I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5282 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to improve the consumer reporting 

system, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 19, 2016 

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to improve the 

consumer reporting system, 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 ‘‘Comprehensive Con5 sumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Congressional findings. 

Sec. 4. Effective date. 

TITLE I—FIXING THE DISPUTE PROCESS 


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Sec. 101. Establishes a new right to appeal disputes completed by consumer reporting agencies and furnishers. 

Sec. 102. Creates reasonable dispute procedures for furnishers of information 

and meaningful disclosures to consumers about investigations; 

notices by furnishers to consumers of reporting of negative 

items to consumer reporting agencies. 

Sec. 103. Creates reasonable dispute procedures for consumer reporting agencies and meaningful disclosures to consumers about reinvestigations. 

Sec. 104. Increases consumers’ awareness of dispute rights and tools for challenging errors. 

Sec. 105. Enhances accuracy and completeness duties for consumer reporting 

agencies and furnishers. 

Sec. 106. Requires furnishers to maintain records necessary to verify accuracy 

of disputes. 

Sec. 107. Establishes new requirements on consumer reporting agencies when 

notified of inaccurate or incomplete information from furnishers. 

Sec. 108. Indication of dispute by consumers and use of disputed information. 

Sec. 109. Inclusion of public record data sources in consumer reports. 

Sec. 110. Injunctive relief for victims. 

TITLE II—RESTRICTING THE USE OF CREDIT CHECKS FOR 

EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS 

Sec. 201. Bans the use of credit information for most employment decisions. 

TITLE III—REHABILITATING THE CREDIT STANDING OF 

STRUGGLING PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN BORROWERS 

Sec. 301. Removes adverse information for certain defaulted or delinquent private education loan borrowers who demonstrate a history of 

loan repayment. 

Sec. 302. Private education loan definitions. 

TITLE IV—RESTORING THE IMPAIRED CREDIT OF VICTIMS OF 

PREDATORY ACTIVITIES AND UNFAIR CONSUMER REPORTING 

PRACTICES 

Sec. 401. Shortens the time period that most adverse credit information stays 

on consumer reports. 

Sec. 402. Mandates the expedited removal of fully paid or settled debt from 

consumer reports. 

Sec. 403. Imposes restrictions on the appearance of medical collections on consumer reports and requires the expedited removal of fully paid 

or settled medical collections from consumer reports. 

Sec. 404. Provides credit restoration for victims of predatory mortgage lending 

and servicing. 

Sec. 405. Provides credit relief for private education loans borrowers who were 

defrauded or mislead by proprietary education institution or 

career education programs. 

Sec. 406. Establishes right for victims of financial abuse to have adverse information associated with an abuser’s fraudulent activity removed 

from their consumer reports. 

Sec. 407. Prohibits treatment of credit restoration or rehabilitation as adverse 

information. 


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TITLE V—MONITORING THE DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF CREDIT 

SCORES 

Sec. 501. Establishes clear Federal oversight of the development of credit scoring models by the Bureau. 

Sec. 502. Mandates ongoing review and reports to Congress by the Federal 

Housing Finance Agency on using additional, alternative, and 

updated credit scoring models as part of the criteria for loans 

purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 

Sec. 503. Requires a Bureau study and report to Congress on the impact of 

using non-traditional data. 

TITLE VI—PROVIDING GREATER CONSUMER ACCESS TO AND 

UNDERSTANDING OF CONSUMER REPORTS AND CREDIT SCORES 

Sec. 601. Credit score and educational credit score definitions. 

Sec. 602. Expands explanatory information given to consumers about how 

scores are calculated. 

Sec. 603. Requires consumer reporting agencies to disclose prominently the differences between and limitations of credit scores and educational credit scores required prior to a consumer obtaining 

such scores. 

Sec. 604. Provides consumers with free credit score disclosures with their free 

annual consumer reports upon request and creates instances 

when consumers automatically receive free consumer reports 

and credit scores. 

Sec. 605. Requires private educational lenders to provide consumers with free 

copies of any consumer reports and credit scores that they used 

for underwriting before consumers sign loan agreements. 

Sec. 606. Requires motor vehicle lenders or indirect auto lenders to provide 

consumers with free copies of any consumer reports and credit 

scores that they used for underwriting before consumers sign 

lease or loan agreements. 

Sec. 607. Requires residential mortgage lenders to provide consumers with free 

copies of any consumer reports and credit scores that they used 

for underwriting before consumers sign loan agreements. 

TITLE VII—BANNING MISLEADING AND UNFAIR CONSUMER 

REPORTING PRACTICES 

Sec. 701. Prohibits automatic renewals for consumer reporting and credit scoring products and services offered under promotional terms. 

Sec. 702. Bans misleading and deceptive marketing related to the provision of 

consumer reporting and credit scoring products and services. 

Sec. 703. Ends excessive direct-to-consumer sales by giving the Bureau authority to set fair and reasonable fees on consumer reporting and 

credit scoring products and services sold by consumer reporting 

agencies to consumers. 

Sec. 704. Promotes access to consumer reporting and credit scoring disclosures 

for consumers with limited English proficiency and visual and 

hearing impairments to enhance their ability to exercise their 

rights. 

Sec. 705. Establishes consumers’ right to shop for the best deal on certain 

large dollar loans without harming their credit standing. 


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Sec. 706. Ends confusion about whether entities are engaged in consumer reporting practices by creating a nationwide consumer reporting 

agencies registry. 

TITLE VIII—EXPANDING ACCESS TO TOOLS TO PROTECT VULNERABLE CONSUMERS FROM IDENTITY THEFT, FRAUD, OR A 

RELATED CRIME, AND PROTECT VICTIMS FROM FURTHER 

HARM 

Sec. 801. Identity theft report definition. 

Sec. 802. Credit freeze definition. 

Sec. 803. Enhances fraud alert protections. 

Sec. 804. Enhances access to credit freezes, limits the cost of such freezes, and 

provides access to free credit freezes for vulnerable consumers. 

Sec. 805. Requires disclosure of consumer rights related to credit freezes. 

Sec. 806. Provides access to fraud records for victims. 

Sec. 807. Required Bureau to set procedures for reporting identity theft, fraud, 

and other related crime. 

Sec. 808. Establishes the right to free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services for certain consumers. 

Sec. 809. Ensures removal of inquiries resulting from identity theft, fraud, or 

other related crime from consumer reports. 

TITLE IX—MISCELLANEOUS 

Sec. 901. Definitions related to days. 

Sec. 902. Technical correction related to risk-based pricing notices. 

Sec. 903. FCRA findings and purpose; voids certain contracts not in the public 

interest. 

Sec. 904. General Bureau rulemaking. 

1 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) GENERAL FINDINGS.— 

4 (A) Consumer reporting agencies 

5 (‘‘CRAs’’) are companies that collect, compile, 

6 and provide information about consumers in the 

7 form of consumer reports, commonly referred to 

8 as credit reports for certain permissible statu9 tory purposes. Data furnishers, such as credi10 tors, lenders, and debt collection agencies, vol11 untarily submit information to CRAs such as 

12 the total amount for each loan or credit limit 


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1 for each credit card and the consumer’s pay2 ment history on these products. These reports 

3 may also include information about companies 

4 that have asked to see a consumer’s credit re5 port, addresses, current and previous employ6 ers, and certain public records. The largest 

7 CRAs in this country are referred to as nation8 wide CRAs, which currently include Equifax, 

9 TransUnion, and Experian. 

10 (B) In a December 2012 paper, ‘‘Key Di11 mensions and Processes in the U.S. Credit Re12 porting System: A review for how the nation’s 

13 largest credit bureaus manage consumer data’’, 

14 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection 

15 (‘‘CFPB’’ or the ‘‘Bureau’’) noted that the 

16 three nationwide CRAs maintain credit files on 

17 approximately 200 million adults and receive in18 formation from about 10,000 furnishers. On a 

19 monthly basis, these furnishers provide infor20 mation on over 1.3 billion consumer credit ac21 counts or other tradelines. 

22 (C) The 10 largest institutions furnishing 

23 credit information to each of the nationwide 

24 CRAs account for more than half of all ac25 counts reflected in consumers’ credit files. 


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1 (D) Consumer reports play an increasingly 

2 important role in the lives of American con3 sumers as most creditors are reviewing these re4 ports to make decisions about whether to ex5 tend credit and on what terms and conditions. 

6 As such, information contained in a person’s 

7 credit report not only can affect whether a per8 son is able to get a private education to pay for 

9 college costs, secure a mortgage to buy a home, 

10 or to obtain a credit card, but also can affect 

11 the consumer’s cost of borrowing. 

12 (E) Consumer reports are also increasingly 

13 used for noncredit decisions, including by land14 lords to determine whether to rent an apart15 ment to a prospective tenant and by employers 

16 to decide whether to hire potential job appli17 cants. 

18 (F) Pursuant to the Federal Fair Credit 

19 Reporting Act (‘‘FCRA’’), CRAs have a statu20 tory obligation to verify independently the accu21 racy and completeness of information included 

22 on the reports that they provide. 

23 (G) The nationwide CRAs have failed to 

24 establish and follow reasonable procedures, as 

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1 imum level of accuracy of information contained 

2 on consumer reports. Given the repeated fail3 ures of CRAs to comply with accuracy require4 ments on their own, legislation is intended to 

5 provide them with detailed guidance improving 

6 the accuracy and completeness of information 

7 contained in consumer reports, including proce8 dures, policies, and practices that these CRAs 

9 should already be following to ensure full com10 pliance with their existing obligations. 

11 (H) The presence of inaccurate or incom12 plete information on a person’s report may re13 sult in substantial financial and emotional 

14 harm. Credit reporting errors can lead to the 

15 loss of new employment opportunities or a de16 nial of a promotion in an existing job, the in17 ability to obtain credit on favorable terms, the 

18 inability to secure rental housing, the mental 

19 distress of trying unsuccessfully to remove er20 rors from one’s credit report, among other 

21 types of harm. 

22 (I) Current industry practices impose an 

23 unfair burden of proof on consumers when try24 ing to fix errors on their reports. 


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1 (J) Consumer reports containing inac2 curate or incomplete credit information under3 mine the ability of creditors and lenders to ef4 fectively and accurately underwrite and price 

5 credit. 

6 (K) Recognizing that credit reporting af7 fects the lives of most Americans and that the 

8 consequences of errors on a consumer report 

9 can be catastrophic for a consumer the Bureau 

10 began accepting consumer’s complaints about 

11 credit reporting in October 2012. 

12 (L) As of August 2015, the Bureau has 

13 handled approximately 105,500 credit reporting 

14 complaints, making credit reporting the third 

15 most-complained-about subject matter on which 

16 the Bureau accepts consumer complaints. The 

17 most common credit reporting problems identi18 fied by consumers relate to incorrect informa19 tion contained on consumer reports (comprising 

20 a staggering 77 percent) and CRAs investiga21 tions (consisting of 9 percent). Other com22 plaints involve the inability to obtain a report or 

23 score, the improper use of reports, and credit 

24 monitoring or identity protection products and 

25 services. 


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1 (M) The Bureau indicated in its ‘‘Monthly 

2 Complaint Report Volume 2’’ released in Au3 gust 2015 that credit reporting complaints 

4 showed the greatest month-over-month percent5 age increase (56 percent) as compared to the 

6 other consumer complaints which the Bureau 

7 currently tracks. 

8 (N) The Bureau’s summer 2015 ‘‘Super9 visory Highlights’’ publication found that one or 

10 more of the largest CRAs failed to adequately 

11 oversee furnishers to ensure they were adhering 

12 to the CRAs vetting policies and to establish 

13 proper procedures to verify public record infor14 mation. 

15 (O) A February 2014 Bureau report titled 

16 ‘‘Credit Reporting Complaint Snapshot’’ found 

17 that consumers are confused about the extent 

18 to which the nationwide CRAs are required to 

19 provide them with validation and documentation 

20 of a debt which appears on their credit report. 

21 (P) As evidence that the current system 

22 lacks sufficient market incentives for CRAs to 

23 develop more robust procedures to increase the 

24 accuracy and completeness of information on 

25 credit reports, litigation discovery documented 


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1 by the National Consumer Law Center, as part 

2 of a January 2009 report entitled ‘‘Automated 

3 Injustice: How a Mechanized Dispute System 

4 Frustrates Consumers Seeking to Fix Errors in 

5 Their Credit Reports’’, showed that at least two 

6 of the three largest CRAs use quota systems to 

7 force employees to process disputes hastily and 

8 without the opportunity for conducting mean9 ingful investigations. At least one nationwide 

10 CRA only allowed dispute resolution staff five 

11 minutes to handle a consumer’s call. Further12 more, these CRAs were found to award bonuses 

13 for meeting quotas and punish those who didn’t 

14 meet production numbers with probation. 

15 (Q) Unlike most other business relation16 ships, where consumers can register their satis17 faction or dissatisfaction with a particular prod18 uct or service by taking their business else19 where, consumers have no say in whether their 

20 information is included in the CRAs databases 

21 and limited legal remedies to hold the CRAs ac22 countable for inaccuracies or poor service. 

23 (R) Accordingly, despite the existing statu24 tory mandate for CRAs to follow reasonable 

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1 curacy of the information whenever they pre2 pare consumer reports, numerous studies and 

3 the high volume of consumer complaints sub4 mitted to the Bureau about incorrect informa5 tion on consumer reports demonstrates that 

6 these CRAs continue to skirt their obligations 

7 under the law, year after year. 

8 (2) INCORRECT INFORMATION ON CONSUMER

9 REPORTS.— 

10 (A) Consumers are entitled to dispute er11 rors on their consumer reports with either the 

12 CRA or directly with furnishers and request 

13 mistakes be deleted or removed. Consumers who 

14 believe an investigation has not correctly re15 solved their dispute have few options other than 

16 requesting that a statement about the dispute 

17 be included with their future reports. 

18 (B) CRAs have a statutory obligation 

19 under the FCRA to conduct a reasonable inves20 tigation by conducting a substantive and 

21 searching inquiry when a consumer disputes an 

22 item on their report. In doing so, CRAs must 

23 conduct an independent review about the accu24 racy of any disputed item and cannot merely 

25 rely on a furnisher’s rubber-stamp verification 


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1 of the integrity of the information they have 

2 provided to CRAs. 

3 (C) The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) 

4 in a ‘‘Report to Congress Under Section 319 of 

5 the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act 

6 of 2003’’ released in December 2012 found that 

7 26 percent of survey participants identified at 

8 least one potentially material error on their con9 sumer reports, and 13 percent experienced a 

10 change in their credit score once the error was 

11 fixed. 

12 (D) Bureau examiners have identified re13 peated deficiencies with the nationwide CRAs’ 

14 information collection. In the summer 2015 

15 ‘‘Supervisory Highlights’’ released in June 

16 2015, the Bureau noted continued weaknesses 

17 with CRAs’ methods and processes for assuring 

18 maximum possible accuracy in consumer re19 ports. Bureau examiners found, with certain ex20 ceptions, no quality control policies and proce21 dures to test consumer reports for accuracy. 

22 (E) In its ‘‘Credit Reporting Complaint 

23 Snapshot’’ released in February 2014, the Bu24 reau found that consumers were uncertain 

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1 tions performed. Consumers also expressed 

2 frustration that even though they provided sup3 porting materials that they believed dem4 onstrated the inaccuracy of the information pro5 vided by furnishers, errors continued to remain 

6 on their reports. 

7 (F) Bureau examiners noted in the winter 

8 2015 ‘‘Supervisory Highlights’’ released in 

9 March 2015 that one or more nationwide CRAs 

10 failed to adequately fulfill their dispute-han11 dling obligations, including by not forwarding 

12 all relevant information found in letters and 

13 supporting documents supplied by consumers 

14 when they submitted disputes to furnishers, 

15 failing to notify consumers that they had com16 pleted their investigations, and not providing 

17 consumers with the results of the CRAs’ re18 views about their dispute claims. 

19 (G) Consumers’ increasing frustration 

20 about the difficulties of trying to fix credit re21 porting evidence through the volume of con22 sumer complaints errors submitted to the Bu23 reau, are also echoed in another FTC study on 

24 credit report accuracy issued in January 2015. 

25 In the ‘‘Report to Congress under Section 319 


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1 for the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions 

2 Act of 2003’’, the FTC found that nearly 70 

3 percent (84 people) of participants from a pre4 vious survey that had filed disputes with CRAs 

5 continued to believe that at least some of the 

6 disputed information remained inaccurate at 

7 the time of the follow-up survey. Despite these 

8 views, 50 percent (42 people) of the survey par9 ticipants decided to just give up trying to fix 

10 the errors, with only 45 percent (38 people) of 

11 them planning to continue to try to resolve 

12 their disputes. 

13 (H) The increasing number of consumer 

14 complaints about incorrect information to the 

15 Bureau, coupled with the largest CRAs’ re16 peated quality control weaknesses found by Bu17 reau examiners, show that the nationwide CRAs 

18 have failed to establish and follow reasonable 

19 procedures to assure maximum accuracy of in20 formation and to conduct independent inves21 tigations of consumers’ dispute claims. These 

22 ongoing problems demonstrate the need for leg23 islation to— 

24 (i) enhance obligations on furnishers 

25 to substantiate information and require 


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1 furnishers to keep records for the same 

2 amount of time that adverse information 

3 about these accounts may appear on a per4 son’s consumer report; 

5 (ii) eliminate CRAs’ discretion to de6 termine the relevancy of materials provided 

7 by consumers to support their dispute 

8 claims by instead requiring them to pass 

9 all material onto furnishers and elimi10 nating their discretion to deem some dis11 putes frivolous or irrelevant when a con12 sumer resubmits a claim that they believe 

13 has been inadequately resolved; 

14 (iii) enhance educational content on 

15 CRAs’ websites to improve consumers’ un16 derstanding of the dispute process and to 

17 make it easier for all consumers to initiate 

18 claims, including by providing these disclo19 sures in other languages besides English; 

20 and 

21 (iv) create a new consumer right to 

22 appeal reviews by CRAs and furnishers of 

23 the initial disputes. 

24 (3) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.— 


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1 (A) Despite the fact that the FCRA cur2 rently provides implicit authority for injunctive 

3 relief, consumers have been prevented from ex4 ercising this right. Legislation explicitly clari5 fying this right is intended to underscore con6 gressional intent that injunctive relief should be 

7 viewed as a remedy available to consumers. 

8 (B) Myriad findings by the courts, regu9 lators, consumers, and consumer advocates 

10 make clear that CRAs have failed to establish 

11 adequate standards for the accuracy and com12 pleteness of consumer reports, yet the nation13 wide CRAs have demonstrated little willingness 

14 to retool their policies and procedures to fix the 

15 problems. 

16 (C) Providing courts with explicit authority 

17 to issue injunctive relief, by telling the CRAs to 

18 remedy unlawful practices and procedures, 

19 would further CRAs’ mandate under the FCRA 

20 to assure the maximum possible accuracy and 

21 completeness of credit reports. 

22 (D) Absent explicit authority to issue in23 junctions, history suggests that the nationwide 

24 CRAs are likely to continue conducting business 

25 as usual; dismissing any monetary settlements 


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1 with individual consumers and State attorneys 

2 general as the cost of doing business. 

3 (4) USE OF CREDIT REPORTS FOR EMPLOY4 MENT PURPOSES.— 

5 (A) The use of credit reports as a factor 

6 in making hiring decisions has been found to be 

7 prevalent in a diverse array of occupations and 

8 is not limited to high-level positions. 

9 (B) According to the California Labor 

10 Federation, only 25 percent of employers re11 searched the credit history of job applicants in 

12 1998. However, this practice had increased to 

13 43 percent by 2006 and to 60 percent by 2011. 

14 (C) A study entitled, ‘‘Do Job Applicant 

15 Credit Histories Predict Job Performance Ap16 praisal Ratings or Termination Decisions?’’ 

17 published in 2012 found that, while credit his18 tory might conceptually measure a person’s 

19 level of responsibility, ability to meet deadlines, 

20 dependability, or integrity, it does not, in prac21 tice, actually predict an employee’s performance 

22 or turnover because credit reports contain many 

23 inaccuracies and credit history can be contami24 nated by events outside a person’s control, such 

25 as the effects of divorce, death, and accidents 


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1 on a person’s finances and ability to meet dead2 lines, past youthful naivety, and economic 

3 shocks. The study found that there is no benefit 

4 from using credit history to predict job per5 formance or turnover. 

6 (D) Despite the absence of data showing a 

7 correlation between job performance and credit 

8 worthiness, employers continue to use credit 

9 checks as a proxy for assessing character and 

10 integrity. According to a 2012 Society for 

11 Human Resource Management survey, organi12 zations indicated that they used credit checks 

13 on job candidates primarily to reduce or prevent 

14 theft and embezzlement and to minimize legal 

15 liability for negligent hiring. 

16 (E) The use of credit checks for employ17 ment purposes creates a true ‘‘catch-22’’ for 

18 unemployed people with impaired credit. For 

19 example, the financial hardship caused by losing 

20 a job may cause some unemployed individuals 

21 to make late or partial payments on their bills, 

22 but their poor credit standing caused by this 

23 negative information on their consumer report 

24 can impede their chances of obtaining a new job 

25 to end the financial distress. 


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1 (F) A September 2014 report by the New 

2 York City Council’s Committee on Civil Rights 

3 noted that, for those who have been unemployed 

4 for an extended period of time and whose credit 

5 has suffered as they fell behind on bills, the use 

6 of credit reports in the hiring process can exac7 erbate and perpetuate an already precarious sit8 uation. 

9 (G) A March 2013 Demos report titled 

10 ‘‘Discredited: How Employment Credit Checks 

11 Keep Out Qualified Workers Out of a Job’’ 

12 found that one in four survey participants who 

13 were unemployed said that a potential employer 

14 had requested to check their credit report as 

15 part of a job application. Among job applicants 

16 with blemished credit histories, one in seven 

17 had been advised that they were not being hired 

18 because of their credit history. 

19 (H) While job applicants must give prior 

20 approval for a current or prospective employer 

21 to pull their credit reports under the FCRA, as 

22 a practical matter, this authorization does not 

23 constitute an effective consumer protection be24 cause an employer may reject any job applicant 

25 who refuses a credit check. 


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1 (I) Credit reports generally do not reflect 

2 the uncontrollable circumstances that may have 

3 contributed to or caused a person’s debts or 

4 late payments, such as the loss of a job, a med5 ical crisis, or a divorce. 

6 (J) In October 2011, FICO noted that 

7 from 2008 to 2009, approximately 50 million 

8 people experienced a 20-point drop in their 

9 credit scores and about 21 million saw their 

10 scores decline by more than 50 points. While 

11 the Great Recession reduced many consumers’ 

12 credit scores due to foreclosures and other fi13 nancial hardships, the financial crisis had a 

14 particularly harsh impact on Latinos and Afri15 can-Americans, as racial and ethnic minorities 

16 and communities of color were frequently tar17 geted by predatory mortgage lenders who 

18 steered them into high-cost, subprime loans 

19 even when these borrowers would have qualified 

20 for prime credit. 

21 (K) A May 2006 Brookings Institution re22 port titled ‘‘Credit Scores, Reports, and Getting 

23 Ahead in America’’ found that counties with a 

24 relatively higher proportion of racial and ethnic 

25 minorities in the United States tended to have 


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1 lower credit scores as compared with counties 

2 that had a lower concentration of communities 

3 of color. 

4 (L) Because Latino and African-American 

5 households tend, on average, to have lower 

6 credit scores than White households, credit 

7 checks may disproportionately screen minorities 

8 out of jobs, leading to discriminatory hiring 

9 practices, and further exacerbating the trend 

10 where unemployment for Latino and African11 American communities is elevated well above 

12 the rate of Whites. 

13 (M) A 2012 Demos survey found that 65 

14 percent of White respondents reported having 

15 good or excellent credit scores, while over half 

16 of African-American households reported having 

17 fair or bad credit. 

18 (5) PRIVATE EDUCATION LOANS.— 

19 (A) The Bureau’s October 2014 report ti20 tled ‘‘Annual Report of the CFPB Student 

21 Loan Ombudsman’’ noted many private edu22 cation loan borrowers who sought to negotiate 

23 a modified repayment plan when they were ex24 periencing a period of financial distress were 

25 unable to get such assistance from their loan 


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1 holders, often resulting in them defaulting on 

2 their loans. This pattern closely resembles the 

3 difficulty that a significant number of mortgage 

4 loan borrowers experienced when they sought to 

5 take responsible steps to work with their mort6 gage servicer to avoid foreclosure during the 

7 Great Recession. 

8 (B) Although private student loan holders 

9 may allow a borrower to postpone payments 

10 while enrolled in school full-time, many limit 

11 this option to a certain time period, usually 48 

12 to 66 months. This limited time period may not 

13 be sufficient for those who need additional time 

14 to obtain their degree or who want to continue 

15 their education by pursing a graduate or profes16 sional degree. The Bureau found that borrowers 

17 who were unable to make payments often de18 faulted or had their accounts sent to collections 

19 before they were able to graduate. 

20 (6) DECEPTIVE PRACTICES AT CERTAIN PRO21 PRIETARY EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS AND CAREER

22 EDUCATION PROGRAMS.— 

23 (A) The for-profit college sector has come 

24 under heavy State and Federal scrutiny after 

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1 leges, which was found to have deceived stu2 dents by steering them into high-interest stu3 dent loans based on graduation rates and em4 ployment data. Even after its closure, Corin5 thian students remain saddled with debt, worth6 less degrees, and few prospects for employment. 

7 (B) Attending a two-year, for-profit college 

8 costs, on average, four times as much as at9 tending a community college. Students at for10 profit colleges represent only about 11 percent 

11 of the total higher education population but a 

12 startling 44 percent of all Federal student loan 

13 defaults, according to the United States De14 partment of Education (‘‘DOE’’). 

