I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4231 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to clarify Federal law with respect 

to reporting certain positive consumer credit information to consumer 

reporting agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019 

Mr. HILL of Arkansas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to clarify Federal 

law with respect to reporting certain positive consumer 

credit information to consumer reporting agencies, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Credit Access and In5 clusion Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. POSITIVE CREDIT REPORTING PERMITTED. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 623 of the Fair Credit 

3 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2) is amended by adding 

4 at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(f) FULL-FILE CREDIT REPORTING.— 

6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

7 ‘‘(A) ENERGY UTILITY FIRM.—The term 

8 ‘energy utility firm’ means an entity that pro9 vides gas or electric utility services to the pub10 lic. 

11 ‘‘(B) UTILITY OR TELECOMMUNICATION

12 FIRM.—The term ‘utility or telecommunication 

13 firm’ means an entity that provides utility serv14 ices to the public through pipe, wire, landline, 

15 wireless, cable, or other connected facilities, or 

16 radio, electronic, or similar transmission (in17 cluding the extension of such facilities). 

18 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION RELATING TO LEASE

19 AGREEMENTS, UTILITIES, AND TELECOMMUNI20 CATIONS SERVICES.—Subject to the limitation in 

21 paragraph (3) and notwithstanding any other provi22 sion of law, a person or the Secretary of Housing 

23 and Urban Development may furnish to a consumer 

24 reporting agency information relating to the per25 formance of a consumer in making payments— 


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1 ‘‘(A) under a lease agreement with respect 

2 to a dwelling, including such a lease in which 

3 the Department of Housing and Urban Devel4 opment provides subsidized payments for occu5 pancy in a dwelling; or 

6 ‘‘(B) pursuant to a contract for a utility or 

7 telecommunications service. 

8 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Information about the 

9 usage by a consumer of any utility service provided 

10 by a utility or telecommunication firm may be fur11 nished to a consumer reporting agency only to the 

12 extent that the information relates to the payment 

13 by the consumer for the service of the utility or tele14 communication service or other terms of the provi15 sion of the services to the consumer, including any 

16 deposit, discount, or conditions for interruption or 

17 termination of the service. 

18 ‘‘(4) PAYMENT PLAN.—An energy utility firm 

19 may not report payment information to a consumer 

20 reporting agency with respect to an outstanding bal21 ance of a consumer as late if— 

22 ‘‘(A) the energy utility firm and the con23 sumer have entered into a payment plan (in24 cluding a deferred payment agreement, an ar25 rearage management program, or a debt forVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Sep 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4231.IH H4231

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1 giveness program) with respect to such out2 standing balance; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the consumer is meeting the obliga4 tions of the payment plan, as determined by the 

5 energy utility firm.’’. 

6 (b) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—Section 623(c) of 

7 the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(c)) is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

10 end; 

11 (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para12 graph (4); and 

13 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(3) subsection (f) of this section, including any 

16 regulations issued thereunder; or’’. 

17 (c) GAO STUDY AND REPORT.—Not later than 2 

18 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

19 Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to 

20 Congress a report on the impact of furnishing information 

21 pursuant to subsection (f) of section 623 of the Fair Cred22 it Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2), as added by sub23 section (a) of this Act, on consumers. 

Æ 


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