31484 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

1 15 U.S.C. 1681–1681x. 

2Public Law 104–208, 110 Stat. 3009 (Sept. 20, 

1996). 

3Public Law 108–159, 117 Stat. 1952 (Dec. 4, 

2003). 

4Section 623 is codified at 15 U.S.C. 1681s–2. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency 

12 CFR Part 41 

[Docket ID OCC–2008–0023] 

RIN 1557–AC89 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

12 CFR Part 222 

[Docket No. R–1300] 

RIN 7100–AD18 

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE 

CORPORATION 

12 CFR Parts 334 

RIN 3064–AC99 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of Thrift Supervision 

12 CFR Part 571 

[Docket No. OTS–2008–0025] 

RIN 1550–AC01 

NATIONAL CREDIT UNION 

ADMINISTRATION 

12 CFR Part 717 

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

16 CFR Part 660 

RIN 3084–AA94 

Procedures To Enhance the Accuracy 

and Integrity of Information Furnished 

to Consumer Reporting Agencies 

Under Section 312 of the Fair and 

Accurate Credit Transactions Act 

AGENCIES: Office of the Comptroller of 

the Currency, Treasury (OCC); Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System (Board); Federal Deposit 

Insurance Corporation (FDIC); Office of 

Thrift Supervision, Treasury (OTS); 

National Credit Union Administration 

(NCUA); and Federal Trade Commission 

(FTC). 

ACTION: Final rules. 

SUMMARY: The OCC, Board, FDIC, OTS, 

NCUA, and FTC (Agencies) are 

publishing these final rules to 

implement the accuracy and integrity 

and direct dispute provisions in section 

312 of the Fair and Accurate Credit 

Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act) 

that amended section 623 of the Fair 

Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The final 

rules implement the requirement that 

the Agencies issue guidelines for use by 

furnishers regarding the accuracy and 

integrity of the information about 

consumers that they furnish to 

consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) and 

prescribe regulations requiring 

furnishers to establish reasonable 

policies and procedures for 

implementing the guidelines. These 

final rules also implement the 

requirement that the Agencies issue 

regulations identifying the 

circumstances under which a furnisher 

must reinvestigate disputes about the 

accuracy of information contained in a 

consumer report based on a direct 

request from a consumer. 

DATES: These rules are effective on July 

1, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

OCC: Stephen Van Meter, Assistant 

Director, Community and Consumer 

Law Division, (202) 874–5750; Patrick 

T. Tierney, Senior Attorney, Carl 

Kaminski, Senior Attorney, Legislative 

and Regulatory Activities Division, 

(202) 874–5090; or Malloy T. Harris, Jr., 

National Bank Examiner, Compliance 

Policy, (202) 874–4851, Office of the 

Comptroller of the Currency, 250 E 

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20219. 

Board: David A. Stein, Managing 

Counsel, Amy E. Burke, Senior 

Attorney, or Jelena McWilliams, 

Attorney, Division of Consumer and 

Community Affairs, (202) 452–3667 or 

(202) 452–2412; or Anne B. Zorc, 

Counsel, (202) 452–3876, or Kara L. 

Handzlik, Attorney, (202) 452–3852, 

Legal Division, Board of Governors of 

the Federal Reserve System, 20th and C 

Streets, NW., Washington, DC 20551. 

FDIC: Glenn S. Gimble, Senior Policy 

Analyst, (202) 898–6865, Division of 

Supervision and Consumer Protection; 

Richard M. Schwartz, Counsel, (202) 

898–7424, or Richard B. Foley, Counsel, 

(202) 898–3784, Legal Division; 550 

17th St., NW., Washington, DC 20429. 

OTS: April Breslaw, Director, 

Consumer Regulations, (202) 906–6989; 

Suzanne McQueen, Consumer 

Regulations Analyst, Compliance and 

Consumer Protection Division, (202) 

906–6459; or Richard Bennett, Senior 

Compliance Counsel, Regulations and 

Legislation Division, (202) 906–7409, at 

1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20552. 

NCUA: Linda Dent or Regina Metz, 

Attorneys, Office of General Counsel, 

phone (703) 518–6540 or fax (703) 518– 

6569, National Credit Union 

Administration, 1775 Duke Street, 

Alexandria, VA 22314. 

FTC: Clarke W. Brinckerhoff and 

Pavneet Singh, Attorneys, (202) 326– 

2252, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 

Federal Trade Commission, 600 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC 20580. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 

which was enacted in 1970, sets 

standards for the collection, 

communication, and use of information 

bearing on a consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living.1 In 1996, the Consumer Credit 

Reporting Reform Act extensively 

amended the FCRA.2 The FACT Act 3

further amended the FCRA for various 

purposes, including improved accuracy 

of consumer reports. 

Section 623 of the FCRA describes the 

responsibilities of persons that furnish 

information about consumers 

(furnishers) to CRAs.4 Section 312 of the 

FACT Act amended section 623 by 

requiring the Agencies to issue 

guidelines for use by furnishers 

regarding the accuracy and integrity of 

the information about consumers that 

they furnish to CRAs and to prescribe 

regulations requiring furnishers to 

establish reasonable policies and 

procedures for implementing the 

guidelines (the accuracy and integrity 

regulations and guidelines). Section 312 

also requires the Agencies to issue 

regulations identifying the 

circumstances under which a furnisher 

must reinvestigate disputes concerning 

the accuracy of information contained 

in a consumer report based on a direct 

request from a consumer (the direct 

dispute regulations). The Agencies are 

issuing these final accuracy and 

integrity regulations and guidelines and 

final direct dispute regulations to satisfy 

the requirements of section 312 of the 

FACT Act. 

The final rules include the accuracy 

and integrity regulations, which contain 

definitions of key terms such as 

‘‘accuracy,’’ ‘‘integrity,’’ ‘‘direct 

dispute,’’ and ‘‘furnisher’’ and require 

furnishers to establish and implement 

reasonable written policies and 

procedures regarding the accuracy and 

integrity of consumer information 

provided to a CRA. The final rules also 

include guidelines concerning the 

accuracy and integrity of information 

furnished to CRAs that furnishers must 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31485 

5 71 FR 14419 (March 22, 2006). 

6 72 FR 70944 (December 13, 2007). 

7 72 FR 70947–949 (December 13, 2007). 

consider in developing their policies 

and procedures. The Agencies believe 

that the final accuracy and integrity 

rules and guidelines strike an 

appropriate balance that affords 

furnishers the flexibility to establish 

policies and procedures that are 

appropriate to the nature, size, 

complexity, and scope of each 

furnisher’s activities while enhancing 

the accuracy and integrity of consumer 

information provided to CRAs. 

The final direct dispute regulations: 

Set forth the circumstances under which 

a furnisher must reinvestigate a 

consumer’s direct dispute; provide 

exceptions to the requirements imposed; 

detail the direct dispute address and 

dispute notice content requirements; 

specify furnishers’ duties after receiving 

a direct dispute; and establish when a 

furnisher may deem a direct dispute to 

be frivolous or irrelevant. The final 

direct dispute rule is designed to permit 

direct disputes in virtually all 

circumstances involving disputes about 

the accuracy of furnished information 

typically provided by a furnisher to a 

CRA. This approach enables consumers 

to submit a dispute directly to the 

furnisher (with certain exceptions) 

when the issue in dispute relates to 

information for which the furnisher is 

responsible. 

II. Statutory Requirements 

A. Accuracy and Integrity Regulations 

and Guidelines 

Section 623(e)(1)(A) of the FCRA 

requires the Agencies to establish and 

maintain guidelines for use by each 

furnisher ‘‘regarding the accuracy and 

integrity of the information relating to 

consumers’’ that the furnisher provides 

to CRAs. In developing the guidelines, 

section 623(e)(3) directs the Agencies to: 

• Identify patterns, practices, and 

specific forms of activity that can 

compromise the accuracy and integrity 

of information furnished to CRAs; 

• Review the methods (including 

technological means) used to furnish 

information relating to consumers to 

CRAs; 

• Determine whether furnishers 

maintain and enforce policies to assure 

the accuracy and integrity of 

information furnished to CRAs; and 

• Examine the policies and processes 

employed by furnishers to conduct 

reinvestigations and correct inaccurate 

information relating to consumers that 

has been furnished to CRAs. 

The Agencies also are required to 

update the guidelines as often as 

necessary. 

Section 623(e)(1)(B) of the FCRA 

requires the Agencies to prescribe 

regulations requiring furnishers to 

‘‘establish reasonable policies and 

procedures for implementing the 

guidelines’’ established pursuant to 

section 623(e)(1)(A). Section 623(e)(2) of 

the FCRA provides that the Agencies 

must consult and coordinate with one 

another so that, to the extent possible, 

the regulations prescribed by each 

Agency are consistent and comparable 

with the regulations prescribed by each 

other Agency. These consistent and 

comparable final rules are being issued 

following extensive consultation and 

coordination among the Agencies. 

B. Direct Disputes 

Section 623(a)(8) of the FCRA directs 

the Agencies jointly to prescribe 

regulations that identify the 

circumstances under which a furnisher 

is required to reinvestigate a dispute 

concerning the accuracy of information 

contained in a consumer report on the 

consumer, based on a direct request by 

the consumer. In prescribing the direct 

dispute regulations, section 623(a)(8) 

directs the Agencies to weigh the 

following specific factors: 

• The benefits to consumers and the 

costs to furnishers and the credit 

reporting system; 

• The impact on the overall accuracy 

and integrity of consumer reports of any 

direct dispute requirements; 

• Whether direct contact by the 

consumer with the furnisher would 

likely result in the most expeditious 

resolution of any dispute; and 

• The potential impact on the credit 

reporting process if credit repair 

organizations are able to circumvent the 

provisions in subparagraph G of section 

623(a)(8), which generally states that the 

direct dispute rules shall not apply 

when credit repair organizations 

provide notices of dispute on behalf of 

consumers. 

III. The Agencies’ Consideration of the 

Statutory Accuracy and Integrity 

Criteria and Direct Dispute Factors 

The Agencies published an advance 

notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) 

in the Federal Register in March 2006 5

in order to obtain information 

pertaining to the criteria that Congress 

directed the Agencies to consider in 

developing the accuracy and integrity 

guidelines and the factors that Congress 

directed the Agencies to weigh in 

prescribing the direct dispute 

regulations. The ANPR contained 

detailed requests for comment on ten 

issues related to the statutory criteria 

governing the development of the 

accuracy and integrity guidelines and 

on eight issues related to the statutory 

factors that the Agencies must weigh 

when promulgating the direct dispute 

regulations. The Agencies also 

specifically requested comment on how 

the issues presented by the ANPR might 

differ depending on the type of 

furnisher, the types of information 

furnished, the frequency with which a 

furnisher reports information about 

consumers to CRAs, or the type of CRA 

that receives the furnished information. 

The Agencies collectively received a 

total of 197 comment letters on the 

ANPR, including multiple copies of the 

same letter sent by commenters to more 

than one Agency. Commenters included 

depository institutions, other financial 

services companies, trade associations, 

consumer reporting and credit scoring 

companies, a mortgage company, 

consumer organizations, and individual 

consumers. 

IV. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

On December 13, 2007, the Agencies 

published a notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal 

Register containing proposed rules to 

implement section 312 of the FACT 

Act.6 The NPRM summarized key issues 

identified in the comment letters 

received on the ANPR concerning 

accuracy and integrity criteria and on 

the direct dispute factors.7 The proposal 

contained the section 312 statutory 

requirement that each furnisher must 

establish reasonable policies and 

procedures regarding the accuracy and 

integrity of the information about 

consumers that it furnishes to a CRA. 

The proposal stated that the policies 

and procedures must be written and be 

appropriate to the nature, size, 

complexity, and scope of the furnisher’s 

activities. The proposal provided that 

each furnisher would have to consider 

the accuracy and integrity guidelines in 

developing its policies and procedures 

and review its policies and procedures 

periodically and update them as 

necessary to ensure their continued 

effectiveness. 

The proposal included an appendix to 

each Agency’s regulations containing 

accuracy and integrity guidelines that: 

(1) Set forth the nature, scope, and 

objectives of a furnisher’s policies and 

procedures; (2) enumerated the accuracy 

and integrity duties of furnishers under 

the FCRA; (3) identified the steps that 

furnishers should take when 

establishing accuracy and integrity 

policies and procedures; and (4) 

detailed specific components that 

31486 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

8 In addition, the Agencies noted in the NPRM 

that the legislative history of the FACT Act does not 

resolve how the terms ‘‘accuracy’’ and ‘‘integrity’’ 

should be defined. See 72 FR 70949–950 (December 

13, 2007). 

9 Key components of the definition of ‘‘integrity’’ 

proposed under the Guidelines Definition 

Approach were incorporated into the Regulatory 

Definition Approach as objectives set forth in the 

proposed guidelines. 

10Section 312 uses the terms ‘‘reinvestigate’’ and 

‘‘investigate’’ interchangeably to apply to direct 

disputes. Compare 15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)(8)(A) with 

15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)(8)(E). The Agencies believe 

that, as applied to section 312, there is no difference 

in the meaning of these two terms, and, therefore, 

have used only the term ‘‘investigate’’ in the final 

regulations and guidelines for ease of 

comprehension, to provide clarity to consumers 

who file direct disputes, and to assist furnishers 

with the implementation of the regulations and 

guidelines. 

11The OCC, Board, FDIC, OTS, and NCUA are 

placing the final regulations and guidelines 

implementing section 312 in the part of their 

regulations that implements the FCRA—12 CFR 

parts 41, 222, 334, 571, and 717, respectively. For 

ease of reference, the discussion in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section uses the shared 

numerical suffix of each of these agency’s 

regulations. The FTC also is placing the final 

regulations and guidelines in the part of its 

regulations implementing the FCRA, specifically 16 

CFR part 660. However, the FTC uses different 

numerical suffixes that equate to the numerical 

suffixes discussed in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section as follows: Suffix .40 = FTC 

suffix .1, suffix .41 = FTC suffix .2, suffix .42 = FTC 

suffix .3, and suffix .43 = FTC suffix .4. In addition, 

Appendix E referenced in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section is the FTC’s Appendix A. 

should be addressed in a furnisher’s 

policies and procedures. 

The proposal included two 

approaches for defining the terms 

‘‘accuracy’’ and ‘‘integrity,’’ terms that 

are not defined by section 312: 8 A 

‘‘Regulatory Definition Approach’’ and a 

‘‘Guidelines Definition Approach.’’ The 

Regulatory Definition Approach 

included definitions for both terms in 

regulations. The Guidelines Definition 

Approach defined the terms in 

guidelines—rather than regulations— 

with reference to the objectives that a 

furnisher’s policies and procedures 

should be designed to accomplish. 

Both proposed approaches defined 

the term ‘‘accuracy’’ to mean that any 

information that a furnisher provides to 

a CRA about an account or other 

relationship with the consumer reflects 

without error the terms of and liability 

for the account or other relationship and 

the consumer’s performance and other 

conduct with respect to the account or 

other relationship. 

The proposed Regulatory Definition 

Approach provided that information 

furnished to a CRA could be technically 

‘‘accurate’’ yet lack ‘‘integrity’’ if it 

presented a misleading picture of the 

consumer’s creditworthiness by 

omitting critical information, such as a 

credit limit on a revolving credit 

account. In contrast, the proposed 

Guidelines Definition Approach 

provided that furnished information 

would have ‘‘integrity’’ if it: (1) Is 

reported in a form and manner that is 

designed to minimize the likelihood 

that the information, although accurate, 

may be erroneously reflected in a 

consumer report; and (2) is 

substantiated by the furnisher’s own 

records.9 The objectives included in the 

Agencies’ respective appendices also 

differed in a manner that reflected these 

alternative definitions. 

Both approaches proposed consistent 

definitions for other key terms such as 

‘‘furnisher’’ and ‘‘direct dispute.’’ 

Finally, the proposal included 

regulations that would implement 

section 623(a)(8) of the FCRA, which 

directs the Agencies jointly to prescribe 

regulations that identify the 

circumstances under which a furnisher 

is required to reinvestigate 10 a dispute 

concerning the accuracy of information 

about a consumer contained in a 

consumer report, based on a direct 

request by the consumer. The proposal 

specified the circumstances under 

which a furnisher must investigate a 

direct dispute; included certain 

exceptions; set forth requirements 

regarding a furnisher’s address for 

receiving direct dispute notices; 

specified the content requirements for 

direct dispute notices from consumers; 

and addressed frivolous and irrelevant 

disputes, which, pursuant to section 

623(a)(8)(F) of the FCRA, furnishers are 

not required to investigate. 

In addition, the NPRM requested 

specific comment on the following 

issues: The definitions of the terms 

‘‘accuracy’’ and ‘‘integrity’’ and their 

placement in either the regulatory text 

or guidelines; whether the proposed 

definition of ‘‘accuracy’’ should include 

updating information as necessary to 

ensure that the information furnished is 

current; whether the proposed 

definition of ‘‘accuracy’’ is appropriate 

to the direct dispute rule; whether the 

proposed direct dispute rules 

appropriately reflect the relevant 

statutory considerations or whether a 

more targeted approach would be more 

appropriate; whether to permit 

furnishers to provide oral notice for a 

direct dispute address; whether certain 

types of business addresses should be 

excluded from receiving direct dispute 

notices; what mechanisms should be 

required, if any, for informing 

consumers of their direct dispute rights; 

how the proposed direct dispute 

requirements would affect furnishers to 

smaller and specialty CRAs; and 

whether the guidelines should 

incorporate a specific record retention 

time period. 

A more detailed discussion of the 

provisions of the NPRM is contained in 

the Section-by-Section Analysis. 

V. Overview of the Comments Received 

in Response to the NPRM 

Each agency received the following 

number of comment letters: OCC—23, 

Board—25, FDIC—19, OTS—16, 

NCUA—17, and FTC—27. Many 

commenters sent copies of the same 

letter to more than one Agency. The 

Agencies received comments from a 

variety of banks, thrifts, credit unions, 

credit card companies, mortgage 

lenders, other non-bank creditors, and 

trade associations. The Agencies also 

received comments from consumer 

organizations and individual 

consumers. 

In general, consumer organizations 

supported the specificity of the 

Regulatory Definition Approach while 

industry commenters favored the 

flexibility provided by the Guidelines 

Definition Approach to permit a 

furnisher to adopt policies and 

procedures that are suitable to their 

specific circumstances. Consumer 

organization and industry commenters 

also differed in their opinions regarding 

the level of detail and applicability of 

the proposed guidelines. Consumer 

organizations generally supported more 

detailed guidelines that should apply to 

all furnishers while industry 

commenters generally supported less 

detailed guidelines that do not impose 

requirements on all furnishers. A 

number of industry commenters and 

most consumer organizations generally 

supported the proposed direct dispute 

regulations. 

The Agencies have carefully 

considered all comments received and 

have decided to modify the proposal 

and adopt the final rules and guidelines 

as described below in the Section-bySection Analysis. 

VI. Section-by-Section Analysis 11

The following describes the three 

parts of these final rulemaking actions: 

The accuracy and integrity regulations, 

the accuracy and integrity guidelines, 

and the direct dispute regulations. 

A. Accuracy and Integrity Regulations 

Section l.40 Scope 

Section l.40 of the proposal set forth 

the scope of each Agency’s regulations. 

Each of the Agencies has tailored this 

section to describe the entities to which 

its respective subpart applies and have 

adopted this section in the final rules 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31487 

without change. The Agencies did not 

receive comments on this section. 

Section l.41 Definitions 

Placement of Definitions 

As described in section IV of this 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, the 

Agencies proposed two alternative 

approaches in the NPRM for defining 

the terms ‘‘accuracy’’ and ‘‘integrity’’— 

a Regulatory Definition Approach and a 

Guidelines Definition Approach. 

Although the proposed definition of 

’’accuracy’’ was the same under both 

alternatives, the two approaches 

differed with respect to the substance of 

the definition of ‘‘integrity’’ and the 

placement of the definitions. The 

substantive aspects of each approach, 

and the significant comments the 

Agencies received on each, are 

described in the discussion of the 

definitions later in this section. This 

portion of the discussion addresses the 

placement of the definitions which, in 

the final rules, appear in the regulation 

text. 

Under the proposed Regulatory 

Definition Approach, the definitions for 

the terms ‘‘accuracy’’ and ‘‘integrity’’ 

appeared in the regulation text. In order 

to be accurate, furnished information 

would have to reflect without error the 

terms of and liability for the account or 

other relationship and the consumer’s 

performance and other conduct with 

respect to the account or other 

relationship. Furnished information 

would have ‘‘integrity’’ if it did not omit 

any term, such as a credit limit or 

opening date, of that account or other 

relationship, the absence of which could 

reasonably be expected to contribute to 

an incorrect evaluation by a user of a 

consumer report about a consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living. 

Under the proposed Guidelines 

Definition Approach, the Agencies 

identified four objectives pertaining to 

the ‘‘accuracy’’ and ‘‘integrity’’ of 

information furnished and placed these 

objectives in the guidelines, rather than 

the text of the regulation. Definitions for 

the terms ‘‘accuracy’’ and ‘‘integrity’’ 

were incorporated into the first two 

objectives. The guidelines would have 

defined ‘‘accuracy’’ in substantially the 

same manner as under the Regulatory 

Definition Approach; however, the 

definition of ‘‘integrity’’ was different 

from that in the Regulatory Definition 

Approach. Under the proposed 

Guidelines Definition Approach, 

furnished information would have 

‘‘integrity’’ if it: (1) Is reported in a form 

and manner that is designed to 

minimize the likelihood that the 

information, although accurate, may be 

erroneously reflected in a consumer 

report; and (2) is substantiated by the 

furnisher’s own records. 

Generally, consumer organizations 

supported the Regulatory Definition 

Approach because they believed that 

locating the definitions in the 

regulations, rather than the guidelines, 

would enhance the substantive 

requirements applicable to furnishers. 

They believed this, in turn, would result 

in more accurate consumer reports and 

improved assessments of consumers’ 

creditworthiness. One industry 

commenter also supported this 

approach, stating that it would ensure 

that important credit terms are provided 

by furnishers to CRAs and thus promote 

correct credit evaluations of consumers 

by users of consumer reports. 

On the other hand, industry 

commenters generally favored the 

Guidelines Definition Approach. These 

commenters preferred a less prescriptive 

approach enabling furnishers’ policies 

and procedures to reflect the nature, 

size, complexity, and scope of their 

respective business activities. 

The Agencies have decided to place 

the definitions of the terms ‘‘accuracy’’ 

(§l.41(a)) and ‘‘integrity’’ (§l.41(e)) in 

the text of the final regulations. This 

approach more clearly establishes that 

these definitions apply for purposes not 

only of the guidelines, but also to the 

requirement in the regulations that 

furnishers must establish and 

implement reasonable written policies 

and procedures regarding the 

‘‘accuracy’’ and ‘‘integrity’’ of furnished 

information. Furthermore, the Agencies 

note that section 623(a)(8) of the FCRA 

directs the Agencies jointly to prescribe 

regulations that identify the 

circumstances under which a furnisher 

is required to reinvestigate a dispute 

concerning the accuracy of information 

about the consumer contained in a 

consumer report, based on a direct 

request by the consumer. In light of 

section 623(a)(8), the Agencies have 

determined that the term accuracy 

should be defined in the text of the 

regulation. 

Some industry commenters expressed 

concern that placement of the 

definitions in the text of the regulations 

would increase the risk of litigation 

initiated by plaintiffs asserting that 

furnished information failed to meet the 

accuracy and integrity standards 

included in the proposal. To address 

these concerns, the Agencies have, as 

was proposed in the NPRM, limited the 

applicability of defined terms in §l.41, 

including ‘‘accuracy’’ and ‘‘integrity,’’ to 

each Agency’s regulations in subpart 

E—Duties of Furnishers of Information 

and the accompanying guidelines in 

Appendix E. The definitions do not 

impose stand-alone obligations on 

furnishers but guide and inform the 

duties otherwise imposed on furnishers 

under the regulations. The Agencies’ 

promulgation of the definitions of the 

terms ‘‘accuracy’’ and ‘‘integrity’’ in 

§l.41 of the final regulations does not 

mean that they intend to use the same 

definitions in any other context. The 

Agencies further note that section 623(c) 

of the FCRA limits private rights of 

action for a furnisher’s noncompliance 

with the rules issued pursuant to 

section 312 of the FACT Act, which 

include the definitions of ‘‘accuracy’’ 

and ‘‘integrity.’’ 

Accuracy 

Both the proposed Regulatory 

Definition Approach and the proposed 

Guidelines Definition Approach defined 

‘‘accuracy’’ to mean that any 

information that a furnisher provides to 

a CRA about an account or other 

relationship with the consumer reflects 

without error the terms of and liability 

for the account or other relationship and 

the consumer’s performance and other 

conduct with respect to the account or 

other relationship. 

In the final rules, the Agencies have 

revised the proposed definition of 

‘‘accuracy.’’ Under §l.41(a) of the final 

rules, ‘‘accuracy’’ means that 

information that a furnisher provides to 

a consumer reporting agency about an 

account or other relationship with the 

consumer correctly: 

• Reflects the terms of and liability 

for the account or other relationship; 

• Reflects the consumer’s 

performance and other conduct with 

respect to the account or other 

relationship; and 

• Identifies the appropriate 

consumer. 

This definition differs from the 

proposed definition in two ways. 

First, the phrase ‘‘without error’’ that 

was included in the proposal has been 

removed from the definition in the final 

rules. Industry commenters stated that, 

in general, the proposed definition of 

‘‘accuracy’’ would create an unrealistic 

standard and that the ‘‘without error’’ 

standard, in particular, was unworkable. 

These commenters stated that adopting 

such a standard would effectively 

require providing information to a CRA 

with perfect precision, which the 

commenters asserted is not feasible and 

could subject furnishers to criticism and 

potential litigation risks even for honest 

mistakes that are promptly corrected. 

31488 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

12See 72 FR 70949–50. 

13Compare 149 Cong. Rec. S13990 (Nov. 5, 2003) 

(bill as passed by the Senate) with 149 Cong. Rec. 

H12198 (Nov. 21, 2003) (bill as reported by the 

Conference Committee). 

14Section 603(e) (codified at 15 U.S.C. 1681a(e)) 

defines an ‘‘investigative consumer report’’ to mean 

a consumer report or portion thereof in which 

information on a consumer’s character, general 

reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of 

living is obtained through personal interviews with 

neighbors, friends, or associates of the consumer 

reported on or with others with whom the 

consumer is acquainted or who may have 

knowledge concerning any such items of 

information. However, this information does not 

include information on a consumer’s credit record 

obtained directly from a consumer’s creditor or 

from a CRA that obtained the information directly 

from a consumer’s creditor or the consumer. 

The Agencies agree that the ‘‘without 

error’’ standard could be read to imply 

an expectation that information be 

reported according to unreasonably high 

standards. Such an unrealistic and 

potentially burdensome standard could 

lead some furnishers to cease or limit 

their furnishing of information to CRAs 

or act as an obstacle to entities 

becoming furnishers. Accordingly, to 

address the concerns raised by the 

commenters, the standard has been 

modified to provide that accuracy 

means that information furnished 

‘‘correctly reflects’’ the terms of and 

liability for an account or other 

relationship and other relevant factors. 

This standard reflects the goal of 

providing information with a high 

degree of precision, but provides greater 

flexibility than the proposed standard 

and should mitigate unforeseen 

litigation risk. 

The second change from the proposed 

definition is the addition of a reference 

to the consumer’s identity in the 

definition of ‘‘accuracy.’’ In the final 

rules, ‘‘accuracy’’ means, among other 

things as noted above, that ‘‘information 

that a furnisher provides to a consumer 

reporting agency about an account or 

other relationship with the consumer 

correctly * * * identifies the 

appropriate consumer.’’ This change 

makes the regulatory text consistent 

with section I.(b)(1)(i) of the final 

guidelines’ objectives, which provides 

that ‘‘[a] furnisher’s policies and 

procedures should be reasonably 

designed to * * * furnish information 

about accounts or other relationships 

with a consumer that is accurate, such 

that the furnished information: (i) 

Identifies the appropriate consumer 

* * *.’’ The Agencies expect that the 

addition of this ‘‘consumer identity’’ 

element to the definition of ‘‘accuracy’’ 

will reinforce the objectives’ goal of 

decreasing the incidence of data 

matching or other errors in which 

information about one consumer is 

mistakenly linked to another 

consumer’s file maintained by the 

CRAs. 