15 (C) As highlighted in a press release titled, 

16 ‘‘Obama Administration Announces Final Rules 

17 to Protect Students from Poor-Performing Ca18 reer College Programs’’ that was issued by the 

19 DOE on October 30, 2014, ‘‘[t]oo often, stu20 dents at career colleges—including thousands of 

21 veterans—are charged excessive costs, but don’t 

22 get the education they paid for. Instead, stu23 dents in such programs are provided with poor 

24 quality training, often for low-wage jobs or in 

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1 portunities. They find themselves with large 

2 amounts of debt and, too often, end up in de3 fault. In many cases, students are drawn into 

4 these programs with confusing or misleading in5 formation.’’. 

6 (7) MEDICAL DEBT.— 

7 (A) The Bureau’s research on credit re8 porting and credit scoring has found that the 

9 inclusion of medical debt collection information 

10 on consumer reports has unfairly reduced con11 sumers’ credit scores. 

12 (B) The Bureau’s review of 5 million 

13 anonymized credit files from September 2011 to 

14 September 2013 found that credit scores may 

15 underestimate a person’s creditworthiness by up 

16 to 10 points for those who owe medical debt, 

17 and may underestimate a person’s creditworthi18 ness by up to 22 points after the medical debt 

19 has been paid. For consumers with lower credit 

20 scores, especially those on the brink of what is 

21 considered subprime, a 10 to 22 point decrease 

22 in their credit scores can have a significant im23 pact on their lives, including by affecting 

24 whether they are able to qualify for credit and, 

25 if so, the terms and conditions under which it 


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1 is extended to them. The differences in peoples’ 

2 credit scores because of medical debt could un3 fairly cost them tens of thousands of dollars on 

4 large loans such as mortgages. 

5 (C) The Bureau found that half of all col6 lections tradelines that appear on consumer re7 ports are related to medical bills claimed to be 

8 owed to hospitals and other medical providers. 

9 These tradelines affect the credit reports of 

nearly 1 10 ⁄5 of all consumers in the credit report11 ing system. 

12 (D) The Bureau concluded that there are 

13 no objective or enforceable standards that de14 termine when a debt can or should be reported 

15 as a collection tradeline. Because debt buyers 

16 and collectors determine whether, when, and for 

17 how long to report a collection account, there is 

18 only a limited relationship between the time pe19 riod reported, the severity of a delinquency, and 

20 when or whether a collection tradeline appears 

21 on a consumer’s credit report. 

22 (E) Medical patients may be uncertain 

23 about what they owe, to whom, when, or for 

24 what, causing some consumers who ordinarily 

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1 ments on medical debts. In many instances, 

2 consumers’ uncertainty about medical bills can 

3 result in medical debt collections appearing on 

4 their consumer reports. In a December 2014 re5 port titled ‘‘Consumer Credit Reports: A Study 

6 of Medical and Non-Medical Collections’’, the 

7 Bureau found that a large portion of consumers 

8 with medical debts in collections show no other 

9 evidence of financial distress and are consumers 

10 who ordinarily pay their other financial obliga11 tions on time. Unlike credit cards, installment 

12 loans, utilities, or wireless or cable services that 

13 have contractual account disclosures describing 

14 terms and conditions of use, most consumers 

15 are not told what their out-of-pocket medical 

16 costs will be in advance. Consumers needing ur17 gent or emergency care rarely know, or are pro18 vided, the cost of a treatment or procedure be19 fore the service is rendered. 

20 (F) The Bureau concluded that the pres21 ence of medical collections is less predictive of 

22 future defaults or serious delinquencies than 

23 the presence of a nonmedical collection in a 

24 study titled ‘‘Data Point: Medical Debt and 

25 Credit Scores’’ issued in May 2014. 


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1 (G) In March 2013, VantageScore released 

2 a new credit scoring model (VantageScore 3.0) 

3 that excludes all paid collections. In April 2014, 

4 FICO announced that its new credit scoring 

5 model (FICO ’09) excludes any record of a con6 sumer failing to pay a bill if the bill has been 

7 paid or settled with a collection agency and also 

8 gives less weight to unpaid medical bills that 

9 are with a collection agency. Many Americans, 

10 therefore, could see significant improvements in 

11 their credit scores if creditors and lenders used 

12 the latest versions of credit scoring models that 

13 treat medical debt differently. 

14 (8) FINANCIAL ABUSE BY KNOWN PERSONS.— 

15 (A) Financial abuse is frequently associ16 ated with domestic violence. Financial abuse in 

17 a relationship may result in fraudulent charges 

18 to a credit card, or having fraudulent loans 

19 taken out or accounts created by the abuser in 

20 the survivor’s name. Financial abuse may also 

21 result in the survivor’s inability to make valid 

22 payments because of lost income when the 

23 abuser steals from or coerces the survivor to re24 linquish their paychecks. 


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1 (B) By racking up substantial debts in the 

2 survivor’s name, abusers are able to exercise 

3 control and make it harder for the survivor, 

4 whose credit is often destroyed in the process, 

5 to escape. 

6 (C) Domestic abuse survivors with tar7 nished credit reports are likely to face signifi8 cant obstacles in establishing financial inde9 pendence from their abusers. This is because 

10 credit reports often determine a consumer’s 

11 ability to obtain a checking account, housing, 

12 insurance, utilities, employment, and even a se13 curity clearance as required for certain jobs. 

14 (D) While in many cases, identity thieves 

15 are individuals who are actually known to the 

16 survivor, providing documentation of identity 

17 theft in order to dispute information on one’s 

18 consumer report can be particularly challenging 

19 for those who know their financial abuser. 

20 (E) While it is easier for consumers who 

21 obtain a police report to remove fraudulent in22 formation from their consumer report and pre23 vent it from reappearing in the future, accord24 ing to the Empire Justice Center, safety and 

25 other noncredit concerns may prevent a survivor 


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1 of financial abuse involving a known person 

2 from involving the police. 

3 (F) According to domestic violence advo4 cates at the Legal Aid Society in New York, do5 mestic abuse survivors seeking to remove ad6 verse information stemming from financial 

7 abuse by contacting their creditors directly are 

8 likely to face skepticism about claims of identity 

9 theft perpetrated by a spouse because of an as10 sumption that the individual was aware of and 

11 may have been complicit in the activity which 

12 the survivor alleges stems from financial abuse. 

13 (9) GSE’S IMPACT ON THE USE OF UPDATED

14 VERSIONS OR ADDITIONAL CREDIT SCORING MODELS

15 BY MORTGAGE LENDERS.— 

16 (A) Despite innovation in understanding 

17 consumer behavior and credit scoring analytics, 

18 many creditors and lenders, particularly mort19 gage lenders, continue to use older versions of 

20 credit scoring models and algorithms. 

21 (B) Lenders that originate residential 

22 mortgage loans generally adhere to the under23 writing guidelines set by Fannie Mae and 

24 Freddie Mac, which reference the 2004 FICO 

25 credit scoring model (developed more than a 


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1 decade ago), not the most recent version devel2 oped in 2009 (that was released in 2014). 

3 (C) Despite changes in recent years to 

4 credit scoring models offered by major credit 

5 scoring developers VantageScore and FICO to 

6 reflect current research about consumer behav7 ior and creditworthiness, it is likely that paid 

8 collections (medical or otherwise) will continue 

9 to be factored into the risk level of each con10 sumer shopping for credit because only a small 

11 percentage of creditors may actually be using 

12 the latest models. 

13 (10) CONSUMERS’ CONFUSION ABOUT CON14 SUMER REPORTS AND CREDIT SCORES.— 

15 (A) A July 2011 Bureau report titled 

16 ‘‘The Impact of Differences between Consumer17 and Creditor-Purchased Credit Scores’’ found 

18 that the credit scores made available to and 

19 purchased by consumers are unlikely to be the 

20 same credit scores used by creditors and lend21 ers. 

22 (B) That report found that the scarcity of 

23 public educational tools to inform consumers of 

24 the differences among credit scores, the large 

25 combined market share and brand recognition 


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1 of FICO credit scores, and the marketing prac2 tices of some credit score sellers may perpetuate 

3 consumers’ confusion about credit scores. Con4 sumers may be purchasing an educational credit 

5 score or subscribing to a credit monitoring serv6 ice sold by CRAs without realizing the limita7 tions and usefulness of these products and serv8 ices. 

9 (C) A September 2012 Bureau report ti10 tled ‘‘Analysis of Differences between 

11 Consumer- and Creditor-Purchased Credit 

12 Scores’’ found different types of scores, such as 

13 those provided by FICO, VantageScore, or 

14 other educational scores, vary greatly. The re15 port noted that consumers do not know before 

16 they purchase a score from a CRA whether this 

17 score will closely track or vary significantly 

18 from the score sold to creditors or lenders. Due 

19 to this lack of transparency and the resulting 

20 consumer confusion, the Bureau recommended 

21 that companies selling scores to consumers in22 form them that the scores that they are pur23 chasing can vary, sometimes substantially, from 

24 the scores that are sold to and used by creditors 

25 and lenders. Absent increased transparency a 


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1 substantial number of consumers will continue 

2 to hold misleading and inaccurate views of their 

3 own creditworthiness that may impact how and 

4 whether they shop for credit. 

5 (D) In February 2011, a Consumer Fed6 eration of America and VantageScore study also 

7 found that the general public lacks a clear un8 derstanding of what credit scores represent. 

9 The report found that half of the consumers 

10 surveyed did not know that a credit score is de11 signed to indicate the risk of not repaying a 

12 loan. Consumers also did not know who makes 

13 credit scores available, what numerical range 

14 constitutes excellent credit standing, or the fi15 nancial implications of having a low credit 

16 score. 

17 (E) Many consumers do not realize that 

18 they have more than just ‘‘one’’ credit score. 

19 Because the submission of credit information to 

20 CRAs is voluntary and not all furnishers submit 

21 information to every CRA, the information con22 tained in a consumer’s credit report also varies 

23 among CRAs. As a result, the credit score gen24 erated by each CRA is likely to vary, resulting 

25 in potentially different credit decisions based on 


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1 an evaluation of different credit reports ob2 tained from different CRAs. 

3 (F) A February 2015 Bureau report titled 

4 ‘‘Consumer Voices on Credit Reports and 

5 Scores’’ found that consumers had questions 

6 about what actions to take to improve their 

7 scores once they had seen them, suggesting that 

8 additional disclosures and educational content is 

9 necessary. The Bureau found that consumers 

10 were confused by conflicting advice on how to 

11 improve their scores. 

12 (G) That report noted that consumers 

13 found the process for obtaining consumer re14 ports and credit scores confusing. Consumers 

15 also were uncertain whether and under what 

16 circumstances they could obtain a consumer re17 port for free. 

18 (11) DECEPTIVE AND MISLEADING MARKETING

19 PRACTICES.— 

20 (A) The Bureau’s February 2015 report ti21 tled ‘‘Consumer Voices on Credit Reports and 

22 Scores’’ found that some consumers did not 

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1 chasing unwanted products like an additional 

2 report or a credit monitoring service. 

3 (B) CRAs frequently lure consumers into 

4 purchasing products and services that they may 

5 not want or need by offering such products or 

6 services ‘‘free of charge’’ for an introductory 

7 trial period before such products automatically 

8 convert into an ongoing subscription service at 

9 the regular price until the offer is cancelled. 

10 (C) Given the ubiquitous use of consumer 

11 reports in consumers’ lives and the fact that 

12 consumers’ participation in the credit reporting 

13 system is involuntary, CRAs should prioritize 

14 providing consumers with the effective means to 

15 safeguard their personal and financial informa16 tion and improve their credit standing, rather 

17 than seeking to exploit consumers’ concerns for 

18 their companies’ financial gain. 

19 (D) Vulnerable consumers, who have legiti20 mate concerns about the security of their per21 sonal and financial information, deserve clear, 

22 accurate, and transparent information about 

23 the credit reporting tools that may be available 

24 to them, such as fraud alerts and audit freezes. 

25 (12) LOAN COMPARISON SHOPPING.— 


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1 (A) The Bureau’s February 2015 report ti2 tled ‘‘Consumer Voices on Credit Reports and 

3 Scores’’ found that while consumers stand to 

4 benefit when they shop for credit, some con5 sumers are reluctant to shop for loans and 

6 other types of consumer credit products out of 

7 fear that in doing so they will harm their credit 

8 scores. 

9 (B) The Bureau found that one of the 

10 most common barriers for people in reviewing 

11 their own consumer reports and shopping for 

12 the best credit terms was a lack of under13 standing of the differences between ‘‘soft’’ and 

14 ‘‘hard’’ inquiries and whether requesting a copy 

15 of their own consumer report adversely impacts 

16 their credit. 

17 (C) The Bureau revealed that a consumer 

18 with an accurate perception of his or her credit 

19 standing may be better equipped to shop for fa20 vorable credit terms. 

21 (13) PROTECTIONS FOR CONSUMERS’ CREDIT

22 INFORMATION.— 

23 (A) Despite heightened awareness, inci24 dents of identity theft continue to rise. In Feb25 ruary 2015 the FTC reported that identity 


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1 theft was the top consumer complaint that it 

2 received for the 15th consecutive year. As these 

3 incidents continue to rise, consumers experience 

4 significant financial loss and emotional distress 

5 from the inability to safeguard effectively and 

6 inexpensively their credit information from bad 

7 actors. 

8 (B) According to Javelin Strategy & 

9 Research’s 2015 Identity Fraud study, $16 bil10 lion was stolen by fraudsters from 12.7 million 

11 American consumers in 2014. Similarly, the 

12 United States Department of Justice found an 

13 estimated 7 percent of all United States resi14 dents age 16 or older (about 17.6 million per15 sons) were victims of one or more incidents of 

16 ID theft in 2014, and the number of elderly vic17 tims age 65 or older (about 86 percent) in18 creased from 2.1 million in 2012 to 2.6 million 

19 in 2014. 

20 (C) Consumers report that they are ex21 tremely worried about the security of their fi22 nancial information. According to a 2015 

23 MasterCard survey, a majority of consumers 

24 (77 percent) are anxious about their financial 

25 information and Social Security numbers being 


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1 stolen or compromised, with about 55 percent 

2 of consumers indicating that they would rather 

3 have naked pictures of themselves leaked online 

4 than have their financial information stolen. 

5 (D) The 2015 MasterCard survey revealed 

6 that consumers’ concerns about the online secu7 rity of their financial information even out8 weighed consumers’ worries about other phys9 ical security dangers such as having their 

10 houses robbed (59 percent) or being 

11 pickpocketed (46 percent). 

12 (E) Despite the increasing risks consumers 

13 face, there is no Federal requirement that en14 sures victims, the elderly and other vulnerable 

15 consumers have access to credit freezes, the 

16 best tool for protecting against new account 

17 fraud, free of charge. Nor is there a Federal re18 quirement to ensure that consumers regardless 

19 of where they live can proactively place a credit 

20 freeze on their consumer report to guard 

21 against the risk of identity theft and fraud for 

22 a fair and reasonable fee. 

23 (F) As a result of varying State laws, 

24 many consumers may be unable to quickly lift 

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1 port, either for a specific creditor or category of 

2 creditors, when the time comes for the con3 sumer to obtain credit. Indeed, many consumers 

4 may not be taking advantage of existing credit 

5 freeze rights provided at the State level if they 

6 perceive the benefits of this protection to be 

7 outweighed by the burden associated with using 

8 it. 

9 (G) According to Consumer Reports, 

10 roughly 50 million American consumers spent 

11 about 3.5 billion in 2010 to purchase products 

12 aimed at protecting their identity, with the an13 nual cost of the services ranging from $120 to 

14 $300. As risks to consumers’ personal and fi15 nancial information continue to grow, con16 sumers need additional protections to ensure 

17 that they have fair and reasonable access to the 

18 full suite of identity theft and fraud prevention 

19 measures that may be right for them. 

20 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

21 Except as otherwise specified, the amendments made 

22 by this Act shall take effect 2 years after the date of the 

23 enactment of this Act. 


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1 TITLE I—FIXING THE DISPUTE 

2 PROCESS 

3 SEC. 101. ESTABLISHES A NEW RIGHT TO APPEAL DIS4 PUTES COMPLETED BY CONSUMER REPORT5 ING AGENCIES AND FURNISHERS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 611(a) of the Fair Credit 

7 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)) is amended to read 

8 as follows: 

9 ‘‘(a) REINVESTIGATIONS OF DISPUTED INFORMA10 TION BY A CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY.— 

11 ‘‘(1) REINVESTIGATIONS REQUIRED.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection 

13 (f), if the completeness or accuracy of any item 

14 of information contained in a consumer’s file at 

15 a consumer reporting agency is disputed by the 

16 consumer and the consumer notifies the agency 

17 (either directly or indirectly through a reseller 

18 or an authorized third party) of such dispute, 

19 the agency shall, free of charge— 

20 ‘‘(i) conduct a reasonable reinvestiga21 tion using the process described in para22 graph (3) to determine whether the dis23 puted information is inaccurate, incom24 plete, or cannot be verified; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) notify the consumer that a nota2 tion described in section 605(e) will be 

3 added to the consumer’s file until the re4 investigation has been completed and that 

5 such notation can be removed at the re6 quest of the consumer; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) before the end of the 30-day pe8 riod beginning on the date on which the 

9 consumer reporting agency receives the no10 tice of the dispute from the consumer or 

11 the reseller— 

12 ‘‘(I) record the current status of 

13 the disputed information; or 

14 ‘‘(II) delete or modify the item in 

15 accordance with paragraph (3)(D). 

16 ‘‘(B) EXTENSION OF PERIOD TO REINVES17 TIGATE.—Except as provided in subparagraph 

18 (C), the 30-day period described in subpara19 graph (A) may be extended for period not to ex20 ceed 15 days if the consumer reporting agency 

21 receives additional information from the con22 sumer or the reseller regarding the dispute 

23 after the date on which the consumer reporting 

24 agency notified any person who provided any 


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1 item of information in dispute under paragraph 

2 (2)(A). 

3 ‘‘(C) LIMITATIONS ON EXTENSION OF PE4 RIOD TO REINVESTIGATE.—Subparagraph (B) 

5 shall not apply to any reinvestigation in which, 

6 during the 30-day period described in subpara7 graph (A), the disputed information is found to 

8 be inaccurate or incomplete, or the consumer 

9 reporting agency determines that the disputed 

10 information cannot be verified. 

11 ‘‘(2) PROMPT NOTICE OF DISPUTE TO FUR12 NISHER OF INFORMATION; PROVISION OF INFORMA13 TION REGARDING DISPUTE PROVIDED BY THE CON14 SUMER OR RESELLER.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Before the end of the 

16 period of 5 business days beginning on the date 

17 on which a consumer reporting agency receives 

18 notice of a dispute from any consumer or re19 seller under paragraph (1)(A), the consumer re20 porting agency shall provide notification of the 

21 dispute to any person who provided any item of 

22 information in dispute, at the address and in 

23 the manner established with such person. The 

24 notice shall include all information, including 

25 substantiating documents, regarding the dispute 


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1 that was submitted to the consumer reporting 

2 agency. 

3 ‘‘(B) PROVISION OF ADDITIONAL INFORMA4 TION REGARDING DISPUTE AFTER NOTIFICA5 TION TO THE FURNISHER OF INFORMATION.— 

6 If a consumer reporting agency receives addi7 tional information regarding the dispute from 

8 the consumer or reseller after the agency pro9 vides the notification described under subpara10 graph (A) and before the end of the 30-day pe11 riod described in paragraph (1)(A), the con12 sumer reporting agency shall, not later than 3 

13 business days after receiving such information, 

14 provide such information to the person who pro15 vided the information in dispute. 

16 ‘‘(3) REASONABLE STANDARDS FOR CONSUMER

17 REPORTING AGENCIES FOR CONDUCTING REINVES18 TIGATIONS AND RESOLVING DISPUTES SUBMITTED

19 BY CONSUMERS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In conducting a re21 investigation of disputed information, a con22 sumer reporting agency shall, at a minimum— 

23 ‘‘(i) maintain sufficient resources and 

24 trained staff, commensurate with the vol25 ume and complexity of disputes received or 


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1 reasonably anticipated to be received, to 

2 determine whether the disputed informa3 tion is accurate, complete, or can be 

4 verified by the person who provided the in5 formation; 

6 ‘‘(ii) ensure that all staff involved at 

7 any level of the reinvestigation process, in8 cluding any individual with ultimate au9 thority over determining whether the dis10 puted information is inaccurate, incom11 plete, or cannot be verified, are located 

12 within the United States; 

13 ‘‘(iii) verify that the personally identi14 fiable information of the consumer submit15 ting the dispute matches the personally 

16 identifiable information contained in the 

17 consumer’s file, and that such information 

18 is accurate and complete; 

19 ‘‘(iv) verify that the consumer report20 ing agency has a record of the information 

21 being disputed; and 

22 ‘‘(v) conduct a reasonable review that 

23 considers all information, including sub24 stantiating documents, provided by the 

25 consumer or reseller. 


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1 ‘‘(B) CONSUMER REPORTING.—The con2 sumer reporting agency shall not impose any 

3 limitation or otherwise impede the ability of a 

4 consumer to submit information about the dis5 puted item. 

6 ‘‘(C) INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS.—The re7 investigation conducted under subparagraph 

8 (A) shall be an independent analysis, separate 

9 from any investigation by a reseller or a person 

10 who provided the disputed information. 

11 ‘‘(D) DELETION OR MODIFICATION OF IN12 FORMATION CONTAINED IN A CONSUMER

13 FILE.—If the disputed information is found to 

14 be inaccurate, incomplete, or cannot be verified, 

15 the dispute resolution staff of the consumer re16 porting agency shall have the direct authority to 

17 delete or modify such information in the con18 sumer’s file, as appropriate, during the 30-day 

19 period described in paragraph (1)(A), shall 

20 promptly notify the consumer of the results of 

21 the reinvestigation as described in paragraph 

22 (4), and shall promptly notify any person who 

23 provided such information to the consumer re24 porting agency of the modification or deletion 

25 made to the consumer’s file. 


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1 ‘‘(4) NOTICE TO CONSUMER OF RESULTS OF

2 REINVESTIGATION.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 busi4 ness days after the conclusion of a reinvestiga5 tion conducted under this subsection, the con6 sumer reporting agency shall provide written 

7 notice to the consumer of the results of the re8 investigation by postal mail or, if authorized by 

9 the consumer for that purpose, by other means 

10 available to the agency. 

11 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF NOTICE TO CONSUMER

12 OF RESULTS OF REINVESTIGATION.—The notice 

13 described in subparagraph (A) shall include— 

14 ‘‘(i) a statement that the reinvestiga15 tion of the disputed information has been 

16 completed; 

17 ‘‘(ii) a statement informing the con18 sumer as to whether the disputed informa19 tion was determined to be inaccurate, in20 complete, or unverifiable, including a state21 ment of the specific reasons supporting the 

22 determination; 

23 ‘‘(iii) if information in the consumer’s 

24 file has been deleted or modified as a re25 sult of the reinvestigation— 


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1 ‘‘(I) a copy of the consumer re2 port and credit score or educational 

3 score (if applicable) that is based 

4 upon the consumer’s revised file; 

5 ‘‘(II) a statement identifying the 

6 specific information from the con7 sumer’s file that was deleted or modi8 fied because such information was de9 termined to be inaccurate, incomplete, 

10 or unverifiable by the consumer re11 porting agency; 

12 ‘‘(III) a statement that the con13 sumer has the right, free of charge, to 

14 obtain an additional consumer report 

15 and credit score or educational credit 

16 score (if applicable) within the 12- 

17 month period following the date of the 

18 conclusion of the reinvestigation, re19 gardless of whether the consumer ob20 tained or will obtain a free annual 

21 consumer report and credit score or 

22 educational score (if applicable) under 

23 section 612; and 

24 ‘‘(IV) a statement that the con25 sumer has the right, free of charge, to 


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1 request under subsection (d) that the 

2 consumer reporting agency furnish 

3 notifications of the consumer’s revised 

4 report; 

5 ‘‘(iv) a description of the procedure 

6 used by the dispute resolution staff of the 

7 consumer reporting agency to determine 

8 the accuracy or completeness of the infor9 mation, including the business name, mail10 ing address, telephone number, and Inter11 net website address (if available) of any 

12 person who provided information who was 

13 contacted by the staff in connection with 

14 the determination; 

15 ‘‘(v) a statement that the consumer 

16 has the right, free of charge, to add a nar17 rative statement to the consumer’s file dis18 puting the accuracy or completeness of the 

19 information, regardless of the results of 

20 the reinvestigation by the agency, and the 

21 process for submitting such a narrative 

22 pursuant to subsection (b); 

23 ‘‘(vi) a copy of all information relating 

24 to the consumer that was used by the con25 sumer reporting agency in carrying out the 


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1 reinvestigation and relied upon as the basis 

2 for the determination about the accuracy 

3 and completeness of the disputed informa4 tion; 

5 ‘‘(vii) a statement that a consumer 

6 may, free of charge, challenge the results 

7 of the reinvestigation by appeal within 120 

8 days after the date the notice of the results 

9 of the reinvestigation was provided to the 

10 consumer and the process for submitting 

11 an appeal; 

12 ‘‘(viii) a statement informing the con13 sumer that a notation described in section 

14 605(e) will be added to the file of the con15 sumer during the period in which the con16 sumer appeals the results of a reinvestiga17 tion and that such notation can be re18 moved at the request of the consumer; and 

19 ‘‘(ix) any other information, as deter20 mined by the Bureau. 

21 ‘‘(5) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO REINSER22 TION OF PREVIOUSLY DELETED OR MODIFIED MATE23 RIAL.— 

24 ‘‘(A) CERTIFICATION OF NEW DETERMINA25 TION THAT ITEM IS ACCURATE OR COMVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 May 23, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00048 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5282.IH H5282

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1 PLETE.—A consumer reporting agency may not 

2 reinsert into a consumer’s file any information 

3 that was previously deleted or modified pursu4 ant to paragraph (3)(D), unless the person who 

5 provided the information— 

6 ‘‘(i) requests that the consumer re7 porting agency reinsert such information; 

8 ‘‘(ii) submits a written certification 

9 that the information is accurate and com10 plete; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) provides a statement describing 

12 the specific reasons why the information 

13 should be inserted. 

