I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3821 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to make improvements to the 

regulation of consumer reporting agencies and protect consumers, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 18, 2019 

Mr. MCHENRY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to make improvements to the regulation of consumer reporting agencies 

and protect consumers, 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. CYBERSECURITY SUPERVISION AND EXAMINA4 TION OF LARGE CONSUMER REPORTING 

5 AGENCIES. 

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

7 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

8 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 630. CYBERSECURITY SUPERVISION AND EXAMINA2 TION OF LARGE CONSUMER REPORTING 

3 AGENCIES. 

4 ‘‘Consumer reporting agencies described under sec5 tion 603(p) shall be subject to cybersecurity supervision 

6 and examination by the Bureau.’’. 

7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

8 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended by adding 

9 at the end the following: 

‘‘630. Cybersecurity supervision and examination of large consumer reporting 

agencies.’’. 

10 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY 

11 NUMBERS. 

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

13 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c) is amended by adding 

14 at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(i) PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY

16 NUMBERS.—A consumer reporting agency described 

17 under section 603(p)— 

18 ‘‘(1) may not make any consumer report con19 taining a social security number; and 

20 ‘‘(2) may not use the social security number of 

21 a consumer as a method to verify the consumer.’’. 

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 609(a)(1) 

23 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g(a)(1)) 

24 is amended by striking ‘‘except that—’’ and all that folVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3821.IH H3821

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1 lows through ‘‘(B) nothing’’ and inserting ‘‘except that 

2 nothing’’. 

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

4 this section shall take effect on January 1, 2020. 

5 SEC. 3. EXCLUSION OF PAID MEDICAL DEBT. 

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

7 U.S.C. 1681c(a)) is amended, by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(9) Paid debt arising from the receipt of medi10 cally necessary, non-elective medical services, prod11 ucts, or devices which from the date of payment, 

12 antedate the report by more than 1 year.’’. 

13 SEC. 4. SECURITY FREEZES FOR PROTECTED CONSUMERS. 

14 (a) PLACEMENT OF FREEZE.—Section 605A(j)(2)(A) 

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

16 1(j)(2)(A)) is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon receiving a di18 rect request from a protected consumer’s rep19 resentative, by mail, toll-free telephone, or se20 cure electronic means, that a consumer report21 ing agency place a security freeze, and upon re22 ceiving sufficient proof of identification and suf23 ficient proof of authority, the consumer report24 ing agency shall, free of charge, place the secu25 rity freeze not later than 3 business days after 


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1 receiving the request directly from the protected 

2 consumer’s representative.’’. 

3 (b) REMOVAL OF FREEZE.—Section 605A(j)(4) of 

4 the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c–1(j)(4)) 

5 is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by inserting after 

7 ‘‘Upon the direct request’’ the following: ‘‘, by mail 

8 or secure electronic means,’’; 

9 (2) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by inserting after 

10 ‘‘Upon the direct request’’ the following: ‘‘, by mail 

11 or secure electronic means,’’; and 

12 (3) in subparagraph (C)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘not later than—’’ and in14 serting the ‘‘not later than 3 days business days 

15 after receiving the request directly from the 

16 protected consumer or protected consumer’s 

17 representative.’’; and 

18 (B) by striking clauses (i) and (ii). 

19 SEC. 5. PUBLIC RECORD DATA SOURCES IN CONSUMER RE20 PORTS. 

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

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

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC RECORD DATA.—If a consumer re25 porting agency furnishes a consumer report that 


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1 contains public record data, such consumer reporting 

2 agency shall include the source of such public record 

3 data in such report.’’. 

4 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION ON INCLUDING ADVERSE INFORMA5 TION RELATED TO PREDATORY MORTGAGE 

6 LENDING. 

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

8 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

9 section 605B the following: 

10 ‘‘§ 605C. Adverse information relating to predatory 

11 mortgage lending 

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

13 may not furnish any consumer report containing any ad14 verse item of information relating to a covered residential 

15 mortgage loan (including the origination and servicing of 

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

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

18 or short sale related to such a loan), if the action or inac19 tion to which the item of information relates— 

20 ‘‘(1) resulted from an unfair, deceptive, or abu21 sive act or practice, or a fraudulent, discriminatory, 

22 or illegal activity of a financial institution, as deter23 mined by a court of competent jurisdiction; or 

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


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1 or illegal activity of a financial institution that is the 

2 subject of a settlement agreement initiated on behalf 

3 of a consumer and that is between the financial in4 stitution and an agency or department of a local, 