Consumer and public interest 

organizations advocated that the 

definition of ‘‘accuracy’’ include the 

concepts of ‘‘completeness’’ and 

‘‘integrity.’’ These commenters noted 

that the direct dispute rules only require 

furnishers to investigate disputes 

regarding the accuracy—and not the 

integrity—of furnished information. 

Therefore, excluding the concepts of 

‘‘completeness’’ and ‘‘integrity’’ from 

the term ‘‘accuracy’’ would preclude 

consumers from directly disputing 

issues with a furnisher for lack of 

completeness and integrity. 

The Agencies believe that defining 

‘‘accuracy’’ without incorporating 

concepts of ‘‘completeness’’ and 

‘‘integrity’’ best comports with the text 

and structure of section 312 of the FACT 

Act and the FCRA.12 The text of section 

312 uses the terms ‘‘accuracy and 

integrity’’ as separate and distinct 

concepts. A similar observation applies 

with respect to the use of the term 

‘‘completeness’’ in other provisions of 

the FCRA. The legislative history does 

not compel a different conclusion. 

Earlier versions of the legislation that 

became the FACT Act required the 

Agencies to prescribe regulations and 

guidelines regarding the ‘‘accuracy and 

completeness’’ of information relating to 

consumers. That language was also 

contained in the bill passed by the 

Senate and referred to the Conference 

Committee. However, the bill reported 

by the Conference Committee and 

enacted into law replaced the term 

‘‘completeness’’ with ‘‘integrity.’’ 13

Two industry commenters stated that 

the final rules should not define 

‘‘accuracy’’ at all. One of these 

commenters noted that neither the 

FCRA nor the FACT Act defines 

‘‘accuracy,’’ and that Congress did not 

direct the Agencies to do so. This 

commenter recommended that, instead 

of defining those terms in this 

rulemaking action, the Agencies advise 

furnishers to look to case law for 

guidance on the meaning of the term 

‘‘accuracy.’’ 

The Agencies believe that a definition 

of ‘‘accuracy’’ is important to achieve 

the purposes of this rulemaking. As a 

threshold matter, no express statutory 

direction is needed to allow the 

Agencies to define terms important to 

the implementation of section 312 of the 

FACT Act. Moreover, defining the term 

‘‘accuracy’’ will assist furnishers in 

establishing the required reasonable 

policies and procedures while reducing 

uncertainty about their appropriate 

scope and content. In addition, the 

definition provides clear direction to 

consumers and furnishers regarding 

which issues can be disputed directly 

with a furnisher under §l.43 of the 

final rules. For these reasons the 

Agencies believe, and many 

commenters agreed, that the term 

‘‘accuracy’’ should be defined for the 

purposes of the rules and guidelines 

implementing section 312 of the FACT 

Act. Using this definition in §l.43 of 

the rules, however, does not cause it to 

apply for purposes of any other 

provision of the FCRA or other 

provisions of the Agencies’ rules. 

Consumer organizations and industry 

commenters raised other issues with the 

definition of ‘‘accuracy.’’ For example, 

one industry commenter expressed 

concern that the scope of the proposed 

definition of ‘‘accuracy’’ was too broad, 

and suggested that the Agencies limit 

the application of this definition to 

credit reports (and similar reports of 

financial transactions) so that it would 

not apply to descriptions of the 

characteristics of individuals or their 

employment histories. 

Neither the statutory language of 

section 312 of the FACT Act nor its 

legislative history supports limiting the 

scope of ‘‘accuracy’’ to credit reports 

(and similar reports of financial 

transactions) so that the definition 

would not apply to the descriptions of 

characteristics of individuals or their 

employment histories. However, to 

address the commenter’s concern that 

the proposed definition of ‘‘accuracy’’ 

was too broad and difficult to apply to 

an ‘‘investigative consumer report,’’ 14

the Agencies in §l.41(c)(4) have 

excluded from the definition of 

‘‘furnisher’’ certain individuals (e.g., a 

neighbor, friend, or associate who may 

have knowledge about the consumer) 

who may provide information to a CRA 

in this context. The Agencies also note 

that, under §l.43(b)(1)(ii), the direct 

dispute rules do not apply to a furnisher 

if the dispute relates to the identity of 

past or present employers. 

In both proposed approaches, the 

Agencies included a guideline 

providing that furnishers should update 

information provided to CRAs as 

necessary to reflect the current status of 

the consumer’s account or other 

relationship. In connection with the 

proposed definition of ‘‘accuracy,’’ the 

Agencies asked for comment on whether 

the definition of ‘‘accuracy’’ should 

specifically provide that, in order to be 

‘‘accurate,’’ furnished information must 

be updated as necessary to ensure that 

it is current. 

Most industry commenters opposed 

including any updating standards in the 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31489 

definition of ‘‘accuracy.’’ They generally 

stated that if the final rules require 

updating, they should specify that 

updating should be consistent with 

standard business practices: That is, a 

furnisher should only be required to 

update information with its regular 

submission of data to a CRA. Several 

industry commenters expressed concern 

that the updating standard described in 

the Agencies’ request for comment 

could be read to include a requirement 

to provide daily updates. These 

commenters stated that it would be 

impossible for some furnishers to do 

this and unnecessarily costly and 

burdensome for others. One industry 

commenter suggested that furnishers 

should be expected to ‘‘periodically 

update’’ the information, rather than to 

update information as necessary to 

ensure that the information is current. 

Three commenters stated that the 

definition of ‘‘accuracy’’ should not 

include an updating requirement at all 

because it is implicit in the concept of 

‘‘accuracy.’’ Two of these commenters 

noted that an updating requirement 

already is encompassed within the 

FCRA and elsewhere in the guidelines. 

Consumer organizations stated that 

the definition of ‘‘accuracy’’ should 

require that information is updated so 

that it is, and remains, current. 

The Agencies recognize that the 

nature, size, complexity, and scope of a 

furnisher’s activities affect the type of 

information it voluntarily provides to a 

CRA, as well as the frequency with 

which it updates the information. Given 

the voluntary nature of the reporting 

system, the diversity of furnishers, the 

differences in the types of information 

furnishers report to CRAs, and the 

disparities in the frequencies with 

which furnishers voluntarily update 

information, the Agencies believe it is 

more appropriate to follow a less 

prescriptive approach and address 

issues related to updating in the 

guidelines, rather than in the text of the 

regulations as an element of ‘‘accuracy.’’ 

At the same time, the Agencies believe 

that the overall accuracy of information 

is improved when, for information that 

a furnisher elects to provide to a CRA, 

it is updated to reflect the current status 

of an account or relationship. Therefore, 

section I.(b)(4) of the final guidelines 

states that a furnisher’s policies and 

procedures ‘‘should be reasonably 

designed * * * to update the 

information it furnishes as necessary to 

reflect the current status of the 

consumer’s account or other 

relationship, including * * * any 

transfer of an account * * * and * * * 

any cure of the consumer’s failure to 

abide by the terms of the account or 

other relationship.’’ 

Integrity 

The proposed Regulatory Definition 

Approach provided that information 

furnished to a CRA may be technically 

‘‘accurate’’ yet lack ‘‘integrity’’ because 

it presents a misleading picture of the 

consumer’s creditworthiness by 

omitting critical information, such as a 

credit limit on a revolving credit 

account. The proposed Regulatory 

Definition Approach defined the term 

‘‘integrity’’ to mean that any information 

that a furnisher provides to a CRA about 

an account or other relationship with 

the consumer does not omit any term, 

such as a credit limit or opening date, 

of that account or other relationship, the 

absence of which can reasonably be 

expected to contribute to an incorrect 

evaluation by a user of a consumer 

report about a consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living. 

Under the proposed Guidelines 

Definition Approach, the definition of 

‘‘integrity’’ did not address the omission 

of any term the absence of which could 

contribute to an incorrect evaluation of 

a consumer’s creditworthiness by a user 

of a credit report. Instead, the proposed 

definition of ‘‘integrity’’ addressed two 

specific issues pertaining to furnished 

information. The proposed Guidelines 

Definition Approach defined ‘‘integrity’’ 

to mean that any information that a 

furnisher provides to a CRA about an 

account or other relationship with the 

consumer: (1) Is reported in a form and 

manner that is designed to minimize the 

likelihood that the information, 

although accurate, may be erroneously 

reflected in a consumer report (form and 

manner provision); and (2) should be 

substantiated by the furnisher’s own 

records (substantiation provision). The 

form and manner provision included 

the following three examples of 

methods furnishers could use to comply 

with that provision: Reporting the 

furnished information with appropriate 

identifying information about the 

consumer; reporting the information in 

a ‘‘standardized and clearly 

understandable form and manner;’’ and 

including in the information a date 

specifying the time period to which it 

pertained. Thus, in addition to being 

placed in a different location, the 

guidelines definition was substantively 

different from that proposed in the 

Regulatory Definition Approach. 

The final rules place the definition of 

‘‘integrity’’ in the text of the regulations, 

at § l.41(e), and define ‘‘integrity’’ to 

mean that information that a furnisher 

provides to a CRA about an account or 

other relationship with the consumer: 

• Is substantiated by the furnisher’s 

records at the time it is furnished; 

• Is furnished in a form and manner 

that is designed to minimize the 

likelihood that the information may be 

incorrectly reflected in a consumer 

report; and 

• Includes the information in the 

furnisher’s possession about the account 

or other relationship that the relevant 

Agency has: 

—Determined that the absence of which 

would likely be materially misleading 

in evaluating a consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, 

credit capacity, character, general 

reputation, personal characteristics, or 

mode of living; and 

—Listed in section I.(b)(2)(iii) of the 

guidelines. Section I.(b)(2)(iii) 

provides one item on this list: The 

credit limit, if applicable and in the 

furnisher’s possession. 

Most industry commenters 

recommended that the Agencies adopt 

the definition of ‘‘integrity’’ in the 

Guidelines Definition Approach. Many 

of these commenters objected to the 

content of the definition proposed in the 

Regulatory Definition Approach. They 

said that the definition would create 

substantial uncertainty about what 

information must be furnished because 

furnishers may not know or be able to 

ascertain how other entities use credit 

report data. Some of these commenters 

said that the Regulatory Definition 

Approach, in effect, would impose on 

furnishers a burdensome ‘‘full-file’’ 

reporting requirement in order to satisfy 

the integrity standard. These 

commenters indicated that, because 

users of consumer reports are diverse 

and may evaluate consumer reports 

differently, defining the parameters of 

the information that must be furnished 

by reference to how third-party users of 

a consumer report might evaluate a 

consumer’s creditworthiness is an 

unworkable, unclear, and burdensome 

standard that would discourage 

voluntary reporting under the FCRA. 

These commenters noted, among other 

things, that most credit scoring models 

are confidential, and that the wide 

variety of users of consumer reports 

exacerbates the difficulty of knowing 

what information users will consider 

material. One industry commenter 

suggested that if the Agencies choose to 

adopt the Regulatory Definition 

Approach, they should itemize the 

specific credit terms they believe must 

be reported to achieve ‘‘integrity.’’ 

Several industry commenters also 

31490 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

15As discussed above, however, some of these 

commenters stated that the concept of ‘‘integrity’’ 

should be included in the definition of ‘‘accuracy.’’ 

16See Robert B. Avery, Paul S. Calem, Glenn B. 

Canner, Credit Report Accuracy and Access to 

Credit; Federal Reserve Bulletin, Summer 2004, p. 

306. 

asserted that the Regulatory Definition 

Approach conflicted with the legislative 

history of section 312 of the FACT Act 

because it equated ‘‘integrity’’ with 

‘‘completeness.’’ 

Consumer organizations generally 

supported the proposed Regulatory 

Definition Approach. As a general 

matter, consumer organizations believed 

that this approach essentially equated 

‘‘integrity’’ with ‘‘completeness’’ and 

would enhance the requirements 

applicable to furnishers, the 

effectiveness of the credit reporting 

system, and assessments of consumers’ 

creditworthiness.15

Substantively, the final rules 

incorporate, in revised form, the 

elements of the definition of ‘‘integrity’’ 

that were included in both the proposed 

Regulatory Definition Approach and 

Guidelines Definition Approach. First, 

the definition of ‘‘integrity’’ in the final 

rules includes a substantiation 

provision. Some commenters requested 

that the regulations include a 

substantiation requirement, and the 

Agencies agree that the ‘‘integrity’’ of 

furnished information depends, in part, 

on its consistency with the furnisher’s 

own records. A timing component has 

been added to the provision in the final 

rules requiring furnished information to 

be substantiated by the furnisher’s 

records at the time it is furnished so that 

the information provided to a CRA 

reflects, and is supported by, the 

furnisher’s records at that time. 

Second, the Agencies are adopting the 

form and manner provision as part of 

the definition of ‘‘integrity’’ to address 

omissions and data transmission and 

similar errors that may lead to 

information being incorrectly reflected 

on a credit report. This provision 

contemplates, for example, that 

information will be furnished in a form 

and manner that would permit a CRA to 

accept data regarding a consumer and 

link it appropriately to the consumer. 

Two industry commenters expressed 

concern about the phrase ‘‘standardized 

and clearly understandable form,’’ as 

used in the examples provided in 

connection with the guidelines’ 

definition. These commenters stated 

that the Agencies should recognize that 

not every furnisher provides 

information in the same manner or 

format. One of these commenters 

suggested the phrase instead be revised 

to encourage furnishers to achieve 

standardization to the extent reasonably 

possible. The Agencies have not 

included the phrase ‘‘standardized and 

clearly understandable form’’ in the 

definition of ‘‘integrity’’ but have 

included it in the objectives at section 

I.(b)(2)(ii)(B) of the guidelines. 

Finally, the Agencies have modified 

the definition of ‘‘integrity’’ that was 

proposed under the Regulatory 

Definition Approach while retaining the 

key concept that the omission of certain 

information affects the integrity of that 

information. In light of the range and 

diversity of users of consumer reports, 

the information that such users may 

find relevant and material, and the use 

of various proprietary credit scoring 

models and underwriting 

methodologies, it could be difficult or 

impossible for furnishers to predict 

what information third parties would 

find relevant or material to make credit 

or other determinations based on 

consumer reports. Given these 

impediments, the Agencies conclude 

that the proposed regulatory definition 

of ‘‘integrity’’ would have created an 

unworkable standard because furnishers 

cannot be expected to identify all types 

of information that, if omitted, could 

reasonably be expected to contribute to 

an incorrect evaluation of a consumer’s 

creditworthiness by a user of a 

consumer report. Accordingly, the 

Agencies have determined to retain the 

‘‘material omission’’ concept that 

informed the Regulatory Definition 

Approach in a manner that does not 

place the burden of making that 

determination on furnishers. 

Under the final rules, in order to 

satisfy the definition of ‘‘integrity,’’ 

furnished information must include 

items in the furnisher’s possession 

about the account or other relationship 

only if the relevant Agency has 

determined that its absence would 

likely be materially misleading in 

evaluating a consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living; and has listed that item of 

information in the Agency’s guidelines. 

Thus, each Agency, in consultation and 

coordination with the other Agencies, 

will determine, and list in its 

guidelines, the types of information in 

a furnisher’s possession about a 

consumer’s account or other 

relationship that the furnisher will be 

expected to provide to promote the 

integrity of the information. This list 

will be based on the Agency’s 

determination that the absence of the 

information would likely be materially 

misleading in evaluating a consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living. 

Consistent with this approach, the 

Agencies have listed in the guidelines 

the consumer’s credit limit, if applicable 

and in the furnisher’s possession. A 

consumer’s credit limit was one of the 

items used in the proposed regulatory 

text to illustrate the type of information 

covered by the standard contained in 

the definition of ‘‘integrity’’ as 

proposed. 

As the Agencies noted in the NPRM, 

one key factor for evaluating the 

creditworthiness of an individual is 

credit utilization. If a creditor fails to 

furnish a credit limit for an account, 

credit evaluators must either ignore 

credit utilization data in the evaluation 

model or use a substitute measure for 

the credit limit, such as the highest 

balance (the largest amount ever owed 

on the account). Substituting the highest 

balance level for the credit limit 

generally results in a higher estimate of 

credit utilization because the highestbalance amount is typically lower than 

the credit limit. A higher credit 

utilization estimate generally leads, in 

turn, to a higher perceived level of 

credit risk for some consumers.16

Therefore, the revised ‘‘integrity’’ 

provision requires that furnishers 

provide a credit limit to a CRA, if 

applicable and in the furnisher’s 

possession, in order for the furnished 

information to have ‘‘integrity.’’ The 

qualifying phrase reflects the Agencies’ 

recognition that some credit products 

may not have a credit limit, in which 

case it is appropriate for the furnisher 

not to provide credit limit information 

because a credit limit would not be 

‘‘applicable.’’ However, if the furnisher 

subsequently establishes a credit limit 

for the consumer’s account or other 

relationship, then the furnisher is 

expected to provide the information 

with its next regular data transmission 

to a CRA. Likewise, if a furnisher 

changes a credit limit for the consumer’s 

account, then the furnisher also is 

expected to furnish that change with its 

next regular data transmission to a CRA. 

Additionally, a furnisher may have 

acquired a consumer account or 

relationship through a sale or transfer, 

and the credit limit data may not have 

been provided to the acquiring 

furnisher. In those instances, a furnisher 

also would not be expected to provide 

credit limit information since it is not in 

its possession. Consistent with the 

FCRA, under which the furnishing of 

information about consumers is 

voluntary, the definition of ‘‘integrity’’ 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31491 

17Furnishers that provide information about 

consumers to CRAs related to mortgage loans also 

may be subject to requirements imposed by Freddie 

Mac, Fannie Mae, and the Federal Housing 

Administration. See Fannie Mae Servicing Guide, 

Part I, section 304.09 and Part VII, section 107, 

Freddie Mac Service Guide, section 55.4: Reports to 

credit repositories; and the Federal Housing 

Administration Servicing Handbook, section 

4330.1(c) (Rev-5) (incorporating by reference the 

Fannie Mae Servicing Guide). Further, the 

Department of Housing and Urban Development has 

defined ‘‘Mortgages contrary to good lending 

practices’’ to include a mortgage or a group or 

category of mortgages entered into by a lender and 

purchased by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac where it 

can be shown that a lender engaged in a practice 

of failing to report monthly on borrowers’ 

repayment history to credit repositories on the 

status of each loan purchased by Fannie Mae or 

Freddie Mac that a lender is servicing. 24 CFR 

81.2(b). 

18While the final definition of direct dispute 

pertains to information about an account or other 

relationship that the furnisher has or had with the 

consumer rather than whether the furnisher 

provided the information, in response to these 

comments, the Agencies also have added an 

exception to the circumstances under which a 

furnisher must investigate a direct dispute. Section 

l.43(b)(1)(vi) of the final rule states that the 

investigation requirements do not apply to a 

furnisher if the dispute relates to information 

provided to a CRA by another furnisher. 19Under section 609(a) of the FCRA, CRAs are 

required to provide certain information to 

consumers upon request. CRAs generally provide 

such disclosures in a different format than a 

consumer report they provide to a third party, and 

refer to them as ‘‘file disclosures,’’ rather than 

consumer reports. 

applies only to information that the 

furnisher elects to provide to a CRA. 

Furnishers should note that they may be 

subject to separate obligations to furnish 

all available information about an 

account or other relationship.17

The proposed definition of ‘‘integrity’’ 

that was included in the Regulatory 

Definition Approach also included the 

opening date of an account or other 

relationship as an example of a type of 

data that, if omitted, reasonably could 

be expected to contribute to an incorrect 

evaluation by a user of a consumer 

report of a consumer’s creditworthiness. 

The Agencies do not have sufficient 

information to determine whether, and 

under what circumstances, the omission 

of an account opening date undermines 

the ‘‘integrity’’ of furnished information. 

Therefore, the Agencies have not 

incorporated any reference to account 

opening dates into the definition of 

‘‘integrity’’ in the final rules and have 

not listed it in section I.(b)(2)(iii) of the 

guidelines. However, the Agencies are 

publishing an advance notice of 

proposed rulemaking in this same issue 

of the Federal Register for the purpose 

of obtaining information that would 

assist the Agencies in determining 

whether, and under what 

circumstances, it would be appropriate 

to propose any additions to the 

guidelines, including whether and 

under what circumstances the Agencies 

should include an account opening date 

as an item furnishers would be expected 

to provide to a CRA to promote the 

integrity of the information. 

Direct Dispute 

Proposed §l.41(e) defined ‘‘direct 

dispute’’ to mean a dispute submitted 

directly to a furnisher by a consumer 

concerning the accuracy of any 

information contained in a consumer 

report relating to the consumer. 

The Agencies have revised the 

definition of ‘‘direct dispute’’ to mean a 

dispute submitted directly to a furnisher 

(including a furnisher that is a debt 

collector) by a consumer concerning the 

accuracy of any information contained 

in a consumer report and pertaining to 

an account or other relationship that the 

furnisher has or had with the consumer. 

The definition in the final rules 

includes a parenthetical clause that 

clarifies that a ‘‘furnisher’’ also includes 

a debt collector that provides 

information to a CRA. This clarifying 

language has been added in response to 

a number of commenters that stated 

information furnished by a collection 

agency, which may be collecting a debt 

on behalf of another furnisher, should 

be covered by the direct dispute 

regulation. 

Section 623(a)(8)(A) of the FCRA 

requires the Agencies to jointly 

prescribe regulations that identify the 

circumstances under which a furnisher 

shall be required to investigate a direct 

dispute. This is accomplished in part 

through the definition of ‘‘direct 

dispute.’’ Under the final rules, a direct 

dispute includes only a dispute 

concerning the accuracy of information 

contained in a consumer report that 

pertains to an account or other 

relationship that the furnisher has or 

had with the consumer. This revision 

addresses comments made by several 

industry commenters that expressed 

concern that the scope of the proposed 

direct dispute definition was too broad. 

They suggested limiting the definition 

of ‘‘direct dispute’’ to include only those 

disputes about information in a 

consumer report that relate to 

information provided by the furnisher, 

rather than disputes about any 

information contained in the report.18

The Agencies note that the phrase 

‘‘consumer report,’’ as used in the 

definition of ‘‘direct dispute,’’ includes 

a ‘‘file disclosure’’ from a CRA toa 

consumer.19

Furnisher 

Proposed §l.41(c) defined the term 

‘‘furnisher’’ to mean an entity other than 

an individual consumer that furnishes 

information relating to consumers to 

one or more CRAs. The proposed 

definition of ‘‘furnisher’’ excluded 

entities that provide information to a 

CRA solely to obtain a consumer report 

under sections 604(a) and (f) of the 

FCRA, which, respectively, enumerate 

the circumstances under which a CRA 

may provide a consumer report and 

prohibit persons from obtaining or using 

consumer reports for impermissible 

purposes. 

The final regulations at §l.41(c) 

define ‘‘furnisher’’ to mean an entity 

that furnishes information relating to 

consumers to one or more CRAs for 

inclusion in a consumer report. The 

definition also provides that an entity is 

not a furnisher when it: 

• Provides information to a CRA 

solely to obtain a consumer report in 

accordance with sections 604(a) and (f) 

of the FCRA; 

• Is acting as a CRA as defined in 

section 603(f) of the FCRA; 

• Is a consumer to whom the 

furnished information pertains; or 

• Is a neighbor, friend, or associate of 

the consumer, or another individual 

with whom the consumer is acquainted 

or who may have knowledge about the 

consumer, and who provides 

information about the consumer’s 

character, general reputation, personal 

characteristics, or mode of living in 

response to a specific request from a 

CRA. 

The final rules continue to exclude 

from the definition of ‘‘furnisher’’ 

entities that provide information to a 

CRA solely to obtain a consumer report 

in accordance with sections 604(a) and 

(f) of the FCRA. As discussed in the 

NPRM, users of consumer reports may 

provide information about consumers to 

CRAs to obtain such reports, but not for 

the purpose of having that information 

included in consumer reports. For this 

reason, although the user’s request for 

the report may be reflected in the 

consumer report as an inquiry, 

furnishing information related to such 

an inquiry is not subject to the final 

regulations and guidelines. The final 

rules revise the wording of the 

definition to make clear that an entity is 

a ‘‘furnisher’’ only when it furnishes 

information for purposes of inclusion in 

a consumer report. The final rules are 

intended to avoid discouraging entities 

that use consumer reports from 

obtaining or using consumer reports for 

permissible purposes. 

The Agencies also have added three 

other exclusions from the definition of 

‘‘furnisher’’ in response to comments 

indicating that the proposed definition 

was too broad. For example, one 

31492 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

20Section 111 of the FACT Act provides for a 

definition of the term ‘‘identity theft,’’ and 

authorizes the FTC to refine that definition. See 

section 603(q)(3) of the FCRA; 15 U.S.C. 

1681a(q)(3). 

21See 16 CFR 603.2(b) for the FTC’s definition of 

‘‘identifying information.’’ The FTC’s definition of 

‘‘identifying information’’ includes any name or 

number that may be used, alone or in conjunction 

with any other information, to identify a specific 

person, including any: Name, social security 

number, date of birth, official State or government 

issued driver’s license or identification number, 

alien registration number, government passport 

number, employer or taxpayer identification 

number; unique biometric data, such as fingerprint, 

voice print, retina or iris image, or other unique 

physical representation; unique electronic 

identification number, address, or routing code; or 

telecommunication identifying information or 

access device (as defined in 18 U.S.C. 1029(e)). 

industry commenter urged the Agencies 

to exempt resellers of consumer report 

information because those entities 

already are subject to dispute 

requirements under section 611(f) of the 

FCRA. The final rules include an 

exemption for entities acting in the 

capacity of a ‘‘consumer reporting 

agency’’ as defined in section 603(f) of 

the FCRA. This exemption covers 

‘‘resellers’’ acting in that capacity 

because, under section 603(u) of the 

FCRA, resellers are a type of CRA. 

In addition, the Agencies note that 

increasing numbers of consumers are 

self-reporting certain types of 

information, such as rent or utility 

payments, to alternative consumer 

reporting agencies. To address this 

development and encourage consumers 

to provide information to CRAs, the 

final rules explicitly exempt from the 

‘‘furnisher’’ definition in §l.41(c)(3) a 

consumer who provides to a CRA 

information pertaining to himself or 

herself. 

Finally, the Agencies have added an 

exception that excludes from the 

definition of ‘‘furnisher’’ a neighbor, 

friend, or associate of a consumer, or 

another individual with whom the 

consumer is acquainted or who may 

have knowledge about the consumer, 

and who provides information about the 

consumer’s character, general 

reputation, personal characteristics, or 

mode of living in response to a specific 

request from a CRA (excepted persons). 

This new exception parallels the types 

of information that are collected in 

connection with an ‘‘investigative 

consumer report’’ as described in 

section 603(e) of the FCRA. The 

Agencies believe that this exception is 

necessary to avoid disrupting the 

information collection processes that 

have been established for creating 

investigative consumer reports. These 

excepted persons play a crucial role by 

providing information used in 

connection with matters such as 

insurance applications and 

employment-related background checks. 

Identity Theft 

The Agencies proposed to define 

‘‘identity theft’’ as having the same 

meaning as in the FTC’s regulations at 

16 CFR 603.2(a). Section 603.2(a), which 

was adopted pursuant to section 111 of 

the FACT Act,20 defines the term 

‘‘identity theft’’ to mean ‘‘a fraud 

committed or attempted using the 

identifying information of another 

person without authority.’’ 21 This 

definition also is used in the 

interagency regulations implementing 

section 114 of the FACT Act, relating to 

identity theft prevention, detection, and 

mitigation programs. The Agencies 

received no comments on the definition 

of ‘‘identity theft’’ and adopt the 

definition without change in the final 

rules. 