14 ‘‘(B) NOTICE TO CONSUMER BEFORE RE15 INSERTION CAN OCCUR.—Upon receipt of a re16 quest for reinsertion of disputed information 

17 under subparagraph (A), the consumer report18 ing agency shall, not later than 5 business days 

19 before the consumer reporting agency reinserts 

20 the information into the consumer’s file, notify 

21 the consumer in writing of such request for re22 insertion. Such notice shall include— 

23 ‘‘(i) the business name, mailing ad24 dress, telephone number, and Internet 

25 website address (if available) of any person 


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1 who provided information to or contacted 

2 the consumer reporting agency in connec3 tion with the reinsertion; 

4 ‘‘(ii) a copy of the information relat5 ing to the consumer, the certification that 

6 the information is accurate or complete, 

7 and the statement of the reasons sup8 porting reinsertion provided by the person 

9 who provided the information to the con10 sumer reporting agency under subpara11 graph (A); 

12 ‘‘(iii) a statement that the consumer 

13 may obtain, free of charge and within the 

14 12-month period following the date the no15 tice under this subparagraph was issued, a 

16 consumer report and credit score or edu17 cational score (if applicable) from the con18 sumer reporting agency that includes the 

19 reinserted information, regardless of 

20 whether the consumer obtained or will ob21 tain a free annual consumer report and 

22 credit score or educational credit score (if 

23 applicable) under section 612; 

24 ‘‘(iv) a statement that the consumer 

25 may appeal the determination that the preVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 May 23, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5282.IH H5282

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1 viously deleted or modified information is 

2 accurate or complete and a description of 

3 the procedure for the consumer to make 

4 such an appeal pursuant to subsection (h); 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(v) a statement that the consumer 

7 has the right to add a narrative statement, 

8 free of charge, to the consumer’s file dis9 puting the accuracy or completeness of the 

10 disputed information and a description of 

11 the process to add such a narrative state12 ment pursuant to subsection (b). 

13 ‘‘(6) EXPEDITED DISPUTE RESOLUTION.—If a 

14 consumer reporting agency determines that the in15 formation provided by the consumer is sufficient to 

16 substantiate that the item of information is inac17 curate, incomplete, or cannot be verified by the per18 son who furnished such information, and the con19 sumer reporting agency deletes or modifies such in20 formation within 3 business days of receiving notice 

21 of the dispute, the consumer reporting agency shall 

22 be exempt from the requirements of paragraph (4), 

23 if the consumer reporting agency provides to the 

24 consumer— 


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1 ‘‘(A) prompt notice confirming the deletion 

2 or modification of the information from the con3 sumer’s file in writing or by other means, if 

4 agreed to by the consumer when the informa5 tion is disputed; 

6 ‘‘(B) a statement of the consumer’s right 

7 to request that the consumer reporting agency 

8 furnish notifications of a revised consumer re9 port pursuant to subsection (d); 

10 ‘‘(C) not later than 5 business days after 

11 deleting or modifying the information, a copy of 

12 the consumer report and credit score or edu13 cational score (if applicable) that is based upon 

14 the consumer’s revised file; and 

15 ‘‘(D) a statement that the consumer may 

16 obtain, free of charge and within the 12-month 

17 period following the date the notice under this 

18 paragraph was sent to the consumer, a con19 sumer report and credit score or educational 

20 score (if applicable) from the consumer report21 ing agency, regardless of whether the consumer 

22 obtained or will obtain their free annual con23 sumer report and credit score or educational 

24 score (if applicable) under section 612. 


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1 ‘‘(7) NO EXCUSE FOR FAILURE TO CONDUCT

2 REINVESTIGATION.—A consumer reporting agency 

3 may not refuse to conduct a reinvestigation under 

4 this subsection because the agency determines that 

5 the dispute was submitted by an authorized third 

6 party, unless the agency has clear and convincing 

7 evidence that the third party is not authorized to 

8 submit the dispute on the consumer’s behalf. If the 

9 consumer reporting agency refuses to reinvestigate a 

10 dispute for these reasons, it shall provide a clear and 

11 conspicuous notice to the consumer explaining the 

12 reasons for the refusal and describing the specific in13 formation the consumer is required to provide for 

14 the agency to conduct the reinvestigation.’’. 

15 (b) ENSURING CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES

16 FURNISH CERTAIN NOTIFICATIONS WITHOUT CHARGE.— 

17 Section 611(d) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

18 U.S.C. 1681i(d)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and without 

19 charge’’ after ‘‘request of the consumer’’. 

20 (c) INCLUDING SPECIALTY CONSUMER REPORTING

21 AGENCIES IN REPORTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 611(e) of the Fair 

23 Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i(e)) is 

24 amended by inserting ‘‘or 603(x)’’ after ‘‘section 

25 603(p)’’. 


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1 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (1) 

2 of such section (15 U.S.C. 1681i(e)(1)) is amended 

3 by striking ‘‘The Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘The 

4 Bureau’’. 

5 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such Act is fur6 ther amended— 

7 (1) in section 605B(c)(2), by striking ‘‘section 

8 611(a)(5)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 611(a)(5)’’; 

9 (2) in section 611— 

10 (A) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘unless 

11 there is reasonable grounds to believe that it is 

12 frivolous or irrevelant,’’; and 

13 (B) in subsection (f)(3)— 

14 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

15 ‘‘paragraph (6), (7), or (8) of subsection 

16 (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (4) or (5) of 

17 subsection (a)’’; and 

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

19 ‘‘in the manner required under paragraph 

20 (8)(A)’’; and 

21 (3) in section 623(b)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘rel22 evant’’ before ‘‘information’’. 

23 (e) GLOBAL TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO REF24 ERENCES TO NATIONWIDE SPECIALTY CONSUMER RE25 PORTING AGENCY.—Such Act is further amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘section 603(w)’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘section 603(x)’’ each place such term appears; and 

3 (2) in section 612(a)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘(w)’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘(x)’’. 

5 SEC. 102. CREATES REASONABLE DISPUTE PROCEDURES 

6 FOR FURNISHERS OF INFORMATION AND 

7 MEANINGFUL DISCLOSURES TO CONSUMERS 

8 ABOUT INVESTIGATIONS; NOTICES BY FUR9 NISHERS TO CONSUMERS OF REPORTING OF 

10 NEGATIVE ITEMS TO CONSUMER REPORTING 

11 AGENCIES. 

12 Section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

13 U.S.C. 1681i) is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing new subsection: 

15 ‘‘(g) INCREASED CONSUMER AWARENESS OF DIS16 PUTE RIGHTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

18 after the date of enactment of this subsection, each 

19 consumer reporting agency described under sub20 section (p) or (x) of section 603 shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) establish an Internet website acces22 sible to consumers; and 

23 ‘‘(B) post on the home page of such 

24 website a hyperlink to a separate webpage es25 tablished and maintained solely for the purpose 


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1 of providing information to a consumer about 

2 how to dispute an item of information in the 

3 consumer report of the consumer. 

4 ‘‘(2) DISPUTE WEBPAGE REQUIREMENTS.—For 

5 a consumer reporting agency described under sub6 section (p) or (x) of section 603, the separate dis7 pute webpage described in paragraph (1)(B)— 

8 ‘‘(A) may not include any type or form of 

9 marketing, advertising, information, or material 

10 associated with any products or services offered 

11 or sold to consumers; 

12 ‘‘(B) shall clearly and conspicuously dis13 close a concise statement regarding how to file 

14 a dispute through the agency, free of charge, in 

15 the manner and format prescribed by the Bu16 reau; 

17 ‘‘(C) shall describe the types of documents 

18 that will be used by the agency in resolving the 

19 dispute, including the business name and mail20 ing address to which a consumer may send such 

21 documents; 

22 ‘‘(D) shall include a clear and concise ex23 planation of and the process for using electronic 

24 or other means to submit such documents, free 


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1 of charge, and without any character or data 

2 limitation imposed by the agency; 

3 ‘‘(E) shall include a statement that the 

4 consumer may submit information, free of 

5 charge, that the consumer believes will assist 

6 the consumer reporting agency in determining 

7 the results of the reinvestigation of the dispute; 

8 ‘‘(F) shall clearly and conspicuously dis9 close a statement describing the procedure like10 ly to be used by the consumer reporting agency 

11 in carrying out a reinvestigation to determine 

12 the accuracy or completeness of the disputed 

13 item of information, including the time period 

14 in which the consumer will be notified of the re15 sults of the reinvestigation, and a statement 

16 that the agency may extend the reinvestigation 

17 period by an additional 15 days if the consumer 

18 submits additional information after a certain 

19 date; and 

20 ‘‘(G) shall provide translations of all infor21 mation on the webpage in each of the 10 most 

22 commonly spoken languages, other than 

23 English, in the United States, as determined by 

24 the Bureau of the Census on an ongoing basis, 


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1 and in formats accessible to individuals with 

2 hearing or vision impairments.’’. 

3 SEC. 103. CREATES REASONABLE DISPUTE PROCEDURES 

4 FOR CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES AND 

5 MEANINGFUL DISCLOSURES TO CONSUMERS 

6 ABOUT REINVESTIGATIONS. 

7 Section 623 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

8 U.S.C. 1681s–2) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new subsection: 

10 ‘‘(f) DUTY OF FURNISHERS TO MAINTAIN RECORDS

11 OF CONSUMERS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person who furnishes in13 formation to a consumer reporting agency relating 

14 to a consumer who has an account with that person 

15 shall maintain all information necessary to substan16 tiate the accuracy and completeness of the informa17 tion furnished, including any records establishing the 

18 liability and terms and conditions under which credit 

19 was extended to a consumer and any payment his20 tory with respect to such credit. 

21 ‘‘(2) RETENTION PERIOD.—Records described 

22 under paragraph (1) shall be maintained until the 

23 information with respect to which the records relate 

24 may no longer be included in a consumer report pur25 suant to sections 605, 605C, 605D, and 605E. 


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1 ‘‘(3) TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP.—If a person 

2 providing information to a consumer reporting agen3 cy is acquired by another person, or if another per4 son acquires the right to repayment connected to 

5 such information, the acquiring person shall be sub6 ject to the requirements of this subsection with re7 spect to such information to the same extent as the 

8 person who initially provided such information to the 

9 consumer reporting agency. The person selling or 

10 transferring the right to repayment shall provide the 

11 information described in paragraph (1) to the trans12 feree or the acquirer.’’. 

13 SEC. 104. INCREASES CONSUMERS’ AWARENESS OF DIS14 PUTE RIGHTS AND TOOLS FOR CHAL15 LENGING ERRORS. 

16 (a) DUTY TO PROVIDE ACCURATE AND COMPLETE

17 INFORMATION.—Section 623(a) of the Fair Credit Re18 porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)) is amended— 

19 (1) in the subsection heading, by inserting 

20 ‘‘AND COMPLETE’’ after ‘‘ACCURATE’’; 

21 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

22 (A) by inserting ‘‘or incomplete’’ after ‘‘in23 accurate’’ each place that term appears; and 

24 (B) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ‘‘or 

25 completeness’’ after ‘‘accuracy’’; and 


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1 (3) in paragraph (8)— 

2 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

3 ‘‘and completeness’’ after ‘‘accuracy’’; and 

4 (B) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ‘‘or 

5 completeness’’ after ‘‘accuracy’’. 

6 (b) NEGATIVE INFORMATION NOTICES TO CON7 SUMERS.—Section 623(a)(7) (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)(7)) 

8 of such Act is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(7) DUTY OF FURNISHERS TO INFORM CON10 SUMERS ABOUT REPORTING NEGATIVE INFORMA11 TION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) GENERAL NEGATIVE INFORMATION

13 WARNING NOTICE TO ALL CONSUMERS PRIOR

14 TO FURNISHING SUCH INFORMATION.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any person that 

16 regularly furnishes negative information to 

17 a consumer reporting agency described in 

18 subsection (p) or (x) of section 603 about 

19 activity on any accounts of a consumer 

20 held by such person or transactions associ21 ated with credit extended to a consumer by 

22 such person shall provide a written general 

23 negative information warning notice to 

24 each such consumer before such person 


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1 may furnish any negative information re2 lating to such a consumer. 

3 ‘‘(ii) CONTENT.—Such notice shall— 

4 ‘‘(I) be clear and conspicuous; 

5 ‘‘(II) describe the types of activi6 ties that constitute negative informa7 tion; 

8 ‘‘(III) inform the consumer that 

9 the person may report negative infor10 mation relating to any such accounts 

11 or transactions to a consumer report12 ing agency described in subsection (p) 

13 or (x) of section 603; 

14 ‘‘(IV) state that the negative in15 formation may appear on a consumer 

16 report of the consumer for the periods 

17 described in section 605 and that dur18 ing such periods, the negative infor19 mation may adversely impact the con20 sumer’s credit score; 

21 ‘‘(V) state that in some limited 

22 circumstances, the negative informa23 tion may result in other adverse ac24 tions, including a denial of a new job 


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1 or a promotion from existing employ2 ment; and 

3 ‘‘(VI) state that the consumer 

4 has right to— 

5 ‘‘(aa) obtain a copy of their 

6 consumer report and credit score 

7 or educational score (if applica8 ble), which in some instances can 

9 be obtained free of charge, from 

10 any consumer reporting agency 

11 to which negative information 

12 may be been sent; and 

13 ‘‘(bb) dispute, free of 

14 charge, any errors on a consumer 

15 report relating to the consumer. 

16 ‘‘(iii) TIMING OF NOTICE.—Such per17 son shall provide such notice to a consumer 

18 not later than 90 days before the date on 

19 which the person furnishes negative infor20 mation relating to such consumer. 

21 ‘‘(B) SPECIFIC NEGATIVE INFORMATION

22 NOTICE TO A CONSUMER.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any person de24 scribed in subparagraph (A) that has fur25 nished negative information relating to acVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 May 23, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00062 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5282.IH H5282

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1 tivity on any accounts of a consumer held 

2 by such person or transactions associated 

3 with credit extended to a consumer by such 

4 person to a consumer reporting agency de5 scribed in subsection (p) or (x) of section 

6 603 shall send a written notice to each 

7 such consumer. 

8 ‘‘(ii) CONTENT.—Such notice shall— 

9 ‘‘(I) be clear and conspicuous; 

10 ‘‘(II) inform the consumer that 

11 the person has furnished negative in12 formation relating to such accounts or 

13 transactions to a consumer reporting 

14 agency described in subsection (p) or 

15 (x) of section 603; 

16 ‘‘(III) identify any consumer re17 porting agency to which the negative 

18 information was furnished, including 

19 the name of the agency, mailing ad20 dress, Internet website address, and 

21 toll-free telephone number; and 

22 ‘‘(IV) include the statements de23 scribed in subclauses (IV), (V), and 

24 (VI) of subparagraph (A)(ii). 


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1 ‘‘(iii) TIME OF NOTICE.—Such person 

2 shall provide such notice to a consumer not 

3 later than 5 business days after the date 

4 on which the person furnished negative in5 formation relating to such consumer. 

6 ‘‘(C) NOTICE EFFECTIVE FOR SUBSE7 QUENT SUBMISSIONS.—After providing the no8 tice described in subparagraph (B), the person 

9 may submit additional negative information to 

10 a consumer reporting agency described in sub11 section (p) or (x) of section 603 without pro12 viding additional notice to the consumer, unless 

13 another person acquires the right to repayment 

14 connected to the additional negative informa15 tion. The acquiring person shall be subject to 

16 the requirements of this paragraph and shall be 

17 required to send consumers the written notices 

18 described in this paragraph, if applicable. 

19 ‘‘(D) NON-TRADITIONAL DATA FUR20 NISHERS.—Any person that furnishes negative 

21 information to a consumer reporting agency de22 scribed in subsection (p) or (x) of section 603 

23 relating to any accounts of, or transactions as24 sociated with, a consumer by such person in25 volving non-traditional data shall be subject to 


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1 the requirements described in subparagraphs 

2 (A), (B), and (C). 

3 ‘‘(E) MODEL NOTICES.— 

4 ‘‘(i) DUTY OF BUREAU.—Not later 

5 than 6 months after date of the enactment 

6 of this paragraph, the Bureau shall issue 

7 model forms for the notices described in 

8 subparagraphs (A) and (B) that a person 

9 may use to comply with the requirements 

10 of this paragraph. 

11 ‘‘(ii) USE OF MODEL NOTICE NOT RE12 QUIRED.—No provision of this paragraph 

13 may be construed to require a person to 

14 use the model notices prescribed by the 

15 Bureau. 

16 ‘‘(iii) COMPLIANCE USING MODEL NO17 TICES.—A person shall be deemed to be in 

18 compliance with the requirements of sub19 paragraph (A)(ii) or (B)(ii) (as applicable) 

20 if the person uses the model notice pre21 scribed by the Bureau. 

22 ‘‘(F) ISSUANCE OF GENERAL NEGATIVE

23 WARNING NOTICE WITHOUT SUBMITTING NEGA24 TIVE INFORMATION.—No provision of this para25 graph may be construed to require a person deVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 May 23, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00065 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5282.IH H5282

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1 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (D) to furnish 

2 negative information about a consumer to a 

3 consumer reporting agency described in sub4 section (p) or (x) of section 603. 

5 ‘‘(G) SAFE HARBOR.—A person shall not 

6 be liable for failure to perform the duties re7 quired by this paragraph if the person reason8 ably believes that the person is prohibited, by 

9 law, from contacting the consumer. 

10 ‘‘(H) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The require11 ments of subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D) 

12 shall not take effect until the date that is 6 

13 months after the date of the issuance of model 

14 forms for notices under subparagraph (E). 

15 ‘‘(I) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph, the 

16 following definitions shall apply: 

17 ‘‘(i) NEGATIVE INFORMATION.—The 

18 term ‘negative information’ means infor19 mation concerning a consumer’s delin20 quencies, late payments, insolvency, or any 

21 form of default. 

22 ‘‘(ii) NON-TRADITIONAL DATA.—The 

23 term ‘non-traditional data’ relates to tele24 communications payments, utility pay25 ments, rent payments, remittances, wire 


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1 transfers, and such other items as deter2 mined by the Bureau.’’. 

3 (c) DUTIES OF FURNISHERS AFTER RECEIVING NO4 TICE OF DISPUTE FROM A CONSUMER.—Section 

5 623(a)(8)(E) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 

6 1681s–2(a)(8)(E)) is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(E) DUTIES OF FURNISHERS AFTER RE8 CEIVING NOTICE OF DISPUTE FROM A CON9 SUMER.—After receiving a notice of dispute 

10 from a consumer pursuant to subparagraph 

11 (D), the person that provided the information 

12 in dispute to a consumer reporting agency 

13 shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) promptly provide to each con15 sumer reporting agency to which the per16 son furnished the disputed information the 

17 notice of dispute; 

18 ‘‘(ii) review all information, including 

19 any substantiating documents, provided by 

20 the consumer about the disputed informa21 tion and conduct an investigation, separate 

22 from any reinvestigation by a consumer re23 porting agency or a reseller conducted with 

24 respect to the disputed information; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) before the expiration of the pe2 riod under section 611(a)(1) within which 

3 a consumer reporting agency would be re4 quired to complete its action if the con5 sumer had elected to dispute the informa6 tion under that section, complete an inves7 tigation of the disputed information pursu8 ant to the standards described in subpara9 graph (G); 

10 ‘‘(iv) notify the consumer, in writing, 

11 of the receipt of the dispute that in12 cludes— 

13 ‘‘(I) a statement about any infor14 mation additional to the information 

15 that the person is required to main16 tain under subsection (f) that would 

17 support the person’s ability to carry 

18 out an investigation to resolve the 

19 consumer’s dispute; and 

20 ‘‘(II) a statement that the con21 sumer reporting agency to which the 

22 disputed information was provided will 

23 include a notation described in section 

24 605(e) in the consumer’s file until the 

25 investigation has been completed, and 


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1 information about how a consumer 

2 may request that such notation is re3 moved by the agency; 

4 ‘‘(v) if the investigation determines 

5 the disputed information is inaccurate, in6 complete, or unverifiable, promptly notify 

7 each consumer reporting agency to which 

8 the person furnished such information in 

9 accordance with paragraph (2); and 

10 ‘‘(vi) notify the consumer of the re11 sults of the investigation, in writing, in ac12 cordance with subparagraph (H).’’. 

13 (d) ELIMINATING FURNISHERS’ AUTHORITY TO DIS14 MISS DISPUTES AS FRIVOLOUS OR IRRELEVANT.—Section 

15 623(a)(8) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)(8)) is 

16 amended by striking subparagraph (F) and redesignating 

17 subparagraph (G) as subparagraph (F). 

18 (e) ADDITIONAL DUTIES.—Section 623(a)(8) of such 

19 Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)(8)) is further amended by add20 ing at the end the following new subparagraphs: 

21 ‘‘(G) REASONABLE STANDARDS FOR FUR22 NISHERS FOR CONDUCTING INVESTIGATIONS

23 AND RESOLVING DISPUTES SUBMITTED BY CON24 SUMERS.—In any investigation conducted by a 

25 person who furnishes information to a conVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 May 23, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00069 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5282.IH H5282

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1 sumer reporting agency of an item of informa2 tion being disputed by a consumer, the person, 

3 at a minimum— 

4 ‘‘(i) shall maintain sufficient resources 

5 and trained staff, commensurate with the 

6 volume and complexity of disputes received 

7 or reasonably anticipated to be received, to 

8 conduct investigations; 

9 ‘‘(ii) shall verify that the person has a 

10 record of the particular information being 

11 disputed, consistent with the requirements 

12 of subsection (f); 

13 ‘‘(iii) shall verify that the personally 

14 identifiable information of the consumer 

15 submitting the dispute matches the person16 ally identifiable information contained on 

17 such records; 

18 ‘‘(iv) shall conduct a reasonable re19 view to determine whether the disputed in20 formation is accurate, complete, and can 

21 be verified that considers all the informa22 tion, including any substantiating docu23 ments, provided by the consumer about the 

24 disputed information; 


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1 ‘‘(v) shall ensure that the investiga2 tion is an independent analysis that is sep3 arate from any reinvestigation by a con4 sumer reporting agency or a reseller con5 ducted with respect to the disputed infor6 mation; and 

7 ‘‘(vi) may not impose any limitations 

8 or otherwise impede the ability of a con9 sumer to submit information, including 

10 any substantiating documents, about the 

11 disputed information. 

12 ‘‘(H) CONTENTS OF THE NOTICE TO THE

13 CONSUMER ABOUT THE RESULTS OF THE IN14 VESTIGATION BY THE FURNISHER.—The notice 

15 of the results of the investigation described in 

16 subparagraph (E) shall include— 

17 ‘‘(i) a statement informing the con18 sumer as to whether the disputed informa19 tion was determined to be inaccurate, in20 complete, or unverifiable; 

21 ‘‘(ii) a statement of the specific rea22 sons supporting the results of the inves23 tigation; 

24 ‘‘(iii) a description of the procedure 

25 used by the dispute resolution staff of the 


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1 person who furnishes information to a con2 sumer reporting agency to determine the 

3 accuracy or completeness of the informa4 tion, including the business name, mailing 

5 address, telephone number, and Internet 

6 website address (if available) of any person 

7 who was contacted by the staff in connec8 tion with the determination; 

9 ‘‘(iv) a copy of all information relating 

10 to the consumer that was used in carrying 

11 out the investigation and was the basis for 

12 any determination about the accuracy or 

13 completeness of the disputed information; 

14 ‘‘(v) a statement that consumer will 

15 receive, free of charge, a copy of their con16 sumer report and credit score or edu17 cational credit score (if applicable), from 

18 any consumer reporting agency to which 

19 the disputed information had been pro20 vided, regardless of whether the consumer 

21 obtained or will obtain a free consumer re22 port and credit score or educational credit 

23 score (if applicable) in the 12-month period 

24 preceding receipt of the notice described in 


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1 this subparagraph pursuant to section 

2 612(a)(1); 

3 ‘‘(vi) if the disputed information was 

4 found to be inaccurate, incomplete, or un5 verifiable, a statement that the consumer 

6 report of the consumer shall be revised to 

7 reflect the change to the consumer’s file as 

8 a result of the investigation; 

9 ‘‘(vii) a statement that the consumer 

10 has the right to appeal the results of the 

11 investigation under paragraph (10), free of 

12 charge, within 120 days after the date of 

13 the notice of the results of the investiga14 tion was provided to the consumer and the 

15 process for submitting an appeal; 

16 ‘‘(viii) a statement that the consumer 

17 may add a narrative statement, free of 

18 charge, to the consumer’s file held by the 

19 consumer reporting agency to which the in20 formation has been furnished disputing the 

21 accuracy or completeness of the informa22 tion, regardless of the results of the inves23 tigation by the person, and the process for 

24 contacting any agency that received the 


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1 consumer’s information from the person to 

2 submit a narrative statement; 

3 ‘‘(ix) a statement informing the con4 sumer that a notation described in section 

5 605(e) will be added to the consumer’s file 

6 during the period in which the consumer 

7 appeals the results of an investigation and 

8 that such notation can be removed at the 

9 request of the consumer; and 

10 ‘‘(x) a statement that the consumer 

11 has the right to request a copy of their 

12 consumer report and credit score or edu13 cational credit score (if applicable), free of 

14 charge, within the 12-month period fol15 lowing the date of the conclusion of the in16 vestigation from any consumer reporting 

17 agency in which the disputed information 

18 had been provided, regardless of whether 

19 the consumer obtained or will obtain a free 

20 annual consumer report and credit score or 

21 educational credit score (if applicable) 

22 under this subparagraph or section 

23 612(a)(1).’’. 

24 (f) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

25 615(a)(4)(B) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘, under section 611, with a 

2 consumer reporting agency’’; and 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘furnished by the agency’’ and 

4 inserting ‘‘to a consumer reporting agency under 

5 section 611 or to a person who furnished informa6 tion to an agency under section 623’’. 

