I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3622 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting act to restore the impaired credit 

of victims of predatory activities and unfair consumer reporting practices, 

to expand access to tools to protect vulnerable consumers from identity 

theft, fraud, or a related crime, and protect victims from further harm, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 5, 2019 

Ms. TLAIB introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting act to restore the impaired credit of victims of predatory activities and unfair 

consumer reporting practices, to expand access to tools 

to protect vulnerable consumers from identity theft, 

fraud, or a related crime, and protect victims from further harm, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Restoring Unfairly Impaired Credit and Protecting Con6 sumers Act’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Effective date. 

Sec. 4. General Bureau rulemaking. 

TITLE I—RESTORING THE IMPAIRED CREDIT OF VICTIMS OF 

PREDATORY ACTIVITIES AND UNFAIR CONSUMER REPORTING 

PRACTICES 

Sec. 101. Shortens the time period that most adverse credit information stays 

on consumer reports. 

Sec. 102. Mandates the expedited removal of fully paid or settled debt from 

consumer reports. 

Sec. 103. 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. 104. Provides credit restoration for victims of predatory mortgage lending 

and servicing. 

Sec. 105. Provides credit relief for private education loans borrowers who were 

defrauded or mislead by proprietary education institution or 

career education programs. 

Sec. 106. Establishes right for victims of financial abuse to have adverse information associated with an abuser’s fraudulent activity removed 

from their consumer reports. 

Sec. 107. Prohibits treatment of credit restoration or rehabilitation as adverse 

information. 

TITLE II—EXPANDING ACCESS TO TOOLS TO PROTECT VULNERABLE CONSUMERS FROM IDENTITY THEFT, FRAUD, OR A RELATED CRIME, AND PROTECT VICTIMS FROM FURTHER HARM 

Sec. 201. Identity theft report definition. 

Sec. 202. Amendment to protection for files and credit records of protected 

consumers. 

Sec. 203. Enhances fraud alert protections. 

Sec. 204. Amendment to security freezes for consumer reports. 

Sec. 205. Clarification of information to be included with agency disclosures. 

Sec. 206. Provides access to fraud records for victims. 

Sec. 207. Required Bureau to set procedures for reporting identity theft, fraud, 

and other related crime. 

Sec. 208. Establishes the right to free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services for certain consumers. 

Sec. 209. Ensures removal of inquiries resulting from identity theft, fraud, or 

other related crime from consumer reports. 

TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

Sec. 301. Definitions related to days. 

Sec. 302. Technical correction related to risk-based pricing notices. 

Sec. 303. FCRA findings and purpose; voids certain contracts not in the public 

interest. 


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1 SEC. 2. 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 for certain permis8 sible statutory purposes under the Fair Credit 

9 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) 

10 (‘‘FCRA’’). The three largest CRAs in this 

11 country are Equifax, TransUnion, and 

12 Experian. These CRAs are referred to as na13 tionwide CRAs and the reports that they pre14 pare are commonly referred to as credit reports. 

15 Furnishers, such as creditors, lenders, and debt 

16 collection agencies, voluntarily submit informa17 tion to CRAs about their accounts such as the 

18 total amount for each loan or credit limit for 

19 each credit card and the consumer’s payment 

20 history on these products. Reports also include 

21 identifying information about a consumer, such 

22 as their birthdate, previous mailing addresses, 

23 and current and previous employers. 

24 (B) In a December 2012 paper, ‘‘Key Di25 mensions and Processes in the U.S. Credit Re26 porting System: A review for how the nation’s 


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1 largest credit bureaus manage consumer data’’, 

2 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection 

3 (‘‘Consumer Bureau’’) noted that the three na4 tionwide CRAs maintain credit files on approxi5 mately 200 million adults and receive informa6 tion from about 10,000 furnishers. On a 

7 monthly basis, these furnishers provide infor8 mation on over 1.3 billion consumer credit ac9 counts or other trade lines. 

10 (C) The 10 largest institutions furnishing 

11 credit information to each of the nationwide 

12 CRAs account for more than half of all ac13 counts reflected in consumers’ credit files. 

14 (D) Consumer reports play an increasingly 

15 important role in the lives of American con16 sumers. Most creditors, for example, review 

17 these reports to make decisions about whether 

18 to extend credit to consumers and what terms 

19 and conditions to offer them. As such, informa20 tion contained in these reports affects whether 

21 a person is able to get a private education loan 

22 to pay for college costs, to secure a mortgage 

23 loan to buy a home, or to obtain a credit card, 

24 as well as the terms and conditions under which 


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1 consumer credit products or services are offered 

2 to them. 

3 (E) Credit reports are also increasingly 

4 used for many noncredit decisions, including by 

5 landlords to determine whether to rent an 

6 apartment to a prospective tenant and by em7 ployers to decide whether to hire potential job 

8 applicants or to offer a promotion to existing 

9 employees. 

10 (F) CRAs have a statutory obligation to 

11 verify independently the accuracy and complete12 ness of information included on the reports that 

13 they provide. 

14 (G) The nationwide CRAs have failed to 

15 establish and follow reasonable procedures, as 

16 required by existing law, to establish the max17 imum level of accuracy of information contained 

18 on consumer reports. Given the repeated fail19 ures of these CRAs to comply with accuracy re20 quirements on their own, legislation is intended 

21 to provide them with detailed guidance improv22 ing the accuracy and completeness of informa23 tion contained in consumer reports, including 

24 procedures, policies, and practices that these 


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1 CRAs should already be following to ensure full 

2 compliance with their existing obligations. 

3 (H) The presence of inaccurate or incom4 plete information on these reports can result in 

5 substantial financial and emotional harm to 

6 consumers. Credit reporting errors can lead to 

7 the loss of a new employment opportunity or a 

8 denial of a promotion in an existing job, stop 

9 someone from being able to access credit on fa10 vorable terms, prevent a person from obtaining 

11 rental housing, or even trigger mental distress. 

12 (I) Current industry practices impose an 

13 unfair burden of proof on consumers trying to 

14 fix errors on their reports. 

15 (J) Consumer reports containing inac16 curate or incomplete credit information also un17 dermine the ability of creditors and lenders to 

18 effectively and accurately underwrite and price 

19 credit. 

20 (K) Recognizing that credit reporting af21 fects the lives of almost all consumers in this 

22 country and that the consequences of errors on 

23 a consumer report can be catastrophic for a 

24 consumer, the Consumer Bureau began acceptVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3622.IH H3622

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1 ing consumer complaints about credit reporting 

2 in October 2012. 

3 (L) As of February 2017, the Consumer 

4 Bureau has handled approximately 185,717 

5 credit reporting complaints, making credit re6 porting consistently the third most-complained7 about subject matter on which the Consumer 

8 Bureau accepts consumer complaints. 

9 (M) In the ‘‘Monthly Complaint Report 

10 Volume 20’’, released in February 2017, the 

11 Consumer Bureau noted that 76 percent of 

12 credit reporting complaints involved incorrect 

13 information on reports, with consumers fre14 quently expressing their frustrations about the 

15 burdensome and time-consuming process to dis16 puting items. 

17 (N) Other common types of credit report18 ing complaints submitted to the Consumer Bu19 reau related to the improper use of a report, 

20 trouble obtaining a report or credit score, 

21 CRAs’ investigations, and credit monitoring or 

22 identity protection. 

23 (O) In the summer 2015 ‘‘Supervisory 

24 Highlights’’, the Consumer Bureau noted that 

25 one or more of the largest CRAs failed to adeVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3622.IH H3622

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1 quately oversee furnishers to ensure that they 

2 were adhering to the CRA’s vetting policies and 

3 to establish proper procedures to verify public 

4 record information. 

5 (P) According to the fall 2016 ‘‘Super6 visory Highlights’’, Consumer Bureau exam7 iners determined that one or more debt collec8 tors never investigated indirect disputes that 

9 lacked detail or were not accompanied by at10 tachments with relevant information from the 

11 consumer. Examiners also found that notifica12 tions sent to consumers about disputes consid13 ered frivolous failed to identify for the con14 sumers the type of material that they could pro15 vide in order for the debt collector to complete 

16 the investigation of the disputed item. 