Section l.42 Reasonable policies and 

procedures concerning the accuracy and 

integrity of furnished information 

Policies and Procedures 

Proposed §l.42(a) stated that each 

furnisher must establish and implement 

reasonable written policies and 

procedures regarding the accuracy and 

integrity of the information about 

consumers that it furnishes to a CRA. 

The proposal provided that the policies 

and procedures must be appropriate to 

the nature, size, complexity, and scope 

of the furnisher’s activities. The final 

rules retain this provision without 

change. 

Most industry commenters supported 

the Agencies’ proposal to permit each 

furnisher the flexibility to adopt policies 

and procedures suited to their 

individual circumstances, but several 

industry commenters opposed the 

requirement that furnishers establish 

‘‘written’’ policies and procedures. One 

industry commenter stated that not all 

community banks have written policies 

and procedures for reporting customer 

data. Three industry commenters 

suggested that some furnishers should 

be allowed to meet the ‘‘writing’’ 

requirement by simply acknowledging, 

where applicable, that the furnisher is 

reporting data in the Metro 2 format, the 

consumer data reporting industry’s 

standard electronic format for 

submitting information to CRAs. One 

industry commenter stated that 

requiring written policies and 

procedures was reasonable and would 

not be unduly burdensome. Consumer 

organizations strongly supported the 

proposed requirement that policies and 

procedures be ‘‘written.’’ 

The final rules retain the requirement 

that furnishers’ policies and procedures 

be written because the Agencies have 

concluded that it is necessary both to 

ensure effective implementation of the 

final rules and to enable the Agencies to 

assess furnishers’ compliance with the 

rules. The Agencies do not expect that 

the requirement for written policies and 

procedures will be unduly burdensome, 

especially since, under the guidelines, a 

furnisher may incorporate any of its 

existing policies and procedures that are 

relevant and appropriate. In response to 

commenters’ suggestions that a 

particular approach to the policies and 

procedures be deemed sufficient, the 

Agencies note that whether any 

particular set of policies and procedures 

are adequate to satisfy the rule, 

including the extent to which any 

particular guideline should be reflected 

in such policies and procedures, 

depends upon the nature, size, 

complexity, and scope of the furnisher’s 

activities. 

Guidelines 

Proposed §l.42(b) stated that each 

furnisher must consider the accuracy 

and integrity guidelines in developing 

its policies and procedures and 

incorporate those guidelines that are 

appropriate. Section .l42(b) is adopted 

without change in the final rules. The 

Agencies note that furnishers should 

consider the guidelines in the context of 

the nature, size, complexity, and scope 

of their activities and incorporate the 

guidelines that are appropriate to 

promote the accuracy and integrity of 

the information about consumers that 

they provide to CRAs. 

A number of consumer organizations 

stated that furnishers should be required 

to implement all of the guidelines. As 

discussed in the NPRM, the Agencies 

recognize that there is substantial 

diversity among furnishers with respect 

to their structure, operations, and the 

types of business they conduct. The 

Agencies believe that a ‘‘one-size-fitsall’’ approach that requires all 

furnishers to implement all of the 

guidelines would not appropriately 

reflect these differences. For that reason, 

the final rules include, at §l.42(a), a 

requirement that a furnisher’s policies 

and procedures must be appropriate to 

the nature, size, complexity, and scope 

of the furnisher’s activities, which 

permits furnishers to tailor their policies 

and procedures to their business 

activities. The Agencies expect, for 

example, that the written policies and 

procedures for a small retail entity will 

differ substantially from, and be 

significantly less complex than, those of 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31493 

a multi-billion dollar financial services 

company. 

Reviewing and Updating Policies and 

Procedures 

Proposed §l.42(c) stated that each 

furnisher must review its policies and 

procedures periodically and update 

them as necessary to ensure their 

continued effectiveness. Section l.42(c) 

is adopted without change in the final 

rules. 

Industry commenters expressed 

concern with the potential burden that 

could be imposed by the requirement to 

review policies and procedures 

periodically. One industry commenter 

recommended that annual reviews of 

policies and procedures be described as 

a best practice, rather than a 

requirement in the regulation. On the 

other hand, consumer organizations 

stated that the regulations should 

require all furnishers regularly to review 

and update their policies and 

procedures. These commenters added 

that the Agencies should require large 

furnishers to conduct annual audits, 

furnish information in the standard 

reporting format, and update their 

technology on a regular basis. 

The Agencies have concluded that the 

requirement for a furnisher to review 

policies and procedures periodically 

and to update them as necessary is 

essential to ensure their continued 

effectiveness. Section l.42(c) does not 

impose an audit requirement on a 

furnisher to conduct an official 

examination and verification of 

consumer accounts and records 

regarding its policies and procedures. 

However, the Agencies do expect a 

furnisher to be able to demonstrate to its 

regulator that it has established and 

implemented policies and procedures 

consistent with the final rules. The 

Agencies also expect that a furnisher 

would engage in a periodic review of its 

policies and procedures when there is a 

significant substantive change in its 

business plan or furnishing activities, or 

when it has identified significant 

deficiencies in the accuracy or integrity 

of the information it has provided to 

CRAs. A furnisher also may choose to 

review its policies and procedures 

periodically when it engages in a 

general review of FCRA compliance or 

general compliance with consumer 

protection laws and regulations. 

B. Accuracy and Integrity Guidelines 

The proposed accuracy and integrity 

guidelines appeared in the appendix to 

the appropriate part of each Agency’s 

proposed regulations. In the 

introductory language to the proposed 

guidelines, the Agencies encouraged 

voluntary furnishing of information 

about consumers to CRAs, reflecting the 

recognition that the voluntary system of 

consumer reporting produces 

substantial benefits for consumers, users 

of consumer reports, and the economy 

as a whole. The introduction also 

reminded furnishers that §l.42 of the 

proposed regulations would require 

each furnisher (1) to establish and 

implement reasonable written policies 

and procedures concerning the accuracy 

and integrity of the information about 

consumers that it furnishes to CRAs and 

(2) to consider the guidelines in 

developing those policies and 

procedures. 

The introduction to the guidelines is 

adopted in the final rules substantially 

as proposed, with the addition of a 

sentence that reminds furnishers that 

§l.42 also requires each furnisher to 

review its policies and procedures 

periodically and update them as 

necessary to ensure their continued 

effectiveness. 

Several industry commenters objected 

to the use of the term ‘‘ensure’’ in the 

guidelines. These commenters asserted 

that, instead of expecting furnishers to 

‘‘ensure’’ that reporting is free from 

errors or other defects, it would be more 

appropriate for the Agencies to 

promulgate regulations that require 

furnishers to have policies and 

procedures reasonably designed to 

maximize the accuracy of information 

furnished. The commenters argued that 

it would be sufficient that a furnisher’s 

policies and procedures be reasonably 

designed to accomplish the objectives 

listed. In response to these comments, 

the Agencies have removed the 

‘‘ensuring’’ language and substituted 

language indicating that furnishers 

should reasonably design their policies 

and procedures to achieve specified 

objectives. 

Section I—Nature, Scope, and 

Objectives of Policies and Procedures 

Nature and Scope 

The proposed Nature and Scope 

section noted that §l.42(a) of the 

proposed rule requires that a furnisher’s 

policies and procedures must be 

appropriate to the nature, size, 

complexity, and scope of the furnisher’s 

activities. In the final guidelines, this 

provision is retained without change. 

Additionally, the proposed nature and 

scope section provided three examples 

of what a furnisher’s policies and 

procedures should reflect: The types of 

business activities in which the 

furnisher engages; the nature and 

frequency of the information the 

furnisher provides to CRAs; and the 

technology used by the furnisher to 

furnish information to CRAs. This 

language has been revised in the final 

guidelines to make clear that while the 

examples of the nature and scope 

provisions are not mandatory, they are 

factors that a furnisher should consider 

when developing its policies and 

procedures. 

Objectives 

The proposed Objectives section of 

the guidelines provided that a furnisher 

should have written policies and 

procedures reasonably designed to 

accomplish the specified objectives. The 

proposal set forth alternative lists of 

specified objectives for the Regulatory 

Definition Approach and the Guidelines 

Definition Approach, and the wording 

of some of the proposed objectives in 

the guidelines was related to the 

alternative approaches for construing 

the term ‘‘integrity’’ that the Agencies 

proposed. 

In connection with the proposed 

Regulatory Definition Approach, the 

first two objectives of the guidelines 

provided that a furnisher should have 

written policies and procedures 

reasonably designed to ensure that the 

information it furnishes about accounts 

or other relationships with a consumer 

accurately identifies the appropriate 

consumer; accurately reports the terms 

of those accounts or other relationships; 

accurately reports the consumer’s 

performance and other conduct with 

respect to the account or other 

relationship; and is designed to ensure 

that the information it furnishes about 

accounts or other relationships with a 

consumer avoids misleading a consumer 

report user as to the consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living. 

Under the proposed Guidelines 

Definition Approach, definitions of 

‘‘accuracy’’ and ‘‘integrity’’ were 

incorporated into the first two 

objectives. Thus, the proposed 

guidelines provided that a furnisher 

should have written policies and 

procedures reasonably designed to 

ensure that the information it furnishes 

about accounts or other relationships 

with a consumer is accurate. The 

guidelines defined ‘‘accuracy’’ to mean 

that any information that a furnisher 

provides about an account or other 

relationship with the consumer to a 

CRA reflects without error the terms of 

the account or other relationship and 

the consumer’s performance and other 

conduct with respect to the account or 

other relationship. 

31494 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

22Comments received regarding the definitions of 

‘‘accuracy’’ and ‘‘integrity’’ and their placement in 

either rules or guidelines and the Agencies’ 

responses to the comments are discussed earlier in 

this SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. 

Additionally, under the proposed 

Guidelines Definition Approach, the 

guidelines provided that a furnisher’s 

written policies and procedures should 

be reasonably designed to ensure that 

the information it furnishes about 

accounts or other relationships with a 

consumer is furnished with integrity. 

The guidelines defined ‘‘integrity’’ to 

mean that any information that a 

furnisher provides to a CRA about an 

account or other relationship with the 

consumer is: 

• Reported in a form and manner that 

is designed to minimize the likelihood 

that the information, although accurate, 

may be erroneously reflected in a 

consumer report, for example, by 

ensuring that the information is: (a) 

Reported with appropriate identifying 

information about the consumer to 

which it pertains; (b) reported in a 

standardized and clearly 

understandable form and manner; and 

(c) reported with a date specifying the 

time period to which the information 

pertains; and 

• Substantiated by the furnisher’s 

own records. 

The third proposed objective under 

both approaches stated that a furnisher’s 

policies and procedures should ensure 

that the furnisher conducts reasonable 

investigations of consumer disputes 

about the accuracy or integrity of 

information in consumer reports and 

takes appropriate actions based on the 

outcome of such investigations. 

The fourth proposed objective under 

both approaches stated that a furnisher 

should have written policies and 

procedures reasonably designed to 

ensure that the furnisher updates 

information it furnishes as necessary to 

reflect the current status of the 

consumer’s account or other 

relationship, including: (a) Any transfer 

of an account (e.g., by sale or 

assignment for collection) to a third 

party; and (b) any cure of the 

consumer’s failure to abide by the terms 

of the account or other relationship. 

The fifth proposed objective under the 

Regulatory Definition Approach stated 

that the information a furnisher 

provides about accounts or other 

relationships with a consumer should 

be reported in a form and manner that 

is designed to minimize the likelihood 

that the information, although accurate, 

may be erroneously reflected in a 

consumer report, for example, by 

ensuring that the information is 

reported with appropriate identifying 

information about the consumer to 

which it pertains, in a standardized and 

clearly understandable form and 

manner, and with a date specifying the 

time period to which the information 

pertains. 

The sixth proposed objective under 

the Regulatory Definition Approach 

stated that the information a furnisher 

provides about accounts or other 

relationships with a consumer should 

be substantiated by the furnisher’s own 

records. The fifth and sixth proposed 

objectives under the Regulatory 

Definition Approach incorporated the 

two-part definition of ‘‘integrity’’ used 

in the Guidelines Definition 

Approach.22

The final guidelines have four 

objectives. The first two objectives 

address how information should be 

furnished with ‘‘accuracy’’ and 

‘‘integrity,’’ terms that are defined in the 

regulations at §§l.41(a) and (e), 

respectively, and described earlier in 

this Section-by-Section Analysis. 

The first objective states that a 

furnisher’s policies and procedures 

should be reasonably designed to 

promote the furnishing of information 

about accounts or other relationships 

with a consumer that is accurate, such 

that the information: 

• Identifies the appropriate 

consumer; 

• Reflects the terms of and liability 

for those accounts or other 

relationships; and 

• Reflects the consumer’s 

performance and other conduct with 

respect to the account or other 

relationship. 

This first objective is substantially 

similar to what the Agencies proposed, 

but has been revised to conform to the 

definition of ‘‘accuracy’’ that has been 

adopted in §l.41(a) of the regulations. 

The second objective has been revised 

to conform to the final definition of 

‘‘integrity’’ that has been adopted in 

§l.41(e) of the regulations and 

incorporates language that was 

proposed in the fifth and sixth 

objectives of the Regulatory Definition 

Approach and the second objective of 

the Guidelines Definition Approach. 

The third objective provides that a 

furnisher’s policies and procedures 

should be reasonably designed to 

promote the conduct of reasonable 

investigations of consumer disputes and 

the taking of appropriate actions based 

on the outcome of such investigations. 

This objective is similar to an objective 

included in both the proposed 

Regulatory Definition Approach and the 

proposed Guidelines Definition 

Approach. 

The fourth and final objective 

provides that a furnisher’s policies and 

procedures should be reasonably 

designed to promote the updating of the 

information furnished as necessary to 

reflect the current status of the 

consumer’s account or other 

relationship, including, for example: 

• Any transfer of an account (e.g., by 

sale or assignment for collection) to a 

third party; and 

• Any cure of the consumer’s failure 

to abide by the terms of the account or 

other relationship. 

The Agencies do not expect that 

furnishers should update information 

any more frequently than already is 

required by section 623(a)(2) of the 

FCRA. 

The final objective related to updating 

is substantively the same as what the 

Agencies proposed. 

One industry commenter expressed 

concern that, under the proposal, the 

obligations of an account seller with 

respect to updating account information 

are unclear. This commenter stated that 

once an account is sold, the seller has 

no ability to update the account to 

reflect its current status, beyond noting 

that the account has been transferred. 

This commenter stated that the 

obligation to prevent future problems 

with providing information to a CRA 

about an account that was sold must rest 

with the acquiring party, not the selling 

party. The Agencies expect furnishers to 

provide information to a CRA prior to 

the transfer of an account to a third 

party consistent with the furnisher’s 

policies and procedures regarding 

accuracy and integrity. However, the 

Agencies do not expect that after 

transferring an account to a third party 

a furnisher would update the current 

status of the account beyond providing 

information to a CRA that the account 

has been transferred. 

Another industry commenter stated 

that the proposal could be viewed as 

requiring furnishers to update 

information regularly based on every 

type of event that may occur following 

a charge-off of an account. This 

commenter stated that furnishers 

typically cease to routinely furnish 

information about an account at the 

time of a charge-off. The commenter 

noted that although most furnishers 

will, as appropriate, update information 

provided to CRAs at the time a chargeoff is paid in full or a settlement is 

reached after charge-off, many 

furnishers do not report interim changes 

based on a payment schedule agreed to 

as part of recovery efforts, nor do they 

report a revised status based on 

bankruptcy proceedings that take place 

after a charge-off. This commenter 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31495 

23 e-OSCAR is a Web-based system that permits 

furnishers and CRAs to create and respond to 

consumer credit history disputes and to send ‘‘outof-cycle’’ credit history updates to CRAs. See http:// 

www.e-oscar.org/about.htm (last visited March 3, 

2009). 

stated that the final rules should make 

clear that furnishers do not have a duty 

to report changes to account status once 

regular reporting ceases, provided that 

the data furnished was accurate at the 

time it was furnished. 

The Agencies expect that, to the 

extent that a consumer cures a failure to 

abide by the terms of the account or 

relationship, a furnisher should, 

consistent with section I.(b)(4) of the 

guidelines, provide an update of the 

cured status to a CRA. For example, if 

a consumer pays off the full balance 

owed on a charged-off account, a 

furnisher should provide an update to 

the CRA with the furnisher’s next 

regular reporting cycle that the account 

has a zero balance. A furnisher would 

not, however, have to request that the 

CRA delete the information that the 

account was a charge-off. 

Proposed Section II—Accuracy and 

Integrity Duties of Furnishers Under the 

FCRA 

Proposed section II of the guidelines 

reminded furnishers of their statutory 

duties relating to the accuracy and 

integrity of the information about 

consumers they provide to CRAs. It 

stated that a furnisher’s policies and 

procedures should address compliance 

with all applicable requirements 

imposed on the furnisher under the 

FCRA and listed certain of those 

requirements, including the duty to 

investigate direct disputes as required 

by proposed § _.43 and section 623(a)(8) 

of the FCRA. It also listed requirements 

such as the duty to provide to CRAs 

corrections or additional information 

necessary to make furnished 

information complete and accurate 

under the circumstances specified 

under section 623(a)(2) of the FCRA. 

A number of commenters objected to 

proposed section II of the guidelines by 

stating that the summarized list of FCRA 

requirements would have created 

uncertainty regarding furnishers’ 

obligations under the FCRA. The 

Agencies have removed proposed 

section II from the final guidelines in 

response to these comments and have 

renumbered subsequent sections 

accordingly. Additionally, in section 

III.(m) of the final guidelines, the 

Agencies have included, as a specific 

component that a furnisher’s policies 

and procedures should address, 

‘‘[c]omplying with applicable 

requirements under the Fair Credit 

Reporting Act and its implementing 

regulations.’’ 

Section II—Establishing and 

Implementing Policies and Procedures 

The proposed guidelines identified 

three steps that furnishers should take 

when establishing and implementing 

accuracy and integrity policies and 

procedures. First, a furnisher should 

identify its practices or activities that 

can compromise the accuracy and 

integrity of information about 

consumers furnished to CRAs. A 

furnisher could satisfy this step by, for 

example: 

• Reviewing its existing practices and 

activities; 

• Reviewing historical records 

relating to accuracy or integrity or to 

disputes, or other information relating 

to the accuracy and integrity of 

information provided by the furnisher to 

CRAs and the types of errors, omissions, 

or other problems that may have 

affected the accuracy and integrity of 

such information about consumers; and 

• Obtaining feedback from CRAs, 

consumers, the furnisher’s staff, or other 

appropriate parties. 

As outlined above, the second clause 

of this proposed guideline encouraged 

furnishers, among other things, to 

‘‘review historical records relating to 

accuracy or integrity of disputes.’’ Some 

commenters noted that, for some 

accounts (e.g., purchased accounts), 

such historical records may not be 

available. In response to these 

comments, the Agencies have revised 

the second clause to clarify that it is 

referring only to a furnisher’s review of 

historical records of its own account 

activities. 

The third clause of the proposed 

guideline encouraged furnishers to 

obtain feedback from CRAs, consumers, 

the furnisher’s staff, or other appropriate 

parties. A number of commenters 

objected to this element of the guideline 

on the grounds that it would cost 

furnishers a fee to obtain information 

from CRAs, and that the CRAs did not 

always provide information requested 

by furnishers. These commenters also 

were concerned that furnishers would 

be required to survey consumers to 

obtain the relevant feedback, which, 

they stated, would be another costly 

undertaking. 

With respect to this third clause, the 

Agencies have revised the final 

guidelines to encourage furnishers to 

consider any feedback they may receive 

from CRAs, consumers, or other 

appropriate parties. There is no 

requirement that furnishers 

affirmatively seek out such information, 

but the Agencies expect furnishers to 

review any such feedback in their 

possession, including reports or ‘‘score 

cards’’ that furnishers may receive from 

a CRA regarding dispute histories 

processed through communication 

channels such as e-OSCAR.23

The fourth clause of the final 

guideline does recommend, however, 

that furnishers take affirmative action to 

obtain feedback from their staff in order 

to identify practices or activities of the 

furnisher that can compromise accuracy 

or integrity. 

The final guideline also includes a 

fifth clause, which states that, when 

establishing and implementing policies 

and procedures, a furnisher should 

consider their potential impact on 

consumers. Consideration of these 

impacts should result in increasing the 

accuracy and integrity of consumers’ 

information provided by furnishers to 

CRAs. 

The Agencies proposed that the 

second step that a furnisher should take 

when establishing and implementing 

accuracy and integrity policies and 

procedures is to evaluate the 

effectiveness of its existing policies and 

procedures regarding the accuracy and 

integrity of information about 

consumers furnished to CRAs and 

consider whether additions or 

modifications to the policies and 

procedures or the implementation of 

such policies and procedures are 

necessary. Commenters raised no issues 

with respect to this provision, and it is 

adopted without change in the final 

guidelines. 

The Agencies proposed that a 

furnisher’s third step should be to 

evaluate the effectiveness of specific 

methods (including technological 

means) the furnisher uses to provide 

information about consumers to CRAs, 

and how those methods may affect 

accuracy and integrity, and determine 

whether changes to those methods 

should be made to enhance the accuracy 

and integrity of that information. 

Commenters raised no issues with 

respect to this provision, and it is 

adopted without change in the final 

guidelines. 

Section III—Specific Components of 

Policies and Procedures 

The proposed guidelines described 

specific components that should be 

addressed in a furnisher’s policies and 

procedures. These components 

included: 

• Establishing and implementing a 

system for furnishing information about 

31496 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

24Re-aging of an account occurs when an account 

is sold or transferred to a third party that resets the 

account opening date to the date the account was 

received by the third party. Re-aged accounts may 

result in adverse credit information staying on a 

consumer’s credit report longer than what is 

permissible by the FCRA, which for accounts that 

are placed in collection or charged off is typically 

no more than seven years. See section 605 of the 

FCRA. 

25For the reasons discussed above, and in 

response to commenters’ suggestions, the Agencies 

have removed the language recommending that a 

commenter ‘‘ensure’’ a particular result where it 

appeared in the specific components. The Agencies 

agree that this terminology is less appropriate for 

guidelines than language focused on the matters 

that furnishers’ policies and procedures should 

address. 

consumers to CRAs that is appropriate 

to the nature, size, complexity, and 

scope of the furnisher’s business 

operations. 

• Using standard data reporting 

formats and standard procedures for 

compiling and furnishing data, where 

feasible, such as the electronic 

transmission of information about 

consumers to CRAs. 

• Ensuring that the furnisher 

maintains its own records for a 

reasonable period of time, not less than 

any applicable recordkeeping 

requirement, in order to substantiate the 

accuracy of any information about 

consumers it furnishes that may be 

subject to a direct dispute. 

• Establishing and implementing 

appropriate internal controls regarding 

the accuracy and integrity of 

information about consumers furnished 

to CRAs, such as by implementing 

standard procedures, verifying random 

samples, and conducting regular 

reviews of information provided to 

CRAs. 

• Training staff that participates in 

activities related to the furnishing of 

information about consumers to CRAs to 

implement the policies and procedures. 

• Providing for appropriate and 

effective oversight of relevant service 

providers whose activities may affect 

the accuracy and integrity of 

information about consumers furnished 

to CRAs to ensure compliance with the 

policies and procedures. 

• Furnishing information about 

consumers to CRAs following mergers, 

portfolio acquisitions or sales, or other 

acquisitions or transfers of accounts or 

other debts, in a manner that prevents 

re-aging 24 of information, duplicative 

reporting, or other problems affecting 

the accuracy or integrity of the 

information furnished. 

• Attempting to obtain the 

information listed in §l.43(d) (direct 

dispute notice content requirements) 

from a consumer before determining 

that the consumer’s dispute is frivolous 

or irrelevant. 

• Ensuring that deletions, updates, 

and corrections furnished to CRAs are 

reflected in business systems to avoid 

furnishing erroneous information. 

• Conducting investigations of direct 

disputes in a manner that promotes the 

efficient resolution of such disputes. 

• Ensuring that technological and 

other means of communication with 

CRAs are designed to prevent 

duplicative reporting of accounts, 

erroneous association of information 

with the wrong consumer(s), and other 

occurrences that may compromise the 

accuracy and integrity of information 

contained in consumer reports. 

• Providing CRAs with sufficient 

identifying information in the 

furnisher’s possession about each 

consumer about whom information is 

furnished to enable the CRA properly to 

identify the consumer. 

• Conducting a periodic evaluation of 

its own practices, CRA practices of 

which the furnisher is aware, 

investigations of disputed information, 

corrections of inaccurate information, 

means of communication, and other 

factors that may affect the accuracy and 

integrity of information furnished to 

CRAs. 

Commenters raised few issues about 

the content of the proposed 

components, and most are adopted 

without change in the final guidelines. 

However, the Agencies have adopted 

some technical and other changes to the 

proposed components, as described 

below.25

Most significantly, the Agencies have 

removed from the final guidelines the 

component encouraging a furnisher to 

obtain the information listed in 

proposed §l.43(d) of the regulations 

(direct dispute notice content 

requirements) from a consumer before 

determining that the consumer’s dispute 

is frivolous or irrelevant. The Agencies 

have determined that adoption of this 

component is inconsistent with section 

623(a)(8) of the FCRA, which, among 

other things, provides that a furnisher 

must notify the consumer of a 

determination that a dispute is frivolous 

or irrelevant, and that a dispute would 

be considered frivolous or irrelevant 

when a consumer does not provide 

sufficient information to investigate the 

disputed information. 

Some commenters suggested that the 

proposed component relating to 

furnishing information after mergers 

and other transactions should more 

specifically direct furnishers to (1) 

instruct CRAs to delete accounts after 

sale or transfer to decrease the incidence 

of duplicate accounts and (2) follow 

industry standard reporting guidelines 

not to change account numbers, ID 

numbers, portfolio types, or account 

opening dates. Some commenters noted 

that the problems of duplicative 

reporting and re-aging of account 

information are common for accounts 

that have been sold or placed with debt 

collectors. Section III.(g) of the final 

guidelines encourages furnishers to 

provide information about consumers to 

CRAs following acquisitions or transfers 

of accounts or other obligations in a 

manner that prevents re-aging of 

information, duplicative reporting, or 

other problems similarly affecting the 

accuracy or integrity of the information 

furnished. The final rules use the 

broader term ‘‘obligations’’ rather than 

‘‘debts,’’ as was proposed, because 

acquired or transferred information may 

relate to not only debts that arise from 

agreements, but also other obligations 

such as court-ordered judgments. The 

Agencies believe that it is sufficient for 

a furnisher to address these issues in its 

policies and procedures, as applicable, 

in a manner it determines will be 

effective and appropriate to the nature, 

size, complexity, and scope of its 

activities. 

With respect to the third proposed 

component, which focused on 

maintaining relevant records, the 

Agencies requested comment on 

whether a specific time period for 

recordkeeping should be incorporated 

in the final regulations. 

Most industry commenters opposed 

any new recordkeeping requirements. 

However, two industry commenters 

stated that they would not oppose 

guidelines governing the length of time 

furnishers should retain records in 

truncated formats, so long as the 

standard did not apply to original 

documents. One industry commenter 

requested that the Agencies clarify in 

the final rules that any recordkeeping 

requirement would not require a 

furnisher to maintain data other than 

data it would maintain in the normal 

course of business. This commenter 

stated that the final rules should require 

only that record retention practices be 

reasonable (and not require a furnisher 

to maintain records indefinitely). 

Consumer organizations supported 

the addition of a recordkeeping 

requirement. These commenters 

generally recommended that the 

Agencies require records to be kept, at 

a minimum, as long as information 

about an account or other relationship 

with a consumer is furnished to a CRA. 

These commenters stated that if 

furnishers fail to keep records to 

substantiate furnished information, they 

should report the results of a dispute as 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31497 

26See 12 CFR 226.25(a) and 12 CFR 202.12(b). 

27See, e.g., 12 CFR 563.170(c) (savings 

associations must retain accurate and complete 

records of all business transactions) and OTS 

Examination Handbook § 310 (savings associations 

should retain original business transaction records 

until the savings association has two regular 

examinations and has resolved any supervisory 

matters raised in the examinations). 