7 SEC. 105. ENHANCES ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS DU8 TIES FOR CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES 

9 AND FURNISHERS. 

10 (a) APPEALS OF REINVESTIGATIONS CONDUCTED BY

11 A CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY.—Section 611 of the 

12 Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i) is amend13 ed— 

14 (1) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘or if the 

15 consumer is unsatisfied with the results of an appeal 

16 conducted under subsection (h),’’ after ‘‘resolve the 

17 dispute,’’; and 

18 (2) by inserting after subsection (g) (as added 

19 by section 102) the following new subsection: 

20 ‘‘(h) CONSUMER RIGHT TO APPEAL RESULTS OF A

21 CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY REINVESTIGATION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Within 120 days after the 

23 date of receipt of the results of a reinvestigation 

24 conducted under subsection (a), a consumer (or au25 thorized third party) may, free of charge, appeal the 


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1 results of such reinvestigation by submitting a notice 

2 of appeal to the consumer reporting agency. 

3 ‘‘(2) NOTICE OF APPEAL.— 

4 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS.—A notice of appeal 

5 described in paragraph (1) may be submitted in 

6 writing, or through a toll-free telephone number 

7 or other electronic means established by the 

8 consumer reporting agency (including on the 

9 Internet website described in subsection (g)), 

10 and— 

11 ‘‘(i) shall identify the information con12 tained in the consumer’s file that is the 

13 subject of the appeal; 

14 ‘‘(ii) shall describe the specific reasons 

15 for submitting the notice of appeal; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) may provide any information the 

17 consumer believes is relevant to substan18 tiate the validity of the dispute. 

19 ‘‘(B) CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY NO20 TICE TO CONSUMER.—Upon receipt of such no21 tice of appeal, the consumer reporting agency 

22 shall promptly provide to the consumer a state23 ment confirming the receipt of the consumer’s 

24 notice of appeal that shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(i) an approximate date on which the 

2 consumer’s appeal review will be com3 pleted; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the process and procedures by 

5 which such review will be conducted; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) an employee reference number 

7 or other employee identifier for each of the 

8 specific individuals designated by the con9 sumer reporting agency who, upon the re10 quest of the consumer, may discuss the 

11 substance and status of the appeal. 

12 ‘‘(3) CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY REQUIRE13 MENTS UPON RECEIPT OF NOTICE OF APPEAL.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 20 

15 days after receiving a notice of appeal, the con16 sumer reporting agency shall review the appeal. 

17 If the consumer reporting agency determines 

18 the information is inaccurate, incomplete, or 

19 cannot be verified, the consumer reporting 

20 agency shall delete or modify the item of infor21 mation being disputed by the consumer from 

22 the file of the consumer before the end of the 

23 20-day period beginning on the date on which 

24 the consumer reporting agency receives a notice 

25 of an appeal from the consumer. 


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1 ‘‘(B) NOTICE OF APPEAL TO FURNISHER; 

2 INFORMATION REGARDING DISPUTE PROVIDED

3 BY THE CONSUMER.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Before the end of 

5 the period of 3 business days beginning on 

6 the date on which a consumer reporting 

7 agency receives a notice of appeal, the con8 sumer reporting agency shall provide no9 tice of the appeal, including all information 

10 relating to the specific appeal that the con11 sumer reporting agency has received from 

12 the consumer, to any person who provided 

13 any information in dispute. 

14 ‘‘(ii) PROVISION OF ADDITIONAL IN15 FORMATION REGARDING THE DISPUTE.—If 

16 the consumer reporting agency receives ad17 ditional information from the consumer 

18 after the agency provides the notice re19 quired under clause (i) and before the end 

20 of the 20-day period described in subpara21 graph (A), the consumer reporting agency 

22 shall, not later than 3 business days after 

23 receiving such information, provide such 

24 information to any person who provided 

25 the information in dispute and shall have 


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1 an additional 10 business days to complete 

2 the appeal review. 

3 ‘‘(C) MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR APPEALS

4 EMPLOYEES.— 

5 ‘‘(i) DESIGNATION.—Upon receipt of 

6 a notice of appeal under paragraph (1), a 

7 consumer reporting agency shall designate 

8 one or more specific employees who— 

9 ‘‘(I) shall be assigned an em10 ployee reference number or other em11 ployee identifier that can be used by 

12 the consumer to discuss the appeal 

13 with the specific individuals handling 

14 the appeal; 

15 ‘‘(II) shall have direct authority 

16 to resolve the dispute that is the sub17 ject of the notice of appeal from the 

18 review stage to its completion; 

19 ‘‘(III) shall meet minimum train20 ing and ongoing certification require21 ments at regular intervals, as estab22 lished by the Bureau; 

23 ‘‘(IV) shall be located within the 

24 United States; 


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1 ‘‘(V) may not have been involved 

2 in the reinvestigation conducted or 

3 terminated pursuant to subsection (a); 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(VI) may not be subject to any 

6 requirements linking incentives, in7 cluding promotion, to the number of 

8 appeals processed within a certain 

9 time period. 

10 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—Such employ11 ees shall conduct a robust review of the ap12 peal and make a determination regarding 

13 the accuracy and completeness of the dis14 puted information by— 

15 ‘‘(I) conducting an independent 

16 analysis, separate from any investiga17 tion by a reseller or person who pro18 vided the disputed information, and 

19 separate from any prior reinvestiga20 tion conducted by the consumer re21 porting agency of the disputed infor22 mation; 

23 ‘‘(II) verifying that the personally 

24 identifiable information of the con25 sumer submitting the dispute matches 


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1 the personally identifiable information 

2 contained on the consumer’s file; 

3 ‘‘(III) analyzing the notice of ap4 peal and all information, including 

5 any substantiating documents, pro6 vided by the consumer with the notice 

7 of appeal; 

8 ‘‘(IV) evaluating the validity of 

9 any information submitted by any 

10 person that was used by the consumer 

11 reporting agency in the reinvestigation 

12 of the initial dispute; 

13 ‘‘(V) verifying that the consumer 

14 reporting agency has a record of the 

15 information being disputed; and 

16 ‘‘(VI) applying any additional 

17 factors or investigative processes, as 

18 specified by the Bureau. 

19 ‘‘(D) NOTICE OF APPEAL RESULTS.—Not 

20 later than 5 days after the end of the 20-day 

21 period described under subparagraph (A) (or 

22 the 10-day extension period, as applicable) the 

23 consumer reporting agency shall provide the 

24 consumer with written notice of the results of 

25 the appeal by postal mail or, if requested by the 


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1 consumer, by other means. The contents of 

2 such notice shall include— 

3 ‘‘(i) a statement that the appeal is 

4 completed and the date on which it was 

5 completed, the results of the appeal, and 

6 the specific reasons supporting the results 

7 of the appeal; 

8 ‘‘(ii) a copy of all information relating 

9 to the consumer that was used as a basis 

10 for deciding the results of the appeal; 

11 ‘‘(iii) a consumer report that is based 

12 upon the consumer’s file as that file may 

13 have been revised as a result of the appeal; 

14 ‘‘(iv) a description of the procedure 

15 used to determine the accuracy and com16 pleteness of the information, including the 

17 business name, telephone number, mailing 

18 address, and Internet website address (if 

19 applicable) of any person who provided in20 formation that was contacted in connection 

21 with such information, if reasonably avail22 able; 

23 ‘‘(v) information describing that the 

24 consumer may submit a statement, without 

25 charge, disputing the accuracy or comVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 May 23, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00082 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5282.IH H5282

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1 pleteness of information in the consumer’s 

2 file that was the subject of an appeal 

3 under this subsection by submitting a 

4 statement directly to each consumer re5 porting agency that received the informa6 tion; 

7 ‘‘(vi) a description of the consumer’s 

8 rights pursuant to subsection (d) (relating 

9 to furnishing notifications to certain users 

10 of consumer reports); and 

11 ‘‘(vii) any other information, as deter12 mined by the Bureau. 

13 ‘‘(E) NO EXCUSE FOR FAILURE TO CON14 DUCT APPEAL.—A consumer reporting agency 

15 may not refuse to conduct a review of an appeal 

16 under this subsection because the agency deter17 mines that the notice of appeal was submitted 

18 by an authorized third party, unless the agency 

19 has clear and convincing evidence that the third 

20 party is not authorized to submit the notice of 

21 appeal on the consumer’s behalf. If the con22 sumer reporting agency refuses to conduct a re23 view of the appeal for these reasons, it shall 

24 provide a clear and conspicuous written notice 

25 to the consumer explaining the reasons for the 


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1 refusal and describing any information the con2 sumer is required to provide for the agency to 

3 conduct a review of the appeal.’’. 

4 (b) APPEALS OF INVESTIGATIONS CONDUCTED BY

5 FURNISHERS OF INFORMATION.—Section 623(a) of the 

6 Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)) is 

7 amended by adding at the end the following new para8 graph: 

9 ‘‘(10) DUTY OF FURNISHERS OF INFORMATION

10 UPON NOTICE OF APPEAL OF INVESTIGATION.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Within 120 days of 

12 the date of receipt of the results of an inves13 tigation conducted under paragraph (8)(E), a 

14 consumer may, free of charge, appeal such re15 sults by submitting a notice of appeal to the 

16 person who provided the information in the dis17 pute to a consumer reporting agency (hereafter 

18 in this paragraph referred to as the ‘furnisher’). 

19 ‘‘(B) NOTICE OF APPEAL.—A notice of ap20 peal described in subparagraph (A) may be sub21 mitted in writing, through a toll-free telephone 

22 number, or by other electronic means estab23 lished by the furnisher, and— 


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1 ‘‘(i) shall identify the information con2 tained in the consumer’s file that is the 

3 subject of the appeal; 

4 ‘‘(ii) shall describe the specific reasons 

5 for submitting the notice of appeal; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) may include any information, in7 cluding substantiating documents, the con8 sumer believes is relevant to the appeal. 

9 ‘‘(C) FURNISHER ACTIONS.—Upon receipt 

10 of such notice of appeal, the furnisher shall— 

11 ‘‘(i) before the end of the period of 3 

12 business days beginning on the date on 

13 which the furnisher receives the notice of 

14 appeal, notify each consumer reporting 

15 agency to which the person furnished such 

16 information a statement identifying the 

17 items of information that a consumer is 

18 appealing; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) notify the consumer confirming 

20 the receipt of the consumer’s notice of ap21 peal, including an approximate date when 

22 the consumer’s appeal will be completed, 

23 the process and procedures by which a re24 view of the appeal will be conducted, and 

25 the specific individual designated by the 


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1 consumer reporting agency who, upon the 

2 request of the consumer, may discuss the 

3 substance and status of the appeal. 

4 ‘‘(D) FURNISHER REQUIREMENTS UPON

5 RECEIPT OF NOTICE OF APPEAL.—Not later 

6 than 20 days after receiving a notice of appeal, 

7 the furnisher shall determine whether the item 

8 of information being disputed by the consumer 

9 is inaccurate, incomplete, or cannot be verified, 

10 and shall notify the consumer reporting agency 

11 of the determination. If the furnisher cannot 

12 verify the accuracy or completeness of the dis13 puted information, the furnisher shall, before 

14 the end of the 20-day period beginning on the 

15 date on which the furnisher receives notice of 

16 an appeal from the consumer, submit instruc17 tions to the consumer reporting agency that the 

18 item of information being disputed by the con19 sumer should be deleted from the file of the 

20 consumer. 

21 ‘‘(E) MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR APPEALS

22 EMPLOYEES.—Upon receipt of a notice of ap23 peal under subparagraph (A), a furnisher shall 

24 designate one or more specific employees who— 


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1 ‘‘(i) shall be assigned an employee ref2 erence number or other employee identifier 

3 that can be used by the consumer to dis4 cuss the appeal with the specific individ5 uals handling the appeal; 

6 ‘‘(ii) shall have direct authority to re7 solve the dispute that is the subject of the 

8 notice of appeal on behalf of the furnisher 

9 from the review stage to its completion; 

10 ‘‘(iii) shall meet minimum training 

11 and ongoing certification requirements at 

12 regular intervals, as established by the Bu13 reau; 

14 ‘‘(iv) may not have been involved in 

15 an investigation conducted pursuant to 

16 paragraph (8); and 

17 ‘‘(v) may not be subject to any re18 quirements linking incentives, including 

19 promotion, to the number of appeals proc20 essed within a certain time period. 

21 ‘‘(F) REQUIREMENTS FOR APPEALS PROC22 ESS.—Such employees shall conduct a robust 

23 review of the appeal and make a determination 

24 regarding the accuracy and completeness of the 

25 disputed information by— 


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1 ‘‘(i) conducting an independent anal2 ysis, separate from any reinvestigation by 

3 a reseller or consumer reporting agency, of 

4 the disputed information; 

5 ‘‘(ii) verifying that the personally 

6 identifiable information related to the dis7 pute is accurate and complete; 

8 ‘‘(iii) analyzing the notice of appeal 

9 and all information, including substan10 tiating documents, provided by the con11 sumer with the notice of appeal; 

12 ‘‘(iv) evaluating the validity of any in13 formation submitted by any person that 

14 was used by the furnisher in the initial in15 vestigation into the dispute; 

16 ‘‘(v) verifying that the information 

17 being disputed relates to the consumer in 

18 whose file the information is located; 

19 ‘‘(vi) verifying that the furnisher has 

20 a record of the information being disputed; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(vii) applying any additional factors 

23 or investigative processes, as specified by 

24 the Bureau. 


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1 ‘‘(G) EXTENSION OF REVIEW PERIOD.—If 

2 a consumer submits additional information re3 lated to the appeal after the period of 3 busi4 ness days described in subparagraph (C)(i) and 

5 before the end of the 20-day period described in 

6 subparagraph (D), the furnisher shall have an 

7 additional 10 business days to complete the re8 view of the appeal. 

9 ‘‘(H) NOTICE OF APPEAL RESULTS.—Not 

10 later than 5 days after the end of the 20-day 

11 period described in subparagraph (D) (or the 

12 10 business day extension described under sub13 paragraph (G), as applicable) the furnisher 

14 shall provide the consumer with written notice 

15 of the results of the appeal by mail or, if re16 quested by the consumer, by other means. The 

17 contents of such notice shall include— 

18 ‘‘(i) a statement that the appeal is 

19 completed and the date on which it was 

20 completed, the results of the appeal, and 

21 the specific reasons supporting the results 

22 of the appeal; 

23 ‘‘(ii) a copy of all information relating 

24 to the consumer that was used as a basis 

25 for deciding the results of the appeal; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) if the appeal results in any 

2 change to the consumer report, a notifica3 tion that the consumer shall receive a copy, 

4 free of charge, of a revised consumer re5 port (based upon the consumer’s file as 

6 that file was changed as a result of the ap7 peal) and a credit score or educational 

8 credit score (if applicable) from each con9 sumer reporting agency that had been fur10 nished incorrect information; 

11 ‘‘(iv) a description of the procedure 

12 used to determine the accuracy and com13 pleteness of the information, including the 

14 business name, telephone number, mailing 

15 address, and Internet website address (if 

16 applicable), of any person who provided in17 formation that was contacted in connection 

18 with such information, if reasonably avail19 able; 

20 ‘‘(v) information describing that the 

21 consumer may submit a statement, without 

22 charge, disputing the accuracy or com23 pleteness of information in the consumer’s 

24 file that was the subject of an appeal 

25 under this paragraph by submitting a 


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1 statement directly to each consumer re2 porting agency that received the informa3 tion; and 

4 ‘‘(vi) a notification that the consumer 

5 may request the furnisher to submit to 

6 each consumer reporting agency the con7 sumer’s request to furnish notifications 

8 pursuant to section 611(d) (relating to fur9 nishing notifications to certain users of 

10 consumer reports).’’. 

11 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 623(a)(8)(A) 

12 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s– 

13 2(a)(8)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘reinvestigate’’ and in14 serting ‘‘investigate’’. 

15 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 609 of the 

16 Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g) is amend17 ed— 

18 (1) in subsection (c)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘Commission’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘Bureau’’ each place that term appears; 

21 (B) in the subsection heading, by striking 

22 ‘‘RIGHTS TO OBTAIN AND DISPUTE INFORMA23 TION IN CONSUMER REPORTS AND TO OBTAIN

24 CREDIT SCORES’’ and inserting ‘‘KEY CON25 SUMER REPORTING RIGHTS’’; and 


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1 (C) in paragraph (1)— 

2 (i) in the heading, by striking ‘‘COM3 MISSION’’ and inserting ‘‘BUREAU’’; 

4 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

5 (I) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘a 

6 consumer report without charge under 

7 section 612’’ and inserting ‘‘consumer 

8 reports and credit scores or edu9 cational credit scores (as applicable) 

10 without charge under subsections (f), 

11 (g), (i), or (j) or section 612’’; 

12 (II) in clause (iii), by inserting 

13 ‘‘or section 623’’ after ‘‘section 611’’; 

14 (III) by striking clauses (iv) and 

15 (vi); 

16 (IV) in clause (v), by striking 

17 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

18 (V) by inserting after clause (iii) 

19 the following new clause: 

20 ‘‘(iv) the right of a consumer to ap21 peal a determination of a reinvestigation 

22 conducted by a consumer reporting agency 

23 under section 611(h) or an investigation 

24 conducted by a furnisher of information 

25 under section 623(a)(10);’’; and 


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1 (VI) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing new clauses: 

3 ‘‘(vi) the method and circumstances 

4 under which certain consumers can partici5 pate in credit rehabilitation or restoration 

6 under section 605C, 605D, or 605E; and 

7 ‘‘(vii) the method and circumstances 

8 under which consumers can obtain a 1- 

9 year fraud alert, 7-year fraud alert, active 

10 duty alert, or credit freeze as described in 

11 section 605A through a consumer report12 ing agency described under section 

13 603(p).’’; 

14 (iii) in subparagraph (C), by inserting 

15 ‘‘and the Commission’’ after ‘‘Bureau’’; 

16 and 

17 (iv) by adding at the end the following 

18 new subparagraph: 

19 ‘‘(D) PUBLICATION OF SUMMARY

20 RIGHTS.—A consumer reporting agency de21 scribed under subsection (p) or (x) of section 

22 603 shall display in a clear and conspicuous 

23 manner, including on the Internet website of 

24 the consumer reporting agency, the summary of 


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1 rights prepared by the Bureau under this para2 graph.’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘Bureau and 

4 the’’ before ‘‘Commission’’. 

5 SEC. 106. REQUIRES FURNISHERS TO MAINTAIN RECORDS 

6 NECESSARY TO VERIFY ACCURACY OF DIS7 PUTES. 

8 Section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

9 U.S.C. 1681i), as amended by section 105(a)(2), is further 

10 amended by adding at the end the following new sub11 section: 

12 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENT TO SEND REVISED CONSUMER

13 REPORT TO CONSUMER.—Upon receiving a notice de14 scribed in section 623(a)(8)(E)(iv), each consumer report15 ing agency shall send to the consumer a revised consumer 

16 report and credit score or education credit score (if appli17 cable) based upon the consumer’s file as that file was 

18 changed as a result of the investigation.’’. 

19 SEC. 107. ESTABLISHES NEW REQUIREMENTS ON CON20 SUMER REPORTING AGENCIES WHEN NOTI21 FIED OF INACCURATE OR INCOMPLETE IN22 FORMATION FROM FURNISHERS. 

23 Section 605(e) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

24 U.S.C. 1681c) (as so redesignated by section 401(a)(2)) 

25 is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(e) INDICATION OF DISPUTE.— 

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

3 agency shall include in any consumer report based 

4 on the consumer’s file a notation identifying any 

5 item of information that is currently in dispute by 

6 the consumer if— 

7 ‘‘(A) a consumer disputes the completeness 

8 or accuracy of any item of information con9 tained in a consumer’s file pursuant to section 

10 611(a)(1); 

11 ‘‘(B) a consumer files with a consumer re12 porting agency an appeal of a reinvestigation 

13 pursuant to section 611(h); or 

14 ‘‘(C) the consumer reporting agency is no15 tified by a person that furnished any items of 

16 information that are currently in dispute by the 

17 consumer that— 

18 ‘‘(i) a consumer disputes the com19 pleteness or accuracy of any information 

20 furnished by a person to any consumer re21 porting agency pursuant to paragraph (3) 

22 or (8) of section 623(a); or 

23 ‘‘(ii) a consumer submits a notice of 

24 appeal under section 623(a)(10). 


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1 ‘‘(2) OPT OUT.—A consumer may submit a re2 quest to a consumer reporting agency or a person 

3 who furnished the information in dispute, as applica4 ble, to have the notation described in paragraph (1) 

5 omitted from the consumer report. Upon receipt of 

6 such a request— 

7 ‘‘(A) by a consumer reporting agency, such 

8 agency shall remove the notation within 1 busi9 ness day; and 

10 ‘‘(B) by a person who furnished the infor11 mation in dispute, such person shall submit 

12 such request to each consumer reporting agency 

13 to which the person furnished such information 

14 within 1 business day and such agency shall re15 move the notation within 1 business day of re16 ceipt of such request.’’. 

17 SEC. 108. INDICATION OF DISPUTE BY CONSUMERS AND 

18 USE OF DISPUTED INFORMATION. 

19 Section 607(b) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

20 U.S.C. 1681e) is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(b) ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS OF REPORT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In preparing a consumer 

23 report, a consumer reporting agency shall maintain 

24 reasonable procedures to ensure maximum possible 

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1 cerning the individual to whom the consumer report 

2 relates. 

3 ‘‘(2) BUREAU RULE TO ASSURE MAXIMUM POS4 SIBLE ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS WITH CREDIT

5 REPORTING PRACTICES.— 

6 ‘‘(A) RULE.—Not later than 18 months 

7 after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

8 the Bureau shall issue a final rule establishing 

9 the procedures described in paragraph (1). 

10 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—In formulating the 

11 rule required under subparagraph (A), the Bu12 reau shall— 

13 ‘‘(i) develop standards for matching 

14 the personally identifiable information in15 cluded in the consumer’s file with the per16 sonally identifiable information furnished 

17 by the person who provided the informa18 tion to the consumer reporting agency 

19 (hereafter in this subsection referred to as 

20 the ‘furnisher’), including the full name of 

21 a consumer, the date of birth of a con22 sumer, the full social security number of a 

23 consumer, and any other information that 

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1 ing maximum possible accuracy and com2 pleteness of such consumer reports; 

3 ‘‘(ii) establish processes for a con4 sumer reporting agency to monitor the in5 tegrity of the data provided by furnishers 

6 and the compliance of furnishers with the 

7 requirements of this title; 

8 ‘‘(iii) establish processes for a con9 sumer reporting agency to regularly rec10 oncile data relating to accounts in collec11 tion, including those that have not been 

12 paid in full, by specifying the cir13 cumstances under which the consumer re14 porting agency shall remove or suppress 

15 negative or adverse information from a 

16 consumer’s file that has not been updated 

17 by a furnisher who is also a debt collector 

18 (as defined in section 803 of the Fair Debt 

19 Collection Practices Act) within the time 

20 period established by the Bureau; 

21 ‘‘(iv) establish procedures to require 

22 each consumer reporting agency to review 

23 and monitor the quality of information re24 ceived from any source, including informa25 tion from public records, by regularly and 


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1 on an ongoing basis comparing the infor2 mation received to the information avail3 able from the original source and ensuring 

4 that the information received is the most 

5 current information; 

6 ‘‘(v) develop standards and procedures 

7 for consumer reporting agencies to identify 

8 furnishers that repeatedly fail to provide 

9 accurate and complete information, to take 

10 corrective action against such furnishers, 

11 and to reject information submitted by 

12 such furnishers; 

13 ‘‘(vi) develop standards and proce14 dures for consumer reporting agencies to 

15 adopt regarding collection of public record 

16 data, including standards and procedures 

17 to consider the ultimate data source, how 

18 the public record information is filed and 

19 its availability and accessibility, and wheth20 er information relating to the satisfaction 

21 of judgments or other updates to the pub22 lic record are available on a reasonably 

23 timely basis from a particular source; and 

24 ‘‘(vii) establish any other factors, pro25 cedures, or processes determined by the 


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1 Bureau to be necessary to assist consumer 

2 reporting agencies in achieving maximum 

3 possible accuracy and completeness of the 

4 information in consumer reports. 

5 ‘‘(3) CORRECTIVE ACTION FOR FURNISHERS

6 THAT REPEATEDLY FURNISH INACCURATE OR IN7 COMPLETE INFORMATION.—Upon identifying a fur8 nisher that repeatedly fails to furnish accurate, com9 plete, or verifiable information to consumer report10 ing agencies, the Bureau shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) ensure the prompt removal of any ad12 verse information relating to a consumer’s ac13 counts submitted by such furnisher; and 

14 ‘‘(B) take corrective action, which may in15 clude— 

16 ‘‘(i) mandatory revised training and 

17 training materials for the staff of the fur18 nisher regarding the furnishing of accurate 

19 and complete information; 

20 ‘‘(ii) sharing industry best practices 

21 and procedures regarding accuracy and 

22 completeness; or 

23 ‘‘(iii) temporarily prohibiting a fur24 nisher from providing information to a 

25 consumer reporting agency.’’. 


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1 SEC. 109. INCLUSION OF PUBLIC RECORD DATA SOURCES 

2 IN CONSUMER REPORTS. 

3 Section 605(d) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

4 U.S.C. 1681c(d)) is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC RECORD DATA SOURCE.—Any con7 sumer reporting agency that furnishes a consumer 

8 report that contains public record data shall also in9 clude in such report the source from which that data 

10 was obtained, including the particular court, if any, 

11 and the date that the data was initially reported or 

12 publicized.’’. 

