I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5843 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to create protected credit reports 

for minors and protect the credit of minors, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 10, 2014 

Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, and Ms. SHEAPORTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to create protected 

credit reports for minors and protect the credit of minors, 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. PROTECTIONS FOR CREDIT REPORTS OF MI4 NORS. 

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

6 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

7 section 605B the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 605C. ADDITIONAL PROTECTIONS FOR CREDIT RE2 PORTS OF MINOR CONSUMERS. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A consumer reporting agency de4 scribed in section 603(p) shall, upon request by a covered 

5 guardian of a minor consumer, create a blocked file for 

6 the minor consumer or convert a file of the minor con7 sumer already in existence to a blocked file. 

8 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Bureau, by rule, shall es9 tablish procedures— 

10 ‘‘(1) for a consumer reporting agency described 

11 in section 603(p) to properly identify the covered 

12 guardian and the minor consumer prior to creating, 

13 converting, or unblocking a blocked file for such 

14 minor consumer; 

15 ‘‘(2) for such a consumer reporting agency to 

16 create a blocked file for a minor consumer or to con17 vert a file of a minor consumer already in existence 

18 to a blocked file; and 

19 ‘‘(3) consistent with subsection (c), for a cov20 ered guardian to unblock a file. 

21 ‘‘(c) UNBLOCKING A FILE.— 

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

23 agency described in section 603(p) shall unblock a 

24 blocked file upon request by a covered guardian or 

25 on the date of the 18th birthday of the minor con26 sumer. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ALERT STATEMENT.—An alert statement 

2 shall be included in a file unblocked pursuant to 

3 paragraph (1) if the minor consumer was a victim 

4 of fraud or identity theft before the date of the 18th 

5 birthday of the minor consumer as follows: 

6 ‘‘(A) For a file unblocked upon request by 

7 a covered guardian, for a period of time begin8 ning on the date such file is unblocked and end9 ing on the date that is 1 year after the date of 

10 the 18th birthday of the minor consumer. 

11 ‘‘(B) For a file unblocked on the date of 

12 the 18th birthday of the minor consumer, for a 

13 period of 1 year after such date. 

14 ‘‘(3) DUTY OF RESELLER.—With respect to in15 formation concerning a consumer whose file contains 

16 an alert statement, a reseller shall include such alert 

17 statement when furnishing such information. 

18 ‘‘(d) FEES.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau shall deter20 mine if a fee may be charged, and the amount of the 

21 fee charged, by a consumer reporting agency de22 scribed in section 603(p) to create, convert, or 

23 unblock a file. 

24 ‘‘(2) FEES PROHIBITED.—A consumer report25 ing agency described in section 603(p) may not 


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1 charge a fee to a minor consumer who was a victim 

2 of fraud or identity theft prior to the date of the mi3 nor’s 18th birthday, to create, convert, or unblock a 

4 file. 

5 ‘‘(e) EXCEPTIONS.—No provision of this section shall 

6 be construed as requiring a consumer reporting agency de7 scribed in section 603(p) to prevent a Federal, State, or 

8 local law enforcement agency from accessing a blocked file. 

9 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section the following defi10 nitions shall apply: 

11 ‘‘(1) ALERT STATEMENT.—The term ‘alert 

12 statement’ means a statement that— 

13 ‘‘(A) notifies all prospective users of a con14 sumer report relating to the consumer that the 

15 consumer may be a victim of fraud, including 

16 identity theft; and 

17 ‘‘(B) is presented in a manner that facili18 tates a clear and conspicuous view of the state19 ment described in subparagraph (A) by any 

20 person requesting such consumer report. 

21 ‘‘(2) BLOCKED FILE.—The term ‘blocked file’ 

22 means a file of a minor consumer in which, pursuant 

23 to this section, a consumer reporting agency— 

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

25 security number, date of birth, and, if applicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:37 Dec 19, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5843.IH H5843

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1 ble, any credit information of the minor con2 sumer; 

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

4 consumer report of the minor consumer; and 

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

6 into the file, except with permission from a cov7 ered guardian of the minor consumer. 

8 ‘‘(3) COVERED GUARDIAN.—The term ‘covered 

9 guardian’ means— 

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

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

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

13 the State agency or Indian tribe or tribal orga14 nization responsible for the child’s foster care. 

15 ‘‘(4) MINOR CONSUMER.—The term ‘minor con16 sumer’ means an consumer who has not attained 18 

17 years of age.’’. 

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

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

20 1681 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item re21 lated to section 605B the following new item: 

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

Æ 


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