17 (Q) A February 2014 Consumer Bureau 

18 report titled ‘‘Credit Reporting Complaint 

19 Snapshot’’ found that consumers are confused 

20 about the extent to which the nationwide CRAs 

21 are required to provide them with validation 

22 and documentation of a debt that appears on 

23 their credit report. 

24 (R) As evidence that the current system 

25 lacks sufficient market incentives for CRAs to 


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1 develop more robust procedures to increase the 

2 accuracy and completeness of information on 

3 credit reports, litigation discovery documented 

4 by the National Consumer Law Center 

5 (‘‘NCLC’’), as part of a January 2009 report 

6 titled, ‘‘Automated Injustice: How a Mecha7 nized Dispute System Frustrates Consumers 

8 Seeking to Fix Errors in Their Credit Re9 ports’’, showed that at least two of the three 

10 largest CRAs use quota systems to force em11 ployees to process disputes hastily and without 

12 the opportunity for conducting meaningful in13 vestigations. At least one nationwide CRA only 

14 allowed dispute resolution staff five minutes to 

15 handle a consumer’s call. Furthermore, these 

16 CRAs were found to have awarded bonuses for 

17 meeting quotas and punished those who didn’t 

18 meet production numbers with probation. 

19 (S) Unlike most other business relation20 ships, where consumers can register their satis21 faction or unhappiness with a particular credit 

22 product or service simply by taking their busi23 ness elsewhere, consumers have no say in 

24 whether their information is included in the 

25 CRAs databases and limited legal remedies to 


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1 hold the CRAs accountable for inaccuracies or 

2 poor service. 

3 (T) Accordingly, despite the existing statu4 tory mandate for CRAs to follow reasonable 

5 procedures to assure the maximum possible ac6 curacy of the information whenever they pre7 pare consumer reports, numerous studies, the 

8 high volume of consumer complaints submitted 

9 to the Consumer Bureau about incorrect infor10 mation on consumer reports, and supervisory 

11 activities by the Consumer Bureau demonstrate 

12 that CRAs continue to skirt their obligations 

13 under the law. 

14 (2) PRIVATE EDUCATION LOANS.— 

15 (A) The Consumer Bureau’s October 2014 

16 report titled ‘‘Annual Report of the CFPB Stu17 dent Loan Ombudsman’’ noted many private 

18 education loan borrowers, who sought to nego19 tiate a modified repayment plan when they were 

20 experiencing a period of financial distress, were 

21 unable to get assistance from their loan holders, 

22 which often resulting in them defaulting on 

23 their loans. This pattern resembles the dif24 ficulty that a significant number of mortgage 

25 loan borrowers experienced when they sought to 


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1 take responsible steps to work with their mort2 gage loan servicer to avoid foreclosure during 

3 the Great Recession. 

4 (B) Although private student loan holders 

5 may allow a borrower to postpone payments 

6 while enrolled in school full-time, many limit 

7 this option to a certain time period, usually 48 

8 to 66 months. This limited time period may not 

9 be sufficient for those who need additional time 

10 to obtain their degree or who want to continue 

11 their education by pursing a graduate or profes12 sional degree. The Consumer Bureau found 

13 that borrowers who were unable to make pay14 ments often defaulted or had their accounts 

15 sent to collections before they were even able to 

16 graduate. 

17 (3) DECEPTIVE PRACTICES AT CERTAIN PRO18 PRIETARY EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS AND CAREER

19 EDUCATION PROGRAMS.— 

20 (A) NCLC cited the proliferation of law 

21 enforcement actions against many for-profit 

22 schools in its June 2014 report, titled ‘‘Ensur23 ing Educational Integrity: 10 Steps to Improve 

24 State Oversight of For-profit Schools’’, to dem25 onstrate the pervasive problem in this sector of 


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1 targeting low-income students with deceptive 

2 high-pressure sales techniques involving inflated 

3 job placement rates and misleading data on 

4 graduate wages, and false representations about 

5 the transferability of credits and the employ6 ability of graduates in occupations that require 

7 licensure. Student loan borrowers at these 

8 schools may be left with nothing but worthless 

9 credentials and large debt. Those who default 

10 on their student loans face years with damaged 

11 credit that will adversely impact their ability to 

12 rent or buy homes, purchase cars, and find em13 ployment. 

14 (B) The closure and bankruptcy of Corin15 thian Colleges, which was found to have de16 ceived students by steering them into high-in17 terest student loans based on misleading grad18 uation rates and employment data, is a good 

19 example of the problem. Even after its closure, 

20 many Corinthian students remained saddled 

21 with student loan debt, worthless degrees, and 

22 few prospects for employment. 

23 (C) Attending a two-year, for-profit college 

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1 profit colleges represent only about 11 percent 

2 of the total higher education population but a 

3 startling 44 percent of all Federal student loan 

4 defaults, according to the United States De5 partment of Education (‘‘DOE’’). 

6 (D) According to NCLC, a dispropor7 tionate number of for-profit students are low-in8 come and people of color. These schools target 

9 veterans, working parents, first-generation stu10 dents, and non-English speaking students, who 

11 may be more likely than their public or private 

12 nonprofit school counterparts to drop out, incur 

13 enormous student debt, and default on this 

14 debt. In the 2011–2012 school year, 28 percent 

15 of African Americans and 15 percent of Latinos 

16 attending four-year institutions were enrolled in 

17 a for-profit school, compared to 10 percent of 

18 Whites. 

19 (E) As highlighted in a press release titled 

20 ‘‘Obama Administration Announces Final Rules 

21 to Protect Students from Poor-Performing Ca22 reer College Programs’’, that was issued by the 

23 DOE on October 30, 2014, ‘‘øt¿oo often, stu24 dents at career colleges—including thousands of 

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


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1 get the education they paid for. Instead, stu2 dents in such programs are provided with poor 

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

4 occupations where there are simply no job op5 portunities. They find themselves with large 

6 amounts of debt and, too often, end up in de7 fault. In many cases, students are drawn into 

8 these programs with confusing or misleading in9 formation.’’. 

10 (4) MEDICAL DEBT.— 

11 (A) Research by the Consumer Bureau has 

12 found that the inclusion of medical collections 

13 on consumer reports has unfairly reduced con14 sumers’ credit scores. 

15 (B) The Consumer Bureau’s review of 5 

16 million anonymized credit files from September 

17 2011 to September 2013, for example, found 

18 that credit scores may underestimate a person’s 

19 creditworthiness by up to 10 points for those 

20 who owe medical debt, and may underestimate 

21 a person’s creditworthiness by up to 22 points 

22 after the medical debt has been paid. For con23 sumers with lower credit scores, especially those 

24 on the brink of what is considered subprime, a 

25 10 to 22 point decrease in their credit scores 


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1 can have a significant impact on their lives, in2 cluding by affecting whether they are able to 

3 qualify for credit and, if so, the terms and con4 ditions under which it is extended to them. 

5 (C) The Consumer Bureau found that half 

6 of all collections trade lines that appear on con7 sumer reports are related to medical bills 

8 claimed to be owed to hospitals and other med9 ical providers. These trade lines affect the reports of nearly 1 10 ⁄5 of all consumers in the credit 

11 reporting system. 

12 (D) The Consumer Bureau has found that 

13 there are no objective or enforceable standards 

14 that determine when a debt can or should be 

15 reported as a collection trade line. Because debt 

16 buyers and collectors determine whether, when, 

17 and for how long to report a collection account, 

18 there is only a limited relationship between the 

19 time period reported, the severity of a delin20 quency, and when or whether a collection trade 

21 line appears on a consumer’s credit report. 

22 (E) Medical bills can be complex and con23 fusing for many consumers, which results in 

24 consumers’ uncertainty about what they owe, to 

25 whom, when, or for what, that may cause some 


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1 people, who ordinarily pay their bills on time, to 

2 delay or withhold payments on their medical 

3 debts. This uncertainty can also result in med4 ical collections appearing on consumer reports. 

