I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4220

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to protect the credit records of 

consumers who are affected by federally declared disasters, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 27, 2004

Ms. BORDALLO (for herself, Mr. SHERMAN, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. 

FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. MCINTYRE, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. OWENS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to protect the 

credit records of consumers who are affected by federally 

declared disasters, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Disaster Con5 sumer Protection Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON INCLUDING LATE PAYMENTS IN 

2 CREDIT REPORTS THAT WERE LATE DUE 

3 SOLELY TO DECLARED DISASTERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit 

5 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)) is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(7) Any reference to a late payment that was 

8 due solely to a disruption caused by a declared dis9 aster for which the agency receives notice under sub10 section (i).’’. 

11 (b) PROCEDURE FOR STRIKING ADVERSE INFORMA12 TION DUE TO DECLARED DISASTER.—Section 605 of the 

13 Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c) is amended 

14 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

15 ‘‘(i) PROCEDURE FOR STRIKING ADVERSE INFORMA16 TION DUE TO DECLARED DISASTER.—

17 ‘‘(1) NOTICE FROM CONSUMER.—Any consumer 

18 who—

19 ‘‘(A) resides in an area which has been de20 clared a disaster area by the President under 

21 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

22 Emergency Assistance Act; 

23 ‘‘(B) fails to make a payment on an obliga24 tion by the due date (of the payment) that falls 

25 within the grace period described in paragraph 

26 (4); and 
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1 ‘‘(C) pays the obligation within 30 days of 

2 the due date referred to in subparagraph (B), 

3 may notify the creditor at any time during the 2-year pe4 riod following the end of the grace period, with respect 

5 to such obligation, that the late payment was due to the 

6 occurrence of the declared disaster. 

7 ‘‘(2) NOTICE TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGEN8 CY.—Any creditor which receives a notice from a 

9 consumer under paragraph (1) shall notify any con10 sumer reporting agency to which the creditor fur11 nished information on the late payment described in 

12 such paragraph that the late payment was due to a 

13 disruption caused by a declared disaster. 

14 ‘‘(3) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY OF

15 THE TREASURY.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

16 may designate a grace period for purposes of para17 graph (1) if, after consultation with the Under Sec18 retary for Emergency Preparedness and Response of 

19 the Department of Homeland Security, the Sec20 retary determines that—

21 ‘‘(A) a disaster, as declared by the Presi22 dent under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re23 lief and Emergency Assistance Act has caused 

24 damage to the infrastructure affecting banking, 
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1 credit, and other financial services and trans2 actions in a specified geographic region; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the damage sustained could disrupt 

4 the provision of financial services and the effi5 cient execution of financial transactions for a 

6 period longer than the period described in para7 graph (4)(A). 

8 ‘‘(4) GRACE PERIOD DESCRIBED.—For pur9 poses of paragraph (1), the grace period, with re10 spect to any consumer, means the longer of—

11 ‘‘(A) the 7-day period that begins on the 

12 effective date of the declaration, by the Presi13 dent, of the disaster area in which the con14 sumer resides; and 

15 ‘‘(B) the period, if any, prescribed by the 

16 Secretary of the Treasury under paragraph (3). 

17 ‘‘(5) DUE DATE.—The term ‘due date’ means 

18 the first date upon which a late fee or other penalty 

19 may be imposed on a consumer for a failure of the 

20 consumer to make a periodic payment that is due on 

21 a debt.’’. 

22 (c) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—Before the end of 

23 the 2-year period beginning on the date of the enactment 

24 of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit 

25 a report to the Congress containing—
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1 (1) a detailed description of the actions taken 

2 to implement the requirements of the amendments 

3 made by this Act and prevent evasions of such re4 quirements; 

5 (2) pertinent information on the impact of such 

6 requirements on the financial services; and 

7 (3) such recommendations for legislative or ad8 ministrative actions as the Secretary may determine 

9 to be appropriate.

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