II 

Calendar No. 312

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1753

[Report No. 108–166] 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act in order to prevent identity theft, 

to improve the use of and consumer access to consumer reports, to 

enhance the accuracy of consumer reports, to limit the sharing of certain 

consumer information, to improve financial education and literacy, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 17, 2003

Mr. SHELBY, from the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, 

reported the following original bill; which was read twice and placed on 

the calendar 

A BILL

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act in order to prevent 

identity theft, to improve the use of and consumer access 

to consumer reports, to enhance the accuracy of consumer reports, to limit the sharing of certain consumer 

information, to improve financial education and literacy, 

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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘National Consumer Credit Reporting System Improve4 ment Act of 2003’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

6 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—IDENTITY THEFT PREVENTION AND CREDIT HISTORY 

RESTORATION 

Subtitle A—Identity Theft Prevention 

Sec. 111. Definitions. 

Sec. 112. Fraud alerts and active duty alerts. 

Sec. 113. Truncation of credit card and debit card account numbers. 

Sec. 114. Establishment of procedures for the identification of possible instances of identity theft. 

Sec. 115. Amendments to existing identity theft prohibition. 

Subtitle B—Protection and Restoration of Identity Theft Victim Credit 

History 

Sec. 151. Summary of rights of identity theft victims. 

Sec. 152. Blocking of information resulting from identity theft. 

Sec. 153. Coordination of identity theft complaint investigations. 

Sec. 154. Prevention of repollution of consumer reports. 

Sec. 155. Notice by debt collectors with respect to fraudulent information. 

Sec. 156. Statute of limitations. 

TITLE II—IMPROVEMENTS IN USE OF AND CONSUMER ACCESS 

TO CREDIT INFORMATION 

Sec. 211. Free credit reports. 

Sec. 212. Credit scores. 

Sec. 213. Enhanced disclosure of the means available to opt out of prescreened 

lists. 

Sec. 214. Affiliate sharing. 

Sec. 215. Study of effects of credit scores and credit-based insurance scores on 

availability and affordability of financial products. 

TITLE III—ENHANCING THE ACCURACY OF CONSUMER REPORT 

INFORMATION 

Sec. 311. Notice with respect to counter offers. 

Sec. 312. Procedures to enhance the accuracy and completeness of information 

furnished to consumer reporting agencies. 

Sec. 313. Federal Trade Commission and consumer reporting agency action 

concerning complaints. 

Sec. 314. Ongoing audits of the accuracy of consumer reports. 
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Sec. 315. Improved disclosure of the results of reinvestigation. 

Sec. 316. Reconciling addresses. 

Sec. 317. FTC study of issues relating to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. 

TITLE IV—LIMITING THE USE AND SHARING OF MEDICAL 

INFORMATION IN THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM 

Sec. 411. Protection of medical information in the financial system. 

Sec. 412. Confidentiality of medical contact information in consumer reports. 

TITLE V—FINANCIAL LITERACY AND EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT 

Sec. 511. Short title. 

Sec. 512. Definitions. 

Sec. 513. Establishment of Financial Literacy and Education Commission. 

Sec. 514. Duties of the Commission. 

Sec. 515. Powers of the Commission. 

Sec. 516. Commission personnel matters. 

Sec. 517. Study by the Comptroller General. 

Sec. 518. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE VI—RELATION TO STATE LAW 

Sec. 611. Relation to State law. 

TITLE VII—MISCELLANEOUS 

Sec. 711. Clerical amendments.

1 TITLE I—IDENTITY THEFT PRE2 VENTION AND CREDIT HIS3 TORY RESTORATION 

4 Subtitle A—Identity Theft 

5 Prevention 

6 SEC. 111. DEFINITIONS. 

7 Section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

8 U.S.C. 1681a) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(q) DEFINITIONS RELATING TO FRAUD ALERTS.—

11 ‘‘(1) ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY CONSUMER.—The 

12 term ‘active duty military consumer’ means a con13 sumer in military service who— 
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1 ‘‘(A) is on active duty (as defined in sec2 tion 101(d)(1) of title 10, United States Code) 

3 or is a reservist performing duty under a call 

4 or order to active duty under a provision of law 

5 referred to in section 101(a)(13) of title 10, 

6 United States Code; and 

7 ‘‘(B) is assigned to service away from the 

8 usual duty station of the consumer. 

9 ‘‘(2) FRAUD ALERT; ACTIVE DUTY ALERT.—

10 The terms ‘fraud alert’ and ‘active duty alert’ mean 

11 a statement in the file of a consumer that—

12 ‘‘(A) notifies all prospective users of a con13 sumer report relating to the consumer that the 

14 consumer may be a victim of fraud, including 

15 identity theft, or is an active duty military con16 sumer, as applicable; 

17 ‘‘(B) provides to all prospective users of a 

18 consumer report relating to the consumer, a 

19 telephone number or other reasonable contact 

20 method designated by the consumer for the user 

21 to obtain authorization from the consumer be22 fore establishing new credit (including providing 

23 any increase in a credit limit with respect to an 

24 existing credit account) in the name of the con25 sumer; and 
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1 ‘‘(C) is presented in a manner that facili2 tates a clear and conspicuous view of the state3 ment by any person requesting such file, or any 

4 portion thereof. 

5 ‘‘(r) CREDIT CARD.—The term ‘credit card’ has the 

6 same meaning as in section 103 of the Truth in Lending 

7 Act. 

8 ‘‘(s) DEBIT CARD.—The term ‘debit card’ means any 

9 card issued by a financial institution to a consumer for 

10 use in initiating an electronic fund transfer from the ac11 count of the consumer at such financial institution, for 

12 the purpose of transferring money between accounts or ob13 taining money, property, labor, or services. 

14 ‘‘(t) ACCOUNT AND ELECTRONIC FUND TRANS15 FER.—The terms ‘account’ and ‘electronic fund transfer’ 

16 have the same meanings as in section 903 of the Elec17 tronic Fund Transfer Act. 

18 ‘‘(u) CREDITOR—The terms ‘credit’ and ‘creditor’ 

19 have the same meanings as in section 103 of the Truth 

20 in Lending Act. 

21 ‘‘(v) FEDERAL BANKING AGENCIES.—The term 

22 ‘Federal banking agencies’ has the same meaning as in 

23 section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. 

24 ‘‘(w) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term ‘financial 

25 institution’ means a State or National bank, a State or
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1 Federal savings and loan association, a mutual savings 

2 bank, a State or Federal credit union, or any other person 

3 that, directly or indirectly, holds an account belonging to 

4 a consumer. 

5 ‘‘(x) RESELLER.—The term ‘reseller’ means a con6 sumer reporting agency that—

7 ‘‘(1) assembles and merges information con8 tained in the database of another consumer report9 ing agency or multiple consumer reporting agencies 

10 concerning any consumer for purposes of furnishing 

11 such information to any third party, to the extent of 

12 such activities; and 

13 ‘‘(2) does not maintain a database of the as14 sembled or merged information from which new con15 sumer reports are produced. 

16 ‘‘(y) DEFINITIONS RELATING TO CREDIT SCORES.—

17 ‘‘(1) CREDIT SCORE AND KEY FACTORS.—When 

18 used in connection with an application for an exten19 sion of credit for a consumer purpose that is to be 

20 secured by a dwelling—

21 ‘‘(A) the term ‘credit score’—

22 ‘‘(i) means a numerical value or cat23 egorization derived from a statistical tool 

24 or modeling system used to predict the 
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1 likelihood of certain credit behaviors, in2 cluding default; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) does not include—

4 ‘‘(I) any mortgage score or rating 

5 of an automated underwriting system 

6 that considers 1 or more factors in 

7 addition to credit information, includ8 ing the loan-to-value ratio, the 

9 amount of down payment, or the fi10 nancial assets of a consumer; or 

11 ‘‘(II) other elements of the un12 derwriting process or underwriting de13 cision; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the term ‘key factors’ means all rel15 evant elements or reasons affecting the credit 

16 score for a consumer, listed in the order of their 

17 importance, based on their respective effects on 

18 the credit score. 

19 ‘‘(2) DWELLING.—The term ‘dwelling’ has the 

20 same meaning as in section 103 of the Truth in 

21 Lending Act. 

22 ‘‘(z) IDENTITY THEFT REPORT.—The term ‘identity 

23 theft report’ means a report—

24 ‘‘(1) that alleges an identity theft; 
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1 ‘‘(2) that is filed by a consumer with an appro2 priate Federal, State, or local government agency, 

3 including the United States Postal Inspection Serv4 ice and any law enforcement agency; and 

5 ‘‘(3) the filing of which subjects the person fil6 ing the report to criminal penalties relating to the 

7 filing of false information if, in fact, the information 

8 in the report is false.’’. 

9 SEC. 112. FRAUD ALERTS AND ACTIVE DUTY ALERTS. 

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

11 seq.) is amended by inserting after section 605 the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘§ 605A. Identity theft prevention; fraud alerts and 

14 active duty alerts 

15 ‘‘(a) ONE-CALL FRAUD ALERTS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) INITIAL ALERTS.—Upon the request of a 

17 consumer who asserts in good faith a suspicion that 

18 the consumer has been or is about to become a vic19 tim of fraud or related crime, including identity 

20 theft, a consumer reporting agency described in sec21 tion 603(p) that maintains a file on the consumer 

22 and has received appropriate proof of the identity of 

23 the requester shall—

24 ‘‘(A) include a fraud alert in the file 

25 of that consumer for a period of not less 
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1 than 90 days, beginning on the date of 

2 such request, unless the consumer requests 

3 that such fraud alert be removed before 

4 the end of such period, and the agency has 

5 received appropriate proof of the identity 

6 of the requester for such purpose; and 

7 ‘‘(B) refer the information regarding 

8 the fraud alert under this paragraph to 

9 each of the other consumer reporting agen10 cies described in section 603(p), in accord11 ance with procedures developed under sec12 tion 621(f). 

13 ‘‘(2) ACCESS TO FREE REPORTS.—In any case 

14 in which a consumer reporting agency includes a 

15 fraud alert in the file of a consumer pursuant to this 

16 subsection, the consumer reporting agency shall—

17 ‘‘(A) disclose to the consumer that the con18 sumer may request a free copy of the file of the 

19 consumer pursuant to section 612(d); and 

20 ‘‘(B) provide to the consumer all disclo21 sures required to be made under section 609, 

22 without charge to the consumer, not later than 

23 3 business days after any request described in 

24 subparagraph (A). 

25 ‘‘(b) EXTENDED ALERTS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the request of a con2 sumer who submits an identity theft report to a con3 sumer reporting agency described in section 603(p) 

4 that maintains a file on the consumer, if the agency 

5 has received appropriate proof of the identity of the 

6 requester, the agency shall—

7 ‘‘(A) include a fraud alert in the file of 

8 that consumer during the 7-year period begin9 ning on the date of such request, unless the 

10 consumer requests that such fraud alert be re11 moved before the end of such period and the 

12 agency has received appropriate proof of the 

13 identity of the requester for such purpose; 

14 ‘‘(B) during the 7-year period beginning on 

15 the date of such request, exclude the consumer 

16 from any list of consumers prepared by the con17 sumer reporting agency and provided to any 

18 third party to offer credit or insurance to the 

19 consumer as part of a transaction that was not 

20 initiated by the consumer, unless the consumer 

21 requests that such exclusion be rescinded before 

22 the end of such period; and 

23 ‘‘(C) refer the information regarding the 

24 extended fraud alert under this paragraph to 

25 each of the other consumer reporting agencies
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1 described in section 603(p), in accordance with 

2 procedures developed under section 621(f). 

3 ‘‘(2) VERIFICATION OF IDENTITY THEFT

4 CLAIM.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a consumer 

5 reporting agency shall accept as proof of a claim of 

6 identity theft, in lieu of an identity theft report—

7 ‘‘(A) a properly completed copy of a stand8 ardized affidavit of identity theft developed and 

9 made available by the Federal Trade Commis10 sion; or 

11 ‘‘(B) any affidavit of fact that is accept12 able to the consumer reporting agency for that 

13 purpose. 

14 ‘‘(3) ACCESS TO FREE REPORTS.—In any case 

15 in which a consumer reporting agency includes a 

16 fraud alert in the file of a consumer pursuant to this 

17 subsection, the consumer reporting agency shall—

18 ‘‘(A) disclose to the consumer that the con19 sumer may request 2 free copies of the file of 

20 the consumer pursuant to section 612(d) during 

21 the 12-month period beginning on the date on 

22 which the fraud alert was included in the file; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(B) provide to the consumer all disclo25 sures required to be made under section 609, 
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1 without charge to the consumer, not later than 

2 3 business days after any request described in 

3 subparagraph (A). 

