I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1598 

To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to protect the credit of 

servicemembers deployed to an overseas combat zone and to facilitate 

awareness of a servicemember’s rights under such Act, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 20, 2007 

Mr. ISRAEL (for himself and Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in 

addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to protect 

the credit of servicemembers deployed to an overseas 

combat zone and to facilitate awareness of a 

servicemember’s rights under such Act, 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 ‘‘Servicemembers Credit 

5 Protection Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. NOTICE OF DEPLOYMENT REQUIRED. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Servicemembers Civil Relief 

3 Act (50 U.S.C. App. 501 et seq.) is amended by adding 

4 at the end the following new title: 

5 ‘‘TITLE VIII—NOTICE OF 

6 DEPLOYMENT 

7 ‘‘SEC. 801. NOTICE TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of the deployment 

9 of a servicemember away from the usual duty station of 

10 the servicemember to duty for which the servicemember 

11 is entitled to special pay under section 310(a) of title 37, 

12 United States Code, the Secretary shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) notify each consumer reporting agency 

14 that compiles and maintains files on consumers on 

15 a nationwide basis of the deployment of the 

16 servicemember within 30 days after the deployment, 

17 together with such information as may be necessary 

18 to permit such consumer reporting agency to comply 

19 with section 605C of the Fair Credit Reporting Act 

20 with respect to the servicemember; and 

21 ‘‘(2) notify each such consumer reporting agen22 cy when the notice under paragraph (1) ceases to 

23 apply with respect to such servicemember within 30 

24 days after the end of the deployment. 

25 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION.—The Secretary shall 

26 consult with each consumer reporting agency that commstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 piles and maintains files on consumers on a nationwide 

2 basis and take such action as may be appropriate to en3 sure that the Secretary and such consumer reporting 

4 agency can comply with the requirements of this section 

5 and section 605C of the Fair Credit Reporting Act in a 

6 timely manner. 

7 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

8 term ‘consumer reporting agency that compiles and main9 tains files on consumers on a nationwide basis’ has the 

10 meaning given to such term in section 603(p) of the Fair 

11 Credit Reporting Act. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 802. INCREASE IN PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN VIOLA13 TIONS INVOLVING SERVICEMEMBERS DE14 PLOYED TO AN OVERSEAS COMBAT ZONE. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any person who 

16 is subject to a penalty under section 301(c)(1), 302(b)(1), 

17 303(d)(1), 305(h)(1), 306(e)(1), or 307(e)(1) in a case in18 volving a servicemember whose consumer report, at the 

19 time of the violation giving rise to such person’s liability 

20 for the penalty, contains a combat zone duty alert, such 

21 section shall be applied by substituting ‘not more than 3 

22 years’ for ‘not more than one year’. 

23 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of subsection (a), 

24 the terms ‘combat zone duty alert’ and ‘consumer report’ 

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1 have the same meanings as in section 603 of the Fair 

2 Credit Reporting Act.’’. 

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

4 for the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C App. 

5 501 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relat6 ing to section 706 the following new items: 

‘‘TITLE VIII—NOTICE OF DEPLOYMENT 

‘‘Sec. 801. Notice to consumer reporting agencies. 

‘‘Sec. 802. Increase in penalties for certain violations involving servicemembers 

deployed to an overseas combat zone.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. NOTATIONS IN CONSUMER FILES OF 

8 SERVICEMEMBERS. 

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

10 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

11 section 605B the following new section: 

12 ‘‘§ 605C. Combat zone duty alert 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each consumer reporting agency 

14 described in section 603(p) that receives a notice under 

15 section 801(a)(1) of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act 

16 from the Secretary of Defense with respect to a consumer 

17 who is a servicemember (as defined in section 101(1) of 

18 such Act) shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) include a combat zone duty alert in the file 

20 of that consumer, and also provide that alert along 

21 with any credit score generated in using that file, 

22 until notified by the Secretary of Defense that such 

23 consumer no longer qualifies for such alert; and 

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1 ‘‘(2) during the period such alert is in effect, 

2 exclude the consumer from any list of consumers 

3 prepared by the consumer reporting agency and pro4 vided to any third party to offer credit or insurance 

5 to the consumer as part of a transaction that was 

6 not initiated by the consumer. 

7 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION ON CONSUMER’S RIGHTS RE8 QUIRED TO BE INCLUDED.—The combat zone duty alert 

9 included in any consumer’s file pursuant to subsection (a) 

10 shall include a summary of the rights of the consumer 

11 under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and the duties 

12 of creditors and other persons under such Act to the con13 sumer. 

14 ‘‘(c) NOTICE TO FURNISHERS OF ADVERSE INFOR15 MATION.—If any person, including another consumer re16 porting agency, furnishes adverse information to a con17 sumer reporting agency described in section 603(p) with 

18 respect to a consumer whose file includes a combat zone 

19 duty alert under subsection (a)(1), the consumer reporting 

20 agency shall notify such person of the existence of the 

21 combat zone duty alert in the file of such consumer to22 gether with the summary of rights and duties described 

23 in subsection (b). 

24 ‘‘(d) DUTY OF RESELLER TO RECONVEY ALERT.— 

25 A reseller shall include in its report any combat zone duty 

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1 alert placed in the file of a consumer pursuant to this sec2 tion by another consumer reporting agency. 

3 ‘‘(e) PROCEDURES.—Each consumer reporting agen4 cy described in section 603(p) shall establish policies and 

5 procedures to comply with this section and shall cooperate 

6 with the Secretary of Defense in establishing such proce7 dures to ensure effective compliance with the requirements 

8 of this section. 

9 ‘‘(f) NOTICE FROM SECRETARY.—This section shall 

10 cease to apply to with respect to any consumer as of the 

11 date the consumer reporting agency described in section 

12 603(p) receives a notice from the Secretary of Defense 

13 under section 801(a)(2) relating to such consumer.’’. 

14 (b) DEFINITIONS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (q) of section 

16 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 

17 1681a(q)) is amended by adding at the end the fol18 lowing new paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(6) COMBAT ZONE DUTY ALERT.—The term 

20 ‘combat zone duty alert’ means a statement in the 

21 file of a consumer that— 

22 ‘‘(A) notifies all prospective users of a con23 sumer report relating to the consumer that the 

24 consumer is serving as a servicemember in a 

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1 combat zone and includes any information re2 quired under section 605C; and 

3 ‘‘(B) is presented in a manner that facili4 tates a clear and conspicuous view of the state5 ment described in subparagraph (A) by any 

6 person requesting such consumer report.’’. 

7 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND8 MENT.—The heading for subsection (q) of section 

9 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 

10 1681a(q)) is amended by inserting ‘‘AND MILITARY’’ 

11 after ‘‘TO FRAUD’’. 

12 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

13 for title VI of the Consumer Credit Protection Act is 

14 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

15 605B the following new item: 

‘‘605C. Combat zone duty alert.’’. 

Æ 

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