5 In a December 2014 report titled ‘‘Consumer 

6 Credit Reports: A Study of Medical and Non7 Medical Collections’’, the Consumer Bureau 

8 found that a large portion of consumers with 

9 medical collections show no other evidence of fi10 nancial distress and are consumers who ordi11 narily pay their other financial obligations on 

12 time. Unlike with most credit products or serv13 ices, such as credit cards, installment loans, 

14 utilities, or wireless or cable services that have 

15 contractual account disclosures describing the 

16 terms and conditions of use, most consumers 

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

18 costs will be in advance. Consumers needing ur19 gent or emergency care rarely know, or are pro20 vided, the cost of a medical treatment or proce21 dure before the service is rendered. 

22 (F) The Consumer Bureau concluded that 

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1 lection in a study titled ‘‘Data Point: Medical 

2 Debt and Credit Scores’’, issued in May 2014. 

3 (G) FICO’s latest credit scoring model, 

4 ‘‘FICO 9’’, changes the treatment of paid col5 lections to disregard any collection matters that 

6 the consumer has paid in full. FICO 9, how7 ever, is not yet widely used by lenders. 

8 (H) VantageScore’s latest credit scoring 

9 model, ‘‘VantageScore 4.0’’, will be available in 

10 the fall of 2017. This model will penalize med11 ical collections less than non-medical ones. 

12 (I) The three nationwide CRAs entered 

13 into a settlement agreement with the New York 

14 State attorney general in 2015 to address defi15 ciencies in their dispute resolution process and 

16 enhance the accuracy of items on reports. These 

17 policy changes will be implemented in a three18 phrased rollout, culminating by June 2018. 

19 Subsequently, these CRAs entered into a coop20 erative agreement with 31 State Attorneys Gen21 eral, which was the basis of the creation of the 

22 National Consumer Assistance Plan (‘‘NCAP’’) 

23 to change some of their business practices. 

24 (J) While the CRAs appear to be volun25 tarily adopting policy changes on a nationwide 


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1 basis, they are not obligated to do so for con2 sumers who reside in States that are not party 

3 to any of the consent orders. 

4 (K) As a result of the settlement agree5 ments, the three nationwide CRAs will set a 

6 180-day waiting period before including medical 

7 collections on a report and will remove a med8 ical collection from a report once it is paid by 

9 an insurance company. While this change will 

10 benefit many, once a medical collection appears 

11 on a report, it will only be deleted or suppressed 

12 if it is found to have been the insurance com13 pany’s obligation to pay and the insurer pays it. 

14 Given the research showing there is little pre15 dictive value in medical debt information, med16 ical collections that are paid or settled should 

17 quickly be removed from a report, regardless of 

18 who pays or settles this debt. 

19 (5) FINANCIAL ABUSE BY KNOWN PERSONS.— 

20 (A) Financial abuse and exploitation are 

21 frequently associated with domestic violence. 

22 This type of abuse may result in fraudulent 

23 charges to a credit card or having fraudulent 

24 accounts created by the abuser in the survivor’s 

25 name. Financial abuse may also result in the 


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1 survivor’s inability to make timely payments on 

2 their valid obligations due to loss or changes in 

3 income that can occur when their abuser steals 

4 from or coerces the survivor to relinquish their 

5 paychecks or savings. 

6 (B) By racking up substantial debts in the 

7 survivor’s name, abusers are able to exercise fi8 nancial control over their survivors to make it 

9 economically difficult for the survivor, whose 

10 credit is often destroyed, to escape the situa11 tion. 

12 (C) Domestic abuse survivors with poor 

13 credit are likely to face significant obstacles in 

14 establishing financial independence from their 

15 abusers. This can be due, in part, because con16 sumer reports may be used when a person at17 tempts to obtain a checking account, housing, 

18 insurance, utilities, employment, and even a se19 curity clearance as required for certain jobs. 

20 (D) Providing documentation of identity 

21 (‘‘ID’’) theft in order to dispute information on 

22 one’s consumer report can be particularly chal23 lenging for those who know their financial 

24 abuser. 


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1 (E) While it is easier for consumers who 

2 obtain a police report to remove fraudulent in3 formation from their consumer report and pre4 vent it from reappearing in the future, accord5 ing to the Empire Justice Center, safety and 

6 other noncredit concerns may impact the capac7 ity of a survivor of financial abuse committed 

8 by a known person to turn to law enforcement 

9 to get a police report. 

10 (F) According to the Legal Aid Society in 

11 New York, domestic abuse survivors, seeking to 

12 remove adverse information stemming from fi13 nancial abuse by contacting their furnishers di14 rectly, are likely to face skepticism about claims 

15 of ID theft perpetrated by a partner because of 

16 an assumption that they are aware of, and may 

17 have been complicit in, the activity which the 

18 survivor alleges stems from financial abuse. 

19 (6) DECEPTIVE AND MISLEADING MARKETING

20 PRACTICES.— 

21 (A) The Consumer Bureau’s February 

22 2015 report titled ‘‘Consumer Voices on Credit 

23 Reports and Scores’’ found that some con24 sumers did not obtain a copy of their consumer 

25 report due to concerns about security or of 


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1 being trapped into purchasing unwanted prod2 ucts like an additional report or a credit moni3 toring service. 

4 (B) In January 2017, the Consumer Bu5 reau fined TransUnion and Equifax for decep6 tively marketing credit scores for purchase by 

7 consumers as the same credit scores typically 

8 used by lenders to determine creditworthiness 

9 and for luring consumers into costly subscrip10 tion services that were advertised as ‘‘free’’ or 

11 ‘‘$1’’ that automatically charged recurring fees 

12 unless cancelled by consumers. The Consumer 

13 Bureau also found that Equifax was illegally 

14 advertising its products on webpages that con15 sumers accessed through 

16 AnnualCreditReport.com before consumers ob17 tained their free disclosures. Because of these 

18 troubling practices, TransUnion was ordered to 

19 pay $13.9 million in restitution to harmed con20 sumers and a civil penalty of $3 million to the 

21 Consumer Bureau. Equifax was ordered to pay 

22 more than $3.7 million to affected consumers 

23 as well as a civil money penalty of $2.5 million 

24 to the Consumer Bureau. As part of the con25 sent orders, the CRAs are also supposed to 


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1 change the way that they sell their products to 

2 consumers. The CRAs must also obtain con3 sumers’ express consent before enrolling them 

4 into subscription services as well as make it 

5 easer for consumers to cancel these programs. 

6 (C) The Consumer Bureau fined the other 

7 nationwide CRA—Experian—in March 2017 

8 for deceiving consumers about the use of credit 

9 scores that it marketed and sold to consumers 

10 as credit scores that were used by lenders and 

11 for illegally advertising its products on web 

12 pages that consumers accessed through 

13 AnnualCreditReport.com before they obtained 

14 their free annual disclosures. Experian was or15 dered to pay more than $3.7 million in restitu16 tion to harmed consumers and a civil monetary 

17 penalty of $2.5 million to the Consumer Bu18 reau. 

19 (D) The Consumer Bureau’s January and 

20 March 2017 consent orders with the three na21 tionwide CRAs show that these CRAs have en22 ticed consumers into purchasing products and 

23 services that they may not want or need, in 

24 some instances by advertising products or serv25 ices ‘‘free’’ that automatically converted into an 


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1 ongoing subscription service at the regular price 

2 unless cancelled by the consumer. Although 

3 these CRAs must now change their deceptive 

4 marketing practices, codifying these duties is an 

5 appropriate way to ensure that these companies 

6 never revert back to such misleading tactics. 

7 (E) Given the ubiquitous use of consumer 

8 reports in consumers’ lives and the fact that 

9 consumers’ participation in the credit reporting 

10 system is involuntary, CRAs should also 

11 prioritize providing consumers with the effective 

12 means to safeguard their personal and financial 

13 information and improve their credit standing, 

14 rather than seeking to exploit consumers’ con15 cerns and confusion about credit reporting and 

16 scoring, to boost their companies’ profits. 

17 (F) Vulnerable consumers, who have legiti18 mate concerns about the security of their per19 sonal and financial information, deserve clear, 

20 accurate, and transparent information about 

21 the credit reporting tools that may be available 

22 to them, such as fraud alerts and freezes. 

23 (7) PROTECTIONS FOR CONSUMERS’ CREDIT IN24 FORMATION.— 


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1 (A) Despite heightened awareness, inci2 dents of ID theft continue to rise. In February 

3 2015, the FTC reported that ID theft was the 

4 top consumer complaint that it received for the 

5 15th consecutive year. As these incidents in6 crease, consumers experience significant finan7 cial loss and emotional distress from the inabil8 ity to safeguard effectively and inexpensively 

9 their credit information from bad actors. 