4 ‘‘(c) ACTIVE DUTY ALERTS.—Upon the request of an 

5 active duty military consumer, a consumer reporting agen6 cy described in section 603(p) that maintains a file on the 

7 active duty military consumer and has received appro8 priate proof of the identity of the requester shall—

9 ‘‘(1) include an active duty alert in the file of 

10 that active duty military consumer during a period 

11 of not less than 12 months, beginning on the date 

12 of the request, unless the active duty military con13 sumer requests that such fraud alert be removed be14 fore the end of such period, and the agency has re15 ceived appropriate proof of the identity of the re16 quester for such purpose; 

17 ‘‘(2) during the 12-month period beginning on 

18 the date of such request, exclude the active duty 

19 military consumer from any list of consumers pre20 pared by the consumer reporting agency and pro21 vided to any third party to offer credit or insurance 

22 to the consumer as part of a transaction that was 

23 not initiated by the consumer, unless the consumer 

24 requests that such exclusion be rescinded before the 

25 end of such period; and 
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1 ‘‘(3) refer the information regarding the active 

2 duty alert to each of the other consumer reporting 

3 agencies described in section 603(p), in accordance 

4 with procedures developed under section 621(f). 

5 ‘‘(d) PROCEDURES.—Each consumer reporting agen6 cy described in section 603(p) shall establish policies and 

7 procedures to comply with this section, including proce8 dures that allow consumers and active duty military con9 sumers to request temporary, extended, or active duty 

10 alerts (as applicable) in a simple and easy manner, includ11 ing by telephone. 

12 ‘‘(e) REFERRALS OF FRAUD ALERTS.—Each con13 sumer reporting agency described in section 603(p) that 

14 receives a referral of a fraud alert or active duty alert from 

15 another consumer reporting agency pursuant to this sec16 tion shall, as though the agency received the request from 

17 the consumer directly, follow the procedures required 

18 under—

19 ‘‘(1) paragraphs (1)(A) and (2) of subsection 

20 (a), in the case of a referral under subsection 

21 (a)(1)(B); 

22 ‘‘(2) paragraphs (1)(A), (1)(B), and (3) of sub23 section (b), in the case of a referral under subsection 

24 (b)(1)(C); and 
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1 ‘‘(3) paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (c), 

2 in the case of a referral under subsection (c)(3). 

3 ‘‘(f) DUTY OF RESELLER TO RECONVEY ALERT.—

4 A reseller shall include in its report any fraud alert or 

5 active duty alert placed in the file of a consumer pursuant 

6 to this section by another consumer reporting agency. 

7 ‘‘(g) DUTY OF OTHER CONSUMER REPORTING AGEN8 CIES TO PROVIDE CONTACT INFORMATION.—If a con9 sumer contacts any consumer reporting agency that is not 

10 described in section 603(p) to communicate a suspicion 

11 that the consumer has been or is about to become a victim 

12 of fraud or related crime, including identity theft, the 

13 agency shall provide information to the consumer on how 

14 to contact the Commission and the consumer reporting 

15 agencies described in section 603(p) to obtain more de16 tailed information and request alerts under this section.’’. 

17 SEC. 113. TRUNCATION OF CREDIT CARD AND DEBIT CARD 

18 ACCOUNT NUMBERS. 

19 Section 605 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

20 U.S.C. 1681c) is amended by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(g) TRUNCATION OF CREDIT CARD AND DEBIT

23 CARD NUMBERS.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise specifi25 cally provided in this subsection, no person that ac-
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1 cepts credit cards or debit cards for the transaction 

2 of business shall print more than the last 5 digits 

3 of the card account number or the expiration date 

4 upon any receipt provided to the cardholder at the 

5 point of the sale or transaction. 

6 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—This subsection applies only 

7 to receipts that are electronically printed, and does 

8 not apply to transactions in which the sole means of 

9 recording a credit card or debit card account num10 ber is by handwriting or by an imprint or copy of 

11 the card. 

12 ‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

13 become effective—

14 ‘‘(A) 3 years after the date of enactment 

15 of this subsection, with respect to any cash reg16 ister or other machine or device that electroni17 cally prints receipts for credit card or debit 

18 card transactions that is in use before January 

19 1, 2005; and 

20 ‘‘(B) 1 year after the date of enactment of 

21 this subsection, with respect to any cash reg22 ister or other machine or device that electroni23 cally prints receipts for credit card or debit 

24 card transactions that is first put into use on 

25 or after January 1, 2005.’’.
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1 SEC. 114. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROCEDURES FOR THE 

2 IDENTIFICATION OF POSSIBLE INSTANCES 

3 OF IDENTITY THEFT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 615 of the Fair Credit 

5 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681m) is amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘(e)’’ at the end; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(e) RED FLAG GUIDELINES AND REGULATIONS RE9 QUIRED.— 

10 ‘‘(1) GUIDELINES.—The Federal banking agen11 cies, the National Credit Union Administration, and 

12 the Federal Trade Commission shall, with respect to 

13 the entities that are subject to their respective en14 forcement authority under section 621, and in co15 ordination as described in paragraph (2)— 

16 ‘‘(A) establish and maintain guidelines for 

17 use by each financial institution and each other 

18 person that is a creditor or other user of a con19 sumer report regarding identity theft with re20 spect to account holders at, or customers of, 

21 such entities, and update such guidelines as 

22 often as necessary; and 

23 ‘‘(B) prescribe regulations requiring each 

24 financial institution and each other person that 

25 is a creditor or other user of a consumer report 

26 to establish reasonable policies and procedures 
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1 for implementing the guidelines established pur2 suant to paragraph (1), to identify possible 

3 risks to account holders or to the safety and 

4 soundness of the institution or customers. 

5 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION.—Each agency required to 

6 prescribe regulations under paragraph (1) shall con7 sult and coordinate with each other such agency so 

8 that, to the extent possible, the regulations pre9 scribed by each such entity are consistent and com10 parable with the regulations prescribed by each 

11 other such agency. 

12 ‘‘(3) CRITERIA.—In developing the guidelines 

13 required by paragraph (1)(A), the agencies described 

14 in paragraph (1) shall identify patterns, practices, 

15 and specific forms of activity that indicate the pos16 sible existence of identity theft. 

17 ‘‘(4) CONSISTENCY WITH VERIFICATION RE18 QUIREMENTS.—Policies and procedures established 

19 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not be inconsistent 

20 with, or duplicative of, the policies and procedures 

21 required under section 5318(l) of title 31, United 

22 States Code. 

23 ‘‘(f) INVESTIGATION OF CHANGES OF ADDRESS.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal banking agen25 cies, the National Credit Union Administration, and 
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1 the Federal Trade Commission, in carrying out the 

2 responsibilities of such agencies under subsection (e) 

3 shall, with respect to the entities that are subject to 

4 their respective enforcement authority under section 

5 621, and in coordination as described in paragraph 

6 (2), prescribe regulations applicable to card issuers 

7 to ensure that, if any such card issuer receives a re8 quest for an additional or replacement card for an 

9 existing account not later than 30 days after the 

10 card issuer has received notification of a change of 

11 address for the same account, the card issuer will 

12 follow reasonable policies and procedures that pro13 hibit, as appropriate, the card issuer from issuing 

14 the additional or replacement card, unless the card 

15 issuer—

16 ‘‘(A) notifies the cardholder of the request 

17 at the former address of the cardholder and 

18 provides to the cardholder a means of promptly 

19 reporting incorrect address changes; 

20 ‘‘(B) notifies the cardholder of the request 

21 by such other means of communication as the 

22 cardholder and the card issuer previously 

23 agreed to; or 

24 ‘‘(C) uses other means of assessing the va25 lidity of the change of address, in accordance 
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1 with reasonable policies and procedures estab2 lished by the card issuer in accordance with the 

3 regulations prescribed under subsection (e). 

4 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION.—Each agency required to 

5 prescribe regulations under paragraph (1) shall con6 sult and coordinate with each other such agency so 

7 that, to the extent possible, the regulations pre8 scribed by each such entity are consistent and com9 parable with the regulations prescribed by each 

10 other such agency. 

11 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION OF CARD ISSUER.—For pur12 poses of this subsection, the term ‘card issuer’ 

13 means—

14 ‘‘(A) any person who issues a credit card, 

15 or the agent of such person with respect to such 

16 card; and 

17 ‘‘(B) any person who issues a debit card.’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 subsection (a) shall take effect 1 year after the date of 

20 enactment of this Act. 

21 SEC. 115. AMENDMENTS TO EXISTING IDENTITY THEFT 

22 PROHIBITION. 

23 Section 1028 of title 18, United States Code, is 

24 amended—

25 (1) in subsection (a)(7)—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘transfers’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘transfers, possesses,’’; and 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘abet,’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘abet, or in connection with,’’; 

5 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(D), by striking ‘‘trans6 fer’’ and inserting ‘‘transfer, possession,’’; and 

7 (3) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘three 

8 years’’ and inserting ‘‘5 years’’. 

9 Subtitle B—Protection and Res10 toration of Identity Theft Victim 

11 Credit History 

12 SEC. 151. SUMMARY OF RIGHTS OF IDENTITY THEFT VIC13 TIMS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 609 of the Fair Credit 

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

16 at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(d) SUMMARY OF RIGHTS OF IDENTITY THEFT VIC18 TIMS.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade Com20 mission, in consultation with the Federal banking 

21 agencies and the National Credit Union Administra22 tion, shall prepare a model summary of the rights of 

23 consumers under this title with respect to the proce24 dures for remedying the effects of fraud or identity 

25 theft involving credit, electronic fund transfers, or
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1 accounts or transactions at or with a financial insti2 tution. 

3 ‘‘(2) SUMMARY OF RIGHTS AND CONTACT IN4 FORMATION.—If any consumer contacts a consumer 

5 reporting agency and expresses a belief that the con6 sumer is a victim of fraud or identity theft involving 

7 credit, an electronic fund transfer, or an account or 

8 transaction at or with a financial institution, the 

9 consumer reporting agency shall, in addition to any 

10 other action that the agency may take, provide the 

11 consumer with the model summary of rights pre12 pared by the Commission under paragraph (1) and 

13 information on how to contact the Commission to 

14 obtain more detailed information.’’. 

15 (b) PUBLIC CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT IDENTITY

16 THEFT.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enact17 ment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commission shall es18 tablish and implement a media and distribution campaign 

19 to teach the public how to prevent identity theft. Such 

20 campaign shall include existing Federal Trade Commis21 sion education materials, as well as radio, television, and 

22 print public service announcements, video cassettes, inter23 active digital video discs (DVD’s) or compact audio discs 

24 (CD’s), and Internet resources. 
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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 624(b)(3) 

2 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681t(b)(3), 

3 regarding relation to State laws) is amended by striking 

4 ‘‘section 609(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (c) or (d) of 

5 section 609’’. 

6 SEC. 152. BLOCKING OF INFORMATION RESULTING FROM 

7 IDENTITY THEFT. 

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

9 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

10 section 605A, as added by this Act, the following: 

11 ‘‘§ 605B. Block of information resulting from identity 

12 theft 

13 ‘‘(a) BLOCK.—Except as otherwise provided in this 

14 section, a consumer reporting agency shall block the re15 porting of any information in the file of a consumer that 

16 the consumer identifies as information that resulted from 

17 an alleged identity theft, not later than 3 business days 

18 after the date of receipt by such agency of—

19 ‘‘(1) appropriate proof of the identity of the 

20 consumer; 

21 ‘‘(2) a copy of an identity theft report; and 

22 ‘‘(3) the identification of such information by 

23 the consumer. 
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1 ‘‘(b) NOTIFICATION.—A consumer reporting agency 

2 shall promptly notify the furnisher of information identi3 fied by the consumer under subsection (a)—

4 ‘‘(1) that the information may be a result of 

5 identity theft; 

6 ‘‘(2) that an identity theft report has been filed; 

7 ‘‘(3) that a block has been requested under this 

8 section; and 

9 ‘‘(4) of the effective dates of the block. 