13 SEC. 110. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF FOR VICTIMS. 

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

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

16 (1) in section 616— 

17 (A) in subsection (a), by amending the 

18 subsection heading to read as follows: ‘‘DAM19 AGES’’; 

20 (B) by redesignating subsections (c) and 

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

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

23 following new subsection: 

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

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1 posed under this title with respect to any consumer. In 

2 the event of any successful action for injunctive relief 

3 under this subsection, the court may award to the pre4 vailing party costs and reasonable attorney fees (as deter5 mined by the court) incurred during the action by such 

6 party.’’; and 

7 (2) in section 617— 

8 (A) in subsection (a), by amending the 

9 subsection heading to read as follows: ‘‘DAM10 AGES’’; 

11 (B) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub12 section (c); and 

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

14 following new subsection: 

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

16 remedy set forth in this section, a court may award injunc17 tive relief to require compliance with the requirements im18 posed under this title with respect to any consumer. In 

19 the event of any successful action for injunctive relief 

20 under this subsection, the court may award to the pre21 vailing party costs and reasonable attorney fees (as deter22 mined by the court) incurred during the action by such 

23 party.’’. 


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1 (b) ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS2 SION.—Section 621(a)(2)(A) of the Fair Credit Reporting 

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

4 (1) by amending the subparagraph heading to 

5 read as follows: ‘‘NEGLIGENT, WILLFUL, OR KNOW6 ING VIOLATIONS’’; and 

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

8 ‘‘knowing’’. 

9 TITLE II—RESTRICTING THE 

10 USE OF CREDIT CHECKS FOR 

11 EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS 

12 SEC. 201. BANS THE USE OF CREDIT INFORMATION FOR 

13 MOST EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 604 of the Fair Credit 

15 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b) is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (a)(3)(B), by inserting ‘‘, sub17 ject to the requirements of subsection (b)’’ after 

18 ‘‘purposes’’; and 

19 (2) in subsection (b)— 

20 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

21 (i) by amending the paragraph head22 ing to read as follows: ‘‘USE OF CON23 SUMER REPORTS FOR EMPLOYMENT PUR24 POSES’’; 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by redesig2 nating clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I) 

3 and (II), respectively (and conforming the 

4 margins accordingly); 

5 (iii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

6 (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respec7 tively (and conforming the margins accord8 ingly); 

9 (iv) by striking the period at the end 

10 of clause (ii) (as so redesignated) and in11 serting ‘‘; and’’; 

12 (v) by striking ‘‘agency may furnish’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘agency— 

14 ‘‘(A) may furnish’’; and 

15 (vi) by adding at the end the following 

16 new subparagraph: 

17 ‘‘(B) except as provided in paragraph (5), 

18 may not furnish a consumer report with respect 

19 to any consumer in which any information con20 tained in the report bears on the consumer’s 

21 creditworthiness, credit standing, or credit ca22 pacity.’’; and 

23 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

24 paragraphs: 


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1 ‘‘(5) REQUIREMENTS FOR CONSUMER REPORTS

2 BEARING ON THE CONSUMER’S CREDITWORTHINESS, 

3 CREDIT STANDING, OR CREDIT CAPACITY.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A person may use a 

5 consumer report with respect to any consumer 

6 in which any information contained in the re7 port bears on the consumer’s creditworthiness, 

8 credit standing, or credit capacity only if— 

9 ‘‘(i) either— 

10 ‘‘(I) the person is required to ob11 tain the report by a Federal, State, or 

12 local law; or 

13 ‘‘(II) the information contained 

14 in the report is being used with re15 spect to a national security investiga16 tion (as defined in paragraph (4)(D)); 

17 ‘‘(ii) none of the cost associated with 

18 obtaining the consumer report will be 

19 passed on to the consumer to whom the re20 port relates; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) the information contained in the 

22 consumer report will not be disclosed to 

23 any other person other than— 


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1 ‘‘(I) in an aggregate format that 

2 protects a consumer’s personally iden3 tifiable information; or 

4 ‘‘(II) as may be necessary to 

5 comply with any applicable Federal, 

6 State, or local equal employment op7 portunity law or regulation. 

8 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURES.—A person who pro9 cures, or causes to be procured, a consumer re10 port described in subparagraph (A) for employ11 ment purposes shall, in the disclosure made 

12 pursuant to paragraph (2), include— 

13 ‘‘(i) an explanation that a consumer 

14 report is being obtained for employment 

15 purposes; 

16 ‘‘(ii) the reasons for obtaining such a 

17 report; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) the citation to the applicable 

19 Federal, State, or local law or regulation 

20 described in subparagraph (A)(i)(I). 

21 ‘‘(C) ADVERSE ACTIONS.—In using a con22 sumer report described in subparagraph (A) for 

23 employment purposes and before taking an ad24 verse action based in whole or in part on the re25 port, the person intending to take such adverse 


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1 action shall, in addition to the information de2 scribed in paragraph (3), provide to the con3 sumer to whom the report relates— 

4 ‘‘(i) the name, address, and telephone 

5 number of the consumer reporting agency 

6 that furnished the report (including, for a 

7 consumer reporting agency that compiles 

8 and maintains files on consumers on a na9 tionwide basis, a toll-free telephone number 

10 established by such agency); 

11 ‘‘(ii) the date on which the report was 

12 furnished; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) the specific factors from the re14 port upon which the adverse action (as de15 fined in section 603(k)(1)(B)(ii)) was 

16 based. 

17 ‘‘(D) NATIONAL SECURITY INVESTIGA18 TIONS.—The requirements of paragraph (4) 

19 shall apply to a consumer report described 

20 under subparagraph (A). 

21 ‘‘(E) NON-CIRCUMVENTION.—With respect 

22 to a consumer report in which any information 

23 contained in the report bears on the consumer’s 

24 creditworthiness, credit standing, or credit ca25 pacity, if a person is prohibited from using the 


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1 consumer report pursuant to subparagraph (A), 

2 such person may not, directly or indirectly, ei3 ther orally or in writing, require, request, sug4 gest, or cause any employee or prospective em5 ployee to submit such information to the person 

6 as a condition of employment. 

7 ‘‘(F) NON-WAIVER.—A consumer may not 

8 waive the requirements of this paragraph with 

9 respect to a consumer report. 

10 ‘‘(6) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

11 this subsection shall be construed to require a con12 sumer reporting agency to prevent a Federal, State, 

13 or local law enforcement agency from accessing in14 formation in a consumer report to which the law en15 forcement agency could otherwise obtain access.’’. 

16 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The Fair Credit Re17 porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by strik18 ing ‘‘section 604(b)(4)(E)(i)’’ each place such term ap19 pears and inserting ‘‘section 604(b)(4)(D)(i)’’. 


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1 TITLE III—REHABILITATING THE 

2 CREDIT STANDING OF STRUG3 GLING PRIVATE EDUCATION 

4 LOAN BORROWERS 

5 SEC. 301. REMOVES ADVERSE INFORMATION FOR CERTAIN 

6 DEFAULTED OR DELINQUENT PRIVATE EDU7 CATION LOAN BORROWERS WHO DEM8 ONSTRATE A HISTORY OF LOAN REPAYMENT. 

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

10 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), as amended by section 405, is 

11 further amended by inserting after section 605D the fol12 lowing new section: 

13 ‘‘§ 605E. Credit rehabilitation for private education 

14 loan borrowers who demonstrate a his15 tory of loan repayment 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A consumer reporting agency 

17 may not furnish any consumer report containing any ad18 verse item of information relating to a delinquent or de19 faulted private education loan of a borrower if the bor20 rower has rehabilitated the borrower’s credit with respect 

21 to such loan by making 9 on-time monthly payments (in 

22 accordance with the terms and conditions of the bor23 rower’s original loan agreement or any other repayment 

24 agreement that antedates the original agreement) during 


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1 a period of 10 consecutive months on such loan after the 

2 date on which the delinquency or default occurred. 

3 ‘‘(b) INTERRUPTION OF 10-MONTH PERIOD FOR

4 CERTAIN CONSUMERS FACING UNUSUAL EXTENUATING

5 LIFE EVENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) PERMISSIBLE INTERRUPTION OF THE 10- 

7 MONTH PERIOD.—A borrower may stop making con8 secutive monthly payments and be granted a grace 

9 period after which the 10-month period described in 

10 subsection (a) shall resume. Such grace period shall 

11 be provided under the following circumstances: 

12 ‘‘(A) With respect to a borrower who is a 

13 member of the Armed Forces entitled to incen14 tive pay for the performance of hazardous duty 

15 under section 301 of title 37, United States 

16 Code, hazardous duty pay under section 351 of 

17 such title, or other assignment or special duty 

18 pay under section 352 of such title, the grace 

19 period shall begin on the date on which the bor20 rower begins such assignment or duty and end 

21 on the date that is 6 months after the comple22 tion of such assignment or duty. 

23 ‘‘(B) With respect to a borrower who re24 sides in an area affected by a major disaster or 

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1 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), the grace period 

3 shall begin on the date on which the major dis4 aster or emergency was declared and end on the 

5 date that is 3 months after such date. 

6 ‘‘(2) OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau may 

8 allow a borrower demonstrating hardship to 

9 stop making consecutive monthly payments and 

10 be granted a grace period after which the 10- 

11 month period described in subsection (a) shall 

12 resume. 

13 ‘‘(B) BORROWER DEMONSTRATING HARD14 SHIP DEFINED.—In this paragraph, the term 

15 ‘borrower demonstrating hardship’ means a 

16 borrower or a class of borrowers who, as deter17 mined by the Bureau, is facing or has experi18 enced unusual extenuating life circumstances or 

19 events that result in severe financial or personal 

20 barriers such that the borrower or class or bor21 rowers does not have the capacity to comply 

22 with the requirements of subsection (a). 

23 ‘‘(c) PROCEDURES.—The Bureau shall establish pro24 cedures to implement the credit rehabilitation described 

25 in this section, including— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the manner, content, and form for request2 ing credit rehabilitation; 

3 ‘‘(2) the method for validating that the bor4 rower is satisfying the requirements of subsection 

5 (a); 

6 ‘‘(3) the manner, content, and form for noti7 fying the private educational loan holder of— 

8 ‘‘(A) the borrower’s participation in credit 

9 rehabilitation under subsection (a); 

10 ‘‘(B) the requirements of subsection (d); 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(C) the restrictions of subsection (f); 

13 ‘‘(4) the manner, content, and form for noti14 fying a consumer reporting agency of— 

15 ‘‘(A) the borrower’s participation in credit 

16 rehabilitation under subsection (a); and 

17 ‘‘(B) the requirements of subsection (d); 

18 ‘‘(5) the method for verifying whether a bor19 rower qualifies for the grace period described in sub20 section (b); 

21 ‘‘(6) the manner, content, and form of notifying 

22 a consumer reporting agency and private educational 

23 loan holder that a borrower was granted a grace pe24 riod; and 


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1 ‘‘(7) the method for a borrower to demonstrate 

2 that the borrower has successfully satisfied the re3 quirements under subsection (a) and for notifying a 

4 consumer reporting agency and private educational 

5 loan holder. 

6 ‘‘(d) STANDARDIZED REPORTING CODES.—A con7 sumer reporting agency shall develop standardized report8 ing codes for use by any private educational loan holder 

9 to identify and report a borrower’s status of making and 

10 completing 9 on-time monthly payments during a period 

11 of 10 consecutive months on a delinquent or defaulted pri12 vate education loan, including codes specifying the grace 

13 period described in subsection (b) and any agreement to 

14 modify monthly payments. Such codes shall not appear on 

15 any report provided to a third party, and shall be removed 

16 from the consumer’s credit report upon the consumer’s 

17 completion of the rehabilitation period under this section. 

18 ‘‘(e) ELIMINATING BARRIERS TO CREDIT REHABILI19 TATION.—A consumer report in which a private edu20 cational loan holder furnishes the standardized reporting 

21 codes described in subsection (d) to a consumer reporting 

22 agency, or in which a consumer reporting agency includes 

23 such codes, shall be deemed to comply with the require24 ments for accuracy and completeness required under sec25 tions 623(a)(1) and 630. 


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1 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION ON CIVIL ACTIONS FOR CON2 SUMERS PURSUING REHABILITATION.—A private edu3 cational loan holder may not commence or proceed with 

4 any civil action against a borrower with respect to a delin5 quent or defaulted loan during the period of rehabilitation 

6 if the loan holder has been notified— 

7 ‘‘(1) under subsection (c)(3) of a borrower’s in8 tent to participate in rehabilitation; 

9 ‘‘(2) under subsection (c)(6) that a borrower 

10 was granted the grace period; or 

11 ‘‘(3) under subsection (c)(7) that the borrower 

12 has successfully satisfied the requirements under 

13 subsection (a). 

14 ‘‘(g) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

15 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION TO SUBSEQUENT DEFAULT

16 OR DELINQUENCY.—A borrower who satisfies the re17 quirements under subsection (a) shall be eligible for 

18 additional credit rehabilitation described in sub19 section (a) with respect to any subsequent default or 

20 delinquency of the borrower on the rehabilitated pri21 vate education loan. 

22 ‘‘(2) INTERRUPTION OF THE CONSECUTIVE

23 PAYMENT PERIOD REQUIREMENT.—The grace period 

24 described in subsection (b)(1)(A) shall not apply if 

25 any regulation promulgated under section 987 of 


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1 title 10, United States Code (commonly known as 

2 the Military Lending Act) or the Servicemembers 

3 Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 501 et seq.) allows 

4 for a grace period or other interruption of the 10- 

5 month period described in subsection (a) and such 

6 grace period or other interruption is longer than the 

7 period described in subsection (b)(1)(A) or otherwise 

8 provides greater protection or benefit to the bor9 rower who is a member of the Armed Forces.’’. 

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

11 of contents of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended 

12 by inserting after the item relating to section 605D (as 

13 added by section 405) the following new item: 

‘‘605E. Credit rehabilitation for distressed private education loan borrowers who 

demonstrate a history of loan repayment.’’. 

14 SEC. 302. PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN DEFINITIONS. 

15 Section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

16 U.S.C. 1681a) is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(z) PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN DEFINITIONS.— 

19 The terms ‘private education loan’ and ‘private edu20 cational lender’ have the meanings given such terms, re21 spectively, in section 140(a) of the Truth in Lending 

22 Act.’’. 


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1 TITLE IV—RESTORING THE IM2 PAIRED CREDIT OF VICTIMS 

3 OF PREDATORY ACTIVITIES 

4 AND UNFAIR CONSUMER RE5 PORTING PRACTICES 

6 SEC. 401. SHORTENS THE TIME PERIOD THAT MOST AD7 VERSE CREDIT INFORMATION STAYS ON CON8 SUMER REPORTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 605 of the Fair Credit 

10 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (a)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘Except as authorized 

13 under subsection (b), no’’ and inserting ‘‘No’’; 

14 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘10 

15 years’’ and inserting ‘‘7 years’’; 

16 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Civil 

17 suits, civil judgments, and records’’ and insert18 ing ‘‘Records’’; 

19 (D) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘seven 

20 years’’ and inserting ‘‘4 years’’; 

21 (E) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘seven 

22 years’’ and inserting ‘‘4 years, except as pro23 vided in paragraph (8), (10), (11), (12), or 

24 (13), or as required by section 605C, 605D, 

25 605E, or 605F’’; 


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1 (F) in paragraph (5)— 

2 (i) by striking ‘‘, other than records of 

3 convictions of crimes’’; and 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘seven years’’ and in5 serting ‘‘4 years, except as required by sec6 tion 605C, 605D, 605E, or 605F’’; and 

7 (G) by adding at the end the following new 

8 paragraphs: 

9 ‘‘(7) Civil suits and civil judgments (except as 

10 provided in paragraph (8)) that, from date of entry, 

11 antedate the report by more than 4 years or until 

12 the governing statute of limitations has expired, 

13 whichever is the longer period. 

14 ‘‘(8) A civil suit or civil judgment— 

15 ‘‘(A) brought by a private education loan 

16 holder that, from the date of successful comple17 tion of credit restoration or rehabilitation in ac18 cordance with the requirements of section 605D 

19 or 605E, antedates the report by 45 calendar 

20 days; or 

21 ‘‘(B) brought by a lender with respect to 

22 a covered residential mortgage loan that ante23 dates the report by 45 calendar days. 

24 ‘‘(9) Records of convictions of crimes which 

25 antedate the report by more than 7 years. 


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1 ‘‘(10) Any other adverse item of information re2 lating to the collection of debt that did not arise 

3 from a contract or an agreement to pay by a con4 sumer, including fines, tickets, and other assess5 ments, as determined by the Bureau, excluding tax 

6 liability.’’; 

7 (2) by striking subsection (b) and redesignating 

8 subsections (c) through (h) as subsections (b) 

9 through (g), respectively; and 

10 (3) in subsection (b) (as so redesignated), by 

11 striking ‘‘7-year period referred to in paragraphs (4) 

12 and (6)’’ and inserting ‘‘4-year period referred to in 

13 paragraphs (4) and (5)’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Fair Credit 

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

16 (1) in section 616(d), by striking ‘‘section 

17 605(g)’’ each place that term appears and inserting 

18 ‘‘section 605(f)’’; and 

19 (2) in section 625(b)(5)(A), by striking ‘‘section 

20 605(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 605(f)’’. 

21 SEC. 402. MANDATES THE EXPEDITED REMOVAL OF FULLY 

22 PAID OR SETTLED DEBT FROM CONSUMER 

23 REPORTS. 

24 Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

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1 ther amended by adding at the end the following new para2 graph: 

3 ‘‘(11) Any other adverse item of information re4 lated to a fully paid or settled debt that had been 

5 characterized as delinquent, charged off, or in collec6 tion which, from the date of payment or settlement, 

7 antedates the report by more than 45 calendar 

8 days.’’. 

9 SEC. 403. IMPOSES RESTRICTIONS ON THE APPEARANCE 

10 OF MEDICAL COLLECTIONS ON CONSUMER 

11 REPORTS AND REQUIRES THE EXPEDITED 

12 REMOVAL OF FULLY PAID OR SETTLED MED13 ICAL COLLECTIONS FROM CONSUMER RE14 PORTS. 

15 (a) REMOVAL OF FULLY PAID OR SETTLED MED16 ICAL DEBT FROM CONSUMER REPORTS.—Section 605(a) 

17 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)), 

18 as amended by section 402, is further amended by adding 

19 at the end the following new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(12) Any other adverse item of information re21 lated to a fully paid or settled debt arising from the 

22 receipt of medical services, products, or devices that 

23 had been characterized as delinquent, charged off, or 

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1 tlement, antedates the report by more than 45 cal2 endar days.’’. 

3 (b) ESTABLISHING AN EXTENDED TIME PERIOD BE4 FORE MEDICAL DEBT INFORMATION MAY BE RE5 PORTED.—Section 605(a) of such Act is further amended 

6 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(13) Any information related to a debt arising 

8 from the receipt of medical services, products, or de9 vices, if the date on which such debt was placed for 

10 collection, charged to profit or loss, or subjected to 

11 any similar action antedates the report by less than 

12 180 calendar days.’’. 

13 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 604(g)(1)(C) 

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

15 1681b(g)(1)(C)) is further amended by striking ‘‘devises’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘devices’’. 

17 SEC. 404. PROVIDES CREDIT RESTORATION FOR VICTIMS 

18 OF PREDATORY MORTGAGE LENDING AND 

19 SERVICING. 

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

21 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

22 section 605B the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 605C. Credit restoration for victims of predatory 

2 mortgage lending 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A consumer reporting agency 

4 may not furnish any consumer report containing any ad5 verse item of information relating to a covered residential 

6 mortgage loan (including the origination and servicing of 

7 such a loan, any loss mitigation activities related to such 

8 a loan, and any foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure, 

9 or short sale related to such a loan), if the action or inac10 tion to which the item of information relates— 

11 ‘‘(1) resulted from an unfair, deceptive, or abu12 sive act or practice, or a fraudulent, discriminatory, 

13 or illegal activity of a financial institution, as deter14 mined by the Bureau or a court of competent juris15 diction; or 

16 ‘‘(2) is related to an unfair, deceptive, or abu17 sive act, practice, or a fraudulent, discriminatory, or 

18 illegal activity of a financial institution that is the 

19 subject of a settlement agreement initiated on behalf 

20 of a consumer or consumers and that is between the 

21 financial institution and an agency or department of 

22 a local, State, or Federal Government, regardless of 

23 whether such settlement includes an admission of 

24 wrongdoing. 

25 ‘‘(b) COVERED RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE LOAN DE26 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘covered residential 


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1 mortgage loan’ means any loan primarily for personal, 

2 family, or household use that is secured by a mortgage, 

3 deed of trust, or other equivalent consensual security in4 terest on a dwelling (as defined in section 103(w) of the 

5 Truth in Lending Act), including a loan in which the pro6 ceeds will be used for— 

7 ‘‘(1) a manufactured home (as defined in sec8 tion 603 of the Housing and Community Develop9 ment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5402)); 

10 ‘‘(2) any installment sales contract, land con11 tract, or contract for deed on a residential property; 

12 or 

13 ‘‘(3) a reverse mortgage transaction (as defined 

14 in section 103 of the Truth in Lending Act).’’. 

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

16 of contents of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended 

17 by inserting after the item relating to section 605B the 

18 following new item: 

‘‘605C. Credit restoration for victims of predatory mortgage lending.’’. 

19 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

20 this section shall take effect at the end of the 18-month 

21 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 405. PROVIDES CREDIT RELIEF FOR PRIVATE EDU2 CATION LOANS BORROWERS WHO WERE DE3 FRAUDED OR MISLEAD BY PROPRIETARY 

4 EDUCATION INSTITUTION OR CAREER EDU5 CATION PROGRAMS. 

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

7 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), as amended by section 404, is 

8 further amended by inserting after section 605C the fol9 lowing new section: 

10 ‘‘§ 605D. Private education loan credit restoration for 

11 defrauded student borrowers who attend 

12 certain proprietary educational institu13 tion or career education programs 

14 ‘‘(a) PROCESS FOR CERTIFICATION AS A QUALIFYING

15 PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN BORROWER.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A consumer, or an indi17 vidual acting on behalf of or as a personal represent18 ative of the consumer or a class of consumers, may 

19 submit a request to the Bureau, along with a 

20 defraudment claim, to be certified as a qualifying 

21 private education loan borrower with respect to a 

22 private education loan. 

23 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION.—The Bureau shall certify 

24 a consumer described in paragraph (1) as a quali25 fying private education loan borrower with respect to 

26 a private education loan if the Bureau or a court of 


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1 competent jurisdiction determines that the consumer 

2 has a valid defraudment claim with respect to such 

3 loan. 

4 ‘‘(b) REMOVAL OF ADVERSE INFORMATION.—Upon 

5 receipt of a notice described in subsection (d)(5), a con6 sumer reporting agency shall remove any adverse informa7 tion relating to any private education loan with respect 

8 to which a consumer is a qualifying private education loan 

9 borrower from any consumer report within 45 calendar 

10 days of receipt of such notification. 

11 ‘‘(c) DISCLOSURE.—The Bureau shall disclose the re12 sults of a certification determination in writing to the con13 sumer that provides a clear and concise explanation of the 

14 basis for the determination of whether such consumer or 

15 class of consumers is a qualifying private education loan 

16 borrower with respect to a private education loan and, as 

17 applicable, an explanation of the consumer’s right to have 

18 adverse information relating to such loan removed from 

19 their consumer report by a consumer reporting agency. 

20 ‘‘(d) PROCEDURES.—The Bureau shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) establish procedures for a consumer or an 

22 individual acting on behalf of or as a personal rep23 resentative of the consumer or a class of consumers 

24 to submit a request described in subsection (a); 


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1 ‘‘(2) establish procedures to efficiently review, 

2 accept, and process such a request; 

3 ‘‘(3) develop ongoing outreach initiatives and 

4 education programs to inform consumers or a class 

5 of consumers of the circumstances under which such 

6 consumer or class may be eligible to be certified as 

7 a qualifying private education loan borrower with re8 spect to a private education loan; 

9 ‘‘(4) establish procedures, including the man10 ner, form, and content of the notice informing a pri11 vate educational loan holder of the prohibition on re12 porting any adverse information relating to a private 

13 education loan with respect to which a consumer is 

14 a qualifying private education loan borrower; and 

15 ‘‘(5) establish procedures, including the man16 ner, form, and content of the notice informing a con17 sumer reporting agency of the obligation to remove 

18 any adverse information as described in subsection 

19 (c). 

20 ‘‘(e) STANDARDIZED REPORTING CODES.—A con21 sumer reporting agency shall develop standardized report22 ing codes for use by private education loan holders to iden23 tify and report a qualifying private education loan bor24 rower’s status of a request to remove any adverse informa25 tion relating to any private education loan with respect 


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1 to which such consumer is a qualifying private education 

2 loan borrower. A consumer report in which a person fur3 nishes such codes shall be deemed to comply with the re4 quirements for accuracy and completeness required under 

5 sections 623(a)(1) and 630. Such codes shall not appear 

6 on any report provided to a third party, and shall be re7 moved from the consumer’s credit report upon the success8 ful restoration of the consumer’s credit under this section. 

9 ‘‘(f) DEFRAUDMENT CLAIM DEFINED.—For pur10 poses of this section, the term ‘defraudment claim’ means 

11 a claim made with respect to a consumer who is a bor12 rower of a private education loan with respect to a propri13 etary educational institution or career education program 

14 in which the consumer or an individual acting on behalf 

15 of or as a personal representative of the consumer or a 

16 class of consumers alleges that— 

17 ‘‘(1) the proprietary educational institution or 

18 career education program— 

19 ‘‘(A) engaged in an unfair, deceptive, or 

20 abusive act or practice, or a fraudulent, dis21 criminatory, or illegal activity— 

22 ‘‘(i) as defined by State law of the 

23 State in which the proprietary educational 

24 institution or career education program is 


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1 headquartered or maintains or maintained 

2 significant operations; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) under Federal law; 

4 ‘‘(B) is the subject of an enforcement 

5 order, a settlement agreement, a memorandum 

6 of understanding, a suspension of tuition assist7 ance, or any other action relating to an unfair, 

8 deceptive, or abusive act or practice that is be9 tween the proprietary educational institution or 

10 career education program and an agency or de11 partment of a local, State, or Federal Govern12 ment; or 

13 ‘‘(C) misrepresented facts to students or 

14 accrediting agencies or associations about grad15 uation or gainful employment rates in recog16 nized occupations or failed to provide the 

17 coursework necessary for students to success18 fully obtain a professional certification or de19 gree from the proprietary educational institu20 tion or career education program; or 

21 ‘‘(2) the consumer or an individual acting on 

22 behalf of or as a personal representative of the con23 sumer or a class of consumers has submitted a valid 

24 defense to repayment claim with respect to such 

25 loan, as determined by the Secretary of Education.’’. 