10 (B) According to a Carnegie Mellon study, 

11 children are 50 times more likely than adults to 

12 have their identities stolen. Child identities are 

13 valuable to thieves because most children do not 

14 have existing files, and their parents may not 

15 notice fraudulent activity until their child ap16 plies for a student loan, a job, or a credit card. 

17 As a result, the fraudulent activity of the bad 

18 actors may go undetected for years. 

19 (C) Despite the increasing incidents of 

20 children’s ID theft, parents who want to 

21 proactively prevent their children from having 

22 their identity stolen, may not be able to do so. 

23 Only one of the three nationwide CRAs cur24 rently allows parents from any State to set up 

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1 tionwide CRAs, parents can only obtain a freeze 

2 after a child has become an ID theft victim be3 cause, it is only at this point, that these CRAs 

4 have an existing credit file for the child. While 

5 many States have enacted laws to address this 

6 problem, there is no existing Federal law. 

7 (D) According to Javelin Strategy & 

8 Research’s 2015 Identity Fraud study, $16 bil9 lion was stolen by fraudsters from 12.7 million 

10 American consumers in 2014. Similarly, the 

11 United States Department of Justice found an 

12 estimated 7 percent of all residents age 16 or 

13 older (about 17.6 million persons) in this coun14 try were victims of one or more incidents of ID 

15 theft in 2014, and the number of elderly victims 

16 age 65 or older (about 86 percent) increased 

17 from 2.1 million in 2012 to 2.6 million in 2014. 

18 (E) Consumers frequently express concern 

19 about the security of their financial informa20 tion. According to a 2015 MasterCard survey, 

21 a majority of consumers (77 percent) have anx22 iety about the possibility that their financial in23 formation and Social Security numbers may be 

24 stolen or compromised, with about 55 percent 

25 of consumers indicating that they would rather 


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1 have naked pictures of themselves leaked online 

2 than have their financial information stolen. 

3 (F) That survey also revealed that con4 sumers’ fears about the online security of their 

5 financial information even outweighed con6 sumers’ worries about other physical security 

7 dangers such as having their houses robbed (59 

8 percent) or being pickpocketed (46 percent). 

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 these services ranging from $120 

14 to $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 ID theft and fraud prevention 

19 measures that may be right for them. 

20 SEC. 3. 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 SEC. 4. GENERAL BUREAU RULEMAKING. 

2 Except as otherwise provided, not later than the end 

3 of the 2-year period beginning on the date of the enact4 ment of this Act, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Pro5 tection shall issue final rules to implement the amend6 ments made by this Act. 

7 TITLE I—RESTORING THE IM8 PAIRED CREDIT OF VICTIMS 

9 OF PREDATORY ACTIVITIES 

10 AND UNFAIR CONSUMER RE11 PORTING PRACTICES 

12 SEC. 101. SHORTENS THE TIME PERIOD THAT MOST AD13 VERSE CREDIT INFORMATION STAYS ON CON14 SUMER REPORTS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 605 of the Fair Credit 

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

17 (1) in subsection (a)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘Except as authorized 

19 under subsection (b), no’’ and inserting ‘‘No’’; 

20 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘10 

21 years’’ and inserting ‘‘7 years’’; 

22 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Civil 

23 suits, civil judgments, and records’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘Records’’; 

25 (D) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘seven 

26 years’’ and inserting ‘‘4 years’’; 


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1 (E) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘seven 

2 years’’ and inserting ‘‘4 years, except as pro3 vided in paragraph (8), (10), (11), (12), or 

4 (13), or as required by section 605C, 605D, 

5 605E, or 605F’’; 

6 (F) in paragraph (5)— 

7 (i) by striking ‘‘, other than records of 

8 convictions of crimes’’; and 

9 (ii) by striking ‘‘seven years’’ and in10 serting ‘‘4 years, except as required by sec11 tion 605C, 605D, 605E, or 605F’’; and 

12 (G) by adding at the end the following new 

13 paragraphs: 

14 ‘‘(9) Civil suits and civil judgments (except as 

15 provided in paragraph (8)) that, from date of entry, 

16 antedate the report by more than 4 years or until 

17 the governing statute of limitations has expired, 

18 whichever is the longer period. 

19 ‘‘(10) A civil suit or civil judgment— 

20 ‘‘(A) brought by a private education loan 

21 holder that, from the date of successful comple22 tion of credit restoration or rehabilitation in ac23 cordance with the requirements of section 605D 

24 or 605E, antedates the report by 45 calendar 

25 days; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) brought by a lender with respect to 

2 a covered residential mortgage loan that ante3 dates the report by 45 calendar days. 

4 ‘‘(11) Records of convictions of crimes which 

5 antedate the report by more than 7 years. 

6 ‘‘(12) Any other adverse item of information re7 lating to the collection of debt that did not arise 

8 from a contract or an agreement to pay by a con9 sumer, including fines, tickets, and other assess10 ments, as determined by the Bureau, excluding tax 

11 liability.’’; 

12 (2) by striking subsection (b) and redesignating 

13 subsections (c) through (h) as subsections (b) 

14 through (g), respectively; and 

15 (3) in subsection (b) (as so redesignated), by 

16 striking ‘‘7-year period referred to in paragraphs (4) 

17 and (6)’’ and inserting ‘‘4-year period referred to in 

18 paragraphs (4) and (5)’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Fair Credit 

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

21 (1) in section 616(d), by striking ‘‘section 

22 605(g)’’ each place that term appears and inserting 

23 ‘‘section 605(f)’’; and 

24 (2) in section 625(b)(5)(A), by striking ‘‘section 

25 605(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 605(f)’’. 


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1 SEC. 102. MANDATES THE EXPEDITED REMOVAL OF FULLY 

2 PAID OR SETTLED DEBT FROM CONSUMER 

3 REPORTS. 

4 Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

5 U.S.C. 1681c(a)), as amended by section 101(a)(1), is fur6 ther amended by adding at the end the following new para7 graph: 

8 ‘‘(13) Any other adverse item of information re9 lated to a fully paid or settled debt that had been 

10 characterized as delinquent, charged off, or in collec11 tion which, from the date of payment or settlement, 

12 antedates the report by more than 45 calendar 

13 days.’’. 

14 SEC. 103. IMPOSES RESTRICTIONS ON THE APPEARANCE 

15 OF MEDICAL COLLECTIONS ON CONSUMER 

16 REPORTS AND REQUIRES THE EXPEDITED 

17 REMOVAL OF FULLY PAID OR SETTLED MED18 ICAL COLLECTIONS FROM CONSUMER RE19 PORTS. 

20 (a) REMOVAL OF FULLY PAID OR SETTLED MED21 ICAL DEBT FROM CONSUMER REPORTS.—Section 605(a) 

22 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)), 

23 as amended by section 102, is further amended by adding 

24 at the end the following new paragraph: 

25 ‘‘(14) Any other adverse item of information re26 lated to a fully paid or settled debt arising from the 


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1 receipt of medical services, products, or devices that 

2 had been characterized as delinquent, charged off, or 

3 in collection which, from the date of payment or set4 tlement, antedates the report by more than 45 cal5 endar days.’’. 

6 (b) ESTABLISHING AN EXTENDED TIME PERIOD BE7 FORE CERTAIN MEDICAL DEBT INFORMATION MAY BE

8 REPORTED.—Section 605(a) of such Act is further 

9 amended by adding at the end the following new para10 graph: 

11 ‘‘(15) Any information related to a debt arising 

12 from the receipt of medical services, products, or de13 vices, if the date on which such debt was placed for 

14 collection, charged to profit or loss, or subjected to 

15 any similar action antedates the report by less than 

16 365 calendar days.’’. 

17 (c) PROHIBITION ON REPORTING MEDICALLY NEC18 ESSARY PROCEDURES.—Section 605(a) of such Act is fur19 ther amended by adding at the end the following new para20 graph: 

21 ‘‘(16) Any information related to a debt arising 

22 from a medically necessary procedure.’’. 