28The Agencies note that many entities, 

including depository institutions and their 

affiliates, also investigate disputes about 

information they furnish to CRAs that consumers 

raise through the consumer complaint processes 

established by the Agencies. See generally Board, 

‘‘How do I file a Complaint?,’’ http:// 

www.federalreserveconsumerhelp.gov/ 

complaintinfo.cfm?info=1 (last visited March 3, 

2009); FDIC, ‘‘How to file a Written Complaint,’’ 

http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/questions/ 

consumer/complaint.html (last visited March 3, 

2009); OTS, ‘‘How to Resolve a Consumer 

Complaint’’ (May 2008), http://www.ots.treas.gov/ 

docs/4/480924.pdf (last visited March 3, 2009); and 

OCC, ‘‘Assistance for Customers of National Banks’’ 

(April 2005), http://www.occ.gov/customer.pdf (last 

visited March 3, 2009). 

29See Johnson v. MBNA America Bank, N.A., 357 

F.3d 426 (4th Cir. 2004); Schaffhausen v. Bank of 

America, N.A., 393 F.Supp.2d 853 (D. Minn. 2005). 

30An industry commenter representing debt 

collectors raised concerns about a potential conflict 

between the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act 

(FDCPA) and the § _.43 direct dispute rule as it 

applies to debt collectors. The direct dispute rule 

requires furnishers of information to CRAs to report 

the results of a direct dispute to the consumer 

(§ _.43(e)(3)) or notify the consumer if the furnisher 

determines the dispute is frivolous or irrelevant 

(§ _.43(f)(2)). Section 805(c) of the FDCPA provides 

that if a consumer has notified a debt collector in 

writing that ‘‘the consumer wishes the debt 

collector to cease further communication with the 

consumer, the debt collector shall not communicate 

with the consumer with respect to such debt’’ (with 

some exceptions not applicable to the § _.43 direct 

dispute rule). The concern raised by the commenter 

is that if a consumer has written the debt collector 

to cease communication, but at some future time, 

or at the same time, submits a direct dispute about 

information the debt collector has provided to a 

CRA, the debt collector may risk violating the 

FDCPA prohibition on contacting the consumer 

when it provides the notices required by the § _.43 

direct dispute rule. The purpose of the notices 

required by the direct dispute rule is either to report 

the results of a direct dispute to the consumer or 

to notify the consumer if the furnisher determines 

the dispute is frivolous or irrelevant. 

Continued 

unverifiable and instruct the CRA to 

delete the information. 

The Agencies have addressed the 

recordkeeping issue by evaluating both 

the need for additional recordkeeping 

requirements and the potential adverse 

consequences of imposing such 

requirements. First, in their experience 

assisting consumers with disputes, the 

Agencies have found that the vast 

majority of consumer disputes involve 

recent transactions with furnishers and 

that furnishers generally have records 

available to perform reasonable 

investigations of the disputes. Because 

of this, the Agencies believe that any 

benefits from adopting the extended 

recordkeeping requirement proposed by 

consumer organizations would likely be 

outweighed by the significant 

administrative and cost burdens such a 

requirement would impose on 

furnishers. Such a recordkeeping 

requirement also might create an 

incentive for furnishers to cease 

reporting information to CRAs, which 

would adversely affect the quality of the 

credit reporting system. 

The final rules do not impose any 

additional recordkeeping requirements 

on furnishers, and the final guidelines at 

section III.(c) pertaining to the 

maintenance of records has been 

adopted without substantive change. As 

noted in the NPRM, and adopted in 

section III.(c) of the guidelines, a 

furnisher’s policies and procedures 

should address maintaining records for 

a reasonable period of time, not less 

than any applicable recordkeeping 

requirements, for example, 

recordkeeping requirements contained 

in regulations implementing the Truth 

in Lending Act, the Equal Credit 

Opportunity Act,26 or any other agencyspecific requirement.27

C. Final Regulations Concerning Direct 

Disputes 

Section l.43 Direct Disputes 

The third component of this 

rulemaking comprises the Agencies’ 

final regulations implementing section 

623(a)(8) of the FCRA, which directs the 

Agencies jointly to prescribe regulations 

that identify the circumstances under 

which a furnisher is required to 

reinvestigate a dispute concerning the 

accuracy of information contained in a 

consumer report on a consumer, based 

on a direct request of a consumer. The 

statute sets forth procedural and other 

requirements applicable to such 

reinvestigation. 

As noted in the NPRM, a number of 

furnishers have indicated that they 

already voluntarily investigate direct 

disputes as a matter of good customer 

relations and sound business practices. 

The Agencies encourage all furnishers, 

as a best practice, to conduct voluntary 

investigations of consumer disputes and 

enhance the accuracy and integrity of 

the information about consumers they 

provide to CRAs.28 As noted above, the 

accuracy and integrity guidelines 

adopted by the Agencies contemplate 

that furnishers’ policies and procedures 

will address the reasonable 

investigation of all consumer disputes, 

whether or not legally required. The 

guidelines state that conducting such 

investigations (and taking any 

appropriate remedial actions) should be 

an objective of furnishers’ accuracy and 

integrity policies and procedures. 

Section l.43(a) General Rule 

The proposed general rule required a 

furnisher to investigate a direct dispute 

if it relates to: 

• The consumer’s liability for a credit 

account or other debt with the furnisher, 

such as direct disputes relating to 

whether there is or has been identity 

theft or fraud against the consumer, 

whether there is individual or joint 

liability on an account, or whether the 

consumer is an authorized user of a 

credit account; 

• The terms of a credit account or 

other debt with the furnisher, such as 

direct disputes relating to the type of 

account, principal balance, scheduled 

payment amount on an account, or the 

amount of the reported credit limit on 

an open-end account; 

• The consumer’s performance or 

other conduct concerning a credit 

account or other debt with the furnisher, 

such as direct disputes relating to the 

current payment status, high balance, 

date a payment was made, the amount 

of a payment made, or the date an 

account was opened or closed; or 

• Any other information contained in 

a consumer report regarding an account 

or other relationship with the furnisher 

that bears on the consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living attributed to the furnisher on the 

consumer report. 

Section l.43(a) of the final rules 

differs from the proposal in two 

respects. First, the Agencies have 

revised the introductory language of the 

provision to state that a furnisher must 

conduct a ‘‘reasonable investigation’’ of 

a direct dispute if it relates to one of the 

enumerated circumstances. The 

Agencies have added the term 

‘‘reasonable’’ because it is consistent 

with courts’ interpretation of a similar 

duty imposed on furnishers that receive 

a notice of dispute from a CRA.29 In the 

Agencies’ view, a furnisher’s 

investigation resulting from a direct 

dispute would be required to meet the 

same standard of reasonableness as it 

would if the notice of dispute were 

received through a CRA. Accordingly, 

this revision clarifies the nature of 

furnishers’ direct dispute 

reinvestigation duties, consistent with 

suggestions made by some commenters. 

Second, the final direct dispute rule 

clarifies, in response to commenters’ 

suggestions, that debt collectors that are 

furnishers are subject to the rules. The 

final rules add a parenthetical clause to 

the definition of ‘‘direct dispute’’ to 

explicitly cover debt collectors.30

31498 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

Contemporaneously with the publication of this 

final rule, the FTC is publishing an advisory 

opinion stating that a notice provided to the 

consumer solely for the purpose of complying with 

the § _.43 direct dispute rule (the FTC rule is 16 

CFR 660.4), without conveying any other message, 

does not violate section 805(c) of the FDCPA. In 

addition, the Agencies will enforce section 805(c) 

of the FDCPA consistent with such advisory 

opinion. 

31The first update of that Summary (16 CFR 698, 

Appendix F) was published on November 30, 2004 

(69 FR 69788–789). 

32The public records exception applies only to 

information ‘‘derived’’ by the CRA from public 

records. It would not exempt a consumer’s dispute 

concerning the accuracy of a furnisher’s reference 

to a particular account being included in 

bankruptcy, for example. 

33A direct dispute that relates both to identifying 

information and a consumer’s liability for a credit 

account or other debt with the furnisher, such as 

in cases of identity theft, must be investigated by 

a furnisher pursuant to §l.43(a)(1). 

34For this category of information concerning the 

identity of past or present employers, the Agencies 

believe that direct contact by the consumer would 

be unlikely to result in the most expeditious 

resolution of an employer identity-related dispute. 

For example, consumer reports sometimes contain 

certain ‘‘employment history’’ information, which 

is typically obtained from sources other than 

employers (such as credit applications). In those 

cases, an identified employer would be unable to 

correct disputed information because it was 

provided by another source. 

35Under this provision of the Credit Repair 

Organizations Act, the term ‘‘credit repair 

organization’’—means any person who uses any 

instrumentality of interstate commerce or the mails 

to sell, provide, or perform (or represent that such 

person can or will sell, provide, or perform) any 

service, in return for the payment of money or other 

valuable consideration, for the express or implied 

purpose of—(i) improving any consumer’s credit 

record, credit history, or credit rating; or (ii) 

The final direct dispute rules are 

designed to permit direct disputes in 

virtually all circumstances involving 

disputes about the accuracy of furnished 

information typically provided by a 

furnisher to a CRA. The Agencies 

believe that the approach adopted by 

the final rules enables consumers to 

submit a dispute directly to the 

furnisher (with certain exceptions) 

when the issue in dispute relates to 

information pertaining to the 

consumer’s account or other 

relationship with that furnisher. 

A number of industry commenters 

supported the general approach of the 

direct dispute proposal. A few industry 

commenters suggested that the direct 

dispute provision should be narrower 

than the proposed rule, such as by 

limiting the direct dispute right to 

disputes related to identity theft. The 

final rules do not narrow the types of 

disputes that a furnisher must 

investigate. The Agencies have 

concluded that the broader approach of 

the proposal and final rules is more 

consistent with the statutory 

considerations that the Agencies must 

weigh pursuant to section 623(a)(8)(B) 

of the FCRA, including whether direct 

contact with a furnisher would likely 

result in the most expeditious resolution 

of direct disputes. The Agencies believe 

that the expeditious dispute resolutions 

likely to be afforded by a direct dispute 

right should not be limited to a narrow 

class or limited types of disputes. Also, 

it may be impossible for a consumer to 

tell whether an error is the result of 

identity theft or some other cause. 

Consumer organizations urged the 

Agencies to require furnishers to 

communicate to consumers the process 

for filing a direct dispute with the 

furnisher and to provide such 

information on their Web sites. The 

direct dispute rule-writing authority, at 

section 623(a)(8)(A) of the FCRA, does 

not include establishing a requirement 

for furnishers to notify consumers about 

the process for filing a direct dispute. 

However, the Agencies encourage 

furnishers, as a best practice, to provide 

consumers with appropriate information 

regarding the process for filing a direct 

dispute, for example by posting such 

information on their Web sites, as 

applicable. In addition, the Agencies 

note that section 609(c)(2) of the FCRA 

requires the FTC to promulgate, and 

CRAs to disseminate with their 

provision of file disclosures to 

consumers, a ‘‘General Summary of 

Consumer Rights.’’ When the FTC next 

updates the General Summary of 

Consumer Rights to reflect the 

additional rights provided to consumers 

by the FACT Act and its implementing 

rules,31 it will include consumers’ direct 

dispute rights in the summary. 

Section l.43(b) Exceptions 

The proposed exceptions related 

primarily to information with respect to 

which any consumer dispute would be 

more appropriately directed to the CRA, 

such as information derived from public 

records, which may be obtained directly 

from public sources,32 and information 

about requests for consumer reports 

(‘‘inquiries’’). 

A consumer report may include 

identifying information about a 

consumer (e.g., name, address), trade 

line information (e.g., name of creditor, 

payment history, loan amount), past and 

present employer information, and 

public record information (e.g., 

information received from courts or 

other governmental authorities that are 

related to bankruptcies, judgments, or 

liens). Any given furnisher is the source 

of some, but not all, of the information 

included in a consumer report. The 

Agencies believe that a furnisher should 

be responsible for investigating disputes 

only about information regarding an 

account or other relationship between 

the furnisher and the consumer. The 

standard appropriately balances the 

benefits to consumers with the costs of 

furnishers as required by section 

623(a)(8)(B)(i) of the FCRA. 

Accordingly, the proposal stated that a 

furnisher would have to investigate 

direct disputes only with respect to the 

types of information that it typically 

provides to CRAs. In most cases, the 

information subject to the proposed 

direct dispute rule would be a part of a 

furnisher’s trade line entry or entries on 

a consumer report. 

Proposed §l.43(b)(1) excepted from 

the general investigation requirement 

any direct dispute that relates to: 

• The consumer’s identifying 

information (other than a direct dispute 

relating to a consumer’s liability for a 

credit account or other debt with the 

furnisher, as provided in §l.43(a)(1)),33

such as name(s), date of birth, Social 

Security number, telephone number(s), 

or address(es); 

• The identity of past or present 

employers; 34

• Inquiries or requests for a consumer 

report; 

• Information derived from public 

records, such as judgments, 

bankruptcies, liens, and other legal 

matters (unless provided by a furnisher 

having a relationship with the 

consumer); or 

• Information related to fraud alerts 

or active duty alerts. 

Commenters generally supported 

these exceptions and the final regulation 

adopts these exceptions without 

substantive change. 

In response to comments, the 

Agencies are including one additional 

exception. A number of commenters 

suggested that a furnisher should have 

to investigate only information that it 

provides to a CRA and not information 

provided by third parties that may be 

compiled and reported by a CRA. In this 

regard, the Agencies note that a 

furnisher would not likely have access 

to third party information that would be 

necessary to perform the investigation. 

Accordingly, the Agencies have added a 

new exception at §l.43(b)(1)(vi), which 

states that the general direct dispute 

investigation requirement does not 

apply to information provided to a CRA 

by another furnisher. 

Proposed §l.43(b)(2) also excepted 

from the investigation requirement any 

direct dispute if the notice of dispute is 

submitted by, is prepared on behalf of 

the consumer by, or is submitted on a 

form supplied to the consumer by, a 

credit repair organization (CRO) as 

defined in 15 U.S.C. 1679a(3),35 or an 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31499 

providing advice or assistance to any consumer 

with regard to any activity or service described in 

clause (i). 

36See 15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)(8)(G). 

37As noted in the proposal, allowing consumers 

to submit direct dispute notices to the address of 

the furnisher set forth on the consumer report is 

consistent with existing Federal and some State 

laws because these laws already impose related 

obligations. Section 611(a)(6)(B)(iii) of the FCRA 

requires the CRA to provide, upon the consumer’s 

request, the business name and address, and phone 

number if reasonably available, of any furnisher the 

CRA contacts in connection with information 

reinvestigated in response to a consumer complaint 

filed with the CRA. California law requires that, 

upon request of the consumer, the CRA must 

provide the consumer with the ‘‘names, addresses 

and, if provided by the sources of information, the 

telephone numbers identified for customer service 

for the sources of information’’ (emphasis added). 

Cal. Civil Code § 1785.10(c). It is the Agencies’ 

understanding that CRAs commonly include the 

furnisher’s business name, address, and telephone 

number on the consumer report (where the 

furnisher provides it) so that consumers know how 

to contact the furnisher about a dispute upon 

receipt of the consumer report without the need to 

request that information from the CRA. 

entity that would be a CRO but for 15 

U.S.C. 1679a(3)(B)(i), which excludes 

tax-exempt section 501(c)(3) 

organizations. This proposed exception 

was derived directly from an exception 

set forth in the statute.36

Many industry commenters noted that 

it is very difficult to determine with 

certainty whether a dispute is prepared 

or otherwise assisted by a CRO. These 

commenters also noted that the narrow 

scope of the proposed CRO exception 

would subject the furnishers to 

litigation risks. To remedy this problem, 

these commenters requested that the 

CRO exception be modified to apply 

whenever a furnisher reasonably 

believes the dispute has been submitted 

by, prepared on behalf of the consumer 

by, or submitted on a form supplied to 

the consumer by, a CRO. 

The Agencies agree that it would be 

unnecessarily restrictive to require 

furnishers to determine with certainty 

that a CRO participated in the 

preparation or submission of a dispute. 

Such a standard would not accomplish 

the purpose of the statutory exception. 

Thus, the §l.43(b)(2) CRO exception 

has been revised to incorporate a 

‘‘reasonable belief’’ standard. 

Section l.43(c) Direct Dispute 

Address 

Section 623(a)(8)(D) of the FCRA 

requires a consumer to provide a direct 

dispute notice ‘‘at the address 

specified’’ by the furnisher. The 

Agencies proposed to provide guidance 

about how this address should be 

specified by furnishers and effectively 

communicated to consumers. 

Accordingly, proposed §l.43(c) 

stated that a furnisher must investigate 

a direct dispute only if a consumer 

submits a direct dispute notice to the 

furnisher at: 

• The address of the furnisher 

provided by a furnisher and set forth on 

a consumer report relating to the 

consumer (e.g., on the consumer file 

disclosures CRAs are required to 

provide to consumers under section 

609(a) of the FCRA); 

• An address clearly and 

conspicuously specified by the 

furnisher for submitting direct disputes 

that is provided in writing or 

electronically (if the consumer has 

agreed to the electronic delivery of 

information from the furnisher); or 

• Any business address of the 

furnisher, if the furnisher has not so 

specified and provided an address for 

submitting direct disputes. 

Thus, a consumer always would be 

able to submit a direct dispute to the 

appropriate address of the furnisher 

appearing on the consumer report. The 

consumer also would be able to submit 

a direct dispute to any other business 

address of the furnisher but only if the 

furnisher has not separately specified an 

address for receiving notices of direct 

disputes on a consumer report or by 

other written or electronic 

communication. A furnisher choosing to 

specify an address for direct dispute 

notices would have to do so in a manner 

that is both reasonably understandable 

and designed to call the consumer’s 

attention to the fact that the address is 

the one to use for submitting direct 

disputes about the accuracy of 

information in a consumer report. The 

Agencies also noted in the proposal that 

a furnisher that specifies an address for 

this purpose will not be deemed to have 

specified an address for purposes of 

section 623(a)(1)(B) of the FCRA, 

relating to the general duty to provide 

accurate information to the CRAs. The 

final rules adopt the proposed direct 

dispute address provision at §l.43(c). 

Section l.43(c)(3) of the NPRM 

would have required a furnisher to 

investigate a direct dispute submitted by 

a consumer at any business address of 

the furnisher if it had not specified and 

provided an address pursuant to 

proposed §l.43(c)(2). Some 

commenters stated that this obligation 

would be burdensome and may delay 

efficient resolution of the consumer’s 

dispute. In response to these comments, 

the final rules only require a furnisher 

to investigate a direct dispute submitted 

by a consumer to any of its business 

addresses if the furnisher did not either 

(1) provide a direct dispute address that 

is set forth on a consumer report relating 

to the consumer or (2) clearly and 

conspicuously specify a direct dispute 

address and provide it to the consumer 

either in writing or electronically (if the 

consumer has agreed to the electronic 

delivery of information from the 

furnisher). 

The Agencies specifically requested 

comment on whether there are 

circumstances under which it would not 

be appropriate for a consumer to submit 

a direct dispute notice to the address of 

the furnisher set forth on the consumer 

report, and on whether proposed 

§l.43(c)(3) should exclude certain 

types of business addresses, such as a 

business address that is used for reasons 

other than for receiving correspondence 

from consumers or business locations 

where business is not conducted with 

consumers. 

Consumer organizations generally 

recommended that a direct dispute 

should be accepted at any business 

address of a furnisher in all 

circumstances. The Agencies note that 

the language of section 623(a)(8)(D) 

states that a consumer ‘‘ * * * shall 

provide a dispute notice directly to [a 

furnisher] at the address specified by 

the [furnisher] for such notices. * * * ’’ 

Permitting consumers to use any 

business address of a furnisher would 

not be consistent with this statutory 

provision. 

Most industry commenters stated that 

it would be appropriate only to receive 

direct disputes at the address a 

furnisher specifies for that purpose. 

Some of these commenters also stated 

that, at a minimum, a furnisher should 

not have to respond to direct disputes 

if the CRA supplies the wrong address 

on the consumer report. Industry 

commenters opposed the idea that 

direct disputes should be accepted ‘‘at 

any business address’’ of the furnisher, 

noting that such a requirement would be 

extremely difficult to implement, 

produce inefficient resolutions of 

consumer disputes, and be costly. 

The Agencies believe that it will 

benefit consumers and be operationally 

feasible to allow consumers to submit a 

direct dispute notice to the address of 

the furnisher specified on the consumer 

report (or otherwise specified by the 

furnisher). The Agencies understand 

that in a large majority of cases, the 

consumer report includes an address 

supplied by the furnisher.37 In addition, 

the Agencies believe that allowing 

consumers to submit direct dispute 

notices to the address of the furnisher 

set forth on the consumer report will 

increase the likelihood that the 

consumers will know where to send that 

notice (because it will appear on the 

same document containing the disputed 

information) and will encourage 

consumers to obtain and review their 

31500 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

consumer reports prior to submitting a 

notice to a furnisher. As the Agencies 

noted in the proposal, a furnisher will 

not be in violation of this provision for 

failure to investigate a dispute 

submitted to the address set forth on the 

consumer report if that address is 

incorrect due to an error by the CRA and 

does not reflect any business address of 

the furnisher. 

The final rules also permit a 

consumer to submit a direct dispute 

notice to any business address of the 

furnisher, but only if the furnisher has 

not specified an address for receiving 

notices of direct disputes on a consumer 

report or by other written or electronic 

notice to the consumer. Thus, furnishers 

can avoid the burden of having to accept 

notices of disputes at any business 

address simply by specifying a direct 

dispute address for such purpose to be 

provided to consumers on a consumer 

report or by other written or electronic 

notice to the consumer. 

The Agencies also requested comment 

on whether §l.43(c)(2) should be 

amended to permit furnishers to notify 

consumers orally of the address for 

direct disputes, and on whether, and, if 

so, how an oral notice can be provided 

clearly and conspicuously. A majority of 

industry commenters and consumer 

organizations stated that oral notice of a 

direct dispute address should not be 

permitted. These commenters noted that 

written notices of an address provide 

more certainty that the direct disputes 

process will work appropriately for 

furnishers and consumers. In response 

to these comments, the final rules 

require written notifications to 

consumers of a direct dispute address. 

Section l.43(d) Direct Dispute Notice 

Contents 

Section 623(a)(8)(D) of the FCRA 

provides that a furnisher is not required 

to investigate a dispute unless a 

consumer provides the furnisher with a 

notice of dispute that: 

• Identifies the specific information 

that is being disputed; 

• Explains the basis for the dispute; 

and 

• Includes all supporting 

documentation required by the 

furnisher to substantiate the basis of the 

dispute. 

Proposed §l.43(d) implemented 

section 623(a)(8)(D) of the statute by 

requiring that a notice of dispute 

include: 

• The name, address, and telephone 

number of the consumer; 

• Sufficient information to identify 

the account or other relationship that is 

in dispute, such as an account number; 

• The specific information that the 

consumer is disputing and an 

explanation of the basis for the dispute; 

and 

• All supporting documentation or 

other information reasonably required 

by the furnisher to substantiate the basis 

of the dispute, such as a copy of the 

consumer report that contains the 

allegedly inaccurate information, a 

police report, a fraud or identity theft 

affidavit, a court order, or account 

statements. 

The final direct dispute notice content 

requirement is adopted as proposed 

with two substantive changes. First, the 

final rules merge the proposed 

provisions requiring that the notice 

include the name, address, and 

telephone number of the consumer and 

sufficient information to identify the 

account or other relationship in dispute. 

Revised §l.43(d)(1) now provides that 

a dispute notice must include 

‘‘[s]ufficient information to identify the 

account or other relationship that is in 

dispute, such as an account number and 

the name, address, and telephone 

number of the consumer, if applicable.’’ 

The Agencies note that, in most 

circumstances, address and telephone 

number information will be readily 

available to the furnisher, and to require 

a consumer to provide it again before 

the furnisher will begin its investigation 

will result in unnecessary delay. The 

Agencies also note that some consumers 

may not have an address or telephone 

number. For these reasons, consumer 

identifying information must be 

provided only if applicable and to the 

extent necessary to identify the account 

or relationship that is the subject of the 

dispute. Consumers will have to provide 

information sufficient for furnishers to 

inform them of the results of an 

investigation. 

The second substantive change occurs 

in one of the examples in §l.43(d)(3) 

of supporting documentation or other 

information reasonably required by the 

furnisher to substantiate the basis of the 

dispute. The proposal stated that such 

documentation may include a copy of 

the consumer report that contains the 

allegedly inaccurate information. Upon 

further review, the Agencies determined 

that the example should be revised to 

recommend that the dispute include ‘‘a 

copy of the relevant portion’’ of such a 

consumer report because the provision 

of an entire consumer report may raise 

privacy concerns for consumers. 

Although commenters generally 

supported §l.43(d) as proposed, 

several industry commenters said that 

the Agencies should require consumers 

to indicate that a dispute is a ‘‘direct 

dispute’’ submitted under the FCRA. 

Some industry commenters also 

suggested that the Agencies issue a 

model direct dispute complaint form, 

with some advocating that consumers be 

required to use the model complaint 

form. The Agencies decline to adopt 

these suggestions because such 

requirements would cause otherwise 

valid disputes to be rejected as frivolous 

or irrelevant due solely to the 

consumer’s failure to meet a technical 

requirement that probably would be 

unknown to the consumer. 

Section l.43(e) Duty Of Furnisher 

After Receiving a Direct Dispute Notice 

As an implementation aid for 

furnishers and consumers, the final 

rules add a new provision at §l.43(e) 

that incorporates the FCRA’s section 

623(a)(8)(E) statutory duties required of 

furnishers after receiving a direct 

dispute notice. With one clarification 

discussed below, the addition of this 

section tracks the statutory language of 

section 623(a)(8)(E). Pursuant to 

§l.43(e) of the final rules, after 

receiving a valid dispute notice from a 

consumer, the furnisher must: 

• Conduct a reasonable investigation 

with respect to the disputed 

information; 

• Review all relevant information 

provided by the consumer with the 

dispute notice; 

• Complete its investigation of the 

dispute and report the results of the 

investigation to the consumer before the 

expiration of the period under section 

611(a)(1) of the FCRA (15 U.S.C. 

1681i(a)(1)) within which a CRA would 

be required to complete its action if the 

consumer had elected to dispute the 

information under that section; and 

• If the investigation finds that the 

information reported was inaccurate, 

promptly notify each CRA to which the 

furnisher provided inaccurate 

information of that determination and 

provide to the CRA any correction to 

that information that is necessary to 

make the information provided by the 

furnisher accurate. 

Section 623(a)(8)(E)(i) of the FCRA 

requires a furnisher to conduct an 

investigation with respect to the 

disputed information. The final rules at 

§ _.43(e)(1) require that the furnisher 

must conduct a reasonable 

investigation. As discussed above in 

connection with § _.43(a), the inclusion 

of this reasonableness standard is 

consistent with how courts have 

interpreted the nature of a furnisher’s 

duty to conduct other investigations of 

disputes under the FCRA. 

Section _.43(e)(3), among other things, 

states that a furnisher must report the 

results of the direct dispute 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31501 

38Furnishers also are encouraged to provide 

consumers with the Summary of Rights under the 

Fair Credit Reporting Act issued by the FTC 

pursuant to section 609(c) of the FCRA, although 

this is not required by the FCRA or these final rules. 

This step would be particularly helpful to 

consumers in circumstances in which a consumer 

received the inaccurate consumer report 

information from a source other than a CRA, such 

as from a potential lender. In such cases, the 

consumer may not have received the Summary of 

Rights in connection with the consumer’s review of 

that information. 

39For example, under proposed § _.43(b)(2), a 

furnisher would not be required to investigate a 

direct dispute that is submitted by, is prepared on 

behalf of the consumer by, or is submitted on a form 

supplied to the consumer by, a credit repair 

organization. Thus, such a dispute would be 

frivolous or irrelevant under proposed 

§ _.43(e)(1)(iii). 