10 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITY TO DECLINE OR RESCIND.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A consumer reporting 

12 agency may decline to block, or may rescind any 

13 block, of information relating to a consumer under 

14 this section, if the consumer reporting agency rea15 sonably determines that—

16 ‘‘(A) the information was blocked in error 

17 or a block was requested by the consumer in 

18 error; 

19 ‘‘(B) the information was blocked, or a 

20 block was requested by the consumer, on the 

21 basis of a material misrepresentation of fact 

22 relevant to the request to block; or 

23 ‘‘(C) the consumer obtained possession of 

24 goods, services, or money as a result of the 

25 blocked transaction or transactions. 
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1 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION TO CONSUMER.—If a block 

2 of information is declined or rescinded under this 

3 subsection, the affected consumer shall be notified 

4 promptly, in the same manner as consumers are no5 tified of the reinsertion of information under section 

6 611(a)(5)(B). 

7 ‘‘(3) SIGNIFICANCE OF BLOCK.—For purposes 

8 of this subsection, if a consumer reporting agency 

9 rescinds a block, the presence of information in the 

10 file of a consumer prior to the blocking of such in11 formation is not evidence of whether the consumer 

12 knew or should have known that the consumer ob13 tained possession of any goods, services, or money as 

14 a result of the block. 

15 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTION FOR RESELLERS.—

16 ‘‘(1) NO RESELLER FILE.—This section shall 

17 not apply to a consumer reporting agency, if the 

18 consumer reporting agency—

19 ‘‘(A) is a reseller; 

20 ‘‘(B) is not, at the time of the request of 

21 the consumer under subsection (a), otherwise 

22 furnishing or reselling a consumer report con23 cerning the information identified by the con24 sumer; and 
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1 ‘‘(C) informs the consumer, by any means, 

2 that the consumer may report the identity theft 

3 to the Commission to obtain consumer informa4 tion regarding identity theft. 

5 ‘‘(2) RESELLER WITH FILE.—The sole obliga6 tion of the consumer reporting agency under this 

7 section, with regard to any request of a consumer 

8 under this section, shall be to block the consumer re9 port maintained by the consumer reporting agency 

10 from any subsequent use, if—

11 ‘‘(A) the consumer, in accordance with the 

12 provisions of subsection (a), identifies, to a con13 sumer reporting agency, information in the file 

14 of the consumer that resulted from identity 

15 theft; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the consumer reporting agency is a 

17 reseller of the identified information. 

18 ‘‘(3) NOTICE.—In carrying out its obligation 

19 under paragraph (2), the reseller shall promptly pro20 vide a notice to the consumer of the decision to 

21 block the file. Such notice shall contain the name, 

22 address, and telephone number of each consumer re23 porting agency from which the consumer information 

24 was obtained for resale.
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1 ‘‘(e) EXCEPTION FOR VERIFICATION COMPANIES.—

2 The provisions of this section do not apply to a check serv3 ices company, acting as such, which issues authorizations 

4 for the purpose of approving or processing negotiable in5 struments, electronic fund transfers, or similar methods 

6 of payments, except that, beginning 3 business days after 

7 receipt of information described in paragraphs (1) through 

8 (3) of subsection (a), a check services company shall not 

9 report to a national consumer reporting agency described 

10 in section 603(p), any information identified in the subject 

11 identity theft report as resulting from identity theft. 

12 ‘‘(f) ACCESS TO BLOCKED INFORMATION BY LAW

13 ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.—No provision of this section 

14 shall be construed as requiring a consumer reporting agen15 cy to prevent a Federal, State, or local law enforcement 

16 agency from accessing blocked information in a consumer 

17 file to which the agency could otherwise obtain access 

18 under this title.’’. 

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

20 for the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) 

21 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

22 605 the following new items:

‘‘605A. Identity theft prevention; fraud alerts and active duty alerts. 

‘‘605B. Block of information resulting from identity theft.’’.
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1 SEC. 153. COORDINATION OF IDENTITY THEFT COMPLAINT 

2 INVESTIGATIONS. 

3 Section 621 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

4 U.S.C. 1681s) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(f) COORDINATION OF CONSUMER COMPLAINT IN7 VESTIGATIONS.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each consumer reporting 

9 agency described in section 603(p) shall develop and 

10 maintain procedures for the referral to each other 

11 such agency of any consumer complaint received by 

12 the agency alleging identity theft, or requesting a 

13 fraud alert under section 605A or a block under sec14 tion 605B. 

15 ‘‘(2) MODEL FORM AND PROCEDURE FOR RE16 PORTING IDENTITY THEFT.—The Federal Trade 

17 Commission, in consultation with the Federal bank18 ing agencies and the National Credit Union Admin19 istration, shall develop a model form and model pro20 cedures to be used by consumers who are victims of 

21 identity theft for contacting and informing creditors 

22 and consumer reporting agencies of the fraud. 

23 ‘‘(3) ANNUAL SUMMARY REPORTS.—Each con24 sumer reporting agency described in section 603(p) 

25 shall submit an annual summary report to the Com-
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1 mission on consumer complaints received by the 

2 agency on identity theft or fraud alerts.’’. 

3 SEC. 154. PREVENTION OF REPOLLUTION OF CONSUMER 

4 REPORTS. 

5 (a) PREVENTION OF REINSERTION OF ERRONEOUS

6 INFORMATION.—

7 (1) DUTIES OF FURNISHERS UPON NOTICE OF

8 IDENTITY THEFT-RELATED DISPUTES.—Section 

9 623(b) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 

10 1681s–2(b)) is amended—

11 (A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

12 paragraph (3); 

13 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(2) DUTIES OF FURNISHERS UPON NOTICE OF

16 IDENTITY THEFT-RELATED DISPUTES.—A person 

17 that furnishes information to any consumer report18 ing agency shall—

19 ‘‘(A) have in place reasonable procedures 

20 to respond to any notification from a consumer 

21 reporting agency under section 605B relating to 

22 information resulting from identity theft, to 

23 prevent that person from refurnishing such in24 formation; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) take the actions described in subpara2 graphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (1), if 

3 such person receives directly from a consumer, 

4 an identity theft report or a properly completed 

5 copy of a standardized affidavit of identity theft 

6 developed and made available by the Federal 

7 Trade Commission.’’; and 

8 (C) in paragraph (3), as redesignated, by 

9 striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘this 

10 subsection’’. 

11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO

12 NOTICE OF IDENTITY THEFT DIRECTLY FROM CON13 SUMERS.—Section 623(b)(1) of the Fair Credit Re14 porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(b)(1)) is amend15 ed—

16 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

17 (A), by inserting ‘‘or as described in paragraph 

18 (2)(B),’’ after ‘‘agency,’’; 

19 (B) subparagraph (B), by inserting before 

20 the semicolon the following: ‘‘, and by the con21 sumer, and other documentation reasonably 

22 available to the person that is necessary to con23 duct a reasonable investigation’’; and 

24 (C) in subparagraph (C), by inserting be25 fore the semicolon at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘, and to the consumer, if notice of the dispute 

2 was received directly from the consumer, as de3 scribed in paragraph (2)(B)’’.

4 (b) PROHIBITION ON SALE OR TRANSFER OF DEBT

5 CAUSED BY IDENTITY THEFT.—Section 615 of the Fair 

6 Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681m), as amended by 

7 this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(g) PROHIBITION ON SALE OR TRANSFER OF DEBT

9 CAUSED BY IDENTITY THEFT.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No person shall sell, trans11 fer for consideration, or place for collection a debt 

12 that such person has been notified under section 

13 605B has resulted from identity theft. 

14 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—The prohibitions of this 

15 subsection shall apply to all persons collecting a debt 

16 described in paragraph (1) after the date of a notifi17 cation under paragraph (1). 

18 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

19 this subsection shall be construed to prohibit—

20 ‘‘(A) the repurchase of a debt in any case 

21 in which the assignee of the debt requires such 

22 repurchase because the debt has resulted from 

23 identity theft; 

24 ‘‘(B) the securitization of a debt; or
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1 ‘‘(C) the transfer of debt as a result of a 

2 merger, acquisition, purchase and assumption 

3 transaction, or transfer of substantially all of 

4 the assets of an entity.’’. 

5 SEC. 155. NOTICE BY DEBT COLLECTORS WITH RESPECT TO 

6 FRAUDULENT INFORMATION. 

7 Section 615 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

8 U.S.C. 1681m), as amended by this Act, is amended by 

9 adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(h) DEBT COLLECTOR COMMUNICATIONS CON11 CERNING IDENTITY THEFT.—If a person acting as a debt 

12 collector (as that term is defined in title VIII) on behalf 

13 of a third party that is a creditor or other user of a con14 sumer report is notified that any information relating to 

15 a debt that the person is attempting to collect may be 

16 fraudulent or may be the result of identity theft, that per17 son shall—

18 ‘‘(1) notify the third party that the information 

19 may be fraudulent or may be the result of identity 

20 theft; and 

21 ‘‘(2) upon request of the consumer to whom the 

22 debt purportedly relates, provide to the consumer all 

23 information to which the consumer would otherwise 

24 be entitled if the consumer were not a victim of 
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1 identity theft, but wished to dispute the debt under 

2 provisions of law applicable to that person.’’. 

3 SEC. 156. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS. 

4 Section 618 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

5 U.S.C. 1681p) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘§ 618. Jurisdiction of courts; limitation of actions 

7 ‘‘An action to enforce any liability created under this 

8 title may be brought in any appropriate United States dis9 trict court, without regard to the amount in controversy, 

10 or in any other court of competent jurisdiction, not later 

11 than the earlier of—

12 ‘‘(1) 2 years after the date of discovery by the 

13 plaintiff of the violation that is the basis for such li14 ability; or 

15 ‘‘(2) 7 years after the date on which the viola16 tion that is the basis for such liability occurs.’’. 

17 TITLE II—IMPROVEMENTS IN 

18 USE OF AND CONSUMER AC19 CESS TO CREDIT INFORMA20 TION 

21 SEC. 211. FREE CREDIT REPORTS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 612 of the Fair Credit 

23 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681j) is amended—
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1 (1) by redesignating subsection (a) as sub2 section (f), and transferring it to the end of the sec3 tion; 

4 (2) by inserting before subsection (b) the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(a) FREE ANNUAL DISCLOSURE.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A consumer reporting 

8 agency described in section 603(p) shall make all 

9 disclosures pursuant to section 609 once during any 

10 12-month period upon request of the consumer and 

11 without charge to the consumer, only if the request 

12 is made by mail or through an Internet website 

13 using the centralized system and the standardized 

14 form established for such requests in accordance 

15 with section 211(c) of the National Consumer Credit 

16 Reporting System Improvement Act of 2003. 

17 ‘‘(2) TIMING.—A consumer reporting agency 

18 shall provide a consumer report under paragraph (1) 

19 not later than 15 days after the date on which the 

20 request is received under paragraph (1). 

21 ‘‘(3) REINVESTIGATIONS.—Notwithstanding the 

22 time periods specified in section 611(a)(1), a re23 investigation under that section by a consumer re24 porting agency upon a request of a consumer that 

25 is made after receiving a consumer report under this 
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1 subsection shall be completed not later than 45 days 

2 after the date on which the request is received.’’; 

3 (3) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub4 section (e); 

5 (4) by inserting before subsection (e), as redes6 ignated, the following: 

7 ‘‘(d) FREE DISCLOSURES IN CONNECTION WITH

8 FRAUD ALERTS.—Upon the request of a consumer, a con9 sumer reporting agency described in section 603(p) shall 

10 make all disclosures pursuant to section 609 without 

11 charge to the consumer, as provided in subsections (a)(2) 

12 and (b)(3) of section 605A, as applicable.’’; 

13 (5) in subsection (e), as redesignated, by strik14 ing ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (f)’’; 

15 and 

16 (6) in subsection (f), as redesignated, by strik17 ing ‘‘Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), and 

18 (d), a’’ and inserting ‘‘In the case of a request from 

19 a consumer other than a request that is covered by 

20 any of subsections (a) through (d), a’’. 

21 (b) SUMMARY OF RIGHTS TO OBTAIN AND DISPUTE

22 INFORMATION IN CONSUMER REPORTS AND TO OBTAIN

23 CREDIT SCORES.—Section 609(c) of the Fair Credit Re24 porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g) is amended to read as fol25 lows:
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1 ‘‘(c) SUMMARY OF RIGHTS TO OBTAIN AND DISPUTE

2 INFORMATION IN CONSUMER REPORTS AND TO OBTAIN

3 CREDIT SCORES.—

4 ‘‘(1) COMMISSION SUMMARY OF RIGHTS RE5 QUIRED.—

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade 

7 Commission shall prepare a model summary of 

8 the rights of consumers under this title. 