5 State, or Federal Government. 

6 ‘‘(b) COVERED RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE.—In this 

7 section, the term ‘covered residential mortgage loan’ 

8 means any loan made primarily for personal, family, or 

9 household use that is secured by a mortgage, deed of trust, 

10 or other equivalent consensual security interest on a dwell11 ing (as defined in section 103(w) of the Truth in Lending 

12 Act), including a loan in which the proceeds will be used 

13 for— 

14 ‘‘(1) a manufactured home (as defined in sec15 tion 603 of the Housing and Community Develop16 ment Act of 1974); 

17 ‘‘(2) any installment sales contract, land con18 tract, or contract for deed on a residential property; 

19 or 

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

21 in section 103(cc) of the Truth in Lending Act).’’. 

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

23 of contents of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended 

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

25 following new item: 

‘‘605C. Adverse information relating to predatory mortgage lending.’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. PROHIBITION ON INCLUDING ADVERSE INFORMA2 TION WHEN FINANCIAL ABUSE HAS BEEN DE3 TERMINED. 

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

5 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), as amended by section 6, is fur6 ther amended by inserting after section 605C the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘§ 605D. Adverse information in cases of financial 

9 abuse 

10 ‘‘A consumer reporting agency may not furnish a con11 sumer report containing any adverse item of information 

12 about a consumer that resulted from intentionally abusive 

13 or harmful financial behavior if— 

14 ‘‘(1) a court of competent jurisdiction, in a law15 suit that is not a class action lawsuit, has deter16 mined that the consumer is a victim of such inten17 tionally abusive or harmful financial behavior; 

18 ‘‘(2) such intentionally abusive or harmful fi19 nancial behavior was conducted by a spouse, family 

20 or household member, caregiver, or person with 

21 whom such consumer had a dating relationship; and 

22 ‘‘(3) such consumer did not participate in or 

23 consent to such behavior.’’. 

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 the 

2 following new item: 

‘‘605D. Adverse information in cases of financial abuse.’’. 

3 SEC. 8. PROHIBITION ON INCLUDING ADVERSE INFORMA4 TION WHEN A STUDENT OBLIGOR IS DE5 FRAUDED. 

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

7 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), as amended by section 7, is fur8 ther amended by inserting after section 605D the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘§ 605E. Adverse information in cases of a defrauded 

11 student obligor. 

12 ‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.—A consumer reporting agency 

13 may not furnish a consumer report containing any adverse 

14 item of information about a consumer that resulted from 

15 a private student loan obligation if— 

16 ‘‘(1) such consumer is a student obligor with 

17 respect to such private education loan; and 

18 ‘‘(2) a court of competent jurisdiction, in a law19 suit that is not a class action lawsuit, has deter20 mined that such consumer is a victim of fraud with 

21 respect to such private education loan. 

22 ‘‘(c) PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN DEFINED.—For the 

23 purposes of this section, the term ‘private education loan’ 

24 has the meaning given the term in section in section 

25 140(a) of the Truth in Lending Act.’’. 


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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 605D the 

4 following new item: 

‘‘605E. Adverse information in cases of a defrauded student obligor.’’. 

5 SEC. 9. BUREAU LIST OF CREDIT REPORTING AGENCIES. 

6 The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall 

7 maintain a list of credit reporting agencies in the United 

8 States and publish such list of the website on the Bureau 

9 of Consumer Financial Protection. 

10 SEC. 10. STUDY AND REPORT TO CONGRESS ON USE OF 

11 NON-TRADITIONAL DATA IN CREDIT SCOR12 ING. 

13 (a) STUDY.—The Bureau of Consumer Financial 

14 Protection shall carry out a study about the use of non15 traditional data— 

16 (1) by consumer reporting agencies when com17 piling and furnishing consumer reports; and 

18 (2) by persons that create, maintain, or pur19 chase credit scoring models used in making credit 

20 decisions. 

21 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

22 date of the enactment of this section, the Bureau of Con23 sumer Financial Protection shall issue a report to the 

24 Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep25 resentatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 


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1 Urban Affairs of the Senate containing all findings and 

2 determinations, including any recommendations for any 

3 legislative or regulatory changes, made in carrying out the 

4 study required under subsection (a). 

5 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section, 

6 the terms ‘‘consumer reporting agency’’ and ‘‘consumer 

7 report’’ shall have the meanings given the terms in section 

8 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. 

Æ 


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