23 (d) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 604(g)(1)(C) 

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


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1 1681b(g)(1)(C)) is further amended by striking ‘‘devises’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘devices’’. 

3 SEC. 104. PROVIDES CREDIT RESTORATION FOR VICTIMS 

4 OF PREDATORY MORTGAGE LENDING AND 

5 SERVICING. 

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

7 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

8 section 605B the following new section: 

9 ‘‘§ 605C. Credit restoration for victims of predatory 

10 mortgage lending 

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

12 may not furnish any consumer report containing any ad13 verse item of information relating to a covered residential 

14 mortgage loan (including the origination and servicing of 

15 such a loan, any loss mitigation activities related to such 

16 a loan, and any foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure, 

17 or short sale related to such a loan), if the action or inac18 tion to which the item of information relates— 

19 ‘‘(1) resulted from an unfair, deceptive, or abu20 sive act or practice, or a fraudulent, discriminatory, 

21 or illegal activity of a financial institution, as deter22 mined by the Bureau or a court of competent juris23 diction; or 

24 ‘‘(2) is related to an unfair, deceptive, or abu25 sive act, practice, or a fraudulent, discriminatory, or 


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1 illegal activity of a financial institution that is the 

2 subject of a settlement agreement initiated on behalf 

3 of a consumer or consumers and that is between the 

4 financial institution and an agency or department of 

5 a local, State, or Federal Government, regardless of 

6 whether such settlement includes an admission of 

7 wrongdoing. 

8 ‘‘(b) COVERED RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE LOAN DE9 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘covered residential 

10 mortgage loan’ means any loan primarily for personal, 

11 family, or household use that is secured by a mortgage, 

12 deed of trust, or other equivalent consensual security in13 terest on a dwelling (as defined in section 103(w) of the 

14 Truth in Lending Act), including a loan in which the pro15 ceeds will be used for— 

16 ‘‘(1) a manufactured home (as defined in sec17 tion 603 of the Housing and Community Develop18 ment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5402)); 

19 ‘‘(2) any installment sales contract, land con20 tract, or contract for deed on a residential property; 

21 or 

22 ‘‘(3) a reverse mortgage transaction (as defined 

23 in section 103 of the Truth in Lending Act).’’. 

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

25 of contents of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended 


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1 by inserting after the item relating to section 605B the 

2 following new item: 

‘‘605C. Credit restoration for victims of predatory mortgage lending.’’. 

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall take effect at the end of the 18-month 

5 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 SEC. 105. PROVIDES CREDIT RELIEF FOR PRIVATE EDU7 CATION LOANS BORROWERS WHO WERE DE8 FRAUDED OR MISLEAD BY PROPRIETARY 

9 EDUCATION INSTITUTION OR CAREER EDU10 CATION PROGRAMS. 

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

12 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), as amended by section 104, is 

13 further amended by inserting after section 605C the fol14 lowing new section: 

15 ‘‘§ 605D. Private education loan credit restoration for 

16 defrauded student borrowers who attend 

17 certain proprietary educational institu18 tion or career education programs 

19 ‘‘(a) PROCESS FOR CERTIFICATION AS A QUALIFYING

20 PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN BORROWER.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A consumer may submit a 

22 request to the Bureau, along with a defraudment 

23 claim, to be certified as a qualifying private edu24 cation loan borrower with respect to a private edu25 cation loan. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION.—The Bureau shall certify 

2 a consumer described in paragraph (1) as a quali3 fying private education loan borrower with respect to 

4 a private education loan if the Bureau or a court of 

5 competent jurisdiction determines that the consumer 

6 has a valid defraudment claim with respect to such 

7 loan. 

8 ‘‘(b) REMOVAL OF ADVERSE INFORMATION.—Upon 

9 receipt of a notice described in subsection (d)(5), a con10 sumer reporting agency shall remove any adverse informa11 tion relating to any private education loan with respect 

12 to which a consumer is a qualifying private education loan 

13 borrower from any consumer report within 45 calendar 

14 days of receipt of such notification. 

15 ‘‘(c) DISCLOSURE.—The Bureau shall disclose the re16 sults of a certification determination in writing to the con17 sumer that provides a clear and concise explanation of the 

18 basis for the determination of whether such consumer is 

19 a qualifying private education loan borrower with respect 

20 to a private education loan and, as applicable, an expla21 nation of the consumer’s right to have adverse information 

22 relating to such loan removed from their consumer report 

23 by a consumer reporting agency. 

24 ‘‘(d) PROCEDURES.—The Bureau shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) establish procedures for a consumer to 

2 submit a request described in subsection (a); 

3 ‘‘(2) establish procedures to efficiently review, 

4 accept, and process such a request; 

5 ‘‘(3) develop ongoing outreach initiatives and 

6 education programs to inform consumers of the cir7 cumstances under which such consumer may be eli8 gible to be certified as a qualifying private education 

9 loan borrower with respect to a private education 

10 loan; 

11 ‘‘(4) establish procedures, including the man12 ner, form, and content of the notice informing a pri13 vate educational loan holder of the prohibition on re14 porting any adverse information relating to a private 

15 education loan with respect to which a consumer is 

16 a qualifying private education loan borrower; and 

17 ‘‘(5) establish procedures, including the man18 ner, form, and content of the notice informing a con19 sumer reporting agency of the obligation to remove 

20 any adverse information as described in subsection 

21 (c). 

22 ‘‘(e) STANDARDIZED REPORTING CODES.—A con23 sumer reporting agency shall develop standardized report24 ing codes for use by private education loan holders to iden25 tify and report a qualifying private education loan borVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3622.IH H3622

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1 rower’s status of a request to remove any adverse informa2 tion relating to any private education loan with respect 

3 to which such consumer is a qualifying private education 

4 loan borrower. A consumer report in which a person fur5 nishes such codes shall be deemed to comply with the re6 quirements for accuracy and completeness required under 

7 sections 623(a)(1) and 630. Such codes shall not appear 

8 on any report provided to a third party, and shall be re9 moved from the consumer’s credit report upon the success10 ful restoration of the consumer’s credit under this section. 

11 ‘‘(f) DEFRAUDMENT CLAIM DEFINED.—For pur12 poses of this section, the term ‘defraudment claim’ means 

13 a claim made with respect to a consumer who is a bor14 rower of a private education loan with respect to a propri15 etary educational institution or career education program 

16 in which the consumer 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 has submitted a valid de22 fense to repayment claim with respect to such loan, 

23 as determined by the Secretary of Education.’’. 

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

25 of contents of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended 


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1 by inserting after the item relating to section 605C (as 

2 added by section 104) the following new item: 

‘‘605D. Private education loan credit restoration for defrauded student borrowers who attend certain proprietary educational institution 

or career education programs.’’. 

3 SEC. 106. ESTABLISHES RIGHT FOR VICTIMS OF FINANCIAL 

4 ABUSE TO HAVE ADVERSE INFORMATION AS5 SOCIATED WITH AN ABUSER’S FRAUDULENT 

6 ACTIVITY REMOVED FROM THEIR CONSUMER 

7 REPORTS. 

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

9 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), as amended by section 105, is 

10 further amended by inserting after section 605D the fol11 lowing new section: 

12 ‘‘§ 605E. Financial abuse prevention 

13 ‘‘For a consumer who is the victim of intentionally 

14 abusive or harmful financial behavior, as determined by 

15 a court of competent jurisdiction including a family court, 

16 juvenile court, or other court with personal jurisdiction, 

17 that was conducted by a spouse, family or household mem18 ber, caregiver, or person with whom such consumer had 

19 a dating relationship in a manner which resulted in the 

20 inclusion of an adverse item of information on the con21 sumer report of the consumer, and the consumer did not 

22 participate in or consent to such behavior, the consumer 

23 may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction, including 

24 a family court, juvenile court, or other court with personal 


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1 jurisdiction, for an order to require the removal of such 

2 adverse information from the consumer’s file maintained 

3 by any consumer reporting agency.’’. 

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

5 of contents of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended 

6 by inserting after the item relating to section 605D the 

7 following new item: 

‘‘605E. Financial abuse prevention.’’. 

