adverse items of information resulting 

from trafficking. 

(2) Disclosing methods for 

submission. A consumer reporting 

agency must add information on the 

publicly available website stating how 

submissions for the blocking of adverse 

items of information resulting from 

trafficking can be submitted. 

(3) Toll-free telephone number. A 

consumer reporting agency must: 

(i) Allocate a reasonable amount of 

personnel to respond to consumer 

inquiries about the process for and 

status of trafficking documentation 

submissions at the toll-free telephone 

number used for disputes under section 

611 of the FCRA; and 

(ii) Establish a toll-free telephone 

number dedicated to addressing 

submissions from consumers seeking to 

block adverse items of information 

resulting from trafficking. 

(e) Authority to decline or rescind a 

block. A consumer reporting agency 

may decline to block, or may rescind 

any block, of adverse items of 

information resulting from a severe form 

of trafficking in persons or sex 

trafficking only where the consumer 

reporting agency requests and cannot 

reasonably confirm the appropriate 

proof of identity under paragraph (b)(1) 

of this section, the consumer cannot 

provide documentation under paragraph 

(b)(6)(i) of this section, or the consumer 

reporting agency cannot properly 

identify the adverse items of 

information under paragraph (b)(6)(ii) of 

this section. A consumer reporting 

agency may decline or rescind a block 

only after notifying the consumer and 

attempting to resolve any deficiency in 

the consumer’s submission. 

(f) Notification to consumer of actions 

taken in response to trafficking 

documentation submission—(1) In 

general. A consumer reporting agency 

must provide written notice to a 

consumer of actions it has taken in 

response to a submission of trafficking 

documentation not later than five 

calendar days after the receipt of the 

submission (or, if rescinding a 

previously applied block, five calendar 

days after rescinding), by mail or, if 

authorized by the consumer for that 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 68 / Friday, April 8, 2022 / Proposed Rules 20781 

purpose, by other means available to the 

consumer reporting agency. 

(2) Contents. The notice must include 

the following: 

(i) A statement that the review of the 

submission is completed; 

(ii) A statement of the outcome of the 

review of the submission, including the 

reason(s) if the consumer reporting 

agency declined or rescinded to block 

the requested adverse information under 

paragraph (d) of this section; 

(iii) A consumer report, provided at 

no cost to the consumer, that is based 

upon the consumer’s revised file (if 

applicable) as a result of the consumer’s 

submission; 

(iv) A description of the procedure 

used to determine the outcome; 

(v) A method for contacting the 

consumer reporting agency to appeal the 

determination or revise the submission 

to cure any of the noted reasons for 

declining to block the requested adverse 

information; and 

(vi) The web page consumers can use 

to submit complaints to the Consumer 

Financial Protection Bureau. 

(g) Record retention. For a period of 

seven years after the date the 

submission by the consumer is received 

under paragraph (d)(2) of this section, a 

consumer reporting agency must retain 

evidence of all such submissions, 

including the actions taken by the 

consumer reporting agency, reasons for 

declining or rescinding the block 

requests, and compliance with this 

section. 

(h) Policies and procedures to ensure 

and maintain compliance. A consumer 

reporting agency must establish and 

maintain written policies and 

procedures reasonably designed to 

ensure and monitor the compliance of 

the consumer reporting agency and its 

employees with the requirements of 

paragraphs in this section. These 

written policies and procedures must be 

appropriate to the nature, size, 

complexity, and scope of the activities 

of the consumer reporting agency and 

its employees. 

Rohit Chopra, 

Director, Consumer Financial Protection 

Bureau. 

[FR Doc. 2022–07528 Filed 4–7–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2022–0450; Project 

Identifier MCAI–2021–00854–A] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Diamond 

Aircraft Industries Inc. Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: The FAA proposes to adopt a 

new airworthiness directive (AD) for all 

Diamond Aircraft Industries Inc. Model 

DA 40, DA 40 F, and DA 40 NG 

airplanes. This proposed AD results 

from mandatory continuing 

airworthiness information (MCAI) 

originated by an aviation authority of 

another country to identify and correct 

an unsafe condition on an aviation 

product. The MCAI describes the unsafe 

condition as baggage nets installed with 

defective buckles, which may result in 

failure of the baggage net to restrain the 

baggage or cargo, which could lead to 

injury to the occupants in the case of an 

emergency landing. The FAA is 

proposing this AD to address the unsafe 

condition on these products. 

DATES: The FAA must receive comments 

on this proposed AD by May 23, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, 

using the procedures found in 14 CFR 

11.43 and 11.45, by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: (202) 493–2251. 

• Mail: U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations, M– 

30, West Building Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 

Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: Deliver to Mail 

address between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

For service information identified in 

this proposed AD, contact Diamond 

Aircraft Industries Inc., Att: Thit Tun, 

1560 Crumlin Road, London, N5V 1S2, 

Canada; phone: (519) 457–4000; email: 

T.Tun@diamondaircraft.com. You may 

view this service information at the 

FAA, Airworthiness Products Section, 

Operational Safety Branch, 901 Locust, 

Kansas City, MO 64106. For information 

on the availability of this material at the 

FAA, call (817) 222–5110. 

Examining the AD Docket 

You may examine the AD docket at 

https://www.regulations.gov by 

searching for and locating Docket No. 

FAA–2022–0450; or in person at Docket 

Operations between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. The AD docket contains this 

NPRM, the MCAI, any comments 

received, and other information. The 

street address for Docket Operations is 

listed above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Chirayu Gupta, Aviation Safety 

Engineer, New York ACO Branch, FAA, 

1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, 

Westbury, NY 11590; phone: (516) 228– 

7300; email: Chirayu.A.Gupta@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments Invited 

The FAA invites you to send any 

written relevant data, views, or 

arguments about this proposal. Send 

your comments to an address listed 

under the ADDRESSES section. Include 

‘‘Docket No. FAA–2022–0450; Project 

Identifier MCAI–2021–00854–A’’ at the 

beginning of your comments. The most 

helpful comments reference a specific 

portion of the proposal, explain the 

reason for any recommended change, 

and include supporting data. The FAA 

will consider all comments received by 

the closing date and may amend this 

proposal because of those comments. 

Except for Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) as described in the 

following paragraph, and other 

information as described in 14 CFR 

11.35, the FAA will post all comments 

received, without change, to https://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information you provide. The 

agency will also post a report 

summarizing each substantive verbal 

contact received about this NPRM. 

Confidential Business Information 

CBI is commercial or financial 

information that is both customarily and 

actually treated as private by its owner. 

Under the Freedom of Information Act 

(FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt 

from public disclosure. If your 

comments responsive to this NPRM 

contain commercial or financial 

information that is customarily treated 

as private, that you actually treat as 

private, and that is relevant or 

responsive to this NPRM, it is important 

that you clearly designate the submitted 

comments as CBI. Please mark each 

page of your submission containing CBI 

as ‘‘PROPIN.’’ The FAA will treat such 

marked submissions as confidential 

under the FOIA, and they will not be 

placed in the public docket of this AD. 


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