9 ‘‘(B) CONTENT OF SUMMARY.—The sum10 mary of rights prepared under subparagraph 

11 (A) shall include a description of—

12 ‘‘(i) the right of a consumer to obtain 

13 a copy of a consumer report under sub14 section (a) from each consumer reporting 

15 agency; 

16 ‘‘(ii) the frequency and circumstances 

17 under which a consumer is entitled to re18 ceive a consumer report without charge 

19 under section 612; 

20 ‘‘(iii) the right of a consumer to dis21 pute information in the file of the con22 sumer under section 611; 

23 ‘‘(iv) the right of a consumer to ob24 tain a credit score from a consumer report-
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1 ing agency, and a description of how to ob2 tain a credit score; and 

3 ‘‘(v) the method by which a consumer 

4 can contact, and obtain a consumer report 

5 from, a consumer reporting agency without 

6 charge, as provided in the regulations of 

7 the Commission prescribed under section 

8 211(c) of the National Consumer Credit 

9 Reporting System Improvement Act of 

10 2003. 

11 ‘‘(C) AVAILABILITY OF SUMMARY OF

12 RIGHTS.—The Federal Trade Commission 

13 shall—

14 ‘‘(i) actively publicize the availability 

15 of the summary of rights prepared under 

16 this paragraph; 

17 ‘‘(ii) conspicuously post on its Inter18 net website the availability of such sum19 mary of rights; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) promptly make such summary of 

21 rights available to consumers, on request. 

22 ‘‘(2) SUMMARY OF RIGHTS REQUIRED TO BE IN23 CLUDED WITH AGENCY DISCLOSURES.—A consumer 

24 reporting agency shall provide to a consumer, with 
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1 each written disclosure by the agency to the con2 sumer under this section— 

3 ‘‘(A) the summary of rights prepared by 

4 the Federal Trade Commission under para5 graph (1); 

6 ‘‘(B) in the case of a consumer reporting 

7 agency described in section 603(p), a toll-free 

8 telephone number established by the agency, at 

9 which personnel are accessible to consumers 

10 during normal business hours; 

11 ‘‘(C) a list of all Federal agencies respon12 sible for enforcing any provision of this title, 

13 and the address and any appropriate phone 

14 number of each such agency, in a form that will 

15 assist the consumer in selecting the appropriate 

16 agency; 

17 ‘‘(D) a statement that the consumer may 

18 have additional rights under State law, and that 

19 the consumer may wish to contact a State or 

20 local consumer protection agency or a State at21 torney general (or the equivalent thereof) to 

22 learn of those rights; and 

23 ‘‘(E) a statement that a consumer report24 ing agency is not required to remove accurate 

25 derogatory information from the file of a con-
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1 sumer, unless the information is outdated under 

2 section 605 or cannot be verified.’’. 

3 (c) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade Commis5 sion shall prescribe regulations applicable to con6 sumer reporting agencies described in section 603(p) 

7 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act to require the es8 tablishment of—

9 (A) a centralized source, through which 

10 consumers may obtain a consumer report from 

11 each consumer reporting agency described in 

12 that section 603(p) using a single request and 

13 without charge to the consumer, as provided in 

14 section 612(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act 

15 (as amended by this Act); 

16 (B) a standardized form for a consumer to 

17 make such a request for a consumer report by 

18 mail or through an Internet website; and 

19 (C) streamlined methods by which such a 

20 consumer reporting agency shall provide such 

21 consumer reports, after consideration of—

22 (i) the significant demands that may 

23 be placed on consumer reporting agencies 

24 in providing such consumer reports; 
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1 (ii) appropriate means to ensure that 

2 consumer reporting agencies can satisfac3 torily meet those demands, including the 

4 efficacy of a system of staggering the 

5 availability to consumers of such consumer 

6 reports using a quarterly method based on 

7 the birth month of the consumer; and 

8 (iii) the ease by which consumers 

9 should be able to contact consumer report10 ing agencies with respect to access to such 

11 consumer reports. 

12 (2) TIMING.—Regulations required by this sub13 section shall—

14 (A) be issued in final form not later than 

15 6 months after the date of enactment of this 

16 Act; and 

17 (B) become effective not later than 6 

18 months after the date on which they are issued 

19 in final form. 

20 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

21 subsections (a) and (b) shall become effective on the effec22 tive date of the regulations prescribed by the Commission 

23 in accordance with subsection (c).
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1 SEC. 212. CREDIT SCORES. 

2 (a) DUTIES OF CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES

3 TO DISCLOSE CREDIT SCORES.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 609(a) of the Fair 

5 Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g(a)) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(6) In connection with an application for an 

8 extension of credit for a consumer purpose that is to 

9 be secured by a dwelling—

10 ‘‘(A) the current, or most recent, credit 

11 score of the consumer that was previously cal12 culated by the agency; 

13 ‘‘(B) the range of possible credit scores 

14 under the model used; 

15 ‘‘(C) the key factors, if any, not to exceed 

16 4, that adversely affected the credit score of the 

17 consumer in the model used; 

18 ‘‘(D) the date on which the credit score 

19 was created; and 

20 ‘‘(E) the name of the person or entity that 

21 provided the credit score or the credit file on 

22 the basis of which the credit score was cre23 ated.’’. 

24 (2) LIMITATIONS ON REQUIRED PROVISION OF

25 CREDIT SCORE.—Section 609 of the Fair Credit Re-
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1 porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g), as amended by this 

2 Act, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(e) LIMITATIONS ON REQUIRED PROVISION OF

4 CREDIT SCORE.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a)(6) may not 

6 be construed—

7 ‘‘(A) to compel a consumer reporting agen8 cy to develop or disclose a credit score if the 

9 agency does not, in the ordinary course of its 

10 business— 

11 ‘‘(i) distribute scores that are used in 

12 connection with extensions of credit se13 cured by residential real property; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) develop credit scores that assist 

15 creditors in understanding the general 

16 credit behavior of the consumer and pre17 dicting future credit behavior; 

18 ‘‘(B) to require a consumer reporting 

19 agency that distributes credit scores developed 

20 by another person or entity to provide a further 

21 explanation of those scores, or to process a dis22 pute arising pursuant to section 611(a), except 

23 that the consumer reporting agency shall be re24 quired to provide to the consumer the name and 
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1 information for contacting the person or entity 

2 that developed the score; 

3 ‘‘(C) to require a consumer reporting agen4 cy to maintain credit scores in its files; or 

5 ‘‘(D) to compel disclosure of a credit score, 

6 except upon specific request of the consumer, 

7 except that if a consumer requests the credit 

8 file and not the credit score, then the consumer 

9 shall be provided with the credit file and a 

10 statement that the consumer may request and 

11 obtain a credit score. 

12 ‘‘(2) PROVISION OF SCORING MODEL.—In com13 plying with subsection (a)(6) and this subsection, a 

14 consumer reporting agency shall supply to the con15 sumer— 

16 ‘‘(A) a credit score that is derived from a 

17 credit scoring model that is widely distributed 

18 to users of credit scores by that consumer re19 porting agency in connection with any extension 

20 of credit secured by a dwelling; or 

21 ‘‘(B) a credit score that assists the con22 sumer in understanding the credit scoring as23 sessment of the credit behavior of the consumer 

24 and predictions about future credit behavior.’’. 
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1 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

2 609(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

3 U.S.C. 1681g(a)(1)) is amended by inserting before 

4 the period ‘‘, other than as provided in paragraph 

5 (6)’’. 

6 (b) DUTIES OF USERS OF CREDIT SCORES.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 615 of the Fair 

8 Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681m), as amend9 ed by this Act, is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(i) DUTIES OF USERS OF CREDIT SCORES.—

12 ‘‘(1) DISCLOSURES.—Any person that makes or 

13 arranges extensions of credit for consumer purposes 

14 that are to be secured by a dwelling and that uses 

15 credit scores for that purpose, shall be required to 

16 provide to the consumer to whom the credit score re17 lates, as soon as is reasonably practicable after such 

18 use—

19 ‘‘(A) a copy of the information described in 

20 section 609(a)(6) that was obtained from a con21 sumer reporting agency or that was developed 

22 and used by that user of the credit score infor23 mation; or

24 ‘‘(B) if the user of the credit score infor25 mation obtained such information from a third 
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1 party that developed such information, (other 

2 than a consumer reporting agency or the user 

3 itself) only—

4 ‘‘(i) a copy of the information de5 scribed in section 609(a)(6) provided to 

6 the user by the person or entity that devel7 oped the credit score; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) a notice that generally describes 

9 credit scores, their use, and the sources 

10 and kinds of data used to generate credit 

11 scores. 

12 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This sub13 section may not be construed to require the user of 

14 a credit score described in paragraph (1)—

15 ‘‘(A) to explain to the consumer the infor16 mation provided pursuant to section 609(a)(6), 

17 unless that information was developed by the 

18 user; 

19 ‘‘(B) to disclose any information other 

20 than a credit score or the key factors required 

21 to be disclosed under section 609(a)(6)(C); 

22 ‘‘(C) to disclose any credit score or related 

23 information obtained by the user after a trans24 action occurs; or
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1 ‘‘(D) to provide more than 1 disclosure 

2 under this subsection to any 1 consumer per 

3 credit transaction. 

4 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Except as otherwise pro5 vided in this subsection, the obligation of a user of 

6 a credit score under this subsection shall be limited 

7 solely to providing a copy of the information that 

8 was received from the consumer reporting agency or 

9 other person. A user of a credit score has no liability 

10 under this subsection for the content of credit score 

11 information received from a consumer reporting 

12 agency or for the omission of any information within 

13 the report provided by the consumer reporting agen14 cy.’’. 

15 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 615 

16 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681m) 

17 is amended in the section heading, by adding at the 

18 end the following: ‘‘and credit scores’’. 

19 (c) CONTRACTUAL LIABILITY.—Section 616 of the 

20 Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681n) is amended 

21 by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(d) USE OF CREDIT SCORES.—Any provision of any 

23 contract that prohibits the disclosure of a credit score by 

24 a consumer reporting agency or a person who makes or 

25 arranges extensions of credit to the consumer to whom 
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1 the credit score relates is void. A user of a credit score 

2 shall not have liability under any such contractual provi3 sion for disclosure of a credit score.’’. 

4 (d) RELATION TO STATE LAWS.—Section 624(b)(1) 

5 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681t(b)(1), 

6 regarding relation to State laws) is amended—

7 (1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

8 the end; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(G) subsections (a)(6) and (e) of section 

11 609, relating to the disclosure of credit scores 

12 by consumer reporting agencies in connection 

13 with an application for an extension of credit 

14 that is to be secured by a dwelling; or 

15 ‘‘(H) section 615(i), relating to the duties 

16 of users of credit scores to disclose credit score 

17 information to consumers in connection with an 

18 application for an extension of credit that is to 

19 be secured by a dwelling;’’. 

20 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

21 this section shall become effective 180 days after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act. 
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1 SEC. 213. ENHANCED DISCLOSURE OF THE MEANS AVAIL2 ABLE TO OPT OUT OF PRESCREENED LISTS. 

3 (a) NOTICE AND RESPONSE FORMAT FOR USERS OF

4 REPORTS.—Section 615(d)(2) of the Fair Credit Report5 ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681m(d)(2)) is amended to read as 

6 follows: 

7 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE OF ADDRESS AND TELE8 PHONE NUMBER; FORMAT.—A statement under 

9 paragraph (1) shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) include the address and toll-free tele11 phone number of the appropriate notification 

12 system established under section 604(e); and 

13 ‘‘(B) be presented in such format and in 

14 such type size and manner as is established by 

15 the Federal Trade Commission, by rule, in con16 sultation with the Federal banking agencies and 

17 the National Credit Union Administration.’’. 

18 (b) RULEMAKING SCHEDULE.—Regulations required 

19 by section 615(d)(2) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, as 

20 amended by this section, shall be issued in final form not 

21 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. 

22 (c) DURATION OF ELECTIONS.—Section 604(e) of 

23 the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(e)) is 

24 amended in each of paragraphs (3)(A) and (4)(B)(i)), by 

25 striking ‘‘2-year period’’ each place that term appears and 

26 inserting ‘‘7-year period’’. 
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1 (d) PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN.—The Federal 

2 Trade Commission shall actively publicize and conspicu3 ously post on its website any address and the toll-free tele4 phone number established as part of a notification system 

5 for opting out of prescreening under section 604(e), and 

6 otherwise take measures to increase public awareness re7 garding the availability of the right to opt out of 

8 prescreening. 