8 SEC. 107. PROHIBITS TREATMENT OF CREDIT RESTORA9 TION OR REHABILITATION AS ADVERSE IN10 FORMATION. 

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

12 seq.) is amended— 

13 (1) by adding at the end the following new sec14 tion: 

15 ‘‘§ 630. Prohibition of certain factors related to Fed16 eral credit restoration or rehabilitation 

17 ‘‘(a) RESTRICTION ON CREDIT SCORING MODELS.— 

18 A credit scoring model may not— 

19 ‘‘(1) take into consideration, in a manner ad20 verse to a consumer’s credit score or educational 

21 credit score, any information in a consumer report 

22 concerning the consumer’s participation in credit 

23 restoration or rehabilitation under section 605C, 

24 605D, or 605E; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) treat negatively, in a manner adverse to a 

2 consumer’s credit score or educational credit score, 

3 the absence of payment history data for an existing 

4 account, whether the account is open or closed, 

5 where the absence of such information is the result 

6 of a consumer’s participation in credit restoration or 

7 rehabilitation under section 605C, 605D, or 605E. 

8 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTION ON PERSONS OBTAINING CON9 SUMER REPORTS.—A person who obtains a consumer re10 port may not— 

11 ‘‘(1) take into consideration, in a manner ad12 verse to a consumer, any information in a consumer 

13 report concerning the consumer’s participation in 

14 credit restoration or rehabilitation under section 

15 605C, 605D, or 605E; or 

16 ‘‘(2) treat negatively the absence of payment 

17 history data for an existing account, whether the ac18 count is open or closed, where the absence of such 

19 information is the result of a consumer’s participa20 tion in credit restoration or rehabilitation under sec21 tion 605C, 605D, or 605E. 

22 ‘‘(c) ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS.—If a person 

23 who furnishes information to a consumer reporting agency 

24 requests the removal of information from a consumer re25 port or a consumer reporting agency removes information 


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1 from a consumer report in compliance with the require2 ments under section 605C, 605D, or 605E, or such infor3 mation was removed pursuant at section 605(a)(11), such 

4 report shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements for ac5 curacy and completeness with respect to such information. 

6 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION RELATED TO ADVERSE ACTIONS

7 AND RISK-BASED PRICING DECISIONS.—No person shall 

8 use information related to a consumer’s participation in 

9 credit restoration or rehabilitation under section 605C, 

10 605D, or 605E in connection with any determination of— 

11 ‘‘(1) the consumer’s eligibility or continued eli12 gibility for an extension of credit; 

13 ‘‘(2) the terms and conditions offered to a con14 sumer regarding an extension of credit; or 

15 ‘‘(3) an adverse action made for employment 

16 purposes.’’; and 

17 (2) in the table of contents for such Act, by 

18 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 II—EXPANDING ACCESS 

2 TO TOOLS TO PROTECT VUL3 NERABLE CONSUMERS FROM 

4 IDENTITY THEFT, FRAUD, OR 

5 A RELATED CRIME, AND PRO6 TECT VICTIMS FROM FUR7 THER HARM 

8 SEC. 201. IDENTITY THEFT REPORT DEFINITION. 

9 Paragraph (4) of section 603(q) of the Fair Credit 

10 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(q)(4)) is amended to 

11 read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(4) IDENTITY THEFT REPORT.—The term 

13 ‘identity theft report’ has the meaning given that 

14 term by rule of the Bureau, and means, at a min15 imum, a report— 

16 ‘‘(A) that is a standardized affidavit that 

17 alleges that a consumer has been a victim of 

18 identity theft, fraud, or a related crime, or has 

19 been harmed by the unauthorized disclosure of 

20 the consumer’s financial or personally identifi21 able information, that was developed and made 

22 available by the Bureau; or 

23 ‘‘(B)(i) that alleges an identity theft, 

24 fraud, or a related crime, or alleges harm from 


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1 the unauthorized disclosure of the consumer’s 

2 financial or personally identifiable information; 

3 ‘‘(ii) that is a copy of an official, valid re4 port filed by a consumer with an appropriate 

5 Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency, 

6 including the United States Postal Inspection 

7 Service, or such other government agency 

8 deemed appropriate by the Bureau; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) the filing of which subjects the per10 son filing the report to criminal penalties relat11 ing to the filing of false information if, in fact, 

12 the information in the report is false.’’. 

13 SEC. 202. AMENDMENT TO PROTECTION FOR FILES AND 

14 CREDIT RECORDS OF PROTECTED CON15 SUMERS. 

16 (a) AMENDMENT TO DEFINITION OF ‘‘FILE’’.—Sec17 tion 603(g) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 

18 1681a(g)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, except that such 

19 term excludes a record created pursuant to section 

20 605A(j)’’ after ‘‘stored’’. 

21 (b) AMENDMENT TO PROTECTION FOR FILES AND

22 CREDIT RECORDS.—Section 605A(j) of the Fair Credit 

23 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c–1(j)) is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking 

2 ‘‘an incapacitated person or a protected person’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘a person’’; and 

4 (B) by amending subparagraph (E) to read 

5 as follows: 

6 ‘‘(E) The term ‘security freeze’— 

7 ‘‘(i) has the meaning given in sub8 section (i)(1)(C); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) with respect to a protected con10 sumer for whom the consumer reporting 

11 agency does not have a file, means a 

12 record that is subject to a security freeze 

13 that a consumer reporting agency is pro14 hibited from disclosing to any person re15 questing the consumer report for the pur16 pose of opening a new account involving 

17 the extension of credit.’’; and 

18 (2) in paragraph (4)(D), by striking ‘‘a pro19 tected consumer or a protected consumer’s rep20 resentative under subparagraph (A)(i)’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘a protected consumer described under subpara22 graph (A)(ii) or a protected consumer’s representa23 tive’’. 


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1 SEC. 203. ENHANCES FRAUD ALERT PROTECTIONS. 

2 Section 605A of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

3 U.S.C. 1681c–1) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

6 ‘‘ONE-CALL’’ and inserting ‘‘ONE-YEAR’’; 

7 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

8 (i) in the paragraph heading, by strik9 ing ‘‘INITIAL ALERTS’’ and inserting ‘‘IN

10 GENERAL’’; 

11 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or harmed by the 

12 unauthorized disclosure of the consumer’s 

13 financial or personally identifiable informa14 tion,’’ after ‘‘identity theft,’’; 

15 (iii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

16 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

17 (iv) in subparagraph (B)— 

18 (I) by inserting ‘‘1-year’’ before 

19 ‘‘fraud alert’’; and 

20 (II) by striking the period at the 

21 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

22 (v) by adding at the end the following 

23 new subparagraph: 

24 ‘‘(C) upon the expiration of the 1-year pe25 riod described in subparagraph (A) or a subse26 quent 1-year period, and in response to a direct 


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1 request by the consumer or such representative, 

2 continue the fraud alert for a period of 1 addi3 tional year if the information asserted in this 

4 paragraph remains applicable.’’; and 

5 (C) in paragraph (2)— 

6 (i) in the paragraph heading, by in7 serting ‘‘AND CREDIT OR EDUCATIONAL

8 CREDIT SCORES’’ after ‘‘REPORTS’’; 

9 (ii) by inserting ‘‘1-year’’ before 

10 ‘‘fraud alert’’; 

11 (iii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

12 ‘‘and credit score or educational credit 

13 score’’ after ‘‘file’’; and 

14 (iv) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

15 ‘‘any request described in subparagraph 

16 (A)’’ and inserting ‘‘the consumer report17 ing agency includes the 1-year fraud alert 

18 in the file of a consumer’’; 

19 (2) in subsection (b)— 

20 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

21 ‘‘EXTENDED’’ and inserting ‘‘SEVEN-YEAR’’; 

22 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

23 (i) in subparagraph (B)— 

24 (I) by striking ‘‘5-year period be25 ginning on the date of such request’’ 


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1 and inserting ‘‘such 7-year period’’; 

2 and 

3 (II) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

4 (ii) in subparagraph (C)— 

5 (I) by striking ‘‘extended’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘7-year’’; and 

7 (II) by striking the period at the 

8 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (iii) by adding at the end the fol10 lowing new subparagraph: 

11 ‘‘(D) upon the expiration of such 7-year 

12 period or a subsequent 7-year period, and in re13 sponse to a direct request by the consumer or 