40 15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)(8)(F)(ii) and (iii). Those 

provisions of the FCRA generally set out a 

furnisher’s responsibilities regarding the notice it 

must provide to a consumer once it determines that 

a dispute is frivolous or irrelevant. 

41For example, a furnisher that reasonably 

believes a dispute was submitted by a credit repair 

organization would need to provide a notice to the 

consumer that the dispute is frivolous or irrelevant. 

In contrast, a furnisher would not have to provide 

a notice to the consumer if the consumer submits 

a dispute about information pertaining to an 

account with a different furnisher that was 

provided to a consumer reporting agency by that 

other furnisher, since such a dispute would not 

meet the definition of ‘‘direct dispute.’’ 

investigation to the consumer. The 

Agencies deem that it is permissible to 

report the results of the investigation to 

the consumer by mail, or electronically 

if the consumer consents, in accordance 

with the identifying information 

supplied by the consumer. 

Pursuant to § _.43(e)(4), if a 

furnisher’s investigation finds that 

information it provided to a CRA was 

inaccurate, the furnisher must promptly 

notify each CRA to which the furnisher 

provided the inaccurate information. 

Additionally, the furnisher must 

provide to such CRAs any correction 

necessary to make the information 

accurate. Therefore, if the furnisher 

provided incorrect information to one or 

more CRAs, the furnisher would comply 

with this provision of the final rules by 

indicating to the CRA that the prior 

information was inaccurate, and by 

providing the corrected information. A 

furnisher’s investigation may reveal 

that, despite being furnished accurately, 

information in dispute was not properly 

reflected on a consumer report. After 

reaching such a conclusion, a furnisher 

should notify the consumer that the 

results of its investigation confirm that 

the information is not properly reflected 

on the consumer report obtained from 

the consumer; it would not be adequate 

in these circumstances for a furnisher 

simply to notify a consumer that its 

investigation indicates that it provided 

accurate information to a CRA. In this 

situation, the Agencies strongly 

encourage furnishers, as a best practice, 

to suggest that the consumer contact the 

relevant CRA to obtain a correction.38

Section _.43(f) Frivolous or Irrelevant 

Disputes 

Section 623(a)(8)(F) of the FCRA 

provides that a furnisher is not required 

to investigate a dispute that a furnisher 

reasonably determines to be frivolous or 

irrelevant. The statute states that a 

frivolous or irrelevant dispute includes 

situations involving: 

• The failure of a consumer to 

provide sufficient information to 

investigate the disputed information; or 

• The submission by a consumer of a 

dispute that is substantially the same as 

a dispute previously submitted by or on 

behalf of the consumer, either directly 

to the furnisher or through a CRA under 

section 623(b) of the FCRA, with respect 

to which the furnisher already 

completed its investigation duties. 

Proposed § _.43(e) incorporated the 

statutory provisions, including 

identifying these two types of frivolous 

or irrelevant disputes, using wording 

consistent with the statute. The final 

rules adopt these provisions as 

proposed at §§ _ .43(f)(1)(i) and (ii). 

Section 623(a)(8)(F) specifies the two 

situations described above, but does not 

limit frivolous or irrelevant disputes 

solely to those two situations. The 

Agencies proposed to include a third 

situation when a furnisher could deem 

a dispute to be frivolous or irrelevant. 

Under proposed § _.43(e)(1)(iii), a 

dispute would be considered frivolous 

or irrelevant if the furnisher is otherwise 

not required to investigate it under the 

regulation.39 This provision was 

intended to clarify furnishers’ duty to 

investigate direct disputes and their 

responsibilities when no such 

investigation is required. Under the 

proposed provision, consumers in this 

situation would receive notice from the 

furnisher that their dispute was deemed 

frivolous or irrelevant, including the 

reasons for such determination, as 

required by the FCRA in sections 

623(a)(8)(F)(ii) and (iii).40

After additional consideration, the 

Agencies in the final rules revised this 

third situation in which a direct dispute 

may be deemed to be frivolous or 

irrelevant. Section _.43(f)(1)(iii) of the 

final rules provides that a dispute 

qualifies as frivolous or irrelevant where 

‘‘the furnisher is not required to 

investigate the direct dispute because 

one or more of the exceptions [to the 

direct dispute investigation duty] 

applies.’’ This provision is intended to 

clarify that consumers will receive 

notice that their dispute will not be 

investigated because one of the 

exceptions applies, without requiring 

furnishers to provide such notices for 

consumer disputes that either (1) do not 

meet the definition of ‘‘direct dispute’’ 

or (2) do not relate to the matters 

described in § _.43(a) that would trigger 

a direct dispute investigation.41

Proposed § _.43(e)(2) incorporated the 

FCRA’s requirement, at section 

623(a)(8)(F)(ii) of the statute, that a 

furnisher must notify a consumer of its 

determination that a dispute is frivolous 

or irrelevant not later than five business 

days after making the determination. 

Proposed § _.43(e)(3) likewise 

incorporated from section 

623(a)(8)(F)(iii) of the FCRA the content 

requirements for a notice of 

determination that a dispute is frivolous 

or irrelevant. The proposal required 

such notices to include the reasons for 

the determination and identify any 

information required to investigate the 

disputed information. These two 

provisions are adopted in the final rules 

without change at §§ _.43(f)(2) and (3) 

respectively. 

One industry commenter 

recommended that the Agencies make 

clear that the frivolous or irrelevant 

dispute provision includes a list of nonexclusive examples and that there may 

be other reasons why a dispute could be 

frivolous or irrelevant. An industry 

commenter recommended revising the 

rule text regarding the two examples of 

frivolous or irrelevant disputes that are 

provided for by statute to track the 

language of the statute and make clear 

that those examples are unconditional 

exceptions to the direct dispute 

investigation requirement. The Agencies 

agree with these commenters and have 

revised the regulation to provide that 

§ _.43(f)(1) is a non-exclusive list of 

three types of frivolous or irrelevant 

disputes. The Agencies acknowledge 

that a furnisher is not required to 

investigate a direct dispute if the 

furnisher reasonably determines that the 

dispute is frivolous or irrelevant for 

other reasons. 

One industry commenter suggested 

that limits should be placed on how far 

back in time a furnisher should be 

required to investigate a dispute (for 

example, a limit based on a record 

retention period). The Agencies decline 

to deem a dispute frivolous or irrelevant 

because it involves older records that, 

for instance, a furnisher may no longer 

have readily available or be required to 

retain. The Agencies believe that the age 

of records underlying a dispute should 

31502 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

42See section 609(c) of the FCRA (15 U.S.C. 

1681g(c)). 43Commenters’ reporting of the extent to which 

furnishers currently receive direct disputes varied, 

and in the case of financial institutions, the size of 

the institution may be a factor. One industry 

commenter noted that a small portion of disputes 

currently come directly from consumers. However, 

another industry commenter indicated that 

community bankers report that, on average, 40 

percent of disputes are received directly from 

consumers. 

not be the sole factor used by a furnisher 

to reasonably determine that a dispute 

is frivolous or irrelevant. 

One industry commenter believed 

that the addition of the proposed third 

example to § _.43(e)(1)(iii), that would 

have deemed a dispute to be frivolous 

or irrelevant if the furnisher is not 

required to investigate the direct 

dispute, would create confusion and 

unnecessary compliance burdens. As 

discussed above, the Agencies have 

revised § _.43(f)(1)(iii) and other 

provisions in a manner that relieves 

furnishers from having to provide 

frivolous or irrelevant dispute 

determination notices for disputes that 

do not meet the definition of ‘‘direct 

dispute’’ or do not relate to matters that 

would trigger a direct dispute 

investigation duty. 

Another industry commenter 

recommended that the Agencies clarify 

that, unless a consumer identifies an 

additional problem with an account or 

provides additional information 

regarding an existing dispute, the 

furnisher should not be required to send 

another frivolous or irrelevant dispute 

determination notice to the consumer. 

Similarly, another commenter stated 

that the Agencies should permit 

furnishers to refuse to investigate 

disputes from consumers who have 

‘‘abused the process.’’ The Agencies 

note that section 623(a)(8)(F)(i) of the 

FCRA deems disputes to be frivolous or 

irrelevant if they lack sufficient 

information or are duplicative. As 

required by section 623(a)(8)(F)(ii) of the 

FCRA, a furnisher must provide a 

consumer with a notice that the 

furnisher has determined that a dispute 

is frivolous or irrelevant. 

VII. Regulatory Analysis 

A. Paperwork Reduction Act 

Notice of Action on NPRM 

In conjunction with the NPRM, the 

OCC, FDIC, OTS, NCUA, and FTC 

submitted the information collection 

requirements contained therein to OMB 

for review under the PRA. In response, 

OMB filed comments with each of these 

Agencies in accordance with 5 CFR 

1320.11(c). The comments indicated 

that OMB was withholding approval at 

that time. These Agencies were directed 

to examine public comment in response 

to the NPRM and describe in the 

preamble to the final rule how these 

Agencies have maximized the practical 

utility of the collection and minimized 

the burden. An explanation of how 

these Agencies have responded to OMB 

and the public’s comments has been 

provided elsewhere in the preamble to 

this final rule. 

Comment Summary 

Of the comments received in response 

to the NPRM, four industry commenters 

specifically addressed PRA burden and 

an additional five industry commenters 

generally addressed burden issues. 

Some commenters noted that if the final 

rule would require furnishers to engage 

in certain activities in response to a 

direct consumer dispute, the number of 

disputes received from consumers 

would likely increase significantly. 

Commenters also noted that the 

Summary of Rights under the FCRA 42

(currently provided to consumers) 

instructs consumers to direct their 

disputes to the CRA that provided them 

with a copy of their file, which may 

explain why most disputes are directed 

to CRAs.43 It is reasonable to assume 

that changes to the disclosures made by 

CRAs to consumers (due to the changes 

the FTC will make to the Summary of 

Rights to include information about 

consumers’ section 312 direct dispute 

rights) will likely increase the number 

of disputes furnishers receive directly 

from consumers. 

Accuracy of Estimates 

One industry commenter questioned 

the Agencies’ estimates. The commenter 

stated that, until furnishers begin 

implementing the proposal, it will be 

impossible to determine whether the 

Agencies’ estimates to implement the 

final rule are understated. In addition, 

the commenter stated that, until a final 

rule is published, it is impossible to 

estimate the time required to comply 

with its requirements. The commenter 

further stated that it is ‘‘probably’’ 

unreasonable to estimate that it will take 

only 5 minutes to prepare and send a 

notice since it is likely to take much 

longer to review and investigate a 

dispute. The Agencies acknowledge that 

furnishers are likely to spend more than 

5 minutes reviewing and investigating 

disputes received directly from 

consumers. The estimated PRA 

disclosure burden per notice published 

in the NPRM represented strictly the 5 

minutes it would take a furnisher to 

prepare and distribute each notice; but 

it did not include the time required to 

review and investigate a dispute. 

However, given that each notice will be 

consumer-specific, and that the amount 

of automation used to send each notice 

will vary based on each dispute, the 

Agencies have decided to re-estimate 

the average time furnishers will devote 

to preparing and sending notices. The 

Agencies have increased the estimated 

burden for preparing and sending each 

notice from 5 minutes to an average of 

14 minutes per dispute to prepare and 

send a notice to a consumer. Our 

estimate of 14 minutes per dispute is 

based upon an estimate of the average 

time required to respond to three 

different types or categories of frivolous 

or irrelevant disputes. For purposes of 

estimating paperwork burden, we 

assume that disputes based on form 

letters from credit repair organizations 

will make up 25 percent of all frivolous 

or irrelevant disputes and, on average, 

furnishers will devote 8 minutes to each 

notice. We assume that duplicate credit 

reporting agency disputes will make up 

60 percent of frivolous or irrelevant 

disputes, and we estimate this category 

will require an average of 15 minutes for 

each notice. Disputes that are frivolous 

or irrelevant for other reasons are 

assumed to make up 15 percent of 

frivolous or irrelevant disputes, and we 

estimate these other categories of 

disputes will require an average of 20 

minutes each. 

Another commenter stated that, while 

most furnishers would only make minor 

modifications, if any, to their existing 

practices to develop and implement the 

accuracy and integrity program, even 

these minor modifications will require 

significantly more than 21 hours, 

especially for furnishers of significant 

amounts of data from a wide range of 

business lines. 

Review of Furnishing Practices 

Two commenters expressed concern 

that furnishers would be required to 

audit their furnishing practice. One of 

them stated that it could take several 

days for furnishers to design an audit of 

their furnishing practices and additional 

time to perform it and provide an audit 

report. The commenter urged the 

Agencies to consider the impact of the 

requirements, keeping in mind 

accumulating burden and cost. The 

commenter stated that it is critical that 

the Agencies regulating financial 

institutions convey clearly and publicly 

to their respective examiners their 

expectations of the implementation 

process, given the Agencies’ stated view 

that the final rule will not impose 

significant burden or cost upon 

furnishers. 

Another commenter opined that the 

suggested actions a furnisher should 

take to establish and maintain a 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31503 

44 16 CFR 660.3 in the FTC regulations. 

45 16 CFR 660.3(a) in the FTC’s regulations. 

46 16 CFR 660.4(a) in the FTC’s regulations. 

compliance program should be reduced 

or eliminated. The commenter stated it 

was unclear how the suggested actions 

could be considered and documented, 

let alone designed and implemented, in 

21 hours, even for small furnishers. The 

commenter expressed the concern that 

examiners of financial institutions will 

treat suggestions—such as the one that 

furnishers audit their existing 

furnishing activities—as requirements, 

and added that it is unclear whether any 

furnisher needs to audit its existing 

program to comply with the final rules. 

The commenter additionally observed 

that the Agencies’ burden estimate of 21 

hours to comply with the final rule 

would be inconsistent with additionally 

having to conduct such audits. The 

commenter asserted that it would 

require more than 21 hours simply to 

conduct an audit of a mid-sized 

furnisher, and additional time beyond 

that to evaluate the audit results before 

drafting a compliance program. Finally, 

the commenter predicted that the costs 

of an audit may lead some institutions 

not to furnish information. Based on the 

comments received, the Agencies have 

decided to increase the burden 

associated with this requirement from 

21 hours to 24 hours (three business 

days). In doing so, however, we note 

that, as stated earlier in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section, the 

requirement for a furnisher to 

periodically review policies and 

procedures and update them as 

necessary is not an audit requirement. 

The final rule does not impose an audit 

requirement on a furnisher to conduct 

an official examination and verification 

of consumer accounts and records 

regarding its policies and procedures. In 

fact, the Agencies believe that an audit 

would impose undue burden on 

furnishers, especially small furnishers, 

and result in less information being 

provided into the credit reporting 

system. 

Impact on Small Institutions 

One commenter stated that the impact 

of the proposal on small institutions’ 

current resources would be severe and 

that they would have to use significant 

resources to comply with the proposed 

requirements. The commenter added 

that its member companies spend about 

one hour verifying each dispute, and it 

expects a substantial increase in direct 

disputes once the rule is implemented. 

The commenter anticipates that 

consumers will choose to use direct 

disputes over contacting CRAs. 

As discussed earlier in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section, the 

Agencies recognize that a ‘‘one-size-fitsall’’ approach for implementing the 

guidelines is inappropriate. The final 

rule specifies that a furnisher’s policies 

and procedures must be appropriate to 

the nature, size, complexity, and scope 

of the furnisher’s activities. The 

Agencies expect that the written 

policies and procedures for a small 

retail entity will differ substantially 

from, and be significantly less complex 

than, those of a multi-billion dollar 

financial services company. The 

Agencies have also addressed 

furnishers’ implementation burden for 

§l.43 44 of the final rule by permitting 

furnishers to specify a direct dispute 

address for receiving such disputes. The 

address may be provided to consumers 

either by a CRA setting forth the 

address, which is provided by the 

furnisher, on a consumer report or by 

other means to consumers in writing or 

electronically (if the consumer has 

agreed to the electronic delivery of 

information from the furnisher). 

PRA Submission to OMB for Final Rule 

The information collection 

requirements contained in this joint 

final rule have been submitted by the 

OCC, FDIC, OTS, NCUA, and FTC to 

OMB for review and approval under 

section 3506 of the PRA and § 1320.11 

of OMB’s implementing regulations (5 

CFR part 1320). The review and 

authorization information for the Board 

is provided later in this section along 

with the Board’s burden estimates. The 

Agencies may not conduct or sponsor, 

and an organization is not required to 

respond to, a collection of information 

unless it displays a currently valid OMB 

control number. The final rule 

requirements subject to the PRA are 

found in 12 CFR __.42(a), __.43(a), 

__.43(f)(2), and __.43(f)(3) and 16 CFR 

660.3(a), 660.4(a), 660.4(f)(2), and 

660.4(f)(3). 

Proposed Information Collection 

Title of Information Collection: 

Accuracy and Integrity of Information 

Furnished to Consumer Reporting 

Agencies. 

Frequency of Response: On occasion; 

frequent for large entities. 

Affected Public: 

OCC: National banks, Federal 

branches and agencies of foreign banks, 

and their respective operating 

subsidiaries that are not functionally 

regulated within the meaning of section 

5(c)(5) of the Bank Holding Company 

Act of 1956, as amended (12 U.S.C. 

1844(c)(5)) that furnish or have 

furnished information to CRAs. 

Board: State member banks, 

uninsured state agencies and branches 

of foreign banks, commercial lending 

companies owned or controlled by 

foreign banks, and Edge and agreement 

corporations. 

FDIC: Insured nonmember banks, 

insured state branches of foreign banks, 

and certain subsidiaries of these 

entities. 

OTS: Savings associations and certain 

of their subsidiaries. 

NCUA: Federal credit unions. 

FTC: Businesses that furnish 

information to a CRA, and are subject to 

administrative enforcement by the FTC 

pursuant to section 621(a)(1) of the 

FCRA (15 U.S.C. 1681s(a)(1)). 

Abstract: Section .42(a) 45 of the final 

regulations requires a furnisher to 

implement reasonable written policies 

and procedures regarding the accuracy 

and integrity of information relating to 

consumers that it provides to a CRA. 

The policies and procedures must be 

appropriate to the nature, size, 

complexity, and scope of each 

furnisher’s activities. Furnishers already 

have an ongoing responsibility under 

section 623 of the FCRA for accurate 

reporting, which has been in place long 

before enactment of the FACT Act. This 

final rule would require furnishers to 

draft policies and procedures that 

address their section 312 

responsibilities regarding the accuracy 

and integrity of information. Furnishers’ 

accuracy and integrity policies and 

procedures may include their existing 

policies and procedures that are 

reasonable and appropriate. As 

mentioned earlier, the Agencies have 

reassessed the burden for section .42(a) 

and increased their estimate from 21 

hours to 24 hours. 

Section .43(a) 46 allows consumers, in 

certain circumstances, to initiate 

disputes directly with furnishers, 

instead of using the existing FCRA 

process through CRAs. Furnishers 

already have affirmative responsibilities 

to research and respond and, if 

necessary, make any corrections when a 

dispute is initiated by consumers 

through a CRA. Under this final rule, 

furnishers would have to follow a 

substantially similar process for 

disputes consumers submit directly to 

them. Furnishers would need to amend 

their procedures to ensure that disputes 

received directly from consumers are 

processed in a substantially similar 

manner as complaints received from 

CRAs. In the NPRM, the Agencies 

estimated that furnishers would devote 

four hours to amend their procedures. 

Based on comments received, the 

Agencies have increased the burden 

31504 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

47 16 CFR 660.4(f)(2) in the FTC’s regulations. 

48 16 CFR 660.4(f)(3) in the FTC’s regulations. 

49Frivolous or irrelevant disputes also include 

incomplete and duplicate disputes. See §l.43(f)(1). 

50Frivolous or irrelevant disputes will generally 

fall into one of three categories: (i) Disputes based 

on, or influenced by, form letters from credit repair 

organizations, (ii) duplicate or serial disputes, and 

(iii) disputes that are incomplete or classified as 

frivolous or irrelevant for other reasons. 

51Fourteen minutes is the estimated time 

required to send a notice to a consumer as required 

by the final rule and, when appropriate, for a 

furnisher to transmit information to CRAs through 

e-OSCAR. The estimated burden per notice does not 

include the time a company’s staff may spend 

locating or evaluating original documents or 

resolving the dispute. 

52Based upon comments received and upon 

consideration of data regarding current numbers of 

disputes, the agencies have increased their burden 

estimates from those provided in the NPRM. 

53A dispute related to one trade line may require 

more than one notice. For example, a notice may 

be sent by a furnisher for the same trade line to a 

consumer in response to a frivolous or irrelevant 

dispute, and after the dispute is re-submitted with 

additional information another notice would be 

required in response to the non-frivolous dispute. 

Absent input to further inform the estimated time 

to prepare and distribute non-frivolous or irrelevant 

dispute notices, the OCC will assume the same time 

estimates as applied to frivolous or irrelevant 

dispute notices. 

54 Due to the varied nature of the entities subject 

to the jurisdiction of the FTC, this Estimated 

estimate to eight hours (one business 

day). 

Section .43(f)(2) 47 incorporates the 

section 312 requirement that a furnisher 

must notify a consumer by mail or other 

means (if authorized by the consumer) 

within five business days after making 

a determination that a dispute is 

frivolous or irrelevant. 

Section .43(f)(3) 48 incorporates the 

content requirements from section 312 

for a notice of determination that a 

dispute is frivolous or irrelevant. In the 

NPRM, the Agencies estimated that 

furnishers would devote four hours to 

implement this notice requirement. 

Based on comments received, the 

Agencies have increased the burden 

estimate to eight hours (one business 

day). 

Regarding estimated potential burden 

for providing the notices to consumers 

for frivolous or irrelevant disputes,49 the 

Agencies received an industry comment 

that estimated 50 percent of disputes 

received are frivolous or irrelevant. A 

second industry commenter stated that 

CRAs have estimated that as many as 

one third of the disputes they received 

are illegitimate efforts at credit repair. In 

contrast, another industry commenter 

stated that in only 25 percent of 

disputes is the challenged information 

in the consumer report verified as 

correct. However, a fourth industry 

commenter reported that some of its 

members suggested that only six to 

seven percent of disputes regarding 

their trade lines prove to be valid and 

result in information being blocked from 

appearing on subsequent credit reports. 

Thus, based on these various 

commenters’ estimates, and assuming 

that all disputes are frivolous or 

irrelevant when information in the 

consumer report is verified as correct, 

the percentage of frivolous or irrelevant 

disputes could range from 25 percent to 

94 percent of all disputes. At this time 

the Agencies know neither the number 

nor rate of frivolous or irrelevant 

disputes currently being received by 

CRAs, nor the extent to which 

furnishers currently receive and provide 

notices in response to frivolous or 

irrelevant disputes. The Agencies have 

considered all of the comments and 

available information and have 

increased their estimates for the number 

of written notices that furnishers will 

provide to consumers in response to 

direct disputes that are frivolous or 

irrelevant.50 The Agencies estimate that 

furnishers would devote an average of 

14 minutes per dispute to prepare and 

send a notice to a consumer.51

Estimated Burden: 52

Thus, the burden associated with this 

collection of information may be 

summarized as follows. 

OCC 

Number of respondents: 1,508. 

Number of frivolous or irrelevant 

disputes: 2.8 million. 

Number of additional non-frivolous or 

irrelevant disputes: 1,874,010 million.53

Estimated annual burden associated 

with direct disputes: 1,094,892 hours. 

Estimated burden per respondent: 24 

hours to implement written policies and 

procedures and training associated with 

the written policies and procedures, 8 

hours to amend procedures for handling 

complaints received directly from 

consumers, 8 hours to implement the 

new dispute notice requirement, and 14 

minutes per notice for distribution. 

Total estimated annual burden: 

1,147,447 hours. 

Board 

In accordance with the PRA (44 

U.S.C. 3506; 5 CFR part 1320, Appendix 

A.1), the Board, under its delegated 

authority from OMB, has approved the 

implementation of this information 

collection. The information collection 

associated with this rulemaking will be 

incorporated into the Recordkeeping 

and Disclosure Requirements 

Associated with Regulation V (Fair 

Credit Reporting) and will be assigned 

OMB No. 7100–0308. The burden 

estimates provided below pertain only 

to the information collections associated 

with this final rule. 

Number of respondents: 1,172. 

Number of frivolous or irrelevant 

dispute notices: 611,966. 

Estimated burden per respondent: 24 

hours to implement written policies and 

procedures and training associated with 

the written policies and procedures, 8 

hours to amend procedures for handling 

complaints received directly from 

consumers, 8 hours to implement the 

new dispute notice requirement, and 14 

minutes per notice for distribution. 

Total estimated annual burden: 

189,672 hours. 

FDIC 

Number of respondents: 5,104. 

Number of frivolous or irrelevant 

dispute notices: 100,100. 

Estimated burden per respondent: 24 

hours to implement written policies and 

procedures and training associated with 

the written policies and procedures, 8 

hours to amend procedures for handling 

complaints received directly from 

consumers, 8 hours to implement the 

new dispute notice requirement, and 14 

minutes per notice for distribution. 

Total estimated annual burden: 

227,517 hours. 

OTS 

Number of respondents: 804. 

Number of frivolous or irrelevant 

dispute notices: 15,001. 

Estimated burden per respondent: 24 

hours to implement written policies and 

procedures and training associated with 

the written policies and procedures, 8 

hours to amend procedures for handling 

complaints received directly from 

consumers, 8 hours to implement the 

new dispute notice requirement, and 14 

minutes per notice for distribution. 

Total estimated annual burden: 

35,610 hours. 

NCUA 

Number of respondents: 4,909. 

Estimated burden per respondent: 24 

hours to implement written policies and 

procedures and training associated with 

the written policies and procedures, 8 

hours to amend procedures for handling 

complaints received directly from 

consumers, 8 hours to implement the 

new dispute notice requirement, and 14 

minutes per notice for distribution. 

Number of frivolous or irrelevant 

dispute notices: 153,072. 

Total estimated annual burden: 

232,076 hours. 

FTC54

Number of respondents: 6,133. 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31505 

Burden section reflects only the view of the FTC. 

The banking regulatory agencies have jointly 

prepared a separate analysis. 

55 15 U.S.C. 1681b(a). 

56This estimate is derived from the number of 

furnishers reporting to the three nationwide CRAs 

(approximately 18,000), minus the number of 

entities subject to jurisdiction of the Federal 

financial agencies and the NCUA (14,167 

combined), and adding the number of furnishers to 

medical information bureaus (approximately 500) 

and the number of insurance companies furnishing 

information to other types of CRAs (approximately 

1,800). 

57This revised hourly wage rate is based on 

http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ncswage2007.htm (last 

visited March 3, 2009) (National Compensation 

Survey: Occupational Earnings in the United States 

2007, US Department of Labor released August 

2008, Bulletin 2704, Table 3 (‘‘Full-time civilian 

workers,’’ mean and median hourly wages) for 

management occupations. 

Number of frivolous or irrelevant 

dispute notices: 21,720. 

Estimated burden per respondent: 24 

hours in the first year of the rule’s 

existence to implement written policies 

and procedures and training associated 

with the written policies and 

procedures, another 8 hours in the first 

year to amend procedures for handling 

complaints received directly from 

consumers, and 8 hours to implement 

the new dispute notice requirement, and 

14 minutes per notice for preparation 

and distribution. Recurring burden, if 

any, in subsequent years are further 

detailed below. 

Total estimated annual burden: 

95,000 hours (rounded to the nearest 

thousand) 

Section 660.3: 

Estimated Hours Burden: 

As discussed above, the final rule 

requires furnishers to establish and 

implement reasonable written policies 

and procedures regarding the accuracy 

and integrity of the information relating 

to consumers that it furnishes to a CRA. 

The final rule defines ‘‘furnisher’’ to 

mean an entity that furnishes 

information relating to consumers to 

one or more CRAs for inclusion in a 

consumer report, but provides that an 

entity is not a furnisher when it: 

Provides information to a CRA solely to 

obtain a consumer report for a 

permissible purpose under the FCRA; 55

is acting as a CRA as defined in section 

603(f) of the FCRA; is an individual 

consumer to whom the furnished 

information pertains; or is a neighbor, 

friend, or associate of the consumer, or 

another individual with whom the 

consumer is acquainted or who may 

have knowledge about the consumer’s 

character, general reputation, personal 

characteristics, or mode of living in 

response to a specific request from a 

CRA. 

