I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1176

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to protect consumers from the

adverse consequences of incomplete and inaccurate consumer credit reports, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 22, 2001

Mr. FORD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Financial Services

A BILL

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to protect consumers from the adverse consequences of incomplete and

inaccurate consumer credit reports, 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 ‘‘Fair Credit Reporting

5 Act Amendments of 2001’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FREE CREDIT REPORT ANNUALLY UPON REQUEST

2 OF CONSUMER.

3 (a) Section 612 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15

4 U.S.C. 1681j) is amended—

5 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as

6 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol8 lowing new subsection:

9 ‘‘(c) FREE CREDIT REPORT ANNUALLY UPON RE10 QUEST OF CONSUMER.—Upon the request of any con11 sumer, each consumer reporting agency shall make all dis12 closures pursuant to section 609 without charge to such

13 consumer at least once each calendar year.’’.

14 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—

15 Section 612(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15

16 U.S.C. 1681j(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘(c), and (d)’’

17 and inserting ‘‘(c), (d), and (e)’’.

18 SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF WORLD WIDE WEB SITE.

19 Section 609(c)(1)(B) of the Fair Credit Reporting

20 Act (15 U.S.C. 1681(c)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting

21 ‘‘and information sufficient to allow the consumer to con22 tact the agency, or request a consumer report relating to

23 the consumer from the agency, through the Internet or

24 the World Wide Web’’ before the period at the end.
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1 SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE OF CREDIT SCORES AND EXPLA2 NATION OF CREDIT SCORES.

3 Section 609(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act

4 (15 U.S.C. 1681g(a)(1)) is amended to read as follows:

5 ‘‘(1) All information in the consumer’s file at

6 the time of the request, including any information

7 concerning credit scores or any other risk scores or

8 predictors relating to the consumer, together with—

9 ‘‘(A) a clear and concise summary of how

10 the scores and predictors are derived;

11 ‘‘(B) the factors taken into account in de12 riving a score or predictor;

13 ‘‘(C) how such factors are applied to the

14 consumer;

15 ‘‘(D) the relative weight given to each fac16 tor; and

17 ‘‘(E) the manner and extent to which such

18 factors raise or lower the score or predictor.’’

19 SEC. 5. SHORTER PERIOD FOR INCLUSION OF SMALL

20 DEBTS UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.

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

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

23 following new paragraph:

24 ‘‘(6) Notwithstanding paragraph (4), any ac25 count placed for collection or charged to profit and

26 loss in which the amount placed to collection or
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1 charged to profit and loss did not exceed $100 and

2 which antedates the report by more than 3 years,

3 if—

4 ‘‘(A) the consumer to whom the report re5 lates completed a credit and financial manage6 ment class during such 3-year period; and

7 ‘‘(B) the consumer has not previously had

8 an account excluded from paragraph (4) by vir9 tue of this paragraph.’’.

10 SEC. 6. PROMPT INVESTIGATION AND CORRECTION OR DE11 LETION OF INACCURATE, INCOMPLETE, OR

12 UNVERIFIABLE CONSUMER INFORMATION.

13 (A) REVIEW AND MONITORING REQUIRED.—The

14 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and

15 the Federal Trade Commission shall each review and mon16 itor the extent to which, and the manner in which, con17 sumer reporting agencies and furnishers of consumer in18 formation to consumer reporting agencies are complying

19 with the procedures, time lines, and requirements under

20 the Fair Credit Reporting Act for the prompt investigation

21 of the disputed accuracy of any consumer information and

22 the prompt correction or deletion, in accordance with such

23 Act, of any inaccurate or incomplete information or infor24 mation that cannot be verified.
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1 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Before the end of the 6-

2 month period beginning on the date of the enactment of

3 this Act, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

4 System and the Federal Trade Commission shall each sub5 mit a progress report to the Congress on the results of

6 the review required under subsection (a).

7 (c) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The report under sub8 section (b) shall include such recommendations as the

9 Board and the Commission determine to be appropriate

10 for legislative or administrative action to ensure that—

11 (1) consumer disputes with consumer reporting

12 agencies over the accuracy or completeness of infor13 mation in a consumer’s file are promptly and fully

14 investigated and any incorrect, incomplete, or un15 verifiable information is immediately corrected or de16 leted;

17 (2) furnishers of information to consumer re18 porting agencies maintain full and prompt compli19 ance with the duties and responsibilities established

20 under section 623 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act;

21 and

22 (3) consumer reporting agencies establish and

23 maintain appropriate internal controls and manage24 ment review procedures for maintaining full and

25 continuous compliance with the procedures, time
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1 lines, and requirements under the Fair Credit Re2 porting Act for the prompt investigation of the dis3 puted accuracy of any consumer information and the

4 prompt correction or deletion, in accordance with

5 such Act, of any inaccurate or incomplete informa6 tion or information that cannot be verified.

7 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the

8 terms ‘‘consumer’’, ‘‘consumer report’’, and ‘‘consumer re9 porting agency’’ have the same meaning as in the Fair

10 Credit Reporting Act.

11 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

12 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect

13 at the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date of

14 the enactment of this Act.

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