14 such representative, continue the fraud alert for 

15 a period of 7 additional years if the consumer 

16 or such representative submits an updated iden17 tity theft report.’’; and 

18 (C) in paragraph (2)— 

19 (i) in the paragraph heading, by in20 serting ‘‘AND CREDIT OR EDUCATIONAL

21 CREDIT SCORES’’ after ‘‘REPORTS’’; and 

22 (ii) by amending subparagraph (A) to 

23 read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(A) disclose to the consumer that the con25 sumer may request a free copy of the file and 


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1 credit score or educational credit score of the 

2 consumer pursuant to section 612(d) during 

3 each 12-month period beginning on the date on 

4 which the 7-year fraud alert was included in the 

5 file and ending on the date of the last day that 

6 the 7-year fraud alert applies to the consumer’s 

7 file; and’’; 

8 (3) in subsection (c)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or edu10 cational credit score’’ after ‘‘credit score’’; 

11 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), 

12 and (3), as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), 

13 respectively (and conforming the margins ac14 cordingly); 

15 (C) by striking ‘‘Upon the direct request’’ 

16 and inserting: 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the direct request’’; 

18 and 

19 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(2) ACCESS TO FREE REPORTS AND CREDIT

22 OR EDUCATIONAL CREDIT SCORES.—If a consumer 

23 reporting agency includes an active duty alert in the 

24 file of an active duty military consumer, the con25 sumer reporting agency shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) disclose to the active duty military 

2 consumer that the active duty military con3 sumer may request a free copy of the file and 

4 credit score or educational credit score of the 

5 active duty military consumer pursuant to sec6 tion 612(d), during each 12-month period be7 ginning on the date that the activity duty mili8 tary alert is requested and ending on the date 

9 of the last day the active duty alert applies to 

10 the file of the active duty military consumer; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(B) provide to the active duty military 

13 consumer all disclosures required to be made 

14 under section 609, without charge to the con15 sumer, not later than 3 business days after any 

16 request described in subparagraph (A).’’; 

17 (4) by amending subsection (d) to read as fol18 lows: 

19 ‘‘(d) PROCEDURES.—Each consumer reporting agen20 cy described in section 603(p) shall include on the 

21 webpage required under subsection (i) policies and proce22 dures to comply with this section, including policies and 

23 procedures— 


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1 ‘‘(1) that inform consumers of the availability 

2 of 1-year fraud alerts, 7-year fraud alerts, active 

3 duty alerts, and security freezes (as applicable); 

4 ‘‘(2) that allow consumers to request 1-year 

5 fraud alerts, 7-year fraud alerts, and active duty 

6 alerts (as applicable) and to place, temporarily lift, 

7 or fully remove a security freeze in a simple and 

8 easy manner; and 

9 ‘‘(3) for asserting in good faith a suspicion that 

10 the consumer has been or is about to become a vic11 tim of identity theft, fraud, or a related crime, or 

12 harmed by the unauthorized disclosure of the con13 sumer’s financial or personally identifiable informa14 tion, for a consumer seeking a 1-year fraud alert or 

15 security freeze.’’; 

16 (5) in subsection (e), by inserting ‘‘1-year or 7- 

17 year’’ before ‘‘fraud alert’’; 

18 (6) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘or active duty 

19 alert’’ and inserting ‘‘active duty alert, or security 

20 freeze (as applicable)’’; 

21 (7) in subsection (g)— 

22 (A) by inserting ‘‘or has been harmed by 

23 the unauthorized disclosure of the consumer’s 

24 financial or personally identifiable information, 

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1 ticipation in credit restoration or rehabilitation 

2 under section 605C, 605D, or 605E,’’ after 

3 ‘‘identity theft,’’; and 

4 (B) by inserting ‘‘or security freezes’’ after 

5 ‘‘request alerts’’; 

6 (8) in subsection (h)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

8 (i) in the paragraph heading, by strik9 ing ‘‘INITIAL’’ and inserting ‘‘1-YEAR’’; and 

10 (ii) by striking ‘‘initial’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘1-year’’ each place such term appears; 

12 and 

13 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

14 (i) in the paragraph heading, by strik15 ing ‘‘EXTENDED’’ and inserting ‘‘7-YEAR’’; 

16 and 

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘extended’’ and insert18 ing ‘‘7-year’’ each place such term appears; 

19 and 

20 (9) in subsection (i)(4)— 

21 (A) by striking subparagraphs (E) and (I); 

22 and 

23 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (F), 

24 (G), (H), and (J) as subparagraphs (E), (F), 

25 (G), and (H), respectively. 


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1 SEC. 204. AMENDMENT TO SECURITY FREEZES FOR CON2 SUMER REPORTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 605A(i) of the Fair Credit 

4 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c–1(i)) is amended— 

5 (1) by amending the subsection heading to read 

6 as follows: ‘‘SECURITY FREEZES FOR CONSUMER

7 REPORTS’’; 

8 (2) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘Upon re9 ceiving’’ and all that follows through ‘‘subparagraph 

10 (C),’’ and inserting ‘‘Upon receiving a direct request 

11 from a consumer for a temporary removal of a secu12 rity freeze, a consumer reporting agency shall’’; 

13 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(7) RELATION TO STATE LAW.—This sub15 section does not modify or supersede the laws of any 

16 State relating to security freezes or other similar ac17 tions, except to the extent those laws are incon18 sistent with any provision of this title, and then only 

19 to the extent of the inconsistency. For purposes of 

20 this subsection, a term or provision of a State law 

21 is not inconsistent with the provisions of this sub22 section if the term or provision affords greater pro23 tection to the consumer than the protection provided 

24 under this subsection as determined by the Bu25 reau.’’. 


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1 (b) AMENDMENT TO WEBPAGE REQUIREMENTS.— 

2 Section 605A(i)(6)(A) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act 

3 (15 U.S.C. 1681c–1(i)(6)(A)) is amended— 

4 (3) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘initial fraud 

5 alert’’ and inserting ‘‘1-year fraud alert’’; 

6 (4) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘extended fraud 

7 alert’’ and inserting ‘‘7-year fraud alert’’; and 

8 (5) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘fraud’’. 

9 (c) AMENDMENT TO EXCEPTIONS FOR CERTAIN

10 PERSONS.—Section 605A(i)(4)(A) of the Consumer Cred11 it Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c–1(i)(4)(A)) is amend12 ed to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(A) A person, or the person’s subsidiary, 

14 affiliate, agent, subcontractor, or assignee with 

15 whom the consumer has, or prior to assignment 

16 had, an authorized account, contract, or debtor17 creditor relationship for the purposes of review18 ing the active account or collecting the financial 

19 obligation owed on the account, contract, or 

20 debt.’’. 

21 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

22 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact23 ment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 205. CLARIFICATION OF INFORMATION TO BE IN2 CLUDED WITH AGENCY DISCLOSURES. 

3 Section 609(c)(2) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

4 1681g(c)(2)) is amended— 

5 (1) in subparagraph (B)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘consumer reporting agen7 cy described in section 603(p)’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘consumer reporting agency described in sub9 section (p) or (x) of section 603’’; 

10 (B) by striking ‘‘the agency’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘such an agency’’; and 

12 (C) by inserting ‘‘and an Internet website 

13 address’’ after ‘‘hours’’; and 

14 (2) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘outdated 

15 under section 605 or’’ and inserting ‘‘outdated, re16 quired to be removed, or’’. 

17 SEC. 206. PROVIDES ACCESS TO FRAUD RECORDS FOR VIC18 TIMS. 

19 Section 609(e) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

20 U.S.C. 1681g(e)) is amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘resulting from identity 

23 theft’’; 

24 (B) by striking ‘‘claim of identity theft’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘claim of fraudulent activity’’; 

26 and 


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1 (C) by striking ‘‘any transaction alleged to 

2 be a result of identity theft’’ and inserting ‘‘any 

3 fraudulent transaction’’; 

4 (2) in paragraph (2)(B)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘identity theft, at the elec6 tion of the business entity’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘fraudulent activity’’; 

8 (B) by amending clause (i) to read as fol9 lows: 

10 ‘‘(i) a copy of an identity theft report; 

11 or’’; and 

12 (C) by amending clause (ii) to read as fol13 lows: 

14 ‘‘(ii) an affidavit of fact that is ac15 ceptable to the business entity for that 

16 purpose.’’; 

17 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘identity 

18 theft’’ and inserting ‘‘fraudulent activity’’; 

19 (4) by striking paragraph (8) and redesignating 

20 paragraphs (9) through (13) as paragraphs (8) 

21 through (12), respectively; and 

22 (5) in paragraph (10) (as so redesignated), by 

23 striking ‘‘or a similar crime’’ and inserting ‘‘, fraud, 

24 or a related crime’’. 