Given the broad scope of furnishers, 

it is difficult to determine precisely the 

number of furnishers that are subject to 

the FTC’s jurisdiction. Nonetheless, FTC 

staff estimates that the final regulations 

in § 660.3 will affect approximately 

6,133 furnishers subject to the FTC’s 

jurisdiction.56 As detailed below, FTC 

staff estimates that the average annual 

information collection burden during 

the three-year period for which OMB 

clearance is sought will be 57,000 hours 

(rounded to the nearest thousand). 

The final rule is drafted in a flexible 

manner that allows entities to establish 

and implement different types of 

written policies and procedures based 

upon the nature, size, complexity, and 

scope of their activities. A furnisher 

may include any of its existing policies 

and procedures in place to ensure the 

accuracy of information. The FTC 

believes that many entities have already 

implemented a significant portion of the 

policies and procedures required by the 

final rule. Entities have had an ongoing 

requirement under section 623 of the 

FCRA to provide accurate information 

when they choose to furnish data to 

CRAs. The written policies and 

procedures in the rule formalize the 

processes and controls necessary for 

accurate reporting. Accordingly, FTC 

staff estimates that entities will require 

24 hours to establish and implement 

written policies and procedures, 

including the incremental time to train 

staff to implement these policies and 

procedures, with an annual recurring 

burden of 2 hours; thus, as annualized 

over a 3-year clearance period, 9.33 

hours (28 hours ÷ 3). 

Accordingly, cumulative annualized 

burden for 6,133 furnishers subject to 

the FTC’s jurisdiction to establish and 

implement written policies and 

procedures is 57,000 hours (rounded to 

the nearest thousand). 

Estimated Cost Burden: 

The FTC staff derived labor costs by 

applying appropriate estimated hourly 

cost figures to the burden hours 

described above. It is difficult to 

calculate with precision the labor costs 

associated with the final regulations, as 

they entail varying compensation levels 

of management and/or professional 

technical staff among companies of 

different sizes. In calculating the cost 

figures, staff assumes that managerial 

and/or professional technical personnel 

will draft the written policies and 

procedures and train staff. In the NPRM 

analysis, FTC staff estimated labor cost 

for such employees to be $38.93, based 

on 2006 BLS data for management 

occupations. However, based on more 

current available BLS data, the FTC is 

revising upward this prior estimate to 

$41.57

Based on the above estimates and 

assumptions, the total annual labor 

costs for all categories of covered 

entities under the final regulations in 

§ 660.3 are $2,337,000 (rounded to the 

nearest thousand) [(57,000 hours x 

$41)]. 

Section 660.4: 

Estimated Hours Burden: 

The final regulations would also 

require entities that furnish information 

about consumers to respond to direct 

disputes from consumers. FTC staff 

estimates that the final regulations in 

§ 660.4 will also affect approximately 

6,133 furnishers subject to the FTC’s 

jurisdiction. As detailed below, FTC 

staff estimates that the average annual 

information collection burden during 

the three-year period for which OMB 

clearance is sought will cumulatively be 

38,000 hours (rounded to the nearest 

thousand). 

In response to public comments and 

in concurrence with the Agencies’ 

modified estimate noted above, the FTC 

staff estimates that it will take 

furnishers eight hours to amend their 

procedures to ensure that disputes 

received directly from consumers are 

handled the same way as complaints 

from CRAs. FTC staff believes that 

furnishers of information to CRAs will 

have automated the process of 

responding to direct disputes in the first 

year of the clearance, therefore, there 

will be no annual recurring burden. 

Accordingly, the associated annualized 

burden hours over a projected three-year 

OMB clearance would be approximately 

2.67 hours. Similarly, FTC staff also 

estimates that it will take furnishers 

eight hours in the first year to 

implement the requirement to notify a 

consumer by mail or other means (if 

authorized by the consumer) within five 

business days after making a 

determination that a dispute is frivolous 

or irrelevant. FTC staff believes that 

furnishers will also automate this 

process in the first year of clearance, so 

there will be no annual recurring 

burden. Likewise, annualized burden 

hours would be approximately 2.67 

hours. 

In response to public comments and 

in concurrence with the Agencies’ 

modified estimate noted above, the FTC 

staff now estimates that to prepare and 

distribute a notice to a consumer after 

a furnisher determines that a dispute is 

frivolous or irrelevant will require 

approximately 14 minutes per notice. 

FTC staff does not know the current 

extent to which furnishers are already 

directly receiving disputes and sending 

31506 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

58This number is derived from an estimate of 

disputes per year that relate to information 

provided by an entity under the FTC’s jurisdiction 

(108,600), an estimated 50% of which will be 

received directly by furnishers, and the Agencies’ 

estimated 40% increase of the number of written 

notices that furnishers will provide to consumers in 

response to direct disputes that are frivolous or 

irrelevant. 

59See supra note 57 regarding FTC costing under 

§ 660.3 for management occupations. 

60See http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ncswage2007.htm 

(last visited March 3, 2009) (National Compensation 

Survey: Occupational Earnings in the United States 

2007, US Department of Labor released August 

2008, Bulletin 2704, Table 3 (‘‘Full-time civilian 

workers,’’ mean and median hourly wages). This 

estimate is based on rates appearing therein for a 

combination of potentially analogous employee 

types (e.g., first-line supervisors of office support, 

accounting and auditing clerks, brokerage clerks, 

eligibility reviewers of government programs). 

related notices to consumers. 

Nevertheless, FTC staff assumes that 50 

percent of all disputes will be filed 

directly with the furnisher after the rule 

is in effect. As a result of these factors, 

FTC staff projects that furnishers under 

its jurisdiction would directly receive 

21,720 frivolous or irrelevant disputes 

requiring a notice each year.58 Thus, 

FTC staff estimates it will take 

furnishers 5,068 hours, cumulatively, 

for each of the three years for which 

OMB clearance is sought to prepare and 

distribute these notices. 

Estimated Cost Burden 

As with its PRA analysis for § 660.3, 

the FTC staff derived labor costs by 

applying appropriate estimated hourly 

cost figures to the burden hours 

described above. Again, it is difficult to 

calculate with precision the labor costs 

associated with the final regulations, as 

they entail varying compensation levels 

of different types of support staff among 

companies of different sizes. 

Nonetheless, in calculating the cost 

figures, staff assumes managerial and/or 

professional technical personnel will 

amend procedures to ensure that 

disputes received directly from 

consumers are handled the same way as 

complaints from CRAs and will 

implement the requirement to notify a 

consumer by mail or other means, after 

making a determination that a dispute is 

frivolous or irrelevant, at an hourly rate 

of $41.59 Staff now assumes that skilled 

administrative support personnel will 

provide the required notices to 

consumers, and has revised upward the 

estimated hourly rate from $13.50 to 

$18.50.60

Based on the above estimates and 

assumptions, the total average annual 

labor costs for all categories of covered 

entities under the final regulations in 

section 660.4 are $1,437,000 (rounded to 

the nearest thousand) [((2.67 hours) × 

6,133 × $41) + ((2.67 hours) × 6,133 × 

$41) + (5,073 hours × $18.50) (for 

preparing and distributing frivolous or 

irrelevant dispute notices)]. 

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

OCC: The Regulatory Flexibility Act 

(RFA) generally requires an agency that 

is issuing a final rule to prepare and 

make available a final regulatory 

flexibility analysis that describes the 

impact of the final rule on small 

entities, 5 U.S.C.604. However, the RFA 

provides that an agency is not required 

to prepare and make available a final 

regulatory flexibility analysis if the 

agency certifies that the final rule will 

not have a significant economic impact 

on a substantial number of small 

entities. 5 U.S.C. 605(b). For purposes of 

the RFA and OCC-regulated entities, a 

‘‘small entity’’ is a national bank with 

assets of $175 million or less (small 

national bank). Based on its analysis 

and for the reason stated below, OCC 

certifies that these final rules will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

Based on two tests used to evaluate the 

impact of the final rules (compliance 

costs as a percentage of labor costs and 

compliance costs as a percentage of noninterest expenses) the OCC estimates 

that the final rules would have a 

significant economic impact on 16 of 

676 small national banks 

(approximately two percent of small 

national banks); the OCC does not 

consider this to be a substantial number 

of small entities. 

Board: The Board prepared an initial 

regulatory flexibility analysis as 

required by the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) in 

connection with the proposed rule. The 

Board received three comment letters 

addressing its initial regulatory 

flexibility analysis. 

Under section 605(b) of the RFA, 5 

U.S.C. 605(b), the regulatory flexibility 

analysis otherwise required under 

section 604 of the RFA is not required 

if an agency certifies, along with a 

statement providing the factual basis for 

such certification, that the rule will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities 

(defined for purposes of the RFA to 

include commercial banks and other 

depository institutions with $175 

million or less in assets). Based on its 

analysis and for the reasons stated 

below, the Board certifies that these 

final rules will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. 

1. Statement of the Need for, and 

Objectives of, the Final Rules. 

Section 312 of the FACT Act (which 

amends section 623 of the FCRA) 

requires the Agencies to issue 

regulations and guidelines relating to 

the responsibilities of furnishers of 

information about consumers to CRAs 

for the purpose of enhancing the 

accuracy and integrity of the 

information furnished. In addition, the 

Agencies must prescribe joint 

regulations that identify the 

circumstances, if any, under which 

furnishers must investigate disputes 

about the accuracy of the information 

contained in a consumer report on the 

consumer based on a direct request by 

a consumer, rather than requiring 

consumers to initiate a dispute through 

a consumer reporting agency. 

The SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

above contains information on the 

objectives of the final rules. 

2. Summaries of Issues Raised by 

Comments in Response to the Initial 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis. 

In accordance with section 3(a) of the 

RFA, the Board conducted an initial 

regulatory flexibility analysis in 

connection with the proposed rule. The 

Agencies estimated in the proposed rule 

that it would take furnishers 

approximately 21 hours on average to 

implement the written policies and 

procedures regarding accuracy and 

integrity, including appropriate staff 

training. One commenter, Independent 

Community Bankers of America (ICBA), 

questioned the Agencies’ estimate, 

noting that the compliance burdens will 

be significantly more than the 21 hours 

estimated by the Agencies. Another 

commenter, MasterCard Worldwide, 

also questioned the Agencies’ 21 hours 

estimate, but this comment did not 

apply uniquely to small entities. 

Another commenter, The American 

Financial Services Association (AFSA), 

predicted that the impact on small 

institutions current resources would be 

severe. AFSA stated that it anticipated 

that direct disputes would increase 

significantly and thus believed that the 

‘‘Estimated Hours Burden’’ and 

‘‘Estimated Cost Burden’’ are extremely 

low. 

The Agencies estimated that it would 

take furnishers approximately four 

hours to adjust procedures for handling 

disputes received directly from 

consumers, another four hours to 

implement the new dispute process, and 

approximately another five minutes to 

send each notice of direct dispute. ICBA 

noted that it is probably unreasonable to 

believe that it will take only five 

minutes to prepare and send a notice of 

direct dispute since it will likely take 

much longer than that merely to review 

and investigate a dispute. 

3. Description and Estimate of Small 

Entities Affected by the Final Rules. 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31507 

The final rules apply to all banks that 

are members of the Federal Reserve 

System (other than national banks) and 

their respective operating subsidiaries, 

branches and Agencies of foreign banks 

(other than Federal branches, Federal 

Agencies, and insured State branches of 

foreign banks), commercial lending 

companies owned or controlled by 

foreign banks, and organizations 

operating under section 25 or 25A of the 

Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 601 et 

seq., and 611 et seq.). The Board’s final 

rules will apply to the following 

institutions (numbers approximate): 

State member banks (881), operating 

subsidiaries that are not functionally 

regulated within the meaning of section 

5(c)(5) of the Bank Holding Company 

Act of 1956, as amended (877), U.S. 

branches and agencies of foreign banks 

(219), commercial lending companies 

owned or controlled by foreign banks 

(3), and Edge and agreement 

corporations (64), for a total of 

approximately 2,044 institutions. The 

Board estimates that more than 1,448 of 

these institutions could be considered 

small entities with assets of $175 

million or less. 

All small entities covered by the 

Board’s rule potentially will be subject 

to the final rules. However, the final 

rules will not impose any requirements 

on small entities that do not furnish 

information about consumers to CRAs. 

4. Recordkeeping, Reporting and 

Other Compliance Requirements. 

The final rules require small entities 

that are furnishers subject to the rule to 

establish and implement reasonable 

policies and procedures regarding the 

accuracy and integrity of the 

information relating to consumers that 

they furnish to a CRA. Such furnishers 

are required to consider the guidelines 

in Appendix E to the proposed rule in 

developing these policies and 

procedures, and to incorporate those 

guidelines that are appropriate. The 

final rules also require small entities 

that are furnishers to investigate direct 

disputes received from a consumer that 

relate to an account or other 

relationship that the furnisher has with 

the consumer. The final rules require 

small entities to notify consumers who 

submit direct disputes of the results of 

the investigation or of the determination 

that the dispute is frivolous or 

irrelevant. 

5. Steps Taken To Minimize the 

Economic Impact on Small Entities. 

The Board believes the rule will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

The Board and the other Agencies have 

sought to minimize the economic 

impact on small entities by adopting 

consistent rules; affording furnishers the 

flexibility to establish policies and 

procedures that are appropriate to the 

nature, size, complexity, and scope of 

each furnisher’s activities; permitting 

furnishers to include in their accuracy 

and integrity policies and procedures 

any of their existing policies and 

procedures that are relevant and 

appropriate; and affording furnishers 

the flexibility not to investigate disputes 

they reasonably believe have been 

submitted by a credit repair 

organization. 

The Board believes that many 

institutions’ existing policies and 

procedures already address significant 

portions of the requirements related to 

furnishing information to CRAs. 

Similarly, the Board believes that many 

furnishers are already investigating 

direct disputes as good business 

practice. Furthermore, the Board notes 

that furnishers investigate disputes 

brought directly to a consumer reporting 

agency, which then directs the disputes 

to the furnisher, as appropriate, 

pursuant to existing FCRA law. 

FDIC: The FDIC prepared an initial 

regulatory flexibility analysis as 

required by the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) in 

connection with the December 13, 2007 

proposed rule. The FDIC received three 

comment letters addressing its initial 

regulatory flexibility analysis. 

Under section 605(b) of the RFA, 5 

U.S.C. 605(b), the regulatory flexibility 

analysis otherwise required under 

section 604 of the RFA is not required 

if an agency certifies, along with a 

statement providing the factual basis for 

such certification, that the rule will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities 

(defined for purposes of the RFA to 

include commercial banks and other 

depository institutions with $175 

million or less in assets). Based on its 

analysis and for the reasons stated 

below, the FDIC certifies that these final 

rules will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. 

Under the final rules, which 

implement section 312 of the FACT Act 

(which amends section 623 of the 

FCRA), the FDIC has issued regulations 

and guidelines relating to the 

responsibilities of furnishers of 

information about consumers to 

consumer reporting agencies for the 

purpose of enhancing the accuracy and 

integrity of the information furnished. 

In addition, the FDIC has prescribed 

joint regulations (with the other 

Agencies) that identify the 

circumstances under which furnishers 

must investigate disputes about the 

accuracy of the information contained 

in a consumer report on the consumer 

based on a direct request by a consumer, 

rather than requiring consumers to 

initiate a dispute through a consumer 

reporting agency. The SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION above contains information 

on the objectives of the final rules. 

The final rules apply to most FDICinsured state nonmember banks, 

approximately 3,400 of which are small 

entities. Under the rule, financial 

institutions that furnish information 

about consumers to one or more 

consumer reporting agencies must have 

written policies and procedures 

regarding the accuracy and integrity of 

that information. The program must be 

appropriate to the nature, size, 

complexity, and scope of the furnishing 

activities. A furnisher may include any 

of its existing policies and procedures in 

place to ensure the accuracy of 

information. Institutions have had an 

ongoing requirement under section 623 

of the FCRA to provide accurate 

information when they choose to 

furnish data to consumer reporting 

agencies. The written policies and 

procedures in the rule would formalize 

the processes and controls necessary for 

accurate reporting. Federal Financial 

Institutions Examination Council 

examination procedures exist and have 

been used for years to evaluate 

compliance with the aspects of section 

623 of the FCRA. Based on our 

examination of the financial institutions 

we supervise, the FDIC believes that 

many of these institutions have already 

implemented a significant portion of the 

policies and procedures required by the 

rule. The process of furnishing 

information to consumer reporting 

agencies is largely automated. 

The final rules also require financial 

institutions that furnish information 

about consumers to respond to direct 

dispute requests from consumers with 

regard to certain perceived inaccuracies. 

While the final rules would require new 

procedural requirements, including 

direct dispute notices, the FDIC believes 

that investigating direct disputes will 

not create significant additional burdens 

on small banks, for a number of reasons. 

First, most furnishers are already 

investigating similar disputes, which 

under the current law are brought 

directly to the relevant consumer 

reporting agency, which then contacts 

the furnisher for an investigation. Under 

this procedure, furnishers are already 

required to review all relevant 

information provided by the consumer 

reporting agency along with the notice; 

report the results of the investigation to 

the consumer reporting agency; if the 

disputed information is found to be 

31508 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

incomplete or inaccurate, report those 

results to all nationwide consumer 

reporting agencies to which the 

financial institution previously 

provided the information; and if the 

disputed information is incomplete, 

inaccurate, or not verifiable by the 

financial institution, promptly, for 

purposes of reporting to the consumer 

reporting agency, modify the item of 

information, delete the item of 

information, or permanently block the 

reporting of that item of information. 

Second, many of these furnishers are 

already investigating direct disputes as 

a matter of good customer relations and 

sound business practices or under other 

consumer protection laws. 

Third, the final rules do not require 

investigation in cases that are frivolous 

or irrelevant. 

OTS: The Regulatory Flexibility Act 

(RFA) generally requires an agency that 

is issuing a final rule to prepare and 

make available a final regulatory 

flexibility analysis that describes the 

impact of the final rule on small 

entities. 5 U.S.C. 604. However, the RFA 

provides that an agency is not required 

to prepare and make available a final 

regulatory flexibility analysis if the 

agency certifies, along with a statement 

providing the factual basis for such 

certification, that the rule will not have 

a significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. For 

purposes of the RFA and OTS-regulated 

entities, a ‘‘small entity’’ is a savings 

association with $175 million or less in 

assets (small savings association). Based 

on its analysis and for the reasons stated 

below, OTS certifies that these final 

rules will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. 

1. Reasons for Final Rules. 

The FACT Act amends the FCRA and 

was enacted, in part, for the purpose of 

enhancing the accuracy and integrity of 

information furnished to CRAs. Section 

312 of the FACT Act generally requires 

the Agencies to issue guidelines for use 

by furnishers regarding the accuracy 

and integrity of the information about 

consumers that they furnish to 

consumer reporting agencies and 

prescribe regulations requiring 

furnishers to establish reasonable 

policies and procedures for 

implementing the guidelines. Section 

312 also requires the Agencies to 

prescribe regulations identifying the 

circumstances under which a furnisher 

must reinvestigate disputes about the 

accuracy of information contained in a 

consumer report based on a direct 

request from a consumer. OTS is issuing 

these final rules to implement section 

312 of the FACT Act. 

2. Statement of Objectives and Legal 

Basis. 

The objectives of the final rules are 

described in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section. In sum, the 

objectives are: (1) To implement the 

general statutory provision that requires 

the Agencies to issue guidelines for use 

by furnishers regarding the accuracy 

and integrity of the information about 

consumers that they furnish to 

consumer reporting agencies and 

prescribe regulations requiring 

furnishers to establish reasonable 

policies and procedures for 

implementing the guidelines and (2) to 

fulfill the statutory mandate requiring 

the Agencies to prescribe regulations 

identifying the circumstances under 

which a furnisher must reinvestigate 

disputes about the accuracy of 

information contained in a consumer 

report based on a direct request from a 

consumer. The primary legal basis for 

the final rules is the Fair Credit 

Reporting Act found at 15 U.S.C. 1681 

et seq. 

3. Description and Estimate of Small 

Entities Affected by the Final Rules. 

The final rules apply to savings 

associations and operating subsidiaries 

of Federal savings associations that are 

not functionally regulated within the 

meaning of section 5(c)(5) of the Bank 

Holding Company Act of 1956, as 

amended (12 U.S.C. 1844(c)(5)). 

OTS estimates that its final rules will 

apply to 391 small savings associations 

with assets of $175 million or less. 

4. Projected Recordkeeping, 

Reporting, and Other Compliance 

Requirements. 

The compliance requirements of the 

final rules are described in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION above. 

In general, the final rules require each 

furnisher subject to the rule to establish 

and implement reasonable policies and 

procedures regarding the accuracy and 

integrity of the information relating to 

consumers that it furnishes to a 

consumer reporting agency. Furnishers 

will be required to consider the 

guidelines in Appendix E to the final 

rules in developing these policies and 

procedures and to incorporate those 

guidelines that are appropriate. 

In response to comments about 

potential burden, the Agencies have 

sought to reduce the burden associated 

with these accuracy and integrity 

regulations and guidelines in several 

ways. 

First, the Agencies have adopted 

consistent rules. 

Second, the final rules provide 

substantial flexibility and minimize 

burden to allow any thrift, regardless of 

size, to tailor its practices to its 

individual needs. The program must be 

appropriate to the nature, size, 

complexity, and scope of the furnishing 

activities. 

Third, a furnisher may include any of 

its existing policies and procedures in 

place to ensure the accuracy of 

information. Furnishers have a 

preexisting obligation under section 623 

of the FCRA to provide accurate 

information when they furnish data to 

consumer reporting agencies. OTS 

believes that many furnishers are likely 

to have existing policies and procedures 

regarding accurate reporting in order to 

satisfy their obligations under section 

623, and that these policies and 

procedures could be incorporated in the 

policies and procedures required by the 

final rules. 

Furnishers subject to the final rules 

also will be required, under certain 

circumstances, to investigate disputes 

concerning the accuracy of information 

about the consumer contained in a 

consumer report based on a direct 

request of a consumer. While the rule 

requires new procedural requirements, 

OTS believes that investigating direct 

disputes will not create significant 

additional burdens on small 

institutions, for a number of reasons. 

First, most savings association 

furnishers already investigate similar 

disputes that are provided to them by a 

consumer reporting agency pursuant to 

the existing dispute provisions 

contained in section 611 of the FCRA. 

Second, commenters on the ANPR 

and NPRM noted that many furnishers 

already investigate direct disputes as a 

matter of good customer relations, 

sound business practices, or because 

they are required to do so by other 

consumer protection laws. Savings 

associations also investigate disputes 

brought to the institution through OTS’s 

customer complaint system. 

Third, the final rules do not require 

investigation of direct disputes when 

such disputes are frivolous or irrelevant. 

Fourth, savings associations already 

have mechanisms and processes in 

place to handle consumer complaints 

brought under other laws such as the 

Truth in Lending Act, Real Estate 

Settlement Procedures Act, and 

Electronic Funds Transfer Act. OTS 

believes many of these mechanisms and 

processes can be readily adapted to 

handle consumer disputes about their 

consumer reports. 

5. Identification of Duplicative, 

Overlapping, or Conflicting Federal 

Rules. 

OTS is unable to identify any statutes 

or rules which would overlap or conflict 

with the final rules. 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31509 

6. Discussion of Significant 

Alternatives. 

As required by the FACT Act, the 

final rules and guidelines apply to all 

covered institutions, regardless of the 

size of the institution. One approach to 

minimizing the burden on small entities 

would have been to provide a specific 

exemption for small institutions. 

However, OTS has no authority under 

section 312 of the FACT Act to grant an 

exception that would remove small 

institutions from the scope of the rule. 

The final rules do, however, provide 

substantial flexibility so that any 

savings association, regardless of size, 

may tailor its practices to its individual 

needs. For example, to minimize burden 

the final rules permit institutions to 

include in their accuracy and integrity 

policies and procedures their existing 

policies and procedures that are 

relevant and appropriate. Furthermore, 

OTS and other Agencies have attempted 

to minimize burden by: adopting 

consistent rules; incorporating into the 

final rules at § 571.42(a) a statement that 

policies and procedures should be 

appropriate to the nature, size, 

complexity, and scope of a furnisher’s 

activities; and providing furnishers with 

three options for providing their direct 

disputes address to consumers under 

§ 571.43(c). 

NCUA: The Regulatory Flexibility Act 

(RFA) requires NCUA to prepare an 

analysis to describe any significant 

economic impact a proposed regulation 

may have on a substantial number of 

small entities. 5 U.S.C. 601–612. NCUA 

considers credit unions having less than 

ten million dollars in assets to be small 

for purposes of RFA. NCUA Interpretive 

Ruling and Policy Statement (IRPS) 87– 

2 as amended by IRPS 03–2. In 

connection with the December 13, 2007 

proposed rule, NCUA certified that the 

proposed rule would not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small credit 

unions and therefore, a regulatory 

flexibility analysis was not required. 

Upon further review, the NCUA now 

certifies that the final rules also will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small credit 

unions. The final rules will apply to all 

Federal credit unions regardless of asset 

size. 

FTC: The Regulatory Flexibility Act 

(‘‘RFA’’), 5 U.S.C. 601–612, requires that 

the FTC provide an Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (‘‘IRFA’’) with a 

proposed rule and a Final Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (‘‘FRFA’’), if any, 

with the final rule, unless the FTC 

certifies that the rule will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. See 

5 U.S.C. 603–605. 

The FTC hereby certifies that the final 

regulations will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small business entities. The 

FTC continues to believe that a precise 

estimate of the number of small entities 

that fall under the final regulations is 

not currently feasible. Based on changes 

made to the final regulations in 

response to comments received, and the 

FTC’s own experience and knowledge of 

industry practices, the FTC continues to 

believe that the cost and burden of 

complying with the final regulations are 

minimal. Accordingly, this document 

serves as notice to the Small Business 

Administration of the agency’s 

certification of no effect. Nonetheless, 

the FTC has decided to publish a FRFA 

with these final regulations. Therefore, 

the FTC has prepared the following 

analysis: 

1. Need for and Objectives of the Rule. 

The FTC is charged with enforcing the 

requirements of section 312 of the Fair 

and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 

2003 (FACT Act) (15 U.S.C. 1681a– 

2(a)(8) and 1681a–2(e)). Section 312 of 

the FACT Act generally requires the 

Agencies to issue guidelines for use by 

furnishers regarding the accuracy and 

integrity of the information about 

consumers that they furnish to 

consumer reporting agencies and 

prescribe regulations requiring 

furnishers to establish reasonable 

policies and procedures for 

implementing the guidelines. Section 

312 also requires the Agencies to 

prescribe regulations identifying the 

circumstances under which a furnisher 

must reinvestigate disputes about 

accuracy of information contained in a 

consumer report based on a direct 

request from a consumer. In this action, 

the FTC promulgates final rules that 

would implement these requirements of 

the FACT Act. 

2. Significant Issues Received by 

Public Comment. 

The FTC received a number of 

comments on the effect of the proposed 

regulations. Some of the comments 

addressed the effect of the proposed 

regulations on businesses generally, and 

did not identify small businesses as a 

particular category. The FTC staff, 

therefore, has included all comments in 

this FRFA that raised potential 

compliance issues for small businesses, 

regardless of whether the commenter 

identified small businesses as being an 

affected category. 

The FTC estimated in the proposed 

rule that it would take furnishers 

approximately 21 hours on average to 

establish and implement the written 

policies and procedures regarding 

accuracy and integrity, including the 

incremental time to train staff. The FTC 

also estimated that it would take 

furnishers approximately four hours to 

adjust procedures for handling disputes 

received directly from consumers, 

another four hours to implement the 

new dispute process, and approximately 

five minutes to send each notice of 

direct dispute. 