9 SEC. 214. AFFILIATE SHARING. 

10 (a) LIMITATION.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

11 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended—

12 (1) by redesignating section 624 (regarding re13 lation to State laws), as so designated by section 

14 2413(b) of the Consumer Credit Reporting Reform 

15 Act of 1996 (110 Stat. 3009–447), as section 625; 

16 (2) by redesignating section 624 (regarding dis17 closures to FBI for counterintelligence purposes), as 

18 added by section 601(a) of the Intelligence Author19 ization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 (Public Law 104–

20 93; 109 Stat. 974) (15 U.S.C. 1681u)), as section 

21 626; and 

22 (3) by inserting after section 623 the following: 

23 ‘‘SEC. 624. AFFILIATE SHARING. 

24 ‘‘(a) SPECIAL RULE FOR SOLICITATION FOR PUR25 POSES OF MARKETING.—
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1 ‘‘(1) NOTICE.—Any person that receives from 

2 another person related to it by common ownership or 

3 affiliated by corporate control a communication of 

4 information that would be a consumer report, except 

5 for clauses (i) through (iii) of section 603(d)(2)(A), 

6 may not use the information to make a solicitation 

7 for marketing purposes to a consumer about its 

8 products or services, unless—

9 ‘‘(A) it is clearly and conspicuously dis10 closed to the consumer that the information 

11 may be communicated among such persons for 

12 purposes of making solicitations to the con13 sumer; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the consumer is provided an oppor15 tunity and a simple method to prohibit the 

16 making of such solicitations to the consumer by 

17 such person. 

18 ‘‘(2) CONSUMER CHOICE.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The notice required 

20 under paragraph (1) shall allow the consumer 

21 the opportunity to prohibit all solicitation for 

22 marketing purposes, and may allow the con23 sumer to choose from different options when 

24 electing to prohibit the sending of solicitations, 

25 including options regarding the types of entities
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1 and information covered, and which methods of 

2 delivering solicitations the consumer elects to 

3 prohibit. 

4 ‘‘(B) FORMAT.—Notwithstanding subpara5 graph (A), the notice required under paragraph 

6 (1) must be clear, conspicuous, and concise, and 

7 any method provided under paragraph (1)(B) 

8 must be simple. The regulations prescribed to 

9 implement this section shall provide specific 

10 guidance regarding how to comply with such 

11 standards. 

12 ‘‘(3) DURATION.—The election of the consumer 

13 pursuant to paragraph (1)(B) to prohibit the send14 ing of solicitations shall be effective for 5 years, be15 ginning on the date on which the person receives the 

16 election of the consumer, unless the consumer re17 quests that such election be revoked before the end 

18 of such period. At such time as the election of the 

19 consumer pursuant to paragraph (1)(B) is no longer 

20 effective, a person may not use information it re21 ceives as described in paragraph (1) to make a solic22 itation for marketing purposes to such consumer un23 less the consumer receives a notice and an oppor24 tunity to extend the opt out for another period of 5 
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1 years, pursuant to the procedure described in para2 graph (1). 

3 ‘‘(4) SCOPE.—This section shall not apply to a 

4 person—

5 ‘‘(A) using information to make a solicita6 tion for marketing purposes to a consumer with 

7 whom the person has a pre-existing business re8 lationship; 

9 ‘‘(B) using information to perform services 

10 on behalf of another person related by common 

11 ownership or affiliated by corporate control, ex12 cept that this subparagraph shall not permit a 

13 person to send solicitations on behalf of another 

14 person if such other person would not be per15 mitted to send the solicitation on its own behalf 

16 as a result of the election of the consumer to 

17 prohibit solicitations under paragraph (1)(B); 

18 ‘‘(C) using information in direct response 

19 to a communication initiated by the consumer 

20 in which the consumer has requested informa21 tion about a product or service; or 

22 ‘‘(D) using information to directly respond 

23 to solicitations authorized or requested by the 

24 consumer. 
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1 ‘‘(b) NOTICE FOR OTHER PURPOSES PERMIS2 SIBLE.—A notice or other disclosure that is equivalent to 

3 the notice required by subsection (a), and that is provided 

4 by a person described in subsection (a) to a consumer to5 gether with disclosures required by any other provision of 

6 law shall satisfy the requirements of subsection (a).’’. 

7 (b) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal banking agen9 cies, the National Credit Union Administration, and 

10 the Federal Trade Commission shall, with respect to 

11 the entities that are subject to their respective en12 forcement authority under section 621 of the Fair 

13 Credit Reporting Act, and in coordination as de14 scribed in paragraph (2), prescribe regulations to 

15 implement section 624 of the Fair Credit Reporting 

16 Act, as added by this section. 

17 (2) COORDINATION.—Each agency required to 

18 prescribe regulations under paragraph (1) shall con19 sult and coordinate with each other such agency so 

20 that, to the extent possible, the regulations pre21 scribed by each such entity are consistent and com22 parable with the regulations prescribed by each 

23 other such agency. 
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1 (3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In promulgating regu2 lations under this subsection, the Commission 

3 shall—

4 (A) ensure that affiliate sharing notifica5 tion methods provide a simple means for con6 sumers to make determinations and choices 

7 under section 624 of the Fair Credit Reporting 

8 Act, as added by this section; and 

9 (B) consider the affiliate sharing notifica10 tion practices employed on the date of enact11 ment of this Act by persons that will be subject 

12 to that section 624. 

13 (4) TIMING.—Regulations required by this sub14 section shall—

15 (A) be issued in final form not later than 

16 6 months after the date of enactment of this 

17 Act; and 

18 (B) become effective not later than 3 

19 months after the date on which they are issued 

20 in final form. 

21 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

22 603(d)(2)(A) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 

23 1681a(d)(2)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘subject to sec24 tion 624,’’ after ‘‘(A)’’. 
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1 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The Fair Credit Re2 porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended in the 

3 table of sections, by striking the items following the item 

4 relating to section 623 and inserting the following:

‘‘624. Affiliate sharing. 

‘‘625. Relation to State laws. 

‘‘626. Disclosures to FBI for counterintelligence purposes.’’.

5 (e) STUDIES OF INFORMATION SHARING PRAC6 TICES.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal banking agen8 cies, the National Credit Union Administration, and 

9 the Federal Trade Commission shall jointly conduct 

10 regular studies of the consumer information sharing 

11 practices by financial institutions and other persons 

12 that are creditors or users of consumer reports with 

13 their affiliates. 

14 (2) MATTERS FOR STUDY.—In conducting the 

15 studies required by paragraph (1), the agencies de16 scribed in paragraph (1) shall—

17 (A) identify—

18 (i) the purposes for which financial in19 stitutions and other creditors and users of 

20 consumer reports share consumer informa21 tion; 

22 (ii) the types of information shared by 

23 such entities with their affiliates;
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1 (iii) the number of choices provided to 

2 consumers with respect to the control of 

3 such sharing, and the degree to and man4 ner in which consumers exercise such 

5 choices, if at all; and

6 (iv) whether such entities share or 

7 may share personally identifiable trans8 action or experience information with affili9 ates for purposes—

10 (I) that are related to employ11 ment or hiring, including whether the 

12 person that is the subject of such in13 formation is given notice of such shar14 ing, and the specific uses of such 

15 shared information; or 

16 (II) of general publication of 

17 such information; and 

18 (B) specifically examine the information 

19 sharing practices that financial institutions and 

20 other creditors and users of consumer reports 

21 and their affiliates employ for the purpose of 

22 making underwriting decisions or credit evalua23 tions of consumers. 

24 (3) REPORTS.—
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1 (A) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 3 

2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 

3 the Federal banking agencies, the National 

4 Credit Union Administration, and the Federal 

5 Trade Commission shall jointly submit a report 

6 to the Congress on the results of the initial 

7 study conducted in accordance with this sub8 section, together with any recommendations for 

9 legislative or regulatory action. 

10 (B) FOLLOWUP REPORTS.—The Federal 

11 banking agencies, the National Credit Union 

12 Administration, and the Federal Trade Com13 mission shall, not less frequently than once 

14 every 3 years following the date of submission 

15 of the initial report under subparagraph (A), 

16 jointly submit a report to the Congress that, to17 gether with any recommendations for legislative 

18 or regulatory action—

19 (i) documents any changes in the 

20 areas of study referred to in paragraph 

21 (2)(A) occurring since the date of submis22 sion of the previous report; 

23 (ii) identifies any changes in the prac24 tices of financial institutions and other 

25 creditors and users of consumer reports in 
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1 sharing consumer information with their 

2 affiliates for the purpose of making under3 writing decisions or credit evaluations of 

4 consumers occurring since the date of sub5 mission of the previous report; and 

6 (iii) examines the effects that changes 

7 described in clause (ii) have had, if any, on 

8 the degree to which such affiliate sharing 

9 practices reduce the need for financial in10 stitutions, creditors, and other users of 

11 consumer reports to rely on credit reports 

12 for such decisions. 

13 (f) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

14 (1) the terms ‘‘consumer’’, ‘‘consumer report’’, 

15 ‘‘consumer reporting agency’’, ‘‘creditor’’, ‘‘Federal 

16 banking agencies’’, and ‘‘financial institution’’, have 

17 the same meanings as in section 603 of the Fair 

18 Credit Reporting Act, as amended by this Act; and 

19 (2) the term ‘‘affiliates’’ means persons that are 

20 related by common ownership or affiliated by cor21 porate control. 
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1 SEC. 215. STUDY OF EFFECTS OF CREDIT SCORES AND 

2 CREDIT-BASED INSURANCE SCORES ON 

3 AVAILABILITY AND AFFORDABILITY OF FI4 NANCIAL PRODUCTS. 

5 (a) DEFINED TERM.—As used in this section, the 

6 term ‘‘credit score’’ means a numerical value or a cat7 egorization derived from a statistical tool or modeling sys8 tem used to predict the likelihood of certain credit or in9 surance behaviors, including default. 

10 (b) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Federal Trade Commis11 sion shall conduct a study of—

12 (1) the effects of the use of credit scores and 

13 credit-based insurance scores on the availability and 

14 affordability of financial products and services, in15 cluding credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, and 

16 property and casualty insurance; 

17 (2) the degree of correlation between the factors 

18 considered by credit score systems and the quantifi19 able risks and actual losses experienced by busi20 nesses, including the extent to which each of the fac21 tors considered or otherwise taken into account by 

22 such systems correlated to risk or loss; 

23 (3) the extent to which the use of credit scoring 

24 models, credit scores and credit-based insurance 

25 scores benefit or negatively impact persons based on 

26 geography, income, ethnicity, race, color, religion, 
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1 national origin, age, sex, marital status, or creed; 

2 and 

3 (4) the extent to which credit scoring systems 

4 are used by businesses, the factors considered by 

5 such systems, and the effects of variables which are 

6 not considered by such systems. 

7 (c) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Commission shall 

8 seek public input about the prescribed methodology and 

9 research design of the study required by subsection (b). 

10 (d) REPORT.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before the end of the 18-

12 month period beginning on the date of enactment of 

13 this Act, the Federal Trade Commission shall sub14 mit a detailed report on the study conducted under 

15 this section to the Committee on Financial Services 

16 of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

17 on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Sen18 ate. 

19 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 

20 paragraph (1) shall include—

21 (A) the findings and conclusions of the 

22 Commission; 

23 (B) recommendations to address specific 

24 areas of concern that were identified in the 

25 study; and
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1 (C) recommendations for legislative or ad2 ministrative action that the Commission may 

3 determine to be necessary to ensure that credit 

4 and credit-based insurances score are used ap5 propriately and fairly. 

6 TITLE III—ENHANCING THE AC7 CURACY OF CONSUMER RE8 PORT INFORMATION 

9 SEC. 311. NOTICE WITH RESPECT TO COUNTER OFFERS. 

10 (a) RULEMAKING.—Section 603(k) of the Fair Credit 

11 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(k)) is amended—

12 (1) in paragraph (1)(B)—

13 (A) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

14 end; 

15 (B) in clause (iv), by striking the period at 

16 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

18 ‘‘(v) notwithstanding subparagraph 

19 (A), and subject to regulations prescribed 

20 by the Federal banking agencies, the Na21 tional Credit Union Administration, and 

22 the Federal Trade Commission with re23 spect to the entities that are subject to 

24 their respective enforcement authority 

25 under section 621 and in coordination as 
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1 described in paragraph (3), an extension or 

2 grant of credit based on a counter offer by 

3 the creditor on material terms, including 

4 interest rate, that are materially less favor5 able than the terms generally available to 

6 consumers from the creditor, based in 

7 whole or in part on a consumer report.’’; 

8 and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION OF RULEMAKING.—Each 

11 agency required to prescribe regulations under para12 graph (1)(B)(v) shall consult and coordinate with 

13 each other such agency so that, to the extent pos14 sible, the regulations prescribed by each such entity 

15 are consistent and comparable with the regulations 

16 prescribed by each other such agency.’’. 