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

2 of contents of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended 

3 by inserting after the item relating to section 605C (as 

4 added by section 404) the following new item: 

‘‘605D. Private education loan credit restoration for defrauded student borrowers from certain proprietary educational institution or career education programs.’’. 

5 SEC. 406. ESTABLISHES RIGHT FOR VICTIMS OF FINANCIAL 

6 ABUSE TO HAVE ADVERSE INFORMATION AS7 SOCIATED WITH AN ABUSER’S FRAUDULENT 

8 ACTIVITY REMOVED FROM THEIR CONSUMER 

9 REPORTS. 

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

11 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), as amended by section 301, is 

12 further amended by inserting after section 605E the fol13 lowing new section: 

14 ‘‘§ 605F. Financial abuse prevention 

15 ‘‘For a consumer who is the victim of intentionally 

16 abusive or harmful financial behavior, as determined by 

17 a court of competent jurisdiction including a family court, 

18 juvenile court, or other court with personal jurisdiction, 

19 that was conducted by a spouse, family or household mem20 ber, caregiver, or person with whom such consumer had 

21 a dating relationship in a manner which resulted in the 

22 inclusion of an adverse item of information on the con23 sumer report of the consumer, and the consumer did not 

24 participate in or consent to such behavior, the consumer 


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1 may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction, including 

2 a family court, juvenile court, or other court with personal 

3 jurisdiction, for an order to require the removal of such 

4 adverse information from the consumer’s file maintained 

5 by any consumer reporting agency.’’. 

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

7 of contents of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended 

8 by inserting after the item relating to section 605E (as 

9 added by section 301) the following new item: 

‘‘605F. Financial abuse prevention.’’. 

10 SEC. 407. PROHIBITS TREATMENT OF CREDIT RESTORA11 TION OR REHABILITATION AS ADVERSE IN12 FORMATION. 

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

14 seq.) is amended— 

15 (1) by adding at the end the following new sec16 tion: 

17 ‘‘§ 630. Prohibition of certain factors related to Fed18 eral credit restoration or rehabilitation 

19 ‘‘(a) RESTRICTION ON CREDIT SCORING MODELS.— 

20 A credit scoring model may not— 

21 ‘‘(1) take into consideration, in a manner ad22 verse to a consumer’s credit score or educational 

23 credit score, any information in a consumer report 

24 concerning the consumer’s participation in credit 


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1 restoration or rehabilitation under section 605C, 

2 605D, 605E, or 605F; or 

3 ‘‘(2) treat negatively, in a manner adverse to a 

4 consumer’s credit score or educational credit score, 

5 the absence of payment history data for an existing 

6 account, whether the account is open or closed, 

7 where the absence of such information is the result 

8 of a consumer’s participation in credit restoration or 

9 rehabilitation under section 605C, 605D, 605E, or 

10 605F. 

11 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTION ON PERSONS OBTAINING CON12 SUMER REPORTS.—A person who obtains a consumer re13 port may not— 

14 ‘‘(1) take into consideration, in a manner ad15 verse to a consumer, any information in a consumer 

16 report concerning the consumer’s participation in 

17 credit restoration or rehabilitation under section 

18 605C, 605D, 605E, or 605F; or 

19 ‘‘(2) treat negatively the absence of payment 

20 history data for an existing account, whether the ac21 count is open or closed, where the absence of such 

22 information is the result of a consumer’s participa23 tion in credit restoration or rehabilitation under sec24 tion 605C, 605D, 605E, or 605F. 


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1 ‘‘(c) ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS.—If a person 

2 who furnishes information to a consumer reporting agency 

3 requests the removal of information from a consumer re4 port or a consumer reporting agency removes information 

5 from a consumer report in compliance with the require6 ments under section 605C, 605D, 605E, or 605F, or such 

7 information was removed pursuant at section 605(a)(11), 

8 such report shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements 

9 for accuracy and completeness with respect to such infor10 mation. 

11 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION RELATED TO ADVERSE ACTIONS

12 AND RISK-BASED PRICING DECISIONS.—No person shall 

13 use information related to a consumer’s participation in 

14 credit restoration or rehabilitation under section 605C, 

15 605D, 605E, or 605F in connection with any determina16 tion of— 

17 ‘‘(1) the consumer’s eligibility or continued eli18 gibility for an extension of credit; 

19 ‘‘(2) the terms and conditions offered to a con20 sumer regarding an extension of credit; or 

21 ‘‘(3) an adverse action made for employment 

22 purposes.’’; and 

23 (2) in the table of contents for such Act, by 

24 adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘630. Prohibition of certain factors related to Federal credit restoration or rehabilitation.’’. 


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1 TITLE V—MONITORING THE DE2 VELOPMENT AND USE OF 

3 CREDIT SCORES 

4 SEC. 501. ESTABLISHES CLEAR FEDERAL OVERSIGHT OF 

5 THE DEVELOPMENT OF CREDIT SCORING 

6 MODELS BY THE BUREAU. 

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

8 seq.), as amended by section 407, is further amended— 

9 (1) by adding at the end the following new sec10 tion: 

11 ‘‘§ 631. Credit scoring models 

12 ‘‘(a) VALIDATED CREDIT SCORING MODELS.—Not 

13 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this sec14 tion, the Bureau shall issue final regulations applicable to 

15 a person that creates, maintains, or purchases credit scor16 ing models used in making credit decisions to establish 

17 standards for validating the accuracy and predictive value 

18 of all such credit scoring models, both before release for 

19 initial use and at regular intervals thereafter, for as long 

20 as such credit scoring models are made available for pur21 chase or use by such person. 

22 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.—At least once every 2 years, the 

23 Bureau shall conduct a review of credit scoring models to 

24 determine whether the use of any particular factors, or 

25 the weight or consideration given to certain factors by 


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1 credit scoring models, is inappropriate, including if such 

2 factors do not enhance or contribute to the accuracy and 

3 predictive value of the models. Upon the conclusion of its 

4 review, the Bureau may prohibit a person described in 

5 subsection (a) from weighing, considering, or including 

6 certain factors in, or making available for purchase or use, 

7 certain credit scoring models or versions, as the Bureau 

8 determines appropriate. 

9 ‘‘(c) COMPLIANCE.—The Bureau is authorized to en10 force compliance with this section by a person described 

11 in subsection (a).’’; and 

12 (2) in the table of contents for such Act, by in13 serting after the item relating to section 630 (as 

14 added by section 407) the following new item: 

‘‘631. Credit scoring models.’’. 

15 SEC. 502. MANDATES ONGOING REVIEW AND REPORTS TO 

16 CONGRESS BY THE FEDERAL HOUSING FI17 NANCE AGENCY ON USING ADDITIONAL, AL18 TERNATIVE, AND UPDATED CREDIT SCORING 

19 MODELS AS PART OF THE CRITERIA FOR 

20 LOANS PURCHASED BY FANNIE MAE AND 

21 FREDDIE MAC. 

22 (a) BIENNIAL REVIEW.—The Director of the Federal 

23 Housing Finance Agency, in consultation with the Direc24 tor of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, shall 

25 review the advantages and disadvantages of implementing 


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1 additional, alternative, or updated credit scoring models 

2 (as defined in section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting 

3 Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a)) used to establish the eligibility 

4 criteria for loans purchased by the Federal National Mort5 gage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage 

6 Corporation. Such review shall analyze— 

7 (1) the impact of using such credit scoring 

8 models on the accuracy and predictive value of the 

9 performance of loans purchased by the Federal Na10 tional Mortgage Association and the Federal Home 

11 Loan Mortgage Corporation; 

12 (2) the ability of the Federal National Mort13 gage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mort14 gage Corporation to more effectively manage credit 

15 risks by adopting additional, alternative, or updated 

16 credit scoring models; 

17 (3) any potential operational risks associated 

18 with the reliance on one single provider of credit 

19 scores; 

20 (4) the availability and affordability of covered 

21 residential mortgage loans, as defined in section 

22 605C of the Fair Credit Reporting Act; 

23 (5) the interests of taxpayers; and 

24 (6) any other factors determined relevant by 

25 the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency 


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1 or the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Finan2 cial Protection. 

3 (b) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Director of the 

4 Federal Housing Finance Agency shall seek public input 

5 about the methodology and research design of the review 

6 described in subsection (a), including from organizations 

7 and experts representing racial and ethnic minority com8 munities and populations, fair lending organizations, civil 

9 rights organizations, and consumer and community groups 

10 that represent depository institutions and credit unions 

11 that primarily serve traditionally underserved commu12 nities. 

13 (c) REPORTS.—Not later than the end of the 18- 

14 month period beginning on the date of the enactment of 

15 this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Director of the 

16 Federal Housing Finance Agency shall issue a report to 

17 the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep18 resentatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

19 Urban Affairs of the Senate containing all findings and 

20 determinations made in carrying out the review required 

21 under subsection (a). 

22 (d) IMPLEMENTATION OF FINDINGS.—If the Director 

23 of the Federal Housing Finance Agency determines, in 

24 consultation with the Bureau, that the advantages of im25 plementing additional, alternative, or updated credit scorVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 May 23, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00135 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5282.IH H5282

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1 ing models outweigh the disadvantages, the Director shall 

2 promptly require the Federal National Mortgage Associa3 tion and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation 

4 to revise their seller-servicer guidelines to allow for the use 

5 of such additional, alternative, or updated credit scoring 

6 models, and any other guidelines as the Director deter7 mines appropriate, in a manner consistent with the deter8 mination of the Director. 

9 SEC. 503. REQUIRES A BUREAU STUDY AND REPORT TO 

10 CONGRESS ON THE IMPACT OF USING NON11 TRADITIONAL DATA. 

12 (a) STUDY.—The Bureau of Consumer Financial 

13 Protection shall carry out a study of the impact on the 

14 availability and affordability of credit by the inclusion of 

15 non-traditional data on a consumer report (as defined in 

16 section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 

17 1681a)) used in connection with a credit transaction in18 volving the extension of credit to, or review or collection 

19 of an account of, the consumer, including a review of the 

20 advantages or disadvantages to consumers with minimal 

21 traditional credit history, traditionally underserved com22 munities and populations, and racial and ethnic minori23 ties. 

24 (b) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 1-year 

25 period following the date of the enactment of this Act, the 


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1 Bureau shall issue a report to the Committee on Financial 

2 Services of the House of Representatives and the Com3 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 

4 Senate containing all findings and determinations made 

5 in carrying out the study required under subsection (a). 

6 (c) NON-TRADITIONAL DATA DEFINED.—For pur7 poses of this section, the term ‘‘non-traditional data’’ 

8 means data related to telecommunications, utility pay9 ments, rent payments, remittances, wire transfers, and 

10 such other items as the Bureau determines appropriate. 

11 TITLE VI—PROVIDING GREATER 

12 CONSUMER ACCESS TO AND 

13 UNDERSTANDING OF CON14 SUMER REPORTS AND CRED15 IT SCORES 

16 SEC. 601. CREDIT SCORE AND EDUCATIONAL CREDIT 

17 SCORE DEFINITIONS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 603 of the Fair Credit 

19 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a), as amended by section 

20 302, is further amended by adding at the end the following 

21 new subsection: 

22 ‘‘(aa) CREDIT SCORE AND EDUCATIONAL CREDIT

23 SCORE DEFINITIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) CREDIT SCORE.—The term ‘credit score’ 

25 means a numerical value or a categorization derived 


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1 from a statistical tool or modeling system used by a 

2 person who makes or arranges a loan or extends 

3 credit to predict the likelihood of certain credit be4 haviors, including default, as determined by the Bu5 reau. 

6 ‘‘(2) EDUCATIONAL CREDIT SCORE.—The term 

7 ‘educational credit score’ means a numerical value or 

8 categorization derived from a statistical tool or mod9 eling system based upon information from a con10 sumer report that assists consumers in under11 standing how a lender or creditor may view the con12 sumer’s creditworthiness in deciding whether to 

13 make a loan or extend credit to that consumer. 

14 ‘‘(3) KEY FACTORS.—The term ‘key factors’ 

15 means relevant elements or reasons affecting the 

16 credit score for the particular individual, listed in 

17 the order of importance based on the effect of each 

18 element or reason on the credit score or educational 

19 credit score. 

20 ‘‘(4) CREDIT SCORING MODEL.—The term 

21 ‘credit scoring model’ means a scoring algorithm, 

22 formula, model, program, or mechanism used to gen23 erate a credit score or an educational credit score.’’. 

24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Fair Credit 

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


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1 (1) in section 605(c)(2) (as so redesignated by 

2 section 103), by striking ‘‘(as defined in section 

3 609(f)(2)(B))’’; and 

4 (2) in section 615— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘as defined in section 

6 609(f)(2)(A)’’ each place that term appears; 

7 and 

8 (B) by striking ‘‘set forth in subpara9 graphs (B) through (E) of section 609(f)(1)’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘with respect to a credit score de11 scribed in section 609(f)(2), if available’’ each 

12 place that term appears. 

13 SEC. 602. EXPANDS EXPLANATORY INFORMATION GIVEN TO 

14 CONSUMERS ABOUT HOW SCORES ARE CAL15 CULATED. 

16 Section 609(f) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

17 U.S.C. 1681g(f)) is amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(f) DISCLOSURE OF CREDIT SCORE AND EDU19 CATIONAL CREDIT SCORE BY CONSUMER REPORTING

20 AGENCIES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the request of a con22 sumer for a credit score or educational credit score, 

23 a consumer reporting agency shall supply to the con24 sumer a statement— 

25 ‘‘(A) containing— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a current credit score at the time 

2 of the request generated using a commonly 

3 used credit scoring model to generate cred4 it scores, subject to regulations of the Bu5 reau; 

6 ‘‘(ii) an educational credit score at the 

7 time of the request, if it is not practicable 

8 to generate such a credit score, as deter9 mined by the Bureau; or 

10 ‘‘(iii) an explanation that the con11 sumer’s file does not have sufficient infor12 mation from which to generate such a 

13 credit score or educational credit score; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) with respect to each previous credit 

16 score in the file of the consumer— 

17 ‘‘(i) the date on which the credit score 

18 was generated; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the name of any entity that the 

20 credit score was provided to; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) the credit score itself. 

22 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A statement provided 

23 under clause (i) or (ii) of paragraph (1)(A) shall in24 clude— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a minimum of 4 key factors, if avail2 able, that adversely affected the credit score or 

3 educational credit score, except that if one of 

4 the key factors consists of the number of 

5 enquiries made with respect to a consumer re6 port, that factor shall be provided to the con7 sumer in addition to the factors required by 

8 this subparagraph; 

9 ‘‘(B) to the extent possible, specific actions 

10 a consumer could take with respect to each key 

11 factor listed in subparagraph (A) to improve 

12 the consumer’s credit score or educational cred13 it score; 

14 ‘‘(C) a minimum of 4 key factors, if avail15 able, that positively affected the credit score or 

16 educational credit score; 

17 ‘‘(D) the range of possible credit scores or 

18 educational credit scores under the credit scor19 ing model used; 

20 ‘‘(E) the distribution of credit scores or 

21 educational credit scores among consumers who 

22 are scored under the same credit scoring model 

23 by the consumer reporting agency, and using 

24 the same scale as that of the score that is pro25 vided to a creditor or consumers— 


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1 ‘‘(i) in the form of a bar graph con2 taining a minimum of 6 bars that illus3 trates the percentage of consumers with 

4 credit scores or educational credit scores 

5 within the range of scores represented by 

6 each bar; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) by another clear and readily un8 derstandable graphical depiction, state9 ment, or illustration comparing the con10 sumer’s credit score or educational credit 

11 score to the scores of other consumers, as 

12 determined by the Bureau; 

13 ‘‘(F) the date on which the credit score or 

14 educational credit score was created; and 

15 ‘‘(G) the name of the person that devel16 oped the credit scoring model on which the 

17 credit score or educational credit score was 

18 based. 

19 ‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN USES.—This 

20 subsection shall not be construed so as to compel a 

21 consumer reporting agency to— 

22 ‘‘(A) develop or disclose a credit score if 

23 the agency does not distribute credit scores 

24 used by a person who makes or arranges a loan 


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1 or extends credit to predict the likelihood of 

2 certain credit behaviors; or 

3 ‘‘(B) develop or disclose an educational 

4 credit score if the agency does not develop edu5 cational credit scores that assist in under6 standing the general credit behavior of a con7 sumer and predicting the future credit behavior 

8 of the consumer. 

9 ‘‘(4) MAINTENANCE OF CREDIT SCORES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—All consumer report11 ing agencies shall maintain in the consumer’s 

12 file credit scores relating to the consumer for a 

13 period of 2 years from the date on which such 

14 information is generated. 

15 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE ONLY TO CON16 SUMERS.—A past credit score maintained in a 

17 consumer’s file pursuant to subparagraph (A) 

18 may only be provided to the consumer to which 

19 the credit score relates and may not be included 

20 in a consumer report or used as a factor in gen21 erating a credit score or educational credit 

22 score. 

23 ‘‘(C) REMOVAL OF PAST CREDIT

24 SCORES.—A past credit score maintained in a 

25 consumer’s file pursuant to subparagraph (A) 


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1 shall be removed from the consumer’s file after 

2 the end of the 2-year period described under 

3 subparagraph (A).’’. 

4 SEC. 603. REQUIRES CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES TO 

5 DISCLOSE PROMINENTLY THE DIFFERENCES 

6 BETWEEN AND LIMITATIONS OF CREDIT 

7 SCORES AND EDUCATIONAL CREDIT SCORES 

8 REQUIRED PRIOR TO A CONSUMER OBTAIN9 ING SUCH SCORES. 

10 Section 609(f) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

11 U.S.C. 1681g(f)), as amended by section 602, is further 

12 amended by adding at the end the following new para13 graphs: 

14 ‘‘(5) WEBSITE DISCLAIMER.—A consumer re15 porting agency that generates or provides credit 

16 scores or educational credit scores shall clearly and 

17 conspicuously display on the home page of the agen18 cy’s Internet website, and as part of any application, 

19 solicitation, or marketing material or media pro20 viding information related to a credit score or edu21 cational credit score, the following notice, in boldface 

22 type of 18-point font or larger and in a text box 

23 with boldface outer borders: 


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1 ‘‘ ‘CREDIT SCORE DISCLAIMER. 

2 ‘‘ ‘There is no ‘‘one’’ credit score. There are many 

3 scoring formulas derived from a wide variety of models 

4 available to a consumer and used by lenders and creditors. 

5 Different lenders and creditors use different scoring for6 mulas to determine whether to extend credit or make a 

7 loan to you, and the terms of the credit or loan. An edu8 cational credit score is not a credit score that a person 

9 who makes a loan or extends credit to you is likely to use. 

10 Educational credit scores are merely intended to be used 

11 as an educational tool to help consumers understand how 

12 the information contained in a consumer report may affect 

13 the terms and conditions of a loan or extension of credit 

14 that may be available to a consumer. Lenders and credi15 tors may also rely on information not contained in your 

16 consumer report and not reflected in the calculation of 

17 your credit score.’. 

18 ‘‘(6) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR EDU19 CATIONAL CREDIT SCORES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) DISCLAIMER.—If an educational 

21 credit score is provided pursuant to paragraph 

22 (1), a consumer reporting agency shall clearly 

23 and conspicuously include in a prominent loca24 tion on the statement, in boldface type of 18- 

25 point font or larger, and in a text box with 

26 boldface outer borders, the following notice: 


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1 ‘‘ ‘EDUCATIONAL CREDIT SCORE DISCLAIMER. 

2 ‘‘ ‘The educational credit score provided to you is not 

3 a credit score that a lender or creditor is likely to use to 

4 make a loan or extend credit to you. There are many dif5 ferent credit scores derived from a wide variety of models 

6 used by lenders and creditors. An educational credit score 

7 is merely an educational tool. It is intended to provide con8 sumers with a basic understanding of how the information 

9 contained in a consumer report may affect the terms and 

10 conditions of credit that are available. The credit scores 

11 you receive directly from different lenders and creditors 

12 may not be the same as an educational credit score. There 

13 are a number of reasons for this: 

14 ‘‘ ‘(1) Each company may use a different for15 mula for calculating credit scores and the differences 

16 in the formulas may lead to differences in your 

17 scores. 

18 ‘‘ ‘(2) Companies may produce scores that give 

19 results on different scales. 

20 ‘‘ ‘(3) Not all lenders or creditors report to 

21 every consumer reporting agency, and therefore the 

22 information contained in your consumer report that 

23 the consumer reporting agencies use to calculate 

24 your educational credit score may differ among 

25 agencies.’. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON MISLEADING REP2 RESENTATIONS.—A consumer reporting agency 

3 may not refer to an educational credit score as 

4 a credit score in any application, solicitation, 

5 marketing, or other informational materials or 

6 media. 

7 ‘‘(7) MODIFICATION OF DISCLAIMERS.—The 

8 Bureau may modify the content, format, and man9 ner of the disclaimers required under paragraphs (5) 

10 and (6), if warranted, after conducting consumer 

11 testing or research.’’. 

12 SEC. 604. PROVIDES CONSUMERS WITH FREE CREDIT 

13 SCORE DISCLOSURES WITH THEIR FREE AN14 NUAL CONSUMER REPORTS UPON REQUEST 

15 AND CREATES INSTANCES WHEN CON16 SUMERS AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVE FREE 

17 CONSUMER REPORTS AND CREDIT SCORES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 612 of the Fair Credit 

19 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681j) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

22 (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

23 after ‘‘section 609’’ the following: ‘‘(includ24 ing the disclosure of a credit score or eduVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 May 23, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00147 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5282.IH H5282

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1 cational credit score under subsection (f) 

2 of such section)’’; and 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (C)— 

4 (I) by striking ‘‘Commission’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘Bureau’’; 

6 (II) by inserting ‘‘, credit scores, 

7 and educational credit scores (as ap8 plicable)’’ after ‘‘consumer reports’’ 

9 each place that term appears; and 

10 (III) in clause (i), by inserting 

11 ‘‘and through the Internet website es12 tablished under section 611(g)’’ after 

13 ‘‘such requests’’; 

14 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘15 days’’ and insert16 ing ‘‘3 business days’’; and 

17 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, credit score, or 

18 educational credit score’’ after ‘‘consumer 

19 report’’; 

20 (C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘, credit 

21 score, or educational credit score’’ after ‘‘con22 sumer report’’; and 

23 (D) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘, credit 

24 scores, or educational credit scores’’ after ‘‘con25 sumer reports’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘(including 

2 the disclosure of a credit score or educational credit 

3 score, as applicable, under subsection (f) of such sec4 tion)’’ after ‘‘section 609’’; 

5 (3) in subsection (c)— 

6 (A) by inserting ‘‘(including the disclosure 

7 of a credit score or educational credit score 

8 under subsection (f) of such section)’’ after 

9 ‘‘pursuant to section 609’’; 

10 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘; or’’ 

11 and inserting a semicolon; 

12 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe13 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

14 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

15 paragraphs: 

16 ‘‘(4) has disputed information, or submitted an 

17 appeal of an investigation or reinvestigation of such 

18 information, under section 611 or 623, regardless of 

19 whether the consumer has already received a credit 

20 report, credit score, or educational credit score 

21 under section 611 or 623; or 

22 ‘‘(5) has had information that was previously 

23 deleted under section 611(a)(5) reinserted into the 

24 consumer’s file, regardless of whether the consumer 


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1 has already received a credit report, credit score, or 

2 educational credit score under such section.’’; 

3 (4) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘(including 

4 the disclosure of a credit score or educational credit 

5 score under subsection (f) of such section)’’ after 

6 ‘‘section 609’’; 

7 (5) in subsection (f)(1)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘reasonable charge’’ and 

9 all that follows through ‘‘section 609’’ and in10 serting ‘‘reasonable charge on a consumer for 

11 providing a consumer report to a consumer’’; 

12 (B) by striking subparagraph (B); 

13 (C) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as 

14 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively (and 

15 conforming the margins accordingly); and 

16 (D) in subparagraph (B) (as so redesig17 nated), by striking ‘‘disclosure; and’’ and insert18 ing ‘‘disclosure.’’; and 

19 (6) by adding at the end the following new sub20 sections: 

21 ‘‘(h) CENTRALIZED SOURCE FOR OBTAINING FREE

22 COPY OF CONSUMER REPORT AND SCORES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) NATIONWIDE CONSUMER REPORTING

24 AGENCIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

2 days after the date of enactment of this sub3 section, each consumer reporting agency de4 scribed under subsection (p) of section 603 

5 shall prominently display on the home page of 

6 the agency’s website— 

7 ‘‘(i) a hyperlink labeled ‘Get Your 

8 Free Annual Credit Reports along with ei9 ther your Credit Scores or Educational 

10 Credit Scores provided for under Federal 

11 Law’ or substantially similar text, as deter12 mined by the Bureau; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) a disclosure titled ‘Consumer’s 

14 Right to Free Credit Scores, Educational 

15 Credit Scores, and Reports under Federal 

16 Law’ or substantially similar text, as deter17 mined by the Bureau that includes the fol18 lowing statement: 

19 ‘‘ ‘All consumers are entitled to obtain a free copy of 

20 their consumer report and credit score or educational cred21 it score annually from each of the nationwide consumer 

22 reporting agencies. Under Federal law, a consumer is enti23 tled to obtain additional free copies of their consumer re24 ports, along with a copy of either the consumer’s credit 


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1 score or educational credit score (under certain cir2 cumstances), including: 

3 ‘‘ ‘(1) When a consumer is unemployed and in4 tends to apply for employment within 60 days. 

5 ‘‘ ‘(2) When a consumer is a recipient of public 

6 welfare assistance. 