One commenter questioned these 

estimates, stating it is impossible to 

verify whether it will take more time to 

implement the final rules. This 

commenter also stated that it is 

unreasonable to believe it will take only 

five minutes to prepare and sent a 

notice since it is likely to take longer 

simply to review and investigate a 

dispute. Another commenter stated that 

the compliance burdens will be 

significantly more than 21 hours, but 

this comment did not apply uniquely to 

small entities. The FTC also received a 

comment predicting that the impact of 

the proposed rules on small institutions 

would be severe, but noting that it is 

impossible to estimate the full impact. 

This comment noted that they expect 

that direct disputes would increase 

significantly and thus believed that the 

‘‘Estimated Hours Burden’’ and 

‘‘Estimated Cost Burden’’ are extremely 

low. The commenter also disputed that 

the bulk of disputes received would be 

handled by a clerical level employee. 

As noted in the PRA analysis, the 

Agencies have revised the estimate of 21 

hours on average to establish and 

implement the written policies and 

procedures regarding accuracy and 

integrity to 24 hours. The Agencies have 

also revised the estimates of four hours 

to adjust procedures for handling direct 

disputes and another four hours to 

implement the new dispute process to 

eight hours in both instances. Moreover, 

the estimated burden per notice 

represents the time it will take a 

furnisher to prepare notices as required 

by the final rules, and does not include 

the time required to review and 

investigate a dispute. However, the 

Agencies have revised the estimate of 

time to provide a notice to a consumer 

from five minutes to fourteen minutes. 

In addition, one commenter noted 

that smaller entities may not have 

established policies and procedures, 

and requested that the final rules permit 

furnishers to adapt or rely on the 

instructions of CRAs or service 

providers in lieu of establishing policies 

and procedures. Another commenter 

also requested that the Agencies 

eliminate the requirement for written 

policies and procedures to minimize the 

burden of the final rules. As discussed 

31510 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

61The size standard to be considered a small 

business for the majority of the non-bank creditors, 

insurers, and debt collectors that are subject to the 

Commission’s jurisdiction is to have average annual 

receipts that are $6.5 million or less. A list of the 

SBA’s size standards for all industries can be found 

at http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/ 

documents/sba_homepage/serv_sstd_tablepdf.pdf 

(last visited March 3, 2009). 

in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, the 

final rules specify that a furnisher’s 

policies and procedures must be 

appropriate to the nature, size, 

complexity, and scope of the furnisher’s 

activities. The Agencies expect that the 

written policies and procedures for a 

small retail entity will differ 

substantially from, and be significantly 

less complex, than those of a multibillion dollar financial services 

company. 

The FTC received additional 

comments suggesting that the agencies 

minimize the burden of the final rules 

by: Ensuring adequate time for 

implementation; more clearly 

distinguishing the responsibilities of 

furnishers from the responsibilities of 

CRAs; ‘‘[e]liminat[ing] liability from 

‘accuracy’ and ‘integrity’ ’’; removing 

any obligation to update information 

that was accurate when furnished; and 

clarifying that there is no need for a 

furnisher to continue reporting on a 

debt once the debt is sold. The Agencies 

have set a mandatory compliance 

deadline of July 1, 2010, thereby 

providing all entities with at least one 

year within which to implement the 

final regulations. As discussed in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, the 

definitions of ‘‘accuracy’’ and 

‘‘integrity’’ do not impose stand-alone 

obligations on furnishers but guide and 

inform the duties otherwise imposed on 

furnishers under the regulations. The 

Agencies further note that section 623(c) 

of the FCRA limits private rights of 

actions for a furnisher’s noncompliance 

with the rules issued pursuant to 

section 312 of the FACT Act, which 

include the definitions of ‘‘accuracy’’ 

and ‘‘integrity.’’ Finally, with respect to 

debt that is sold, as discussed in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, the 

Agencies do not expect that after 

transferring an account to a third party 

a furnisher would update the current 

status of the account beyond providing 

information to a CRA that the account 

has been transferred. 

3. Small Entities to Which the Final 

Rules Will Apply. 

The FTC’s final rules will apply to 

‘‘an entity that furnishes information 

relating to consumers to one or more 

consumer reporting agencies for 

inclusion in a consumer report,’’ except 

when it ‘‘(1) Provides information to a 

consumer reporting agency solely to 

obtain a consumer report in accordance 

with sections 604(a) and (f) of the Fair 

Credit Reporting Act; (2) Is acting as a 

‘‘consumer reporting agency’’ as defined 

in section 603(f) of the Fair Credit 

Reporting Act; (3) Is a consumer to 

whom the furnished information 

pertains; or (4) Is a neighbor, friend, or 

associate of the consumer, or another 

individual with whom the consumer is 

acquainted or who may have knowledge 

about the consumer, and who provides 

information about the consumer’s 

character, general reputation, personal 

characteristics, or mode of living in 

response to a specific request from a 

consumer reporting agency.’’ In short, 

the rule would apply to any entity that 

(1) is under the FTC’s jurisdiction 

pursuant to the FCRA and (2) furnishes 

information relating to consumers to 

one or more consumer reporting 

agencies. 

Generally, the final regulations would 

apply to financial institutions, creditors, 

and other entities that furnish 

information relating to consumers to 

consumer reporting agencies. In 

particular, entities under FTC’s 

jurisdiction covered by section 312 

include state-chartered credit unions, 

non-bank lenders, insurers, debt 

collectors, and any other entity other 

than an individual consumer that 

furnishes information relating to 

consumers to one or more consumer 

reporting agencies. The FTC requested 

but did not receive any comments on its 

IRFA relating to the number and type of 

small entities affected by the proposed 

rule. The FTC continues to believe that 

the available data is not sufficient for it 

to realistically estimate the number of 

entities the FTC regulates that would be 

subject to the final rules and that are 

small as defined by the Small Business 

Administration.61

4. Projected Reporting, 

Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 

Requirements. 

The final rules require each furnisher 

subject to the rule to establish and 

implement reasonable written policies 

and procedures regarding the accuracy 

and integrity of the information relating 

to consumers that it furnishes to a 

consumer reporting agency. Furnishers 

will be required to consider the 

guidelines in Appendix A to the final 

rules in developing these policies and 

procedures and to incorporate those 

guidelines that are appropriate. The 

policies and procedures must be 

appropriate to the nature, size, 

complexity, and scope of the furnishing 

activities. A furnisher may include any 

of its existing policies and procedures in 

place to ensure the accuracy of 

information. Entities have had an 

ongoing requirement under section 623 

of the FCRA to provide accurate 

information when they choose to 

furnish data to consumer reporting 

agencies. The FTC believes that many 

furnishers are likely to have existing 

policies and procedures regarding 

accurate reporting in order to satisfy 

their obligations under section 623, and 

that these policies and procedures could 

be incorporated in the policies and 

procedures required by the final rules. 

Entities under the FTC’s jurisdiction 

covered by this rule include statechartered credit unions, non-bank 

lenders, insurers, debt collectors, and 

any other entity other than an 

individual consumer that furnishes 

information relating to consumers to 

one or more consumer reporting 

agencies. In calculating costs, FTC staff 

assumes that for all entities, managerial 

and/or professional technical personnel 

will draft the written policies and 

procedures regarding the accuracy and 

integrity of furnished information. 

The FTC believes that many entities 

have already implemented a significant 

portion of the policies and procedures 

required by the final rules, as discussed 

above. Accordingly, the impact of the 

final rules would be merely incremental 

and not significant. 

Furnishers subject to the final rules 

will also be required, under certain 

circumstances, to investigate disputes 

concerning the accuracy of information 

about the consumer contained in a 

consumer report based on a direct 

request of a consumer. While the rule 

requires new procedural requirements, 

including direct dispute notices, the 

FTC believes that investigating direct 

disputes will not create significant 

additional burdens on small entities. 

Entities under the FTC’s jurisdiction 

covered by this rule include statechartered credit unions, non-bank 

lenders, insurers, debt collectors, and 

any other entity other than an 

individual consumer that furnishes 

information relating to consumers to 

one or more consumer reporting 

agencies. In calculating costs, FTC staff 

assumes that managerial and/or 

professional technical personnel will 

adapt mechanisms and processes to 

handle consumer disputes about their 

consumer reports and now assumes that 

skilled administrative support 

personnel will provide any required 

notices to consumers. 

The FTC believes that investigating 

direct disputes will not create 

significant additional burdens on 

covered entities for a number of reasons. 

First, most furnishers are already 

investigating similar disputes, which 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31511 

under the current law are brought 

directly to the relevant consumer 

reporting agency, which then contacts 

the furnisher for an investigation. Under 

this procedure, furnishers are already 

required to review all relevant 

information provided by the consumer 

reporting agency along with the notice 

of dispute; report the results of the 

investigation to the consumer reporting 

agency; if the disputed information is 

found to be incomplete or inaccurate, 

report those results to all nationwide 

consumer reporting agencies to which 

the furnisher previously provided the 

information; and if the disputed 

information is incomplete, inaccurate, 

or not verifiable by the financial 

institution, promptly, for the purposes 

of reporting to the consumer reporting 

agency to modify the item of 

information, delete the item of 

information, or permanently block the 

reporting of that item of information. 

Second, many of these furnishers are 

already investigating direct disputes as 

a matter of good customer relations and 

sound business practices. 

Third, the final rules do not require 

investigation for disputes that are 

frivolous or irrelevant. 

Fourth, many furnishers already have 

mechanisms and processes in place to 

handle consumer disputes brought 

under other laws such as the Fair Debt 

Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 

1692–1692p), Truth in Lending Act (15 

U.S.C. 1601–1665b), Fair Credit Billing 

Act (15 U.S.C. 1666–1666j), Real Estate 

Settlement Procedures Act (12 U.S.C. 

2601–2627), and Electronic Funds 

Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693–1693r). 

The FTC believes that many of these 

mechanisms and processes can be 

readily adapted to handle consumer 

disputes about their consumer reports. 

The final rules contain no 

requirement to report information to the 

FTC. 

5. Steps Taken to Minimize 

Significant Economic Impact of the Rule 

on Small Entities. 

The FTC considered whether any 

significant alternatives, consistent with 

the purposes of the FACT Act, could 

further minimize the final rules’ impact 

on small entities. The FTC asked for 

comment on this issue. The standards in 

the final rules are flexible so that a 

covered entity, regardless of size, may 

tailor its practices to its individual 

needs. For example, to minimize the 

burden the final rules would permit 

entities to include in their accuracy and 

integrity policies and procedures their 

existing policies and procedures that are 

relevant and appropriate. Furthermore, 

the FTC and other Agencies have 

attempted to minimize the burden by: 

Adopting consistent rules; incorporating 

into the final rules at § 660.3 a statement 

that policies and procedures should be 

appropriate to the nature, size, 

complexity, and scope of a furnisher’s 

activities; and providing furnishers with 

three options for providing their direct 

disputes address to consumers under 

§ 660.4. 

C. OCC and OTS Executive Order 12866 

Determinations 

The OCC and OTS each determined 

that its portion of the final rules is not 

a significant regulatory action under 

Executive Order 12866. 

D. OCC and OTS Executive Order 13132 

Determinations 

The OCC and the OTS each 

determined that its portion of the final 

rules does not have any Federalism 

implications for purposes of Executive 

Order 13132. 

E. NCUA Executive Order 13132 

Determination 

Executive Order 13132 encourages 

independent regulatory agencies to 

consider the impact of their actions on 

State and local interests. In adherence to 

fundamental Federalism principles, the 

NCUA, an independent regulatory 

agency as defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(5) 

voluntarily complies with the Executive 

Order. The final rules and guidelines 

apply only to Federally chartered credit 

unions and would not have substantial 

direct effects on the States, on the 

connection between the national 

government and the States, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government. The NCUA has 

determined that these final rules and 

guidelines do not constitute a policy 

that has Federalism implications for 

purposes of the Executive Order. 

F. OCC and OTS Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995 Determinations 

Section 202 of the Unfunded 

Mandates Reform Act of 1995, Public 

Law 104–4 (UMRA) requires that an 

agency prepare a budgetary impact 

statement before promulgating a rule 

that includes a Federal mandate that 

may result in the expenditure by State, 

local, and tribal governments, in the 

aggregate, or by the private sector of 

$100 million or more (adjusted annually 

for inflation) in any one year. (The 

inflation adjusted threshold is $133 

million or more.) If a budgetary impact 

statement is required, section 205 of the 

UMRA also requires an agency to 

identify and consider a reasonable 

number of regulatory alternatives before 

promulgating a rule. The OCC and OTS 

each determined that its final rules will 

not result in expenditures by State, 

local, and tribal governments, in the 

aggregate, or by the private sector, of 

$133 million or more in any one year. 

Accordingly, neither OCC nor OTS has 

prepared a budgetary impact statement 

or specifically addressed the regulatory 

alternatives considered. 

G. NCUA: The Treasury and General 

Government Appropriations Act, 1999- 

Assessment of Federal Regulations and 

Policies on Families 

The NCUA has determined that these 

final rules do not affect family wellbeing within the meaning of section 654 

of the Treasury and General 

Government Appropriations Act, 1999, 

Public Law 105–277, 112 Stat. 2681 

(1998). 

List of Subjects 

12 CFR Part 41 

Banks, Banking, Consumer protection, 

National Banks, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

12 CFR Part 222 

Banks, Banking, Holding companies, 

state member banks. 

12 CFR Part 334 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Bank deposit insurance, 

Banks, Banking, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Safety and 

soundness. 

12 CFR Part 571 

Consumer protection, Credit, Fair 

Credit Reporting Act, Privacy, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements, 

Savings associations. 

12 CFR Part 717 

Consumer protection, Credit unions, 

Fair credit reporting, Privacy, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements. 

16 CFR Part 660 

Fair Credit Reporting Act, Consumer 

reports, Consumer reporting agencies, 

Information furnishers, Identity theft, 

Trade practices. 

Department of the Treasury 

Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency 

12 CFR Chapter I 

Authority and Issuance 

■ For the reasons discussed in the joint 

preamble, the Office of the Comptroller 

of the Currency amends chapter I of title 

12 of the Code of Federal Regulations by 

amending 12 CFR part 41 as follows: 

31512 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

PART 41—FAIR CREDIT REPORTING 

■ 1. Revise the authority citation for part 

41 to read as follows: 

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 1 et seq., 24 (Seventh), 

93a, 481, 484, and 1818; 15 U.S.C. 1681a, 

1681b, 1681c, 1681m, 1681s, 1681s–2, 

1681s–3, 1681t, 1681w, Sec. 214, Pub. L. 

108–159, 117 Stat. 1952. 

■ 2. Add a new subpart E to part 41 to 

read as follows: 

Subpart E—Duties of Furnishers of 

Information 

Sec. 

41.40 Scope. 

41.41 Definitions. 

41.42 Reasonable policies and procedures 

concerning the accuracy and integrity of 

furnished information. 

41.43 Direct disputes. 

§ 41.40 Scope. 

This subpart applies to a national 

bank, Federal branch and agency of a 

foreign bank, and their respective 

operating subsidiaries that are not 

functionally regulated within the 

meaning of section 5(c)(5) of the Bank 

Holding Company Act of 1956, as 

amended (12 U.S.C. 1844(c)(5)). 

§ 41.41 Definitions. 

For purposes of this subpart and 

Appendix E of this part, the following 

definitions apply: 

(a) Accuracy means that information 

that a furnisher provides to a consumer 

reporting agency about an account or 

other relationship with the consumer 

correctly: 

(1) Reflects the terms of and liability 

for the account or other relationship; 

(2) Reflects the consumer’s 

performance and other conduct with 

respect to the account or other 

relationship; and 

(3) Identifies the appropriate 

consumer. 

(b) Direct dispute means a dispute 

submitted directly to a furnisher 

(including a furnisher that is a debt 

collector) by a consumer concerning the 

accuracy of any information contained 

in a consumer report and pertaining to 

an account or other relationship that the 

furnisher has or had with the consumer. 

(c) Furnisher means an entity that 

furnishes information relating to 

consumers to one or more consumer 

reporting agencies for inclusion in a 

consumer report. An entity is not a 

furnisher when it: 

(1) Provides information to a 

consumer reporting agency solely to 

obtain a consumer report in accordance 

with sections 604(a) and (f) of the Fair 

Credit Reporting Act; 

(2) Is acting as a ‘‘consumer reporting 

agency’’ as defined in section 603(f) of 

the Fair Credit Reporting Act; 

(3) Is a consumer to whom the 

furnished information pertains; or 

(4) Is a neighbor, friend, or associate 

of the consumer, or another individual 

with whom the consumer is acquainted 

or who may have knowledge about the 

consumer, and who provides 

information about the consumer’s 

character, general reputation, personal 

characteristics, or mode of living in 

response to a specific request from a 

consumer reporting agency. 

(d) Identity theft has the same 

meaning as in 16 CFR 603.2(a). 

(e) Integrity means that information 

that a furnisher provides to a consumer 

reporting agency about an account or 

other relationship with the consumer: 

(1) Is substantiated by the furnisher’s 

records at the time it is furnished; 

(2) Is furnished in a form and manner 

that is designed to minimize the 

likelihood that the information may be 

incorrectly reflected in a consumer 

report; and 

(3) Includes the information in the 

furnisher’s possession about the account 

or other relationship that the OCC has: 

(i) Determined that the absence of 

which would likely be materially 

misleading in evaluating a consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living; and 

(ii) Listed in section I.(b)(2)(iii) of 

Appendix E of this part. 

§ 41.42 Reasonable policies and 

procedures concerning the accuracy and 

integrity of furnished information. 

(a) Policies and procedures. Each 

furnisher must establish and implement 

reasonable written policies and 

procedures regarding the accuracy and 

integrity of the information relating to 

consumers that it furnishes to a 

consumer reporting agency. The policies 

and procedures must be appropriate to 

the nature, size, complexity, and scope 

of each furnisher’s activities. 

(b) Guidelines. Each furnisher must 

consider the guidelines in Appendix E 

of this part in developing its policies 

and procedures required by this section, 

and incorporate those guidelines that 

are appropriate. 

(c) Reviewing and updating policies 

and procedures. Each furnisher must 

review its policies and procedures 

required by this section periodically and 

update them as necessary to ensure their 

continued effectiveness. 

§ 41.43 Direct disputes. 

(a) General rule. Except as otherwise 

provided in this section, a furnisher 

must conduct a reasonable investigation 

of a direct dispute if it relates to: 

(1) The consumer’s liability for a 

credit account or other debt with the 

furnisher, such as direct disputes 

relating to whether there is or has been 

identity theft or fraud against the 

consumer, whether there is individual 

or joint liability on an account, or 

whether the consumer is an authorized 

user of a credit account; 

(2) The terms of a credit account or 

other debt with the furnisher, such as 

direct disputes relating to the type of 

account, principal balance, scheduled 

payment amount on an account, or the 

amount of the credit limit on an openend account; 

(3) The consumer’s performance or 

other conduct concerning an account or 

other relationship with the furnisher, 

such as direct disputes relating to the 

current payment status, high balance, 

date a payment was made, the amount 

of a payment made, or the date an 

account was opened or closed; or 

(4) Any other information contained 

in a consumer report regarding an 

account or other relationship with the 

furnisher that bears on the consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living. 

(b) Exceptions. The requirements of 

paragraph (a) of this section do not 

apply to a furnisher if: 

(1) The direct dispute relates to: 

(i) The consumer’s identifying 

information (other than a direct dispute 

relating to a consumer’s liability for a 

credit account or other debt with the 

furnisher, as provided in paragraph 

(a)(1) of this section) such as name(s), 

date of birth, Social Security Number, 

telephone number(s), or address(es); 

(ii) The identity of past or present 

employers; 

(iii) Inquiries or requests for a 

consumer report; 

(iv) Information derived from public 

records, such as judgments, 

bankruptcies, liens, and other legal 

matters (unless provided by a furnisher 

with an account or other relationship 

with the consumer); 

(v) Information related to fraud alerts 

or active duty alerts; or 

(vi) Information provided to a 

consumer reporting agency by another 

furnisher; or 

(2) The furnisher has a reasonable 

belief that the direct dispute is 

submitted by, is prepared on behalf of 

the consumer by, or is submitted on a 

form supplied to the consumer by, a 

credit repair organization, as defined in 

15 U.S.C. 1679a(3), or an entity that 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31513 

would be a credit repair organization, 

but for 15 U.S.C. 1679a(3)(B)(i). 

(c) Direct dispute address. A furnisher 

is required to investigate a direct 

dispute only if a consumer submits a 

dispute notice to the furnisher at: 

(1) The address of a furnisher 

provided by a furnisher and set forth on 

a consumer report relating to the 

consumer; 

(2) An address clearly and 

conspicuously specified by the 

furnisher for submitting direct disputes 

that is provided to the consumer in 

writing or electronically (if the 

consumer has agreed to the electronic 

delivery of information from the 

furnisher); or 

(3) Any business address of the 

furnisher if the furnisher has not so 

specified and provided an address for 

submitting direct disputes under 

paragraphs (c)(1) or (2) of this section. 

(d) Direct dispute notice contents. A 

dispute notice must include: 

(1) Sufficient information to identify 

the account or other relationship that is 

in dispute, such as an account number 

and the name, address, and telephone 

number of the consumer, if applicable; 

(2) The specific information that the 

consumer is disputing and an 

explanation of the basis for the dispute; 

and 

(3) All supporting documentation or 

other information reasonably required 

by the furnisher to substantiate the basis 

of the dispute. This documentation may 

include, for example: A copy of the 

relevant portion of the consumer report 

that contains the allegedly inaccurate 

information; a police report; a fraud or 

identity theft affidavit; a court order; or 

account statements. 

(e) Duty of furnisher after receiving a 

direct dispute notice. After receiving a 

dispute notice from a consumer 

pursuant to paragraphs (c) and (d) of 

this section, the furnisher must: 

(1) Conduct a reasonable investigation 

with respect to the disputed 

information; 

(2) Review all relevant information 

provided by the consumer with the 

dispute notice; 

(3) Complete its investigation of the 

dispute and report the results of the 

investigation to the consumer before the 

expiration of the period under section 

611(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting 

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(1)) within which 

a consumer reporting agency would be 

required to complete its action if the 

consumer had elected to dispute the 

information under that section; and 

(4) If the investigation finds that the 

information reported was inaccurate, 

promptly notify each consumer 

reporting agency to which the furnisher 

provided inaccurate information of that 

determination and provide to the 

consumer reporting agency any 

correction to that information that is 

necessary to make the information 

provided by the furnisher accurate. 

(f) Frivolous or irrelevant disputes. (1) 

A furnisher is not required to investigate 

a direct dispute if the furnisher has 

reasonably determined that the dispute 

is frivolous or irrelevant. A dispute 

qualifies as frivolous or irrelevant if: 

(i) The consumer did not provide 

sufficient information to investigate the 

disputed information as required by 

paragraph (d) of this section; 

(ii) The direct dispute is substantially 

the same as a dispute previously 

submitted by or on behalf of the 

consumer, either directly to the 

furnisher or through a consumer 

reporting agency, with respect to which 

the furnisher has already satisfied the 

applicable requirements of the Act or 

this section; provided, however, that a 

direct dispute is not substantially the 

same as a dispute previously submitted 

if the dispute includes information 

listed in paragraph (d) of this section 

that had not previously been provided 

to the furnisher; or 

(iii) The furnisher is not required to 

investigate the direct dispute because 

one or more of the exceptions listed in 

paragraph (b) of this section applies. 

(2) Notice of determination. Upon 

making a determination that a dispute is 

frivolous or irrelevant, the furnisher 

must notify the consumer of the 

determination not later than five 

business days after making the 

determination, by mail or, if authorized 

by the consumer for that purpose, by 

any other means available to the 

furnisher. 

(3) Contents of notice of 

determination that a dispute is frivolous 

or irrelevant. A notice of determination 

that a dispute is frivolous or irrelevant 

must include the reasons for such 

determination and identify any 

information required to investigate the 

disputed information, which notice may 

consist of a standardized form 

describing the general nature of such 

information. 

■ 3. Add a new appendix E to part 41 

to read as follows: 

Appendix E to Part 41—Interagency 

Guidelines Concerning the Accuracy 

and Integrity of Information Furnished 

to Consumer Reporting Agencies 

The OCC encourages voluntary furnishing 

of information to consumer reporting 

agencies. Section 41.42 of this part requires 

each furnisher to establish and implement 

reasonable written policies and procedures 

concerning the accuracy and integrity of the 

information it furnishes to consumer 

reporting agencies. Under § 41.42(b), a 

furnisher must consider the guidelines set 

forth below in developing its policies and 

procedures. In establishing these policies and 

procedures, a furnisher may include any of 

its existing policies and procedures that are 

relevant and appropriate. Section 41.42(c) 

requires each furnisher to review its policies 

and procedures periodically and update them 

as necessary to ensure their continued 

effectiveness. 

I. Nature, Scope, and Objectives of Policies 

and Procedures 

(a) Nature and Scope. Section 41.42(a) of 

this part requires that a furnisher’s policies 

and procedures be appropriate to the nature, 

size, complexity, and scope of the furnisher’s 

activities. In developing its policies and 

procedures, a furnisher should consider, for 

example: 

(1) The types of business activities in 

which the furnisher engages; 

(2) The nature and frequency of the 

information the furnisher provides to 

consumer reporting agencies; and 

(3) The technology used by the furnisher to 

furnish information to consumer reporting 

agencies. 

(b) Objectives. A furnisher’s policies and 

procedures should be reasonably designed to 

promote the following objectives: 

(1) To furnish information about accounts 

or other relationships with a consumer that 

is accurate, such that the furnished 

information: 

(i) Identifies the appropriate consumer; 

(ii) Reflects the terms of and liability for 

those accounts or other relationships; and 

(iii) Reflects the consumer’s performance 

and other conduct with respect to the 

account or other relationship; 

(2) To furnish information about accounts 

or other relationships with a consumer that 

has integrity, such that the furnished 

information: 

(i) Is substantiated by the furnisher’s 

records at the time it is furnished; 

(ii) Is furnished in a form and manner that 

is designed to minimize the likelihood that 

the information may be incorrectly reflected 

in a consumer report; thus, the furnished 

information should: 

(A) Include appropriate identifying 

information about the consumer to whom it 

pertains; and 

(B) Be furnished in a standardized and 

clearly understandable form and manner and 

with a date specifying the time period to 

which the information pertains; and 

(iii) Includes the credit limit, if applicable 

and in the furnisher’s possession; 

(3) To conduct reasonable investigations of 

consumer disputes and take appropriate 

actions based on the outcome of such 

investigations; and 

(4) To update the information it furnishes 

as necessary to reflect the current status of 

the consumer’s account or other relationship, 

including, for example: 

(i) Any transfer of an account (e.g., by sale 

or assignment for collection) to a third party; 

and 

(ii) Any cure of the consumer’s failure to 

abide by the terms of the account or other 

relationship. 

31514 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

II. Establishing and Implementing Policies 

and Procedures 

In establishing and implementing its 

policies and procedures, a furnisher should: 

(a) Identify practices or activities of the 

furnisher that can compromise the accuracy 

or integrity of information furnished to 

consumer reporting agencies, such as by: 

(1) Reviewing its existing practices and 

activities, including the technological means 

and other methods it uses to furnish 

information to consumer reporting agencies 

and the frequency and timing of its 

furnishing of information; 

(2) Reviewing its historical records relating 

to accuracy or integrity or to disputes; 

reviewing other information relating to the 

accuracy or integrity of information provided 

by the furnisher to consumer reporting 

agencies; and considering the types of errors, 

omissions, or other problems that may have 

affected the accuracy or integrity of 

information it has furnished about consumers 

to consumer reporting agencies; 

(3) Considering any feedback received from 

consumer reporting agencies, consumers, or 

other appropriate parties; 

(4) Obtaining feedback from the furnisher’s 

staff; and 

(5) Considering the potential impact of the 

furnisher’s policies and procedures on 

consumers. 

(b) Evaluate the effectiveness of existing 

policies and procedures of the furnisher 

regarding the accuracy and integrity of 

information furnished to consumer reporting 

agencies; consider whether new, additional, 

or different policies and procedures are 

necessary; and consider whether 

implementation of existing policies and 

procedures should be modified to enhance 

the accuracy and integrity of information 

about consumers furnished to consumer 

reporting agencies. 