17 (b) RULEMAKING.—Regulations required by section 

18 603(k)(1)(B)(v) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, as 

19 added by this section, shall be issued in final form not 

20 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. 

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

22 subsection (a) shall become effective on the effective date 

23 of regulations prescribed in accordance with subsection 

24 (b). 
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1 SEC. 312. PROCEDURES TO ENHANCE THE ACCURACY AND 

2 COMPLETENESS OF INFORMATION FUR3 NISHED TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGEN4 CIES. 

5 (a) ACCURACY GUIDELINES AND REGULATIONS.—

6 Section 623 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 

7 15 U.S.C. 1681s–2) is amended by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(e) ACCURACY GUIDELINES AND REGULATIONS RE10 QUIRED.— 

11 ‘‘(1) GUIDELINES.—The Federal banking agen12 cies, the National Credit Union Administration, and 

13 the Federal Trade Commission shall, with respect to 

14 the entities that are subject to their respective en15 forcement authority under section 621, and in co16 ordination as described in paragraph (2)— 

17 ‘‘(A) establish and maintain guidelines for 

18 use by each person that furnishes information 

19 to a consumer reporting agency regarding the 

20 accuracy and completeness of the information 

21 relating to consumers that such entities furnish 

22 to consumer reporting agencies, and update 

23 such guidelines as often as necessary; and 

24 ‘‘(B) prescribe regulations requiring each 

25 person that furnishes information to a con26 sumer reporting agency to establish reasonable 
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1 policies and procedures for implementing the 

2 guidelines established pursuant to subpara3 graph (A). 

4 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION.—Each agency required to 

5 prescribe regulations under paragraph (1) shall con6 sult and coordinate with each other such agency so 

7 that, to the extent possible, the regulations pre8 scribed by each such entity are consistent and com9 parable with the regulations prescribed by each 

10 other such agency. 

11 ‘‘(3) CRITERIA.—In developing the guidelines 

12 required by paragraph (1)(A), the agencies described 

13 in paragraph (1) shall—

14 ‘‘(A) identify patterns, practices, and spe15 cific forms of activity that can compromise the 

16 accuracy and completeness of information fur17 nished to consumer reporting agencies; 

18 ‘‘(B) review the methods (including techno19 logical means) used to furnish information re20 lating to consumers to consumer reporting 

21 agencies; 

22 ‘‘(C) determine whether persons that fur23 nish information to consumer reporting agen24 cies maintain and enforce policies to provide 
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1 complete and accurate information to consumer 

2 reporting agencies; and 

3 ‘‘(D) examine the policies and processes 

4 that persons that furnish information to con5 sumer reporting agencies employ to conduct re6 investigations and correct inaccurate informa7 tion relating to consumers that has been fur8 nished to consumer reporting agencies.’’. 

9 (b) FURNISHER LIABILITY EXCEPTION.—Section 

10 623(a)(5) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 

11 1681s–2(a)(5)) is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: ‘‘For purposes of this paragraph only, and subject 

13 to the requirements of this section, a person that so noti14 fies the agency may rely on the date provided by the entity 

15 to whom the account was owed at the time that the delin16 quency occurred, provided that the consumer does not dis17 pute the information.’’.

18 SEC. 313. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION AND CONSUMER 

19 REPORTING AGENCY ACTION CONCERNING 

20 COMPLAINTS. 

21 Section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

22 U.S.C. 1681i) is amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(e) TREATMENT OF COMPLAINTS AND REPORT TO

25 CONGRESS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade Com2 mission shall—

3 ‘‘(A) compile all complaints that it receives 

4 that a file of a consumer that is maintained by 

5 a consumer reporting agency described in sec6 tion 603(p) contains incomplete or inaccurate 

7 information, with respect to which, the con8 sumer appears to have disputed the complete9 ness or accuracy with the consumer reporting 

10 agency or otherwise utilized the procedures pro11 vided by subsection (a); and 

12 ‘‘(B) transmit each such complaint to each 

13 consumer reporting agency involved. 

14 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSION.—Complaints received or ob15 tained by the Commission pursuant to its investiga16 tive authority under the Federal Trade Commission 

17 Act shall not be subject to this paragraph (1). 

18 ‘‘(3) AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each con19 sumer reporting agency described in section 603(p) 

20 that receives a complaint transmitted by the Com21 mission pursuant to paragraph (1) shall—

22 ‘‘(A) review each such complaint to deter23 mine whether all legal obligations imposed on 

24 the consumer reporting agency under this title 

25 (including any obligation imposed by an appli-
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1 cable court or administrative order) have been 

2 met with respect to the subject matter of the 

3 complaint; 

4 ‘‘(B) provide reports on a regular basis to 

5 the Commission regarding the determinations of 

6 and actions taken by the consumer reporting 

7 agency, if any, in connection with its review of 

8 such complaints; and 

9 ‘‘(C) maintain, for a reasonable time pe10 riod, records regarding the disposition of each 

11 such complaint that is sufficient to demonstrate 

12 compliance with this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(4) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—The Commis14 sion may prescribe regulations in accordance with 

15 the requirements of section 553 of title 5, United 

16 States Code, as appropriate to implement this sub17 section. 

18 ‘‘(5) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The 

19 Commission shall submit to Congress an annual re20 port regarding compliance with this subsection.’’. 

21 SEC. 314. ONGOING AUDITS OF THE ACCURACY OF CON22 SUMER REPORTS. 

23 (a) AUDITS REQUIRED.—The Board of Governors of 

24 the Federal Reserve System (in this section referred to 

25 as ‘‘the Board’’) shall conduct ongoing audits of the accu-
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1 racy and completeness of information contained in con2 sumer reports prepared or maintained by consumer re3 porting agencies. The Board shall independently verify the 

4 accuracy and completeness of information contained in 

5 consumer reports by evaluating information and data pro6 vided by consumer reporting agencies (as defined in sec7 tion 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act). 

8 (b) SUBJECT MATTERS.—In conducting audits under 

9 this section, the Board shall examine—

10 (1) the accuracy and completeness of informa11 tion contained in consumer reports, including an 

12 analysis of the type of inaccurate or incomplete in13 formation, if any, that may have the most significant 

14 impact on the availability and terms of various cred15 it products offered to borrowers; and 

16 (2) the impact, if any, of incomplete and inac17 curate information on the credit and credit-based in18 surance scores that are most widely used to deter19 mine borrower credit worthiness and to make insur20 ance underwriting and rating decisions, including an 

21 analysis of how, if at all, changes to credit scores re22 sulting from inaccurate or incomplete credit report23 ing information affect the availability and terms of 

24 various credit products offered to borrowers. 

25 (c) BIENNIAL REPORTS REQUIRED.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall submit a 

2 report to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

3 Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

4 Financial Services of the House of Representatives 

5 at the end of the 2-year period beginning on the 

6 date of enactment of this Act. Thereafter, the Board 

7 shall conduct additional audits and submit addi8 tional reports once every 2 years. 

9 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 

10 this subsection shall contain a detailed summary of 

11 the findings and conclusions of the Board with re12 spect to the audits required by this section, and such 

13 recommendations for legislative and administrative 

14 action as the Board may determine to be appro15 priate. 

16 (d) PROVISION OF REPORTS TO THE BOARD FOR

17 PURPOSES OF ANALYSIS.—Section 604(d) of the Fair 

18 Credit Reporting Act (12 U.S.C. 1681b(d)) is amended 

19 to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(d) FURNISHING CONSUMER REPORTS FOR ACCU21 RACY OR COMPLIANCE AUDITS.—A consumer reporting 

22 agency shall provide consumer reports to the Board of 

23 Governors of the Federal Reserve System, upon request, 

24 for the purpose of conducting an accuracy or compliance 

25 audit in accordance with section 314 of the National Con-
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1 sumer Credit Reporting System Improvement Act of 

2 2003.’’. 

3 SEC. 315. IMPROVED DISCLOSURE OF THE RESULTS OF RE4 INVESTIGATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 611(a)(5)(A) of the Fair 

6 Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i) is amended by 

7 striking ‘‘shall’’ and all that follows through the end of 

8 the subparagraph, and inserting the following: ‘‘shall—

9 ‘‘(i) promptly delete that item of in10 formation from the file of the consumer, or 

11 modify that item of information, as appro12 priate, based on the results of the reinves13 tigation; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) promptly notify the furnisher of 

15 that information that the information has 

16 been deleted from the file of the con17 sumer.’’. 

18 (b) FURNISHER REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO INAC19 CURATE, INCOMPLETE, OR UNVERIFIABLE INFORMA20 TION.—Section 623(b)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting 

21 Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(b)(1)) is amended—

22 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

23 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and
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1 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 

2 period at the end and inserting the following:

3 ‘‘; and 

4 ‘‘(E) if an item of any information dis5 puted by a consumer is found to be inaccurate 

6 or incomplete or cannot be verified after any re7 investigation under paragraph (1), promptly de8 lete that item of information from the fur9 nisher’s records or modify that item of informa10 tion, as appropriate, based on the results of the 

11 reinvestigation.’’. 

12 SEC. 316. RECONCILING ADDRESSES. 

13 Section 605 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

14 U.S.C. 1681c), as amended by this Act, is amended by 

15 adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(h) NOTICE OF DISCREPANCY IN ADDRESS.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a person has requested 

18 a consumer report relating to a consumer from a 

19 consumer reporting agency described in section 

20 603(p), the request includes an address for the con21 sumer that substantially differs from the addresses 

22 in the file of the consumer, and the agency provides 

23 a consumer report in response to the request, the 

24 consumer reporting agency shall notify the requester 

25 of the existence of the discrepancy. 
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1 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—

2 ‘‘(A) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The Fed3 eral banking agencies, the National Credit 

4 Union Administration, and the Federal Trade 

5 Commission shall, with respect to the entities 

6 that are subject to their respective enforcement 

7 authority under section 621, and in coordina8 tion as described in subparagraph (B), pre9 scribe regulations providing guidance regarding 

10 reasonable policies and procedures that a user 

11 of a consumer report should employ when such 

12 user has received a notice of discrepancy under 

13 paragraph (1). 

14 ‘‘(B) COORDINATION.—Each agency re15 quired to prescribe regulations under subpara16 graph (A) shall consult and coordinate with 

17 each other such agency so that, to the extent 

18 possible, the regulations prescribed by each 

19 such entity are consistent and comparable with 

20 the regulations prescribed by each other such 

21 agency. 

22 ‘‘(C) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TO BE

23 INCLUDED.—The regulations prescribed under 

24 subparagraph (A) shall describe reasonable poli-
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1 cies and procedures for use by a user of a con2 sumer report—

3 ‘‘(i) to form a reasonable belief that 

4 the user knows the identity of the person 

5 to whom the consumer report pertains; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) if the user establishes a con7 tinuing relationship with the consumer, 

8 and the user regularly and in the ordinary 

9 course of business furnishes information to 

10 the consumer reporting agency from which 

11 the notice of discrepancy pertaining to the 

12 consumer was obtained, to reconcile the 

13 address of the consumer with the consumer 

14 reporting agency by furnishing such ad15 dress to such consumer reporting agency 

16 as part of information regularly furnished 

17 by the user for the period in which the re18 lationship is established.’’. 