7 ‘‘ ‘(3) When a consumer has a reasonable belief 

8 that their report contains inaccuracies as a result of 

9 fraud. 

10 ‘‘ ‘(4) When a consumer asserts in good faith a 

11 suspicion that the consumer has been or is about to 

12 become a victim of identity theft, fraud, or a related 

13 crime, or harmed by the unauthorized disclosure of 

14 the consumer’s financial or personally identifiable in15 formation. 

16 ‘‘ ‘(5) When a consumer files a dispute or an 

17 appeal of the results of a dispute with a consumer 

18 reporting agency or a person who furnished informa19 tion to the consumer reporting agency regarding the 

20 accuracy or completeness of the information con21 tained on their report. 

22 ‘‘ ‘(6) After a furnisher of information discovers 

23 it has furnished inaccurate or incomplete informa24 tion to a consumer reporting agency, and the fur25 nisher notifies the agency of the error. 


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1 ‘‘ ‘(7) After an adverse action is taken against 

2 a consumer or a consumer receives a risk-based pric3 ing notice. 

4 ‘‘ ‘(8) When a mortgage lender, private edu5 cational lender, indirect auto lender, or motor vehicle 

6 lender obtains and uses a consumer’s reports or 

7 scores for underwriting purposes.’. 

8 ‘‘(B) HYPERLINK REQUIREMENTS.—The 

9 hyperlink described in subparagraph (A)(i) shall 

10 be prominently located on the top of the home 

11 page and should link directly to the website of 

12 the centralized source established pursuant to 

13 section 211(d) of the Fair and Accurate Credit 

14 Transactions Act of 2003 (15 U.S.C. 1681j(d)). 

15 ‘‘(C) MODIFICATIONS.—The Bureau may 

16 modify the disclosure described in subparagraph 

17 (A)(ii) as necessary to include other cir18 cumstances under which a consumer has the 

19 right to receive a free consumer report, credit 

20 score, or educational credit score. 

21 ‘‘(2) NATIONWIDE SPECIALTY CONSUMER RE22 PORTING AGENCIES.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

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1 porting agency shall prominently display on the 

2 Internet home webpage of the agency a disclo3 sure titled ‘Consumer’s Right to Free Con4 sumer Reports and Credit Score or Educational 

5 Credit Score (as applicable) under Federal 

6 Law’. Such disclosure shall include the fol7 lowing statement: 

8 ‘‘ ‘Upon request, all consumers are entitled to obtain 

9 a free copy of their consumer report and credit score or 

10 educational credit score (as applicable) during any 12- 

11 month period from each of the nationwide specialty con12 sumer reporting agencies. Federal law also provides fur13 ther circumstances under which a consumer is entitled to 

14 obtain additional free copies of their consumer report and 

15 credit score or educational credit score (as applicable) in16 cluding: 

17 ‘‘ ‘(1) When a consumer is unemployed and in18 tends to apply for employment within 60 days. 

19 ‘‘ ‘(2) When a consumer is a recipient of public 

20 welfare assistance. 

21 ‘‘ ‘(3) When a consumer has a reasonable belief 

22 that their report contains inaccuracies as a result of 

23 fraud. 

24 ‘‘ ‘(4) When a consumer files a dispute or an 

25 appeal of the results of a dispute with a consumer 


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1 reporting agency or a person who furnished informa2 tion to the consumer reporting agency regarding the 

3 accuracy or completeness of the information con4 tained on their report. 

5 ‘‘ ‘(5) After a furnisher of information discovers 

6 it has furnished inaccurate or incomplete informa7 tion to a consumer reporting agency, and the fur8 nisher notifies the agency of the error. 

9 ‘‘ ‘(6) After an adverse action is taken against 

10 a consumer or a consumer receives a risk-based pric11 ing notice. 

12 ‘‘ ‘(7) When a mortgage lender, private edu13 cational lender, indirect auto lender, or motor vehicle 

14 lender obtains and uses a consumer’s reports or 

15 scores for underwriting purposes.’. 

16 ‘‘(B) MODIFICATIONS.—The Bureau may 

17 modify the disclosure described in subparagraph 

18 (A) as necessary to include other circumstances 

19 under which a consumer has the right to receive 

20 a free consumer report and credit score or edu21 cational credit score (as applicable). 

22 ‘‘(C) TOLL-FREE TELEPHONE ACCESS.— 

23 The information described in this paragraph 

24 shall also be made available via a toll-free tele25 phone number. Such number shall be promiVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 May 23, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00155 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5282.IH H5282

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1 nently displayed on the home page of the 

2 website of each nationwide specialty consumer 

3 reporting agency. Each of the circumstances 

4 under which a consumer may obtain a free con5 sumer report and credit score or educational 

6 credit score (as applicable) shall be presented in 

7 an easily understandable format and consumers 

8 shall be directed to an individual who is a cus9 tomer service representative not later than 2 

10 minutes after the initial phone connection is 

11 made by the consumer. Information provided 

12 through such telephone number shall comply 

13 with the requirements of section 633. 

14 ‘‘(D) ONLINE CONSUMER REPORTS; EX15 EMPTION.—Upon receipt of a request by a con16 sumer for a consumer report, each nationwide 

17 specialty consumer reporting agency shall pro18 vide access to such report electronically on the 

19 Internet website described in section 611(g). 

20 ‘‘(i) AUTOMATIC PROVISION OF FREE CONSUMER

21 REPORTS AND CREDIT SCORES OR EDUCATIONAL CREDIT

22 SCORES.—A consumer reporting agency shall provide to 

23 a consumer a free copy of the file and credit score or edu24 cational credit score of the consumer who— 


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1 ‘‘(1) obtains a 1-year fraud alert, 7-year fraud 

2 alert, active duty alert, or credit freeze as described 

3 in section 605A; or 

4 ‘‘(2) has disputed information, or submitted an 

5 appeal of an investigation or reinvestigation of such 

6 information, under section 611 or 623.’’. 

7 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 615(h)(7) of 

8 such Act (15 U.S.C. 1681m(h)(7)) is amended by striking 

9 ‘‘section’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection’’. 

10 SEC. 605. REQUIRES PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL LENDERS TO 

11 PROVIDE CONSUMERS WITH FREE COPIES OF 

12 ANY CONSUMER REPORTS AND CREDIT 

13 SCORES THAT THEY USED FOR UNDER14 WRITING BEFORE CONSUMERS SIGN LOAN 

15 AGREEMENTS. 

16 Section 609 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

17 U.S.C. 1681g), as amended by section 702, is further 

18 amended by adding at the end the following new sub19 section: 

20 ‘‘(i) DISCLOSURE OF CONSUMER REPORTS AND

21 CREDIT SCORES BY PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL LENDERS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a private educational 

23 lender obtains a copy of any consumer reports or 

24 credit scores and uses such reports or scores in con25 nection with an application of a consumer for a priVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 May 23, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00157 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5282.IH H5282

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1 vate education loan, the private educational lender 

2 shall provide to the consumer, not later than 3 busi3 ness days after obtaining such reports or scores and 

4 before the date on which the consumer enters into 

5 a loan agreement with the private educational lend6 er, a copy of any such reports or scores, along with 

7 the statement described under subsection (f)(2). 

8 ‘‘(2) COSTS.—None of the costs to the private 

9 educational lender associated with procuring con10 sumer reports or credit scores under this subsection 

11 may be charged, directly or indirectly, to the con12 sumer. 

13 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

14 this subsection shall be construed to eliminate any 

15 requirement for creditors and lenders to provide 

16 credit score disclosures, including the statement de17 scribed under subsection (f)(2), to consumers as 

18 part of an adverse action or risk-based pricing no19 tice.’’. 


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1 SEC. 606. REQUIRES MOTOR VEHICLE LENDERS OR INDI2 RECT AUTO LENDERS TO PROVIDE CON3 SUMERS WITH FREE COPIES OF ANY CON4 SUMER REPORTS AND CREDIT SCORES THAT 

5 THEY USED FOR UNDERWRITING BEFORE 

6 CONSUMERS SIGN LEASE OR LOAN AGREE7 MENTS. 

8 Section 609 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

9 U.S.C. 1681g), as amended by section 605, is further 

10 amended by adding at the end the following new sub11 section: 

12 ‘‘(j) DISCLOSURE OF CONSUMER REPORTS AND

13 CREDIT SCORES USED BY MOTOR VEHICLE LENDERS OR

14 INDIRECT AUTO LENDERS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a motor vehicle lender or 

16 indirect auto lender obtains a copy of any consumer 

17 reports or credit scores and uses such reports or 

18 scores in connection with an application of a con19 sumer for a motor vehicle loan or lease, the motor 

20 vehicle lender or indirect auto lender shall provide to 

21 the consumer a document, separate from the con22 sumer’s lease or purchase agreement and before the 

23 consumer enters into a lease or purchase agreement, 

24 disclosing any consumer reports and credit scores, 

25 including the statement described in subsection 


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1 (f)(2), used by the lender to determine whether to 

2 extend credit to the consumer. 

3 ‘‘(2) COSTS.—None of the costs to the motor 

4 vehicle lender or indirect auto lender associated with 

5 procuring consumer reports or credit scores under 

6 this subsection may be charged, directly or indi7 rectly, to the consumer. 

8 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

9 this subsection shall be construed to eliminate any 

10 requirement for creditors and lenders to provide 

11 credit score disclosures, including the statement de12 scribed under subsection (f)(2), to consumers as 

13 part of an adverse action or risk-based pricing no14 tice. 

15 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) INDIRECT AUTO LENDER.—The term 

17 ‘indirect auto lender’ has the meaning given the 

18 term by the Bureau, and shall include a person 

19 extending a loan made with respect to a car, 

20 boat, motorcycle, recreational vehicle, or other 

21 similar vehicle used primarily for personal or 

22 household purposes. 

23 ‘‘(B) MOTOR VEHICLE LENDER.—The 

24 term ‘motor vehicle lender’ has the meaning 

25 given the term by the Board of Governors of 


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1 the Federal Reserve System, and shall include 

2 a person extending a loan made with respect to 

3 a car, boat, motorcycle, recreational vehicle, or 

4 other similar vehicle used primarily for personal 

5 or household purposes.’’. 

6 SEC. 607. REQUIRES RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE LENDERS 

7 TO PROVIDE CONSUMERS WITH FREE COPIES 

8 OF ANY CONSUMER REPORTS AND CREDIT 

9 SCORES THAT THEY USED FOR UNDER10 WRITING BEFORE CONSUMERS SIGN LOAN 

11 AGREEMENTS. 

12 Section 609(g) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

13 U.S.C. 1681g(g)) is amended— 

14 (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para15 graph (5); 

16 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘a consumer credit score’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘any consumer reports or credit 

19 scores’’; 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘, as defined in subsection 

21 (f),’’; 

22 (C) by striking ‘‘the following to the con23 sumer as soon as reasonably practicable:’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘, not later than 3 business days after 

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1 closing any consumer reports and credit scores 

2 used by the lender to determine whether to ex3 tend credit to the consumer along with the 

4 statement described in subsection (f)(2).’’; 

5 (D) by striking subparagraphs (A), (B), 

6 (C), (E), and (F); 

7 (E) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 

8 paragraph (3); and 

9 (F) by redesignating subparagraph (G) as 

10 paragraph (4); 

11 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol12 lowing new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

14 this subsection shall be construed to eliminate any 

15 requirement for lenders to provide credit score dis16 closures, including the statement described under 

17 subsection (f)(2), to consumers as part of an adverse 

18 action or risk-based pricing notice.’’; 

19 (4) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated), in 

20 the quoted material— 

21 (A) by inserting ‘‘, free of charge,’’ after 

22 ‘‘disclose to you’’; and 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘affecting your credit 

24 scores’’ and inserting ‘‘affecting your credit 

25 score or scores’’; 


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1 (5) in paragraph (5) (as so redesignated) by in2 serting ‘‘or scores’’ after ‘‘credit score’’ each place 

3 such term appears; and 

4 (6) by adding at the end the following new 

5 paragraphs: 

6 ‘‘(6) ACTIONS NOT REQUIRED.—This subsection 

7 shall not require any person to disclose any credit 

8 score or related information obtained by the person 

9 after a loan has closed. 

10 ‘‘(7) NO PROCUREMENT COSTS.—None of the 

11 costs to the creditor or lender associated with pro12 curing any consumer reports or scores under this 

13 subsection may be charged, directly or indirectly, to 

14 the consumer.’’. 

15 TITLE VII—BANNING MISLEAD16 ING AND UNFAIR CONSUMER 

17 REPORTING PRACTICES 

18 SEC. 701. PROHIBITS AUTOMATIC RENEWALS FOR CON19 SUMER REPORTING AND CREDIT SCORING 

20 PRODUCTS AND SERVICES OFFERED UNDER 

21 PROMOTIONAL TERMS. 

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

23 seq.), as amended by section 501, is further amended— 

24 (1) by adding at the end the following new sec25 tion: 


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1 ‘‘§ 632. Promotional periods 

2 ‘‘(a) TERMINATION NOTICE.—With respect to any 

3 product or service related to a consumer report or a credit 

4 score that is provided to a consumer under promotional 

5 terms, the seller or provider of such product or service 

6 shall provide clear and conspicuous notice to the consumer 

7 within a reasonable period of time before the promotional 

8 period ends. 

9 ‘‘(b) OPT-IN.—With respect to any such product or 

10 service, the seller or provider may not continue to sell or 

11 provide such product or service to the consumer after the 

12 end of the promotional period unless the consumer specifi13 cally agrees at the end of the promotional period to con14 tinue receiving the product or service.’’; and 

15 (2) in the table of contents for such Act, by in16 serting after the item relating to section 631 (as 

17 added by section 501) the following new item: 

‘‘632. Promotional periods.’’. 

18 SEC. 702. BANS MISLEADING AND DECEPTIVE MARKETING 

19 RELATED TO THE PROVISION OF CONSUMER 

20 REPORTING AND CREDIT SCORING PROD21 UCTS AND SERVICES. 

22 Section 609 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

23 U.S.C. 1681g) is amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (a)— 

25 (A) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘request, except’’ and 

2 all that follows through ‘‘consumer to 

3 whom’’ and inserting ‘‘request, unless the 

4 consumer to whom’’; 

5 (ii) by striking ‘‘disclosure; and’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘disclosure.’’; and 

7 (iii) by striking subparagraph (B); 

8 and 

9 (B) in paragraph (6), by inserting ‘‘or edu10 cational credit score (if applicable) under sub11 section (f) or 612’’ before the period at the end; 

12 and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub14 section: 

15 ‘‘(h) DISCLOSURES ON PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.— 

16 The Bureau, in consultation with the Federal Trade Com17 mission, shall issue regulations within 18 months of the 

18 date of the enactment of this subsection requiring each 

19 consumer reporting agency and reseller to clearly and con20 spicuously disclose all material terms and conditions, in21 cluding any fee and pricing information associated with 

22 any products or services offered, advertised, marketed, or 

23 sold to consumers by the agency or reseller. Such disclo24 sures shall be made in all forms of communication to con25 sumers and displayed prominently on the agency or reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:40 May 24, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00165 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5282.IH H5282

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1 seller’s website and all other locations where products or 

2 services are offered, advertised, marketed, or sold to con3 sumers.’’. 

4 SEC. 703. ENDS EXCESSIVE DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER SALES 

5 BY GIVING THE BUREAU AUTHORITY TO SET 

6 FAIR AND REASONABLE FEES ON CONSUMER 

7 REPORTING AND CREDIT SCORING PROD8 UCTS AND SERVICES SOLD BY CONSUMER 

9 REPORTING AGENCIES TO CONSUMERS. 

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

11 seq.), as amended by section 706, is further amended— 

12 (1) by adding at the end the following new sec13 tion: 

14 ‘‘§ 635. Fair and reasonable fees for products and 

15 services 

16 ‘‘The Bureau may, with respect to any product or 

17 service offered by a consumer reporting agency to a con18 sumer, set a fair and reasonable maximum fee that may 

19 be charged for such product or service, except where such 

20 maximum fee is otherwise provided under this title.’’; and 

21 (2) in the table of contents for such Act, as 

22 amended by section 706, by adding at the end the 

23 following new item: 

‘‘635. Fair and reasonable fees for products and services.’’. 


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1 SEC. 704. PROMOTES ACCESS TO CONSUMER REPORTING 

2 AND CREDIT SCORING DISCLOSURES FOR 

3 CONSUMERS WITH LIMITED ENGLISH PRO4 FICIENCY AND VISUAL AND HEARING IM5 PAIRMENTS TO ENHANCE THEIR ABILITY TO 

6 EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS. 

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

8 seq.), as amended by section 701, is further amended— 

9 (1) by adding at the end the following new sec10 tion: 

11 ‘‘§ 633. Fair access to information for nonnative 

12 English speakers and the visually and 

13 hearing impaired 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after 

15 the date of the enactment of this section, the Bureau shall 

16 issue a rule to require consumer reporting agencies and 

17 persons who furnish information to consumer reporting 

18 agencies under this title, to the maximum extent reason19 ably practicable— 

20 ‘‘(1) to provide any information, disclosures, or 

21 other communication with consumers— 

22 ‘‘(A) in each of the 10 most commonly spo23 ken languages, other than English, in the 

24 United States, as determined by the Bureau of 

25 the Census on an ongoing basis; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) in formats accessible to individuals 

2 with hearing or vision impairments; and 

3 ‘‘(2) to ensure that— 

4 ‘‘(A) customer service representatives, in5 cluding employees assigned to handle disputes 

6 or appeals under sections 611 and 623, who are 

7 available to assist consumers are highly familiar 

8 with the requirements of this title; 

9 ‘‘(B) such representatives are available 

10 during regular business hours and outside of 

11 regular business hours, including evenings and 

12 weekends; and 

13 ‘‘(C) at least one among such representa14 tives is fluent in each of the 10 most commonly 

15 spoken languages, other than English, in the 

16 United States, as determined by the Bureau of 

17 the Census on an ongoing basis. 

18 ‘‘(b) BUREAU CONSULTATION.—The Bureau shall 

19 consult with advocates for civil rights, consumer groups, 

20 community groups, and organizations that serve tradition21 ally underserved communities and populations in issuing 

22 the rule described in subsection (a).’’; and 

23 (2) in the table of contents for such Act, by in24 serting after the item relating to section 632 (as 

25 added by section 701) the following new item: 


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‘‘633. Fair access to information for nonnative English speakers and the visually 

and hearing impaired.’’. 

1 SEC. 705. ESTABLISHES CONSUMERS’ RIGHT TO SHOP FOR 

2 THE BEST DEAL ON CERTAIN LARGE DOLLAR 

3 LOANS WITHOUT HARMING THEIR CREDIT 

4 STANDING. 

5 Section 605 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

6 U.S.C. 1681c) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(h) ENCOURAGING CONSUMERS TO COMPARISON

9 SHOP FOR LOANS BY TREATING GROUPED ENQUIRIES OF

10 THE SAME TYPE WITHIN A REASONABLE PERIOD AS A

11 SINGLE ENQUIRY.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to multiple 

13 enquiries of the same type made to a consumer re14 porting agency for a consumer report or credit score 

15 with respect to a consumer, any credit scoring model 

16 shall treat such enquiries as a single enquiry if the 

17 enquiries are made within a 120-day period. 

18 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF ENQUIRIES OF THE SAME

19 TYPE.—With respect to multiple enquiries made to 

20 a consumer reporting agency for a consumer report 

21 or credit score with respect to a consumer, such 

22 enquiries are ‘of the same type’ if the consumer re23 porting agency has reason to believe that the 

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1 mining the consumer’s creditworthiness for an exten2 sion of credit described in one of the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) A covered residential mortgage loan 

4 (as described in section 605C). 

5 ‘‘(B) A motor vehicle loan or lease (as de6 scribed in section 609(j)). 

7 ‘‘(C) A private education loan. 

8 ‘‘(D) Any other consumer financial product 

9 or service, as determined by the Bureau.’’. 

10 SEC. 706. ENDS CONFUSION ABOUT WHETHER ENTITIES 

11 ARE ENGAGED IN CONSUMER REPORTING 

12 PRACTICES BY CREATING A NATIONWIDE 

13 CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES REG14 ISTRY. 

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

16 seq.), as amended by section 704, is further amended— 

17 (1) by adding at the end the following new sec18 tion: 

19 ‘‘§ 634. Nationwide consumer reporting agencies reg20 istry 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

22 date of enactment of this section, the Bureau shall estab23 lish and maintain a publicly accessible registry of con24 sumer reporting agencies described in subsection (p) or 

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1 termines provide similar services to such consumer report2 ing agencies) that includes current contact information of 

3 each such agency, including the Internet website address 

4 of the Internet website described under section 611(g), 

5 and information on how consumers can obtain their con6 sumer report, credit scores, or educational credit scores 

7 (as applicable) by toll-free telephone, postal mail, or elec8 tronic means. 

9 ‘‘(b) REGISTRY REQUIREMENTS.—The registry de10 scribed in subsection (a) shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) identify the largest agencies and the mar12 kets and demographics covered by such agencies; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(2) disclose, with respect to each agency, 

15 whether the agency is subject to the supervisory au16 thority of the Bureau under this title. 

17 ‘‘(c) INFORMATION UPDATES.—Each agency de18 scribed under subsection (a) shall submit to the Bureau 

19 contact information for the registry, including any updates 

20 to such information. The Bureau shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) independently verify information submitted 

22 by each agency; and 

23 ‘‘(2) update the registry not less frequently 

24 than annually.’’; and 


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1 (2) in the table of contents for such Act, by in2 serting after the item relating to section 633 (as 

3 added by section 704) the following new item: 

‘‘634. Nationwide consumer reporting agencies registry.’’. 

4 TITLE VIII—EXPANDING ACCESS 

5 TO TOOLS TO PROTECT VUL6 NERABLE CONSUMERS FROM 

7 IDENTITY THEFT, FRAUD, OR 

8 A RELATED CRIME, AND PRO9 TECT VICTIMS FROM FUR10 THER HARM 

11 SEC. 801. IDENTITY THEFT REPORT DEFINITION. 

12 Paragraph (4) of section 603(q) of the Fair Credit 

13 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(q)(4)) is amended to 

14 read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(4) IDENTITY THEFT REPORT.—The term 

16 ‘identity theft report’ has the meaning given that 

17 term by rule of the Bureau, and means, at a min18 imum, a report— 

19 ‘‘(A) that is a standardized affidavit that 

20 alleges that a consumer has been a victim of 

21 identity theft, fraud, or a related crime, or has 

22 been harmed by the unauthorized disclosure of 

23 the consumer’s financial or personally identifi24 able information, that was developed and made 

25 available by the Bureau; or 


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1 ‘‘(B)(i) that alleges an identity theft, 

2 fraud, or a related crime, or alleges harm from 

3 the unauthorized disclosure of the consumer’s 

4 financial or personally identifiable information; 

5 ‘‘(ii) that is a copy of an official, valid re6 port filed by a consumer with an appropriate 

7 Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency, 

8 including the United States Postal Inspection 

9 Service, or such other government agency 

10 deemed appropriate by the Bureau; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) the filing of which subjects the per12 son filing the report to criminal penalties relat13 ing to the filing of false information if, in fact, 

14 the information in the report is false.’’. 

15 SEC. 802. CREDIT FREEZE DEFINITION. 

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

17 U.S.C. 1681a(q)(4)) is amended by adding at the end the 

18 following new paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(6) CREDIT FREEZE.—The term ‘credit freeze’ 

20 means a restriction placed at the request of a con21 sumer or a personal representative of the consumer, 

22 on the consumer report of the consumer, that pro23 hibits a consumer reporting agency described in sec24 tion 603(p) from releasing the consumer report for 

25 a purpose relating to the extension of credit without 


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1 the express authorization of the consumer. A credit 

2 freeze shall not apply to the use of a consumer re3 port by any of the following: 

4 ‘‘(A) A person, or the person’s subsidiary, 

5 affiliate, agent, subcontractor, or assignee with 

6 whom the consumer has, or prior to assignment 

7 had, an account, contract, or debtor-creditor re8 lationship for the purposes of reviewing the ac9 tive account or collecting the financial obliga10 tion owed on the account, contract, or debt. 

11 ‘‘(B) A person, or the person’s subsidiary, 

12 affiliate, agent, subcontractor, or assignee, to 

13 whom access has been granted pursuant to a 

14 request by the consumer described under sec15 tion 605A(i)(1)(B), for purposes of facilitating 

16 the extension of credit or other permissible use. 

17 ‘‘(C) Any person acting pursuant to a 

18 court order, warrant, or subpoena. 

19 ‘‘(D) A Federal, State, or local govern20 ment, or an agent or assignee thereof. 

21 ‘‘(E) Any person for the sole purpose of 

22 providing a credit monitoring or identity theft 

23 protection service to which the consumer has 

24 subscribed. 


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1 ‘‘(F) Any person for the purpose of pro2 viding a consumer with a copy of the consumer 

3 report, credit score, or educational credit score 

4 of the consumer upon the consumer’s request. 

5 ‘‘(G) Any person or entity for insurance 

6 purposes, including use in setting or adjusting 

7 a rate, adjusting a claim, or underwriting. 

8 ‘‘(H) Any person acting pursuant to an au9 thorization from a consumer to use their con10 sumer report for employment purposes.’’. 

