II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2456 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide protections for active 

duty military consumers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 10, 2014 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide protections for active duty military 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. NOTICE OF STATUS AS AN ACTIVE DUTY MILI4 TARY CONSUMER. 

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

6 seq.) is amended— 

7 (1) in section 605, by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(i) NOTICE OF STATUS AS AN ACTIVE DUTY MILI2 TARY CONSUMER.—With respect to an adverse item of in3 formation about a consumer, if the action or inaction that 

4 gave rise to the item occurred while the consumer was an 

5 active duty military consumer, the consumer may provide 

6 appropriate proof, including official orders, to a consumer 

7 reporting agency that the consumer was an active duty 

8 military consumer at the time such action or inaction oc9 curred, and any consumer report provided by the con10 sumer reporting agency that includes the item shall clearly 

11 and conspicuously disclose that the consumer was an ac12 tive duty military consumer when the action or inaction 

13 that gave rise to the item occurred.’’; 

14 (2) in section 605A(c)— 

15 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), 

16 and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), re17 spectively, and moving such redesignated sub18 paragraphs 2 ems to the right; 

19 (B) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

20 (A), as so redesignated, by striking ‘‘Upon’’ and 

21 inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon’’; and 

23 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(2) NEGATIVE INFORMATION ALERT.—If a 

25 consumer reporting agency receives an adverse item 


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1 of information about a consumer who has provided 

2 appropriate proof that the consumer is an active 

3 duty military consumer, the consumer reporting 

4 agency shall promptly notify the consumer— 

5 ‘‘(A) that the consumer reporting agency 

6 has received the adverse item of information, 

7 along with a description of the item; and 

8 ‘‘(B) the method by which the consumer 

9 may dispute the validity of the item. 

10 ‘‘(3) CONTACT INFORMATION FOR ACTIVE DUTY

11 MILITARY CONSUMERS.—If a consumer who has pro12 vided appropriate proof to a consumer reporting 

13 agency that the consumer is an active duty military 

14 consumer provides the consumer reporting agency 

15 with contact information for the purpose of commu16 nicating with the consumer while the consumer is an 

17 active military consumer, the consumer reporting 

18 agency shall use such contact information for all 

19 communications while the consumer is an active 

20 military consumer. 

21 ‘‘(4) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

22 Congress that any person making use of a consumer 

23 report that contains an adverse item of information 

24 should, if the action or inaction that gave rise to the 

25 item occurred while the consumer was an active duty 


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1 military consumer, take such fact into account when 

2 evaluating the creditworthiness of the consumer.’’; 

3 and 

4 (D) in section 611(a)(1), by adding at the 

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘(D) NOTICE OF DISPUTE RELATED TO

7 ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY CONSUMERS.—With re8 spect to an item of information described under 

9 subparagraph (A) that is under dispute, if the 

10 consumer to whom the item relates has notified 

11 the consumer reporting agency, and has pro12 vided appropriate proof, that the consumer was 

13 an active duty military consumer at the time 

14 the action or inaction that gave rise to the dis15 puted item occurred, the consumer reporting 

16 agency shall— 

17 ‘‘(i) include such fact in the file of the 

18 consumer; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) indicate such fact in each con20 sumer report that includes the disputed 

21 item.’’. 

Æ 


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