19 SEC. 317. FTC STUDY OF ISSUES RELATING TO THE FAIR 

20 CREDIT REPORTING ACT. 

21 (a) STUDY REQUIRED.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade Commis23 sion shall conduct a study on ways to improve the 

24 operation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. 
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1 (2) AREAS FOR STUDY.—In conducting the 

2 study under paragraph (1), the Commission shall re3 view—

4 (A) the efficacy of increasing the number 

5 of points of identifying information that a cred6 it reporting agency is required to match to en7 sure that a consumer is the correct individual 

8 to whom a consumer report relates before re9 leasing a consumer report to a user, includ10 ing—

11 (i) the extent to which requiring addi12 tional points of such identifying informa13 tion to match would—

14 (I) enhance the accuracy of cred15 it reports; and 

16 (II) combat the provision of in17 correct consumer reports to users; 

18 (ii) the extent to which requiring an 

19 exact match of the first and last name, so20 cial security number, and address and ZIP 

21 Code of the consumer would enhance the 

22 likelihood of increasing credit report accu23 racy; and 

24 (iii) the effects of allowing consumer 

25 reporting agencies to use partial matches 
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1 of social security numbers and name rec2 ognition software on the accuracy of credit 

3 reports; 

4 (B) requiring notification to consumers 

5 when negative information has been added to 

6 their credit reports, including—

7 (i) the potential impact of such notifi8 cation on the ability of consumers to iden9 tify errors on their credit reports; and 

10 (ii) the potential impact of such notifi11 cation on the ability of consumers to re12 move fraudulent information from their 

13 credit reports; 

14 (C) the effects of requiring that a con15 sumer who has experienced an adverse action 

16 based on a credit report receives a copy of the 

17 same credit report that the creditor relied on in 

18 taking the adverse action, including—

19 (i) the extent to which providing such 

20 reports to consumers would increase the 

21 ability of consumers to identify errors in 

22 their credit reports; and 

23 (ii) the extent to which providing such 

24 reports to consumers would increase the
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1 ability of consumers to remove fraudulent 

2 information from their credit reports; 

3 (D) any common financial transactions 

4 that are not generally reported to the consumer 

5 reporting agencies, but would provide useful in6 formation in determining the credit worthiness 

7 of consumers; and 

8 (E) any actions that might be taken within 

9 a voluntary reporting system to encourage the 

10 reporting of the types of transactions described 

11 in subparagraph (D). 

12 (3) COSTS AND BENEFITS.—With respect to 

13 each area of study described in paragraph (2), the 

14 Commission shall consider the extent to which such 

15 requirements would benefit consumers, balanced 

16 against the cost of implementing such provisions. 

17 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 270 days 

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

19 the Federal Trade Commission shall submit a report to 

20 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

21 of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services 

22 of the House of Representatives containing a detailed 

23 summary of the findings and conclusions of the study 

24 under this section, together with such recommendations 
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1 for legislative or administrative actions as may be appro2 priate. 

3 TITLE IV—LIMITING THE USE 

4 AND SHARING OF MEDICAL 

5 INFORMATION IN THE FINAN6 CIAL SYSTEM 

7 SEC. 411. PROTECTION OF MEDICAL INFORMATION IN THE 

8 FINANCIAL SYSTEM. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 604(g) of the Fair Credit 

10 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(g)) is amended to read 

11 as follows: 

12 ‘‘(g) PROTECTION OF MEDICAL INFORMATION.—

13 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON CONSUMER REPORTING

14 AGENCIES.—A consumer reporting agency shall not 

15 furnish for employment purposes, or in connection 

16 with a credit or insurance transaction, a consumer 

17 report that contains medical information about a 

18 consumer, unless—

19 ‘‘(A) if furnished in connection with an in20 surance transaction, the consumer affirmatively 

21 consents to the furnishing of the report; 

22 ‘‘(B) if furnished for employment purposes 

23 or in connection with a credit transaction—
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1 ‘‘(i) the information to be furnished is 

2 relevant to process or effect the employ3 ment or credit transaction; and

4 ‘‘(ii) the consumer provides specific 

5 written consent for the furnishing of the 

6 report that describes in clear and con7 spicuous language the use for which the in8 formation will be furnished; or 

9 ‘‘(C) such information is restricted or re10 ported using codes that do not identify, or pro11 vide information sufficient to infer, the specific 

12 provider or the nature of such services, prod13 ucts, or devices to a person other than the con14 sumer, unless the report is being provided to an 

15 insurance company for a purpose relating to en16 gaging in the business of insurance, other than 

17 property and casualty insurance. 

18 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON CREDITORS.—Except as 

19 permitted pursuant to paragraph (3)(C) or regula20 tions prescribed under paragraph (5)(A), a creditor 

21 shall not obtain or use medical information per22 taining to a consumer in connection with any deter23 mination of the consumer’s eligibility, or continued 

24 eligibility, for credit. 
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1 ‘‘(3) ACTIONS AUTHORIZED BY FEDERAL LAW, 

2 INSURANCE ACTIVITIES AND REGULATORY DETER3 MINATIONS.—Section 603(d)(3) shall not be con4 strued so as to treat information or any communica5 tion of information as a consumer report if the in6 formation or communication is disclosed—

7 ‘‘(A) in connection with the business of in8 surance or annuities, including the activities de9 scribed in section 18B of the model Privacy of 

10 Consumer Financial and Health Information 

11 Regulation issued by the National Association 

12 of Insurance Commissioners (as in effect on 

13 January 1, 2003); 

14 ‘‘(B) for any purpose permitted without 

15 authorization under the Standards for Individ16 ually Identifiable Health Information promul17 gated by the Department of Health and Human 

18 Services pursuant to the Health Insurance 

19 Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or 

20 referred to under section 1179 of such Act, or 

21 described in section 502(e) of Public Law 106–

22 102; or 

23 ‘‘(C) as otherwise determined to be nec24 essary and appropriate, by regulation or order 

25 and subject to paragraph (6), by the Commis-
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1 sion, any Federal banking agency or the Na2 tional Credit Union Administration (with re3 spect to any financial institution subject to the 

4 jurisdiction of such agency or Administration 

5 under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of section 

6 621(b), or the applicable State insurance au7 thority (with respect to any person engaged in 

8 providing insurance or annuities). 

9 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON REDISCLOSURE OF MED10 ICAL INFORMATION.—Any person that receives med11 ical information pursuant to paragraph (1) or (3) 

12 shall not disclose such information to any other per13 son, except as necessary to carry out the purpose for 

14 which the information was initially disclosed, or as 

15 otherwise permitted by statute, regulation, or order. 

16 ‘‘(5) REGULATIONS AND EFFECTIVE DATE FOR

17 PARAGRAPH (2).—

18 ‘‘(A) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Each 

19 Federal banking agency and the National Cred20 it Union Administration shall, subject to para21 graph (6) and after notice and opportunity for 

22 comment, prescribe regulations that permit 

23 transactions under paragraph (2) that are de24 termined to be necessary and appropriate to 

25 protect legitimate operational, transactional,
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1 risk, consumer, and other needs, consistent with 

2 the intent of paragraph (2) to restrict the use 

3 of medical information for inappropriate pur4 poses. 

5 ‘‘(B) FINAL REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—

6 The Federal banking agencies and the National 

7 Credit Union Administration shall issue the 

8 regulations required under subparagraph (A) in 

9 final form before the end of the 6-month period 

10 beginning on the date of enactment of the Na11 tional Consumer Credit Reporting System Im12 provement Act of 2003. 

13 ‘‘(6) COORDINATION WITH OTHER LAWS.—No 

14 provision of this subsection shall be construed as al15 tering, affecting, or superseding the applicability of 

16 any other provision of Federal law relating to med17 ical confidentiality.’’. 

18 (b) RESTRICTION ON SHARING OF MEDICAL INFOR19 MATION.—Section 603(d) of the Fair Credit Reporting 

20 Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(d)) is amended—

21 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘The term’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (3), 

23 the term’’; and 

24 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

25 paragraph: 
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1 ‘‘(3) RESTRICTION ON SHARING OF MEDICAL

2 INFORMATION.—Except for information or any com3 munication of information disclosed as provided in 

4 section 604(g)(3), the exclusions in paragraph (2) 

5 shall not apply with respect to information disclosed 

6 to any person related by common ownership or affili7 ated by corporate control, if—

8 ‘‘(A) the information is medical informa9 tion; or 

10 ‘‘(B) the information is an individualized 

11 list or description based on a consumer’s pay12 ment transactions for medical products or serv13 ices, or an aggregate list of identified con14 sumers based on payment transactions for med15 ical products or services.’’. 

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATES.—This section shall take ef17 fect at the end of the 180-day period beginning on the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, except that paragraph (2) 

19 of section 604(g) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (as 

20 amended by subsection (a)) shall take effect on the later 

21 of—

22 (1) the end of the 90-day period beginning on 

23 the date on which the regulations required under 

24 paragraph (5)(B) of such section 604(g) (as added 
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1 by subsection (a) of this section) are issued in final 

2 form; or 

3 (2) the date specified in the regulations referred 

4 to in paragraph (1). 

5 SEC. 412. CONFIDENTIALITY OF MEDICAL CONTACT INFOR6 MATION IN CONSUMER REPORTS. 

7 (a) DUTIES OF MEDICAL INFORMATION FUR8 NISHERS.—Section 623(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting 

9 Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)) is amended by adding at the 

10 end the following: 

11 ‘‘(6) DUTY TO PROVIDE NOTICE OF STATUS AS

12 MEDICAL INFORMATION FURNISHER.—A person 

13 whose primary business is providing medical serv14 ices, products, or devices, or the person’s agent or 

15 assignee, who furnishes information to a consumer 

16 reporting agency on a consumer shall be considered 

17 a medical information furnisher for purposes of this 

18 title, and shall notify the agency of such status.’’. 

19 (b) RESTRICTION OF DISSEMINATION OF MEDICAL

20 CONTACT INFORMATION.—Section 605(a) of the Fair 

21 Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)) is amended by 

22 adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(6) The name, address, and telephone number 

24 of any medical information furnisher that has noti25 fied the agency of its status, unless—
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1 ‘‘(A) such name, address, and telephone 

2 number are restricted or reported using codes 

3 that do not identify, or provide information suf4 ficient to infer, the specific provider or the na5 ture of such services, products, or devices to a 

6 person other than the consumer; or 

7 ‘‘(B) the report is being provided to an in8 surance company for a purpose relating to en9 gaging in the business of insurance other than 

10 property and casualty insurance.’’. 

11 (c) NO EXCEPTIONS ALLOWED FOR DOLLAR

12 AMOUNTS.—Section 605(b) of the Fair Credit Reporting 

13 Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘The 

14 provisions of subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘The provi15 sions of paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (a)’’. 

16 (d) COORDINATION WITH OTHER LAWS.—No provi17 sion of any amendment made by this section shall be con18 strued as altering, affecting, or superseding the applica19 bility of any other provision of Federal law relating to 

20 medical confidentiality. 

21 (e) FTC REGULATION OF CODING OF TRADE

22 NAMES.—Section 621 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act 

23 (15 U.S.C. 1681s), as amended by this Act, is amended 

24 by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(g) FTC REGULATION OF CODING OF TRADE

2 NAMES.—If the Commission determines that a person de3 scribed in paragraph (6) of section 623(a) has not met 

4 the requirements of such paragraph, the Commission shall 

5 take action to ensure the person’s compliance with such 

6 paragraph, which may include issuing model guidance or 

7 prescribing reasonable policies and procedures as nec8 essary to ensure that such person complies with such para9 graph.’’. 

10 (f) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

11 Section 604(g) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

12 U.S.C. 1681b(g)), as amended by section 411 of this Act, 

13 is amended—

14 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘(other than 

15 medical contact information treated in the manner 

16 required under section 605(a)(6))’’ after ‘‘a con17 sumer report that contains medical information’’; 

18 and 

19 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘(other than 

20 medical information treated in the manner required 

21 under section 605(a)(6))’’ after ‘‘a creditor shall not 

22 obtain or use medical information’’. 

23 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

24 this section shall take effect at the end of the 15-month 

25 period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act.
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1 TITLE V—FINANCIAL LITERACY 

2 AND EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT 

3 SEC. 511. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Financial Literacy and 

5 Education Improvement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 512. DEFINITIONS. 

7 As used in this title—

8 (1) the term ‘‘Chairperson’’ means the chair9 person of the Financial Literacy and Education 

10 Commission; and 

11 (2) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Finan12 cial Literacy and Education Commission established 

13 under section 513. 

14 SEC. 513. ESTABLISHMENT OF FINANCIAL LITERACY AND 

15 EDUCATION COMMISSION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a commission 

17 to be known as the ‘‘Financial Literacy and Education 

18 Commission’’. 

19 (b) PURPOSE.—The Commission shall serve to im20 prove the financial literacy and education of persons in 

21 the United States. 