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1 SEC. 207. REQUIRED BUREAU TO SET PROCEDURES FOR 

2 REPORTING IDENTITY THEFT, FRAUD, AND 

3 OTHER RELATED CRIME. 

4 Section 621(f)(2) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act 

5 (15 U.S.C. 1681s(f)(2)) is amended— 

6 (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking 

7 ‘‘MODEL FORM’’ and inserting ‘‘STANDARDIZED AF8 FIDAVIT’’; 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘The Commission’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘The Bureau’’; 

11 (3) by striking ‘‘model form’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘standardized affidavit’’; 

13 (4) by inserting after ‘‘identity theft’’ the fol14 lowing: ‘‘, fraud, or a related crime, or otherwise are 

15 harmed by the unauthorized disclosure of the con16 sumer’s financial or personally identifiable informa17 tion,’’; and 

18 (5) by striking ‘‘fraud.’’ and inserting ‘‘identity 

19 theft, fraud, or other related crime. Such standard20 ized affidavit and procedures shall not include a re21 quirement that a consumer obtain a police report.’’. 

22 SEC. 208. ESTABLISHES THE RIGHT TO FREE CREDIT MONI23 TORING AND IDENTITY THEFT PROTECTION 

24 SERVICES FOR CERTAIN CONSUMERS. 

25 (a) ENFORCEMENT OF CREDIT MONITORING FOR

26 SERVICEMEMBERS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (k) of section 

2 605A (15 U.S.C. 1681c–1(a)) is amended by strik3 ing paragraph (4). 

4 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection and the 

5 amendments made by this subsection shall take ef6 fect on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

7 (b) FREE CREDIT MONITORING AND IDENTITY

8 THEFT PROTECTION SERVICES FOR CERTAIN CON9 SUMERS.—Subsection (k) of section 605A (15 U.S.C. 

10 1681c–1), is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(k) CREDIT MONITORING AND IDENTITY THEFT

12 PROTECTION SERVICES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the direct request of 

14 a consumer, a consumer reporting agency described 

15 in section 603(p) that maintains a file on the con16 sumer and has received appropriate proof of the 

17 identity of the requester (as described in section 

18 1022.123 of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations) 

19 shall provide the consumer with credit monitoring 

20 and identity theft protection services not later than 

21 1 business day after receiving such request sent by 

22 postal mail, toll-free telephone, or secure electronic 

23 means as 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 receive credit monitoring and identity theft 

4 protection services 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 receive credit moni8 toring and identity theft protection services if 

9 the consumer or a representative of the con10 sumer— 

11 ‘‘(i) asserts in good faith a suspicion 

12 that the consumer has been or is about to 

13 become a victim of identity theft, fraud, or 

14 a related crime, or harmed by the unau15 thorized disclosure of the consumer’s fi16 nancial or personally identifiable informa17 tion; 

18 ‘‘(ii) is unemployed and intends to 

19 apply for employment in the 60-day period 

20 beginning on the date on which the request 

21 is made; 

22 ‘‘(iii) is a recipient of public welfare 

23 assistance; 

24 ‘‘(iv) is an active duty military con25 sumer or a member of the National Guard 


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1 (as defined in section 101(c) of title 10, 

2 United States Code); 

3 ‘‘(v) is 65 years of age or older; or 

4 ‘‘(vi) is a member of a class estab5 lished by the Bureau under subparagraph 

6 (A). 

7 ‘‘(3) BUREAU RULEMAKING.—The Bureau shall 

8 issue regulations— 

9 ‘‘(A) to define the scope of credit moni10 toring and identity theft protection services re11 quired under this subsection; and 

12 ‘‘(B) to set a fair and reasonable fee that 

13 a consumer reporting agency may charge a con14 sumer (other than a consumer described under 

15 paragraph (2)(B)) for such credit monitoring 

16 and identity theft protection services. 

17 ‘‘(4) RELATION TO STATE LAW.—This sub18 section does not modify or supersede of the laws of 

19 any State relating to credit monitoring and identity 

20 theft protection services or other similar actions, ex21 cept to the extent those laws are inconsistent with 

22 any provision of this title, and then only to the ex23 tent of the inconsistency. For purposes of this sub24 section, a term or provision of a State law is not in25 consistent with the provisions of this subsection if 


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1 the term or provision affords greater protection to 

2 the consumer than the protection provided under 

3 this subsection as determined by the Bureau.’’. 

4 SEC. 209. ENSURES REMOVAL OF INQUIRIES RESULTING 

5 FROM IDENTITY THEFT, FRAUD, OR OTHER 

6 RELATED CRIME FROM CONSUMER REPORTS. 

7 Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

8 U.S.C. 1681c(a)), as amended by section 102, is further 

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(14) Information about inquiries made for a 

11 credit report based on requests that the consumer 

12 reporting agency verifies were initiated as the result 

13 of identity theft, fraud, or other related crime.’’. 

14 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

15 SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS RELATED TO DAYS. 

16 Section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

17 U.S.C. 1681a) is further amended by adding at the end 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(bb) DEFINITIONS RELATED TO DAYS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) CALENDAR DAY; DAY.—The term ‘calendar 

21 day’ or ‘day’ means a calendar day, excluding any 

22 federally recognized holiday. 

23 ‘‘(2) BUSINESS DAY.—The term ‘business day’ 

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1 day, and excluding any federally recognized holi2 day.’’. 

3 SEC. 302. TECHNICAL CORRECTION RELATED TO RISK4 BASED PRICING NOTICES. 

5 Section 615(h)(8) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act 

6 (15 U.S.C. 1681m) is amended— 

7 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘this sec8 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘this subsection’’; and 

9 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘This sec10 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘This subsection’’. 

11 SEC. 303. FCRA FINDINGS AND PURPOSE; VOIDS CERTAIN 

12 CONTRACTS NOT IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST. 

13 (a) FCRA FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.—Section 602 of 

14 the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681(a)) is 

15 amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (a)— 

17 (A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 

18 follows: 

19 ‘‘(1) Many financial and non-financial decisions 

20 affecting consumers’ lives depend upon fair, com21 plete, and accurate credit reporting. Inaccurate and 

22 incomplete credit reports directly impair the effi23 ciency of the financial system and undermine the in24 tegrity of using credit reports in other cir25 cumstances, and unfair credit reporting and credit 


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1 scoring methods undermine the public confidence 

2 which is essential to the continued functioning of the 

3 financial services system and the provision of many 

4 other consumer products and services.’’; and 

5 (B) in paragraph (4), by inserting after 

6 ‘‘agencies’’ the following: ‘‘, furnishers, and 

7 credit scoring developers’’; and 

8 (2) in subsection (b)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘It is the purpose of this 

10 title to require’’ and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘The purpose of this title is the following: 

12 ‘‘(1) To require’’; and 

13 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(2) To prohibit any practices and procedures 

15 with respect to credit reports and credit scores that 

16 are not in the public interest.’’. 

17 (b) VOIDING OF CERTAIN CONTRACTS NOT IN THE

18 PUBLIC INTEREST.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

19 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), as amended by section 107, is fur20 ther amended— 

21 (1) by adding at the end the following new sec22 tion: 


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1 ‘‘§ 631. Voiding of certain contracts not in the public 

2 interest 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any provision contained in a 

4 contract that requires a person to not follow a provision 

5 of this title, that is against the public interest, or that 

6 otherwise circumvents the purposes of this title shall be 

7 null and void. 

8 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub9 section (a) shall be construed as affecting other provisions 

10 of a contract that are not described under subsection 

11 (a).’’; and 

12 (2) in the table of contents for such Act, by 

13 adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘631. Voiding of certain contracts not in the public interest.’’. 

Æ 


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