11 SEC. 803. ENHANCES FRAUD ALERT PROTECTIONS. 

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

13 U.S.C. 1681c–1) is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a)— 

15 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

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

17 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

18 (i) in the paragraph heading, by strik19 ing ‘‘INITIAL ALERTS’’ and inserting ‘‘IN

20 GENERAL’’; 

21 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or harmed by the 

22 unauthorized disclosure of the consumer’s 

23 financial or personally identifiable informa24 tion,’’ after ‘‘identity theft,’’; 

25 (iii) in subparagraph (A)— 


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1 (I) by striking ‘‘90 days’’ and in2 serting ‘‘1 year’’; and 

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

4 (iv) in subparagraph (B)— 

5 (I) by inserting ‘‘1-year’’ before 

6 ‘‘fraud alert’’; and 

7 (II) by striking the period at the 

8 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (v) by adding at the end the following 

10 new subparagraph: 

11 ‘‘(C) upon the expiration of the 1-year pe12 riod described in subparagraph (A) or a subse13 quent 1-year period, and in response to a direct 

14 request by the consumer or such representative, 

15 continue the fraud alert for a period of 1 addi16 tional year if the information asserted in this 

17 paragraph remains applicable.’’; and 

18 (C) in paragraph (2)— 

19 (i) in the paragraph heading, by in20 serting ‘‘AND CREDIT OR EDUCATIONAL

21 CREDIT SCORES’’ after ‘‘REPORTS’’; 

22 (ii) by inserting ‘‘1-year’’ before 

23 ‘‘fraud alert’’; 


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1 (iii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

2 ‘‘and credit score or educational credit 

3 score’’ after ‘‘file’’; and 

4 (iv) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

5 ‘‘any request described in subparagraph 

6 (A)’’ and inserting ‘‘the consumer report7 ing agency includes the 1-year fraud alert 

8 in the file of a consumer’’; 

9 (2) in subsection (b)— 

10 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

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

12 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

13 (i) in subparagraph (B)— 

14 (I) by striking ‘‘5-year period be15 ginning on the date of such request’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘such 7-year period’’; 

17 and 

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

19 (ii) in subparagraph (C)— 

20 (I) by striking ‘‘extended’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘7-year’’; and 

22 (II) by striking the period at the 

23 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

24 (iii) by adding at the end the fol25 lowing new subparagraph: 


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1 ‘‘(D) upon the expiration of such 7-year 

2 period or a subsequent 7-year period, and in re3 sponse to a direct request by the consumer or 

4 such representative, continue the fraud alert for 

5 a period of 7 additional years if the consumer 

6 or such representative submits an updated iden7 tity theft report.’’; and 

8 (C) in paragraph (2)— 

9 (i) in the paragraph heading, by in10 serting ‘‘AND CREDIT OR EDUCATIONAL

11 CREDIT SCORES’’ after ‘‘REPORTS’’; and 

12 (ii) by amending subparagraph (A) to 

13 read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(A) disclose to the consumer that the con15 sumer may request a free copy of the file and 

16 credit score or educational credit score of the 

17 consumer pursuant to section 612(d) during 

18 each 12-month period beginning on the date on 

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

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

21 the 7-year fraud alert applies to the consumer’s 

22 file; and’’; 

23 (3) in subsection (c)— 

24 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or edu25 cational credit score’’ after ‘‘credit score’’; 


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1 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), 

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

3 respectively (and conforming the margins ac4 cordingly); 

5 (C) by striking ‘‘Upon the direct request’’ 

6 and inserting 

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

8 and 

9 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

10 paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(2) ACCESS TO FREE REPORTS AND CREDIT

12 OR EDUCATIONAL CREDIT SCORES.—If a consumer 

13 reporting agency includes an active duty alert in the 

14 file of an active duty military consumer, the con15 sumer reporting agency shall— 

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

17 consumer that the active duty military con18 sumer may request a free copy of the file and 

19 credit score or educational credit score of the 

20 active duty military consumer pursuant to sec21 tion 612(d), during each 12-month period be22 ginning on the date that the activity duty mili23 tary alert is requested and ending on the date 

24 of the last day the active duty alert applies to 


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1 the file of the active duty military consumer; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) provide to the active duty military 

4 consumer all disclosures required to be made 

5 under section 609, without charge to the con6 sumer, not later than 3 business days after any 

7 request described in subparagraph (A).’’; 

8 (4) by amending subsection (d) to read as fol9 lows: 

10 ‘‘(d) PROCEDURES.—Each consumer reporting agen11 cy described in section 603(p) shall establish and make 

12 available to the public on the agency’s Internet website 

13 policies and procedures to comply with this section, includ14 ing policies and procedures— 

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

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

17 duty alerts, and credit freezes (as applicable); 

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

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

20 alerts (as applicable) and to place, temporarily lift, 

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

22 manner; and 

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

24 the consumer has been or is about to become a vic25 tim of identity theft, fraud, or a related crime, or 


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1 harmed by the unauthorized disclosure of the con2 sumer’s financial or personally identifiable informa3 tion, for a consumer seeking a 1-year fraud alert or 

4 credit freeze.’’; 

5 (5) in subsection (e), by inserting ‘‘1-year or 7- 

6 year’’ before ‘‘fraud alert’’; 

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

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

9 freeze (as applicable)’’; 

10 (7) in subsection (g)— 

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

12 the unauthorized disclosure of the consumer’s 

13 financial or personally identifiable information, 

14 or to inform such agency of the consumer’s par15 ticipation in credit restoration or rehabilitation 

16 under section 605C, 605D, or 605E,’’ after 

17 ‘‘identity theft,’’; and 

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

19 ‘‘request alerts’’; and 

20 (8) in subsection (h)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

22 (i) in the paragraph heading, by strik23 ing ‘‘INITIAL’’ and inserting ‘‘1-YEAR’’; and 


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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘initial’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘1-year’’ each place such term appears; 

3 and 

4 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

5 (i) in the paragraph heading, by strik6 ing ‘‘EXTENDED’’ and inserting ‘‘7-YEAR’’; 

7 and 

8 (ii) by striking ‘‘extended’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘7-year’’ each place such term appears. 

10 SEC. 804. ENHANCES ACCESS TO CREDIT FREEZES, LIMITS 

11 THE COST OF SUCH FREEZES, AND PROVIDES 

12 ACCESS TO FREE CREDIT FREEZES FOR VUL13 NERABLE CONSUMERS. 

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

15 U.S.C. 1681c–1) is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(i) CREDIT FREEZES.— 

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

19 a consumer, or individual acting on behalf of or as 

20 a personal representative of a consumer, a consumer 

21 reporting agency described in section 603(p) that 

22 maintains a file on the consumer and has received 

23 appropriate proof of the identity of the requester (as 

24 described in section 1022.123 of title 12, Code of 

25 Federal Regulations) shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) place a credit freeze on the file of the 

2 consumer not later than 1 business day after 

3 receiving such request sent by postal mail, toll4 free telephone, or secure electronic means as es5 tablished by the agency and— 

6 ‘‘(i) not later than 5 business days 

7 after placing the credit freeze, provide the 

8 consumer with written confirmation of the 

9 credit freeze and a unique personal identi10 fication number or password (other than 

11 the consumer’s social security number) for 

12 use to authorize the release of the con13 sumer’s report for a specific period of 

14 time; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) disclose all relevant information 

16 to the consumer relating to the procedures 

17 for temporarily lifting and fully removing a 

18 credit freeze, including a statement about 

19 the maximum amount of time given to an 

20 agency to conduct such actions; 

21 ‘‘(B) for a consumer who provides a cor22 rect personal identification number or pass23 word, temporarily lift an existing credit freeze 

24 from the consumer’s file for a period of time 

25 specified by the consumer for a specific user or 


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1 category of users, as determined by the con2 sumer— 

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

4 after receiving the request by postal mail; 

5 or 

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

7 receiving the request by toll-free telephone 

8 number or secure electronic means estab9 lished by the agency, if such request is re10 ceived during regular business hours, ex11 cept if the consumer reporting agency’s 

12 ability to temporarily lift the credit freeze 

13 is prevented by— 

14 ‘‘(I) an act of God, including 

15 earthquakes, hurricanes, storms, or 

16 similar natural disaster or phe17 nomenon, or fire; 

18 ‘‘(II) unauthorized or illegal acts 

19 by a third party including terrorism, 

20 sabotage, riot, vandalism, labor strikes 

21 or disputes disrupting operations, or a 

22 similar occurrence; 

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1 placement part delivery, computer 

2 hardware or software failures inhib3 iting response time, or a similar dis4 ruption; 

5 ‘‘(IV) governmental action, in6 cluding emergency orders or regula7 tions, judicial or law enforcement ac8 tion, or a similar directive; 

9 ‘‘(V) regularly scheduled mainte10 nance or updates to the consumer re11 porting agency’s systems occurring 

12 outside of normal business hours; or 

13 ‘‘(VI) commercially reasonable 

14 maintenance of, or repair to, the con15 sumer reporting agency’s systems that 

16 is unexpected or unscheduled; or 

17 ‘‘(C) for a consumer who provides a cor18 rect personal identification number or pass19 word, fully remove an existing credit freeze 

20 from the file of the consumer not later than 1 

21 business day after receiving such request by 

22 postal mail, toll-free telephone, or secure elec23 tronic means established by the agency. 

24 ‘‘(2) FEES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) CLASSES OF CONSUMERS.—The Bu2 reau may establish classes of consumers eligible 

3 to place, temporarily lift, or fully remove a 

4 credit freeze free of charge. 

5 ‘‘(B) NO FEE.—A consumer reporting 

6 agency described in section 603(p) may not 

7 charge a consumer a fee to place, temporarily 

8 lift, or fully remove a credit freeze if the con9 sumer or a representative of the consumer— 

10 ‘‘(i) asserts in good faith a suspicion 

11 that the consumer has been or is about to 

12 become a victim of identity theft, fraud, or 

13 a related crime, or harmed by the unau14 thorized disclosure of the consumer’s fi15 nancial or personally identifiable informa16 tion; 

17 ‘‘(ii) is an active duty military con18 sumer; 

19 ‘‘(iii) is 65 years of age or older; or 

20 ‘‘(iv) is a member of a class estab21 lished by the Bureau under subparagraph 

22 (A). 

23 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION ON FEES.—For con24 sumers not described in subparagraph (B), a 

25 consumer reporting agency may charge not 


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1 more than $3 (as adjusted by the Bureau on 

2 January 1st of each year, based proportionally 

3 on changes in the Consumer Price Index for All 

4 Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of 

5 Labor and Statistics of the Department of 

6 Labor, with fractional changes rounded to the 

7 nearest 50 cents) for each request by a con8 sumer or a representative of the consumer to 

9 place, temporarily lift, or fully remove a credit 

10 freeze. 

11 ‘‘(3) ACCESS TO FREE REPORTS AND CREDIT

12 OR EDUCATIONAL CREDIT SCORES.—If a consumer 

13 reporting agency includes a credit freeze in the file 

14 of a consumer described in paragraph (2)(A), the 

15 consumer reporting agency shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) disclose to the consumer that the con17 sumer may request a free copy of the file and 

18 credit score or educational credit score of the 

19 consumer pursuant to section 612(d) on an an20 nual basis beginning on the date the freeze is 

21 placed and ending on the date that is 12 

22 months after the freeze is fully removed; and 

23 ‘‘(B) provide to the consumer all disclo24 sures required to be made under section 609, 

25 without charge to the consumer, not later than 


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1 3 business days after any request described in 

2 paragraph (1) is made. 

3 ‘‘(4) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—During the pe4 riod beginning on the date a consumer or a rep5 resentative of the consumer requests to place a cred6 it freeze and ending the date on which the consumer 

7 or representative requests to fully remove a credit 

8 freeze, a consumer reporting agency shall exclude 

9 the consumer from any list of consumers prepared 

10 by the consumer reporting agency and provided to 

11 any third party to offer credit or insurance to the 

12 consumer as part of a transaction that was not initi13 ated by the consumer, unless the consumer or such 

14 representative requests that such exclusion be re15 scinded before end of such period. 

16 ‘‘(5) NOTICE TO CONSUMERS REGARDING

17 CHANGES TO CERTAIN PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE

18 INFORMATION.—A consumer reporting agency may 

19 not change the name, date of birth, social security 

20 number, or address of a consumer in the file of the 

21 consumer during the period that a credit freeze is in 

22 place unless the consumer reporting agency sends a 

23 written confirmation of the change to the consumer 

24 within 30 days of the change being posted to the 

25 consumer’s file. Written confirmation shall not be 


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1 required for technical modifications of a consumer’s 

2 personally identifiable information including name 

3 and street abbreviations, complete spellings, or 

4 transposition of numbers or letters. In the case of an 

5 address change of the consumer, any written con6 firmation shall be sent to the new address and 

7 former address of the consumer. 

8 ‘‘(6) NONAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN PUBLIC

9 RECORD INFORMATION.—A credit freeze placed on 

10 the file of a consumer shall not prohibit a consumer 

11 reporting agency from disclosing public record infor12 mation lawfully obtained by, or for, the consumer re13 porting agency from an open public record. 

14 ‘‘(7) RELATION TO STATE LAW.—This sub15 section does not annul, alter, or affect in any man16 ner the meaning, scope or applicability of the laws 

17 of any State relating to credit freezes or other simi18 lar actions, except to the extent those laws are in19 consistent with any provision of this title, and then 

20 only to the extent of the inconsistency. For purposes 

21 of this subsection, a term or provision of a State law 

22 is not inconsistent with the provisions of this sub23 section if the term or provision affords greater pro24 tection and benefit to the consumer than the protec25 tion and benefit provided under this subsection as 


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1 determined by the Bureau, on its own motion or 

2 upon the petition of any interested party.’’. 

3 SEC. 805. REQUIRES DISCLOSURE OF CONSUMER RIGHTS 

4 RELATED TO CREDIT FREEZES. 

5 (a) SUMMARY OF RIGHTS RELATED TO CREDIT

6 FREEZES.—Section 609(c)(1) of the Fair Credit Report7 ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g(c)(1)), as amended by section 

8 105(d)(1)(C)(iv), is further amended by adding at the end 

9 the following new subparagraph: 

10 ‘‘(E) SUMMARY OF RIGHTS RELATED TO

11 CREDIT FREEZES.—The Bureau shall publish, 

12 and consumer reporting agencies described 

13 under section 603(p) shall distribute to con14 sumers, the following notice: 

15 ‘‘ ‘CREDIT FREEZES. 

16 ‘‘ ‘Consumers have the right to obtain a credit freeze 

17 under Federal law from any of the nationwide consumer 

18 reporting agencies. You have a right to place a credit 

19 freeze on your consumer report, which will prohibit a con20 sumer reporting agency from releasing information in your 

21 consumer report without your express authorization. A 

22 credit freeze may be requested in writing by mail, by toll23 free telephone, or by electronic means as provided by a 

24 consumer reporting agency. A credit freeze is designed to 

25 prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in 


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1 your name without your consent. If you are actively seek2 ing a new credit, loan, utility, telephone, or insurance ac3 count, you should understand that the procedures involved 

4 in lifting a credit freeze may slow your applications for 

5 such accounts and you should plan ahead and lift a freeze 

6 in advance of actually applying for any of these type of 

7 accounts. When you place a credit freeze on your con8 sumer report, you will be provided a personal identification 

9 number or password to use if you choose to fully remove 

10 the freeze on your consumer report or temporarily author11 ize the release of your consumer report for a period of 

12 time after the freeze is in place to a specific party or par13 ties. To provide that authorization you must contact each 

14 consumer reporting agency individually and provide your 

15 personal identification number or password, proper identi16 fication to verify your identity, and the period of time for 

17 which you would like the report to be available. A con18 sumer reporting agency must authorize the release of your 

19 consumer report no later than 15 minutes after receiving 

20 the above information if the request is by toll-free tele21 phone, or secure electronic means, and no later than one 

22 business day when a written request is submitted by mail. 

23 A credit freeze does not apply to a person or entity, or 

24 its affiliates or collection agencies acting on behalf of the 

25 person or entity, with which you have an existing account, 


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1 that requests information in your consumer report for the 

2 purposes of reviewing or collecting the account. Reviewing 

3 the account includes activities related to account mainte4 nance. Unless you suspect you have been or are about to 

5 become a victim of identity theft, fraud, a related crime, 

6 or harmed by the unauthorized disclosure of your financial 

7 or personally identifiable information, are an active duty 

8 military servicemember, are 65 years of age or older, or 

9 as otherwise identified as an eligible consumer by the Bu10 reau of Consumer Financial Protection, a consumer re11 porting agency has the right to charge you a fee of no 

12 more than $3 dollars each time you place, temporarily lift, 

13 or fully remove a credit freeze. However, if you reside in 

14 a State that provides greater protections with respect to 

15 the circumstances, method, or frequency for obtaining a 

16 credit freeze than is available under the Federal law, those 

17 State protections and benefits will apply to you.’.’’. 

18 (b) CLARIFICATION OF INFORMATION TO BE IN19 CLUDED WITH AGENCY DISCLOSURES.—Section 

20 609(c)(2) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g(c)(2)) is amend21 ed— 

22 (1) in subparagraph (B)— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘consumer reporting agen24 cy described in section 603(p)’’ and inserting 


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1 ‘‘consumer reporting agency described in sub2 section (p) or (x) of section 603’’; 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘the agency’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘such an agency’’; and 

5 (C) by inserting ‘‘and an Internet website 

6 address’’ after ‘‘hours’’; and 

7 (2) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘outdated 

8 under section 605 or’’ and inserting ‘‘outdated, re9 quired to be removed, or’’. 

10 SEC. 806. PROVIDES ACCESS TO FRAUD RECORDS FOR VIC11 TIMS. 

12 Section 609(e) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

13 U.S.C. 1681g(e)) is amended— 

14 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘resulting from identity 

16 theft’’; 

17 (B) by striking ‘‘claim of identity theft’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘claim of fraudulent activity’’; 

19 and 

20 (C) by striking ‘‘any transaction alleged to 

21 be a result of identity theft’’ and inserting ‘‘any 

22 fraudulent transaction’’; 

23 (2) in paragraph (2)(B)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘identity theft, at the elec2 tion of the business entity’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘fraudulent activity’’; 

4 (B) by amending clause (i) to read as fol5 lows: 

6 ‘‘(i) a copy of an identity theft report; 

7 or’’; and 

8 (C) by amending clause (ii) to read as fol9 lows: 

10 ‘‘(ii) an affidavit of fact that is ac11 ceptable to the business entity for that 

12 purpose.’’; 

13 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘identity 

14 theft’’ and inserting ‘‘fraudulent activity’’; 

15 (4) by striking paragraph (8) and redesignating 

16 paragraphs (9) through (13) as paragraphs (8) 

17 through (12), respectively; and 

18 (5) in paragraph (10) (as so redesignated), by 

19 striking ‘‘or similar crime’’ and inserting ‘‘, fraud, or 

20 a related crime’’. 

21 SEC. 807. REQUIRED BUREAU TO SET PROCEDURES FOR 

22 REPORTING IDENTITY THEFT, FRAUD, AND 

23 OTHER RELATED CRIME. 

24 Section 621(f)(2) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act 

25 (15 U.S.C. 1681s(f)(2)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking 

2 ‘‘MODEL FORM’’ and inserting ‘‘STANDARDIZED AF3 FIDAVIT’’; 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘The Commission’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘The Bureau’’; 

6 (3) by striking ‘‘model form’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘standardized affidavit’’; 

8 (4) by inserting after ‘‘identity theft’’ the fol9 lowing: ‘‘, fraud, or a related crime, or otherwise are 

10 harmed by the unauthorized disclosure of the con11 sumer’s financial or personally identifiable informa12 tion,’’; and 

13 (5) by striking ‘‘fraud.’’ and inserting ‘‘identity 

14 theft, fraud, or other related crime. Such standard15 ized affidavit and procedures shall not include a re16 quirement that a consumer obtain a police report.’’. 

17 SEC. 808. ESTABLISHES THE RIGHT TO FREE CREDIT MONI18 TORING AND IDENTITY THEFT PROTECTION 

19 SERVICES FOR CERTAIN CONSUMERS. 

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

21 U.S.C. 1681c–1(a)), as amended by section 804, is further 

22 amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(j) CREDIT MONITORING AND IDENTITY THEFT

24 PROTECTION SERVICES.— 


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

2 a consumer, or individual acting on behalf of or as 

3 a personal representative of a consumer, a consumer 

4 reporting agency described in section 603(p) that 

5 maintains a file on the consumer and has received 

6 appropriate proof of the identity of the requester (as 

7 described in section 1022.123 of title 12, Code of 

8 Federal Regulations) shall provide the consumer 

9 with credit monitoring and identity theft protection 

10 services not later than 1 business day after receiving 

11 such request sent by postal mail, toll-free telephone, 

12 or secure electronic means as established by the 

13 agency. 

14 ‘‘(2) FEES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) CLASSES OF CONSUMERS.—The Bu16 reau may establish classes of consumers eligible 

17 to receive credit monitoring and identity theft 

18 protection services free of charge. 

19 ‘‘(B) NO FEE.—A consumer reporting 

20 agency described in section 603(p) may not 

21 charge a consumer a fee to receive credit moni22 toring and identity theft protection services if 

23 the consumer or a representative of the con24 sumer— 


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1 ‘‘(i) asserts in good faith a suspicion 

2 that the consumer has been or is about to 

3 become a victim of identity theft, fraud, or 

4 a related crime, or harmed by the unau5 thorized disclosure of the consumer’s fi6 nancial or personally identifiable informa7 tion; 

8 ‘‘(ii) is unemployed and intends to 

9 apply for employment in the 60-day period 

10 beginning on the date on which the request 

11 is made; 

12 ‘‘(iii) is a recipient of public welfare 

13 assistance; 

14 ‘‘(iv) is an active duty military con15 sumer; 

16 ‘‘(v) is 65 years of age or older; or 

17 ‘‘(vi) is a member of a class estab18 lished by the Bureau under subparagraph 

19 (A). 

20 ‘‘(3) BUREAU RULEMAKING.—The Bureau shall 

21 issue regulations— 

22 ‘‘(A) to define the scope of credit moni23 toring and identity theft protection services re24 quired under this subsection; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) to set a fair and reasonable fee that 

2 a consumer reporting agency may charge a con3 sumer (other than a consumer described under 

4 paragraph (2)(B)) for such credit monitoring 

5 and identity theft protection services. 

6 ‘‘(4) RELATION TO STATE LAW.—This sub7 section does not annul, alter, or affect in any man8 ner the meaning, scope or applicability of the laws 

9 of any State relating to credit monitoring and iden10 tity theft protection services or other similar actions, 

11 except to the extent those laws are inconsistent with 

12 any provision of this title, and then only to the ex13 tent of the inconsistency. For purposes of this sub14 section, a term or provision of a State law is not in15 consistent with the provisions of this subsection if 

16 the term or provision affords greater protection and 

17 benefit to the consumer than the protection and ben18 efit provided under this subsection as determined by 

19 the Bureau, on its own motion or upon the petition 

20 of any interested party.’’. 


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1 SEC. 809. ENSURES REMOVAL OF INQUIRIES RESULTING 

2 FROM IDENTITY THEFT, FRAUD, OR OTHER 

3 RELATED CRIME FROM CONSUMER REPORTS. 

4 Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

5 U.S.C. 1681c(a)), as amended by section 308, is further 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(14) Information about inquiries made for a 

8 credit report based on requests that the consumer 

9 reporting agency verifies were initiated as the result 

10 of identity theft, fraud, or other related crime.’’. 

11 TITLE IX—MISCELLANEOUS 

12 SEC. 901. DEFINITIONS RELATED TO DAYS. 

13 Section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

14 U.S.C. 1681a), as amended by section 601, is further 

15 amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(bb) DEFINITIONS RELATED TO DAYS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) CALENDAR DAY; DAY.—The term ‘calendar 

18 day’ or ‘day’ means a calendar day, excluding any 

19 federally recognized holiday. 

20 ‘‘(2) BUSINESS DAY.—The term ‘business day’ 

21 means a day between and including Monday to Fri22 day, and excluding any federally recognized holi23 day.’’. 


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1 SEC. 902. TECHNICAL CORRECTION RELATED TO RISK2 BASED PRICING NOTICES. 

3 Section 615(h)(8) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act 

4 (15 U.S.C. 1681m) is amended— 

5 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘this sec6 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘this subsection’’; and 

7 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘This sec8 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘This subsection’’. 

9 SEC. 903. FCRA FINDINGS AND PURPOSE; VOIDS CERTAIN 

10 CONTRACTS NOT IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST. 

11 (a) FCRA FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.—Section 602 of 

12 the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681(a)) is 

13 amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a)— 

15 (A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 

16 follows: 

17 ‘‘(1) Many financial and non-financial decisions 

18 affecting consumers’ lives depend upon fair, com19 plete, and accurate credit reporting. Inaccurate and 

20 incomplete credit reports directly impair the effi21 ciency of the financial system and undermine the in22 tegrity of using credit reports in other cir23 cumstances, and unfair credit reporting and credit 

24 scoring methods undermine the public confidence 

25 which is essential to the continued functioning of the 


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1 financial services system and the provision of many 

2 other consumer products and services.’’; and 

3 (B) in paragraph (4), by inserting after 

4 ‘‘agencies’’ the following: ‘‘, furnishers, and 

5 credit scoring developers’’; and 

6 (2) in subsection (b)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘It is the purpose of this 

8 title to require’’ and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘The purpose of this title is the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) To require’’; and 

11 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(2) To prohibit any practices and procedures 

13 with respect to credit reports and credit scores that 

14 are not in the public interest.’’. 

15 (b) VOIDING OF CERTAIN CONTRACTS NOT IN THE

16 PUBLIC INTEREST.— 

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

18 et seq.), as amended by section 703, is further 

19 amended— 

20 (1) by adding at the end the following new sec21 tion: 

22 ‘‘§ 636. Voiding of certain contracts not in the public 

23 interest 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any provision contained in a 

25 contract that requires a person to not follow a provision 


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1 of this title, that is against the public interest, or that 

2 otherwise circumvents the purposes of this title shall be 

3 null and void. 

4 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub5 section (a) shall be construed as affecting other provisions 

6 of a contract that are not described under subsection 

7 (a).’’; and 

8 (2) in the table of contents for such Act, by 

9 adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘636. Voiding of certain contracts not in the public interest.’’. 

10 SEC. 904. GENERAL BUREAU RULEMAKING. 

11 Except as otherwise provided, not later than the end 

12 of the 2-year period beginning on the date of the enact13 ment of this Act, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Pro14 tection shall issue final rules to implement the amend15 ments made by this Act. 

Æ 


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