22 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—

23 (1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission shall be 

24 composed of—

25 (A) the Secretary of the Treasury; 
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1 (B) the respective head of each of the Fed2 eral banking agencies (as defined in section 3 

3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act), the Na4 tional Credit Union Administration, the Securi5 ties and Exchange Commission, each of the De6 partments of Education, Agriculture, Defense, 

7 Health and Human Services, Housing and 

8 Urban Development, Labor, and Veterans Af9 fairs, the Federal Trade Commission, the Gen10 eral Services Administration, the Small Busi11 ness Administration, the Social Security Admin12 istration, the Commodity Futures Trading 

13 Commission, and the Office of Personnel Man14 agement; and 

15 (C) at the discretion of the President, not 

16 more than 5 individuals appointed by the Presi17 dent from among the administrative heads of 

18 any other Federal agencies, departments, or 

19 other Government entities, whom the President 

20 determines to be engaged in a serious effort to 

21 improve financial literacy and education. 

22 (2) ALTERNATES.—Each member of the Com23 mission may designate an alternate if the member is 

24 unable to attend a meeting of the Commission. Such 
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1 alternate shall be an individual who exercises signifi2 cant decisionmaking authority. 

3 (d) CHAIRPERSON.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

4 shall serve as the Chairperson. 

5 (e) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall hold, at the 

6 call of the Chairperson, at least 1 meeting every 4 months. 

7 All such meetings shall be open to the public. The Com8 mission may hold, at the call of the Chairperson, such 

9 other meetings as the Chairperson sees fit to carry out 

10 this title. 

11 (f) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the 

12 Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser num13 ber of members may hold hearings. 

14 (g) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission shall hold 

15 its first meeting not later than 60 days after the date of 

16 enactment of this Act. 

17 SEC. 514. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 

18 (a) DUTIES.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, through 

20 the authority of the members referred to in section 

21 513(c), shall take such actions as it deems necessary 

22 to streamline, improve, or augment the financial lit23 eracy and education programs, grants, and materials 

24 of the Federal Government, including curricula for 

25 all Americans. 
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1 (2) AREAS OF EMPHASIS.—To improve finan2 cial literacy and education, the Commission shall 

3 emphasize, among other elements, basic personal in4 come and household money management and plan5 ning skills, including how to—

6 (A) create household budgets, initiate sav7 ings plans, and make strategic investment deci8 sions for education, retirement, home owner9 ship, wealth building, or other savings goals; 

10 (B) manage spending, credit, and debt, in11 cluding credit card debt, effectively; 

12 (C) increase awareness of the availability 

13 and significance of credit reports and credit 

14 scores in obtaining credit, the importance of 

15 their accuracy (and how to correct inaccura16 cies), their effect on credit terms, and the effect 

17 common financial decisions may have on credit 

18 scores; 

19 (D) ascertain fair and favorable credit 

20 terms; 

21 (E) avoid abusive, predatory, or deceptive 

22 credit offers and financial products; 

23 (F) understand, evaluate, and compare fi24 nancial products, services, and opportunities; 
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1 (G) understand resources that ought to be 

2 easily accessible and affordable, and that in3 form and educate investors as to their rights 

4 and avenues of recourse when an investor be5 lieves his or her rights have been violated by 

6 unprofessional conduct of market inter7 mediaries; and 

8 (H) improve financial literacy and edu9 cation through all other related skills. 

10 (b) WEBSITE.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall estab12 lish and maintain a website, such as the domain 

13 name ‘‘FinancialLiteracy.gov’’, or a similar domain 

14 name. 

15 (2) PURPOSES.—The website established under 

16 paragraph (1) shall—

17 (A) serve as a clearinghouse of information 

18 about Federal financial literacy and education 

19 programs; 

20 (B) provide a coordinated entry point for 

21 accessing information about all Federal publica22 tions, grants, and materials promoting en23 hanced financial literacy and education; 

24 (C) offer information on all Federal grants 

25 to promote financial literacy and education, and
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1 on how to target, apply for, and receive a grant 

2 that is most appropriate under the cir3 cumstances; 

4 (D) as the Commission considers appro5 priate, feature website links to efforts that have 

6 no commercial content and that feature infor7 mation about financial literacy and education 

8 programs, materials, or campaigns; and 

9 (E) offer such other information as the 

10 Commission finds appropriate to share with the 

11 public in the fulfillment of its purpose. 

12 (c) TOLL-FREE HOTLINE.—The Commission shall 

13 establish a toll-free telephone number that shall be made 

14 available to members of the public seeking information 

15 about issues pertaining to financial literacy and education. 

16 (d) DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION OF MATE17 RIALS.—The Commission shall—

18 (1) develop materials to promote financial lit19 eracy and education; and 

20 (2) disseminate such materials to the general 

21 public. 

22 (e) COORDINATION OF EFFORTS.—The Commission 

23 shall take such steps as are necessary to coordinate and 

24 promote financial literacy and education efforts at the 

25 State and local level, including promoting partnerships 
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1 among Federal, State, and local governments, nonprofit 

2 organizations, and private enterprises. 

3 (f) NATIONAL STRATEGY.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall—

5 (A) not later than 18 months after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act, develop a na7 tional strategy to promote basic financial lit8 eracy and education among all American con9 sumers; and 

10 (B) coordinate Federal efforts to imple11 ment the strategy developed under subpara12 graph (A). 

13 (2) STRATEGY.—The strategy to promote basic 

14 financial literacy and education required to be devel15 oped under paragraph (1) shall provide for—

16 (A) participation by State and local gov17 ernments and private, nonprofit, and public in18 stitutions in the creation and implementation of 

19 such strategy; 

20 (B) the development of methods—

21 (i) to increase the general financial 

22 education level of current and future con23 sumers of financial services and products; 

24 and 
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1 (ii) to enhance the general under2 standing of financial services and products; 

3 (C) review of Federal activities designed to 

4 promote financial literacy and education, and 

5 development of a plan to improve coordination 

6 of such activities; and 

7 (D) the identification of areas of overlap 

8 and duplication among Federal financial lit9 eracy and education activities and proposed 

10 means of eliminating any such overlap and du11 plication. 

12 (3) NATIONAL STRATEGY REVIEW.—The Com13 mission shall, not less than annually, review the na14 tional strategy developed under this subsection and 

15 make such changes and recommendations as it 

16 deems necessary 

17 (g) CONSULTATION.—The Commission shall actively 

18 consult with a variety of representatives from private and 

19 nonprofit organizations and State and local agencies, as 

20 determined appropriate by the Commission. 

21 (h) REPORTS.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

23 after the date of the first meeting of the Commis24 sion, and annually thereafter, the Commission shall 

25 issue a report to the Committee on Banking, Hous-
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1 ing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Com2 mittee on Financial Services of the House of Rep3 resentatives on the progress of the Commission in 

4 carrying out this title. 

5 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required under 

6 paragraph (1) shall include—

7 (A) information concerning the implemen8 tation of the duties of the Commission under 

9 subsections (a) through (g); 

10 (B) an assessment of the success of the 

11 Commission in implementing the national strat12 egy developed under subsection (f); 

13 (C) an assessment of the availability, utili14 zation, and impact of Federal financial literacy 

15 and education materials; 

16 (D) information concerning the content 

17 and public use of— 

18 (i) the website established under sub19 section (b); and 

20 (ii) the toll-free telephone number es21 tablished under subsection (c); 

22 (E) a brief survey of the financial literacy 

23 and education materials developed under sub24 section (d), and data regarding the dissemina-
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1 tion and impact of such materials, as measured 

2 by improved financial decision making; 

3 (F) a brief summary of any hearings con4 ducted by the Commission, including a list of 

5 witnesses who testified at such hearings; 

6 (G) information about the activities of the 

7 Commission planned for the next fiscal year; 

8 (H) a summary of all Federal financial lit9 eracy and education activities targeted to com10 munities that have historically lacked access to 

11 financial literacy materials and education, and 

12 have been underserved by the mainstream fi13 nancial systems; and 

14 (I) such other materials relating to the du15 ties of the Commission as the Commission 

16 deems appropriate. 

17 (3) INITIAL REPORT.—The initial report under 

18 paragraph (1) shall include information regarding all 

19 Federal programs, materials, and grants which seek 

20 to improve financial literacy, and assess the effec21 tiveness of such programs. 

22 (i) TESTIMONY.—The Commission shall provide, 

23 upon request, testimony by the Chairperson to the Com24 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the
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1 Senate, and the Committee on Financial Services of the 

2 House of Representatives. 

3 SEC. 515. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION. 

4 (a) HEARINGS.—The Commission may hold such 

5 hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such 

6 testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission 

7 considers advisable to carry out this title. 

8 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The 

9 Commission may secure directly from any Federal depart10 ment or agency such information as the Commission con11 siders necessary to carry out this title. Upon request of 

12 the Chairperson, the head of such department or agency 

13 shall furnish such information to the Commission. 

14 (c) PERIODIC STUDIES.—The Commission may con15 duct periodic studies regarding the state of financial lit16 eracy and education in the United States, as the Commis17 sion determines appropriate. 

18 SEC. 516. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS. 

19 (a) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—Each member of 

20 the Commission shall serve without compensation in addi21 tion to that received for their service as an officer or em22 ployee of the United States. 

23 (b) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the Com24 mission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per 

25 diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employ-
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1 ees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 

2 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or 

3 regular places of business in the performance of services 

4 for the Commission. 

5 (c) ASSISTANCE.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 

7 Financial Education of the Department of the 

8 Treasury shall provide assistance to the Commission, 

9 upon request of the Commission, without reimburse10 ment. 

11 (2) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—

12 Any Federal Government employee may be detailed 

13 to the Commission without reimbursement, and such 

14 detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil 

15 service status or privilege. 

16 SEC. 517. STUDY BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL. 

17 Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 

18 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

19 shall submit a report to Congress assessing the effective20 ness of the Commission in promoting financial literacy and 

21 education. 

22 SEC. 518. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Com24 mission such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 

25 title, including administrative expenses of the Commission. 
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1 TITLE VI—RELATION TO STATE 

2 LAW 

3 SEC. 611. RELATION TO STATE LAW. 

4 Section 625(d) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

5 U.S.C. 1681t(d), regarding relation to State laws), as so 

6 designated by section 214 of this Act, is amended—

7 (1) by striking paragraph (2); 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘(c)—’’ and all that follows 

9 through ‘‘do not affect’’ and inserting ‘‘(c) do not 

10 affect’’; and 

11 (3) by striking ‘‘1996; and’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘1996.’’. 

13 TITLE VII—MISCELLANEOUS 

14 SEC. 711. CLERICAL AMENDMENTS. 

15 (a) SHORT TITLE.—Section 601 of the Fair Credit 

16 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 note) is amended by strik17 ing ‘‘the Fair Credit Reporting Act.’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

18 ‘Fair Credit Reporting Act’.’’.

19 (b) SECTION 604.—Section 604(a) of the Fair Credit 

20 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(a)) is amended in para21 graphs (1) through (5), other than subparagraphs (E) and 

22 (F) of paragraph (3), by moving each margin 2 ems to 

23 the right. 

24 (c) SECTION 605.—
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1 (1) Section 605(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Re2 porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)(1)) is amended by 

3 striking ‘‘(1) cases’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) Cases’’. 

4 (2)(A) Section 5(1) of Public Law 105–347 

5 (112 Stat. 3211) is amended by striking ‘‘Judg6 ments which’’ and inserting ‘‘judgments which’’. 

7 (B) The amendment made by subparagraph (A) 

8 shall be deemed to have the same effective date as 

9 section 5(1) of Public Law 105–347 (112 Stat. 

10 3211). 

11 (d) SECTION 609.—Section 609(a) of the Fair Credit 

12 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g(a)) is amended—

13 (1) in paragraph (2), by moving the margin 2 

14 ems to the right; and 

15 (2) in paragraph (3)(C), by moving the margins 

16 2 ems to the left. 

17 (e) SECTION 617.—Section 617(a)(1) of the Fair 

18 Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681o(a)(1)) is amended 

19 by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end. 

20 (f) SECTION 621.—Section 621(b)(1)(B) of the Fair 

21 Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s(b)(1)(B)) is 

22 amended by striking ‘‘25(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘25A’’. 

23 (g) TITLE 31.—Section 5318 of title 31, United 

24 States Code, is amended by redesignating the second item 
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1 designated as subsection (l) (relating to applicability of 

2 rules) as subsection (m). 

3 (h) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2411(c) of 

4 Public Law 104–208 (110 Stat. 3009–445) is repealed.
Calendar No. 312

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1753

[Report No. 108–166] 

A BILL

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act in order 

to prevent identity theft, to improve the use of and consumer access to consumer reports, to enhance the accuracy of consumer reports, to limit the sharing of certain consumer information, to improve financial education and literacy, and for other purposes. 

OCTOBER 17, 2003

Read twice and placed on the calendar