(c) Evaluate the effectiveness of specific 

methods (including technological means) the 

furnisher uses to provide information to 

consumer reporting agencies; how those 

methods may affect the accuracy and 

integrity of the information it provides to 

consumer reporting agencies; and whether 

new, additional, or different methods 

(including technological means) should be 

used to provide information to consumer 

reporting agencies to enhance the accuracy 

and integrity of that information. 

III. Specific Components of Policies and 

Procedures 

In developing its policies and procedures, 

a furnisher should address the following, as 

appropriate: 

(a) Establishing and implementing a system 

for furnishing information about consumers 

to consumer reporting agencies that is 

appropriate to the nature, size, complexity, 

and scope of the furnisher’s business 

operations. 

(b) Using standard data reporting formats 

and standard procedures for compiling and 

furnishing data, where feasible, such as the 

electronic transmission of information about 

consumers to consumer reporting agencies. 

(c) Maintaining records for a reasonable 

period of time, not less than any applicable 

recordkeeping requirement, in order to 

substantiate the accuracy of any information 

about consumers it furnishes that is subject 

to a direct dispute. 

(d) Establishing and implementing 

appropriate internal controls regarding the 

accuracy and integrity of information about 

consumers furnished to consumer reporting 

agencies, such as by implementing standard 

procedures and verifying random samples of 

information provided to consumer reporting 

agencies. 

(e) Training staff that participates in 

activities related to the furnishing of 

information about consumers to consumer 

reporting agencies to implement the policies 

and procedures. 

(f) Providing for appropriate and effective 

oversight of relevant service providers whose 

activities may affect the accuracy or integrity 

of information about consumers furnished to 

consumer reporting agencies to ensure 

compliance with the policies and procedures. 

(g) Furnishing information about 

consumers to consumer reporting agencies 

following mergers, portfolio acquisitions or 

sales, or other acquisitions or transfers of 

accounts or other obligations in a manner 

that prevents re-aging of information, 

duplicative reporting, or other problems that 

may similarly affect the accuracy or integrity 

of the information furnished. 

(h) Deleting, updating, and correcting 

information in the furnisher’s records, as 

appropriate, to avoid furnishing inaccurate 

information. 

(i) Conducting reasonable investigations of 

disputes. 

(j) Designing technological and other 

means of communication with consumer 

reporting agencies to prevent duplicative 

reporting of accounts, erroneous association 

of information with the wrong consumer(s), 

and other occurrences that may compromise 

the accuracy or integrity of information 

provided to consumer reporting agencies. 

(k) Providing consumer reporting agencies 

with sufficient identifying information in the 

furnisher’s possession about each consumer 

about whom information is furnished to 

enable the consumer reporting agency 

properly to identify the consumer. 

(l) Conducting a periodic evaluation of its 

own practices, consumer reporting agency 

practices of which the furnisher is aware, 

investigations of disputed information, 

corrections of inaccurate information, means 

of communication, and other factors that may 

affect the accuracy or integrity of information 

furnished to consumer reporting agencies. 

(m) Complying with applicable 

requirements under the Fair Credit Reporting 

Act and its implementing regulations. 

Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve System 

12 CFR Chapter II 

Authority and Issuance 

■ For the reasons set forth in the joint 

preamble, part 222 of title 12, chapter II, 

of the Code of Federal Regulations is 

amended as follows: 

PART 222—FAIR CREDIT REPORTING 

(REGULATION V) 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 222 

is revised to read as follows: 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1681b, 1681c, 1681m, 

1681s, 1681s-2, and 1681w; Secs. 3 and 214, 

Pub. L. 108–159, 117 Stat. 1952. 

■ 2. A new subpart E is added to part 

222 to read as follows: 

Subpart E—Duties of Furnishers of 

Information 

Sec. 

222.40 Scope. 

222.41 Definitions. 

222.42 Reasonable policies and procedures 

concerning the accuracy and integrity of 

furnished information. 

222.43 Direct disputes. 

Subpart E—Duties of Furnishers of 

Information 

§ 222.40 Scope. 

Subpart E of this part applies to 

member banks of the Federal Reserve 

System (other than national banks) and 

their respective operating subsidiaries 

that are not functionally regulated 

within the meaning of section 5(c)(5) of 

the Bank Holding Company Act, as 

amended (12 U.S.C. 1844(c)(5)), 

branches and Agencies of foreign banks 

(other than Federal branches, Federal 

Agencies, and insured State branches of 

foreign banks), commercial lending 

companies owned or controlled by 

foreign banks, and organizations 

operating under section 25 or 25A of the 

Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 601 et 

seq., and 611 et seq.). 

§ 222.41 Definitions. 

For purposes of this subpart and 

Appendix E of this part, the following 

definitions apply: 

(a) Accuracy means that information 

that a furnisher provides to a consumer 

reporting agency about an account or 

other relationship with the consumer 

correctly: 

(1) Reflects the terms of and liability 

for the account or other relationship; 

(2) Reflects the consumer’s 

performance and other conduct with 

respect to the account or other 

relationship; and 

(3) Identifies the appropriate 

consumer. 

(b) Direct dispute means a dispute 

submitted directly to a furnisher 

(including a furnisher that is a debt 

collector) by a consumer concerning the 

accuracy of any information contained 

in a consumer report and pertaining to 

an account or other relationship that the 

furnisher has or had with the consumer. 

(c) Furnisher means an entity that 

furnishes information relating to 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31515 

consumers to one or more consumer 

reporting agencies for inclusion in a 

consumer report. An entity is not a 

furnisher when it: 

(1) Provides information to a 

consumer reporting agency solely to 

obtain a consumer report in accordance 

with sections 604(a) and (f) of the Fair 

Credit Reporting Act; 

(2) Is acting as a ‘‘consumer reporting 

agency’’ as defined in section 603(f) of 

the Fair Credit Reporting Act; 

(3) Is a consumer to whom the 

furnished information pertains; or 

(4) Is a neighbor, friend, or associate 

of the consumer, or another individual 

with whom the consumer is acquainted 

or who may have knowledge about the 

consumer, and who provides 

information about the consumer’s 

character, general reputation, personal 

characteristics, or mode of living in 

response to a specific request from a 

consumer reporting agency. 

(d) Identity theft has the same 

meaning as in 16 CFR 603.2(a). 

(e) Integrity means that information 

that a furnisher provides to a consumer 

reporting agency about an account or 

other relationship with the consumer: 

(1) Is substantiated by the furnisher’s 

records at the time it is furnished; 

(2) Is furnished in a form and manner 

that is designed to minimize the 

likelihood that the information may be 

incorrectly reflected in a consumer 

report; and 

(3) Includes the information in the 

furnisher’s possession about the account 

or other relationship that the Board has: 

(i) Determined that the absence of 

which would likely be materially 

misleading in evaluating a consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living; and 

(ii) Listed in section I.(b)(2)(iii) of 

Appendix E of this part. 

§ 222.42 Reasonable policies and 

procedures concerning the accuracy and 

integrity of furnished information. 

(a) Policies and procedures. Each 

furnisher must establish and implement 

reasonable written policies and 

procedures regarding the accuracy and 

integrity of the information relating to 

consumers that it furnishes to a 

consumer reporting agency. The policies 

and procedures must be appropriate to 

the nature, size, complexity, and scope 

of each furnisher’s activities. 

(b) Guidelines. Each furnisher must 

consider the guidelines in Appendix E 

of this part in developing its policies 

and procedures required by this section, 

and incorporate those guidelines that 

are appropriate. 

(c) Reviewing and updating policies 

and procedures. Each furnisher must 

review its policies and procedures 

required by this section periodically and 

update them as necessary to ensure their 

continued effectiveness. 

§ 222.43 Direct disputes. 

(a) General rule. Except as otherwise 

provided in this section, a furnisher 

must conduct a reasonable investigation 

of a direct dispute if it relates to: 

(1) The consumer’s liability for a 

credit account or other debt with the 

furnisher, such as direct disputes 

relating to whether there is or has been 

identity theft or fraud against the 

consumer, whether there is individual 

or joint liability on an account, or 

whether the consumer is an authorized 

user of a credit account; 

(2) The terms of a credit account or 

other debt with the furnisher, such as 

direct disputes relating to the type of 

account, principal balance, scheduled 

payment amount on an account, or the 

amount of the credit limit on an openend account; 

(3) The consumer’s performance or 

other conduct concerning an account or 

other relationship with the furnisher, 

such as direct disputes relating to the 

current payment status, high balance, 

date a payment was made, the amount 

of a payment made, or the date an 

account was opened or closed; or 

(4) Any other information contained 

in a consumer report regarding an 

account or other relationship with the 

furnisher that bears on the consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living. 

(b) Exceptions. The requirements of 

paragraph (a) of this section do not 

apply to a furnisher if: 

(1) The direct dispute relates to: 

(i) The consumer’s identifying 

information (other than a direct dispute 

relating to a consumer’s liability for a 

credit account or other debt with the 

furnisher, as provided in paragraph 

(a)(1) of this section) such as name(s), 

date of birth, Social Security number, 

telephone number(s), or address(es); 

(ii) The identity of past or present 

employers; 

(iii) Inquiries or requests for a 

consumer report; 

(iv) Information derived from public 

records, such as judgments, 

bankruptcies, liens, and other legal 

matters (unless provided by a furnisher 

with an account or other relationship 

with the consumer); 

(v) Information related to fraud alerts 

or active duty alerts; or 

(vi) Information provided to a 

consumer reporting agency by another 

furnisher; or 

(2) The furnisher has a reasonable 

belief that the direct dispute is 

submitted by, is prepared on behalf of 

the consumer by, or is submitted on a 

form supplied to the consumer by, a 

credit repair organization, as defined in 

15 U.S.C. 1679a(3), or an entity that 

would be a credit repair organization, 

but for 15 U.S.C. 1679a(3)(B)(i). 

(c) Direct dispute address. A furnisher 

is required to investigate a direct 

dispute only if a consumer submits a 

dispute notice to the furnisher at: 

(1) The address of a furnisher 

provided by a furnisher and set forth on 

a consumer report relating to the 

consumer; 

(2) An address clearly and 

conspicuously specified by the 

furnisher for submitting direct disputes 

that is provided to the consumer in 

writing or electronically (if the 

consumer has agreed to the electronic 

delivery of information from the 

furnisher); or 

(3) Any business address of the 

furnisher if the furnisher has not so 

specified and provided an address for 

submitting direct disputes under 

paragraphs (c)(1) or (2) of this section. 

(d) Direct dispute notice contents. A 

dispute notice must include: 

(1) Sufficient information to identify 

the account or other relationship that is 

in dispute, such as an account number 

and the name, address, and telephone 

number of the consumer, if applicable; 

(2) The specific information that the 

consumer is disputing and an 

explanation of the basis for the dispute; 

and 

(3) All supporting documentation or 

other information reasonably required 

by the furnisher to substantiate the basis 

of the dispute. This documentation may 

include, for example: a copy of the 

relevant portion of the consumer report 

that contains the allegedly inaccurate 

information; a police report; a fraud or 

identity theft affidavit; a court order; or 

account statements. 

(e) Duty of furnisher after receiving a 

direct dispute notice. After receiving a 

dispute notice from a consumer 

pursuant to paragraphs (c) and (d) of 

this section, the furnisher must: 

(1) Conduct a reasonable investigation 

with respect to the disputed 

information; 

(2) Review all relevant information 

provided by the consumer with the 

dispute notice; 

(3) Complete its investigation of the 

dispute and report the results of the 

investigation to the consumer before the 

expiration of the period under section 

31516 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

611(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting 

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(1)) within which 

a consumer reporting agency would be 

required to complete its action if the 

consumer had elected to dispute the 

information under that section; and 

(4) If the investigation finds that the 

information reported was inaccurate, 

promptly notify each consumer 

reporting agency to which the furnisher 

provided inaccurate information of that 

determination and provide to the 

consumer reporting agency any 

correction to that information that is 

necessary to make the information 

provided by the furnisher accurate. 

(f) Frivolous or irrelevant disputes. (1) 

A furnisher is not required to investigate 

a direct dispute if the furnisher has 

reasonably determined that the dispute 

is frivolous or irrelevant. A dispute 

qualifies as frivolous or irrelevant if: 

(i) The consumer did not provide 

sufficient information to investigate the 

disputed information as required by 

paragraph (d) of this section; 

(ii) The direct dispute is substantially 

the same as a dispute previously 

submitted by or on behalf of the 

consumer, either directly to the 

furnisher or through a consumer 

reporting agency, with respect to which 

the furnisher has already satisfied the 

applicable requirements of the Act or 

this section; provided, however, that a 

direct dispute is not substantially the 

same as a dispute previously submitted 

if the dispute includes information 

listed in paragraph (d) of this section 

that had not previously been provided 

to the furnisher; or 

(iii) The furnisher is not required to 

investigate the direct dispute because 

one or more of the exceptions listed in 

paragraph (b) of this section applies. 

(2) Notice of determination. Upon 

making a determination that a dispute is 

frivolous or irrelevant, the furnisher 

must notify the consumer of the 

determination not later than five 

business days after making the 

determination, by mail or, if authorized 

by the consumer for that purpose, by 

any other means available to the 

furnisher. 

(3) Contents of notice of 

determination that a dispute is frivolous 

or irrelevant. A notice of determination 

that a dispute is frivolous or irrelevant 

must include the reasons for such 

determination and identify any 

information required to investigate the 

disputed information, which notice may 

consist of a standardized form 

describing the general nature of such 

information. 

■ 3. A new appendix E to part 222 is 

added to read as follows: 

Appendix E to Part 222—Interagency 

Guidelines Concerning the Accuracy 

and Integrity of Information Furnished 

to Consumer Reporting Agencies 

The Board encourages voluntary furnishing 

of information to consumer reporting 

agencies. Section 222.42 of this part requires 

each furnisher to establish and implement 

reasonable written policies and procedures 

concerning the accuracy and integrity of the 

information it furnishes to consumer 

reporting agencies. Under § 222.42(b) of this 

part, a furnisher must consider the guidelines 

set forth below in developing its policies and 

procedures. In establishing these policies and 

procedures, a furnisher may include any of 

its existing policies and procedures that are 

relevant and appropriate. Section 222.42(c) 

requires each furnisher to review its policies 

and procedures periodically and update them 

as necessary to ensure their continued 

effectiveness. 

I. Nature, Scope, and Objectives of Policies 

and Procedures 

(a) Nature and Scope. Section 222.42(a) of 

this part requires that a furnisher’s policies 

and procedures be appropriate to the nature, 

size, complexity, and scope of the furnisher’s 

activities. In developing its policies and 

procedures, a furnisher should consider, for 

example: 

(1) The types of business activities in 

which the furnisher engages; 

(2) The nature and frequency of the 

information the furnisher provides to 

consumer reporting agencies; and 

(3) The technology used by the furnisher to 

furnish information to consumer reporting 

agencies. 

(b) Objectives. A furnisher’s policies and 

procedures should be reasonably designed to 

promote the following objectives: 

(1) To furnish information about accounts 

or other relationships with a consumer that 

is accurate, such that the furnished 

information: 

(i) Identifies the appropriate consumer; 

(ii) Reflects the terms of and liability for 

those accounts or other relationships; and 

(iii) Reflects the consumer’s performance 

and other conduct with respect to the 

account or other relationship; 

(2) To furnish information about accounts 

or other relationships with a consumer that 

has integrity, such that the furnished 

information: 

(i) Is substantiated by the furnisher’s 

records at the time it is furnished; 

(ii) Is furnished in a form and manner that 

is designed to minimize the likelihood that 

the information may be incorrectly reflected 

in a consumer report; thus, the furnished 

information should: 

(A) Include appropriate identifying 

information about the consumer to whom it 

pertains; and 

(B) Be furnished in a standardized and 

clearly understandable form and manner and 

with a date specifying the time period to 

which the information pertains; and 

(iii) Includes the credit limit, if applicable 

and in the furnisher’s possession; 

(3) To conduct reasonable investigations of 

consumer disputes and take appropriate 

actions based on the outcome of such 

investigations; and 

(4) To update the information it furnishes 

as necessary to reflect the current status of 

the consumer’s account or other relationship, 

including, for example: 

(i) Any transfer of an account (e.g., by sale 

or assignment for collection) to a third party; 

and 

(ii) Any cure of the consumer’s failure to 

abide by the terms of the account or other 

relationship. 

II. Establishing and Implementing Policies 

and Procedures 

In establishing and implementing its 

policies and procedures, a furnisher should: 

(a) Identify practices or activities of the 

furnisher that can compromise the accuracy 

or integrity of information furnished to 

consumer reporting agencies, such as by: 

(1) Reviewing its existing practices and 

activities, including the technological means 

and other methods it uses to furnish 

information to consumer reporting agencies 

and the frequency and timing of its 

furnishing of information; 

(2) Reviewing its historical records relating 

to accuracy or integrity or to disputes; 

reviewing other information relating to the 

accuracy or integrity of information provided 

by the furnisher to consumer reporting 

agencies; and considering the types of errors, 

omissions, or other problems that may have 

affected the accuracy or integrity of 

information it has furnished about consumers 

to consumer reporting agencies; 

(3) Considering any feedback received from 

consumer reporting agencies, consumers, or 

other appropriate parties; 

(4) Obtaining feedback from the furnisher’s 

staff; and 

(5) Considering the potential impact of the 

furnisher’s policies and procedures on 

consumers. 

(b) Evaluate the effectiveness of existing 

policies and procedures of the furnisher 

regarding the accuracy and integrity of 

information furnished to consumer reporting 

agencies; consider whether new, additional, 

or different policies and procedures are 

necessary; and consider whether 

implementation of existing policies and 

procedures should be modified to enhance 

the accuracy and integrity of information 

about consumers furnished to consumer 

reporting agencies. 

(c) Evaluate the effectiveness of specific 

methods (including technological means) the 

furnisher uses to provide information to 

consumer reporting agencies; how those 

methods may affect the accuracy and 

integrity of the information it provides to 

consumer reporting agencies; and whether 

new, additional, or different methods 

(including technological means) should be 

used to provide information to consumer 

reporting agencies to enhance the accuracy 

and integrity of that information. 

III. Specific Components of Policies and 

Procedures 

In developing its policies and procedures, 

a furnisher should address the following, as 

appropriate: 

(a) Establishing and implementing a system 

for furnishing information about consumers 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31517 

to consumer reporting agencies that is 

appropriate to the nature, size, complexity, 

and scope of the furnisher’s business 

operations. 

(b) Using standard data reporting formats 

and standard procedures for compiling and 

furnishing data, where feasible, such as the 

electronic transmission of information about 

consumers to consumer reporting agencies. 

(c) Maintaining records for a reasonable 

period of time, not less than any applicable 

recordkeeping requirement, in order to 

substantiate the accuracy of any information 

about consumers it furnishes that is subject 

to a direct dispute. 

(d) Establishing and implementing 

appropriate internal controls regarding the 

accuracy and integrity of information about 

consumers furnished to consumer reporting 

agencies, such as by implementing standard 

procedures and verifying random samples of 

information provided to consumer reporting 

agencies. 

(e) Training staff that participates in 

activities related to the furnishing of 

information about consumers to consumer 

reporting agencies to implement the policies 

and procedures. 

(f) Providing for appropriate and effective 

oversight of relevant service providers whose 

activities may affect the accuracy or integrity 

of information about consumers furnished to 

consumer reporting agencies to ensure 

compliance with the policies and procedures. 

(g) Furnishing information about 

consumers to consumer reporting agencies 

following mergers, portfolio acquisitions or 

sales, or other acquisitions or transfers of 

accounts or other obligations in a manner 

that prevents re-aging of information, 

duplicative reporting, or other problems that 

may similarly affect the accuracy or integrity 

of the information furnished. 

(h) Deleting, updating, and correcting 

information in the furnisher’s records, as 

appropriate, to avoid furnishing inaccurate 

information. 

(i) Conducting reasonable investigations of 

disputes. 

(j) Designing technological and other 

means of communication with consumer 

reporting agencies to prevent duplicative 

reporting of accounts, erroneous association 

of information with the wrong consumer(s), 

and other occurrences that may compromise 

the accuracy or integrity of information 

provided to consumer reporting agencies. 

(k) Providing consumer reporting agencies 

with sufficient identifying information in the 

furnisher’s possession about each consumer 

about whom information is furnished to 

enable the consumer reporting agency 

properly to identify the consumer. 

(l) Conducting a periodic evaluation of its 

own practices, consumer reporting agency 

practices of which the furnisher is aware, 

investigations of disputed information, 

corrections of inaccurate information, means 

of communication, and other factors that may 

affect the accuracy or integrity of information 

furnished to consumer reporting agencies. 

(m) Complying with applicable 

requirements under the Fair Credit Reporting 

Act and its implementing regulations. 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 

12 CFR Chapter III 

Authority and Issuance 

■ For the reasons discussed in the joint 

preamble, the Federal Deposit Insurance 

Corporation amends chapter III of title 

12 of the Code of Federal Regulations by 

amending 12 CFR part 334 as follows: 

PART 334—FAIR CREDIT REPORTING 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 334 

is revised to read as follows: 

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 1818, 1819 (Tenth), 

and 1831p–1; 15 U.S.C. 1681a, 1681b, 1681c, 

1681m, 1681s, 1681s–2, 1681s–3, 1681t, 

1681w, 6801 et seq., Pub. L. 108–159, 117 

Stat. 1952. 

■ 2. Add subpart E to part 334 to read 

as follows: 

Subpart E—Duties of Furnishers of 

Information 

Sec. 

334.40 Scope. 

334.41 Definitions. 

334.42 Reasonable policies and procedures 

concerning the accuracy and integrity of 

furnished information. 

334.43 Direct disputes. 

Subpart E—Duties of Furnishers of 

Information 

§ 334.40 Scope. 

This subpart applies to a financial 

institution or creditor that is an insured 

state nonmember bank, insured state 

licensed branch of a foreign bank, or a 

subsidiary of such entities (except 

dealers, persons providing insurance, 

investment companies, and investment 

advisers). 

§ 334.41 Definitions. 

For purposes of this subpart and 

Appendix E of this part, the following 

definitions apply: 

(a) Accuracy means that information 

that a furnisher provides to a consumer 

reporting agency about an account or 

other relationship with the consumer 

correctly: 

(1) Reflects the terms of and liability 

for the account or other relationship; 

(2) Reflects the consumer’s 

performance and other conduct with 

respect to the account or other 

relationship; and 

(3) Identifies the appropriate 

consumer. 

(b) Direct dispute means a dispute 

submitted directly to a furnisher 

(including a furnisher that is a debt 

collector) by a consumer concerning the 

accuracy of any information contained 

in a consumer report and pertaining to 

an account or other relationship that the 

furnisher has or had with the consumer. 

(c) Furnisher means an entity that 

furnishes information relating to 

consumers to one or more consumer 

reporting agencies for inclusion in a 

consumer report. An entity is not a 

furnisher when it: 

(1) Provides information to a 

consumer reporting agency solely to 

obtain a consumer report in accordance 

with sections 604(a) and (f) of the Fair 

Credit Reporting Act; 

(2) Is acting as a ‘‘consumer reporting 

agency’’ as defined in section 603(f) of 

the Fair Credit Reporting Act; 

(3) Is a consumer to whom the 

furnished information pertains; or 

(4) Is a neighbor, friend, or associate 

of the consumer, or another individual 

with whom the consumer is acquainted 

or who may have knowledge about the 

consumer, and who provides 

information about the consumer’s 

character, general reputation, personal 

characteristics, or mode of living in 

response to a specific request from a 

consumer reporting agency. 

(d) Identity theft has the same 

meaning as in 16 CFR 603.2(a). 

(e) Integrity means that information 

that a furnisher provides to a consumer 

reporting agency about an account or 

other relationship with the consumer: 

(1) Is substantiated by the furnisher’s 

records at the time it is furnished; 

(2) Is furnished in a form and manner 

that is designed to minimize the 

likelihood that the information may be 

incorrectly reflected in a consumer 

report; and 

(3) Includes the information in the 

furnisher’s possession about the account 

or other relationship that the FDIC has: 

(i) Determined that the absence of 

which would likely be materially 

misleading in evaluating a consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living; and 

(ii) Listed in section I.(b)(2)(iii) of 

Appendix E of this part. 

§ 334.42 Reasonable policies and 

procedures concerning the accuracy and 

integrity of furnished information. 

(a) Policies and procedures. Each 

furnisher must establish and implement 

reasonable written policies and 

procedures regarding the accuracy and 

integrity of the information relating to 

consumers that it furnishes to a 

consumer reporting agency. The policies 

and procedures must be appropriate to 

the nature, size, complexity, and scope 

of each furnisher’s activities. 

(b) Guidelines. Each furnisher must 

consider the guidelines in Appendix E 

of this part in developing its policies 

and procedures required by this section, 

31518 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

and incorporate those guidelines that 

are appropriate. 

(c) Reviewing and updating policies 

and procedures. Each furnisher must 

review its policies and procedures 

required by this section periodically and 

update them as necessary to ensure their 

continued effectiveness. 

§ 334.43 Direct disputes. 

(a) General rule. Except as otherwise 

provided in this section, a furnisher 

must conduct a reasonable investigation 

of a direct dispute if it relates to: 

(1) The consumer’s liability for a 

credit account or other debt with the 

furnisher, such as direct disputes 

relating to whether there is or has been 

identity theft or fraud against the 

consumer, whether there is individual 

or joint liability on an account, or 

whether the consumer is an authorized 

user of a credit account; 

(2) The terms of a credit account or 

other debt with the furnisher, such as 

direct disputes relating to the type of 

account, principal balance, scheduled 

payment amount on an account, or the 

amount of the credit limit on an openend account; 

(3) The consumer’s performance or 

other conduct concerning an account or 

other relationship with the furnisher, 

such as direct disputes relating to the 

current payment status, high balance, 

date a payment was made, the amount 

of a payment made, or the date an 

account was opened or closed; or 

(4) Any other information contained 

in a consumer report regarding an 

account or other relationship with the 

furnisher that bears on the consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living. 

(b) Exceptions. The requirements of 

paragraph (a) of this section do not 

apply to a furnisher if: 

(1) The direct dispute relates to: 

(i) The consumer’s identifying 

information (other than a direct dispute 

relating to a consumer’s liability for a 

credit account or other debt with the 

furnisher, as provided in paragraph 

(a)(1) of this section) such as name(s), 

date of birth, Social Security number, 

telephone number(s), or address(es); 

(ii) The identity of past or present 

employers; 

(iii) Inquiries or requests for a 

consumer report; 

(iv) Information derived from public 

records, such as judgments, 

bankruptcies, liens, and other legal 

matters (unless provided by a furnisher 

with an account or other relationship 

with the consumer); 

(v) Information related to fraud alerts 

or active duty alerts; or 

(vi) Information provided to a 

consumer reporting agency by another 

furnisher; or 

(2) The furnisher has a reasonable 

belief that the direct dispute is 

submitted by, is prepared on behalf of 

the consumer by, or is submitted on a 

form supplied to the consumer by, a 

credit repair organization, as defined in 

15 U.S.C. 1679a(3), or an entity that 

would be a credit repair organization, 

but for 15 U.S.C. 1679a(3)(B)(i). 

(c) Direct dispute address. A furnisher 

is required to investigate a direct 

dispute only if a consumer submits a 

dispute notice to the furnisher at: 

(1) The address of a furnisher 

provided by a furnisher and set forth on 

a consumer report relating to the 

consumer; 

(2) An address clearly and 

conspicuously specified by the 

furnisher for submitting direct disputes 

that is provided to the consumer in 

writing or electronically (if the 

consumer has agreed to the electronic 

delivery of information from the 

furnisher); or 

(3) Any business address of the 

furnisher if the furnisher has not so 

specified and provided an address for 

submitting direct disputes under 

paragraphs (c)(1) or (2) of this section. 

(d) Direct dispute notice contents. A 

dispute notice must include: 

(1) Sufficient information to identify 

the account or other relationship that is 

in dispute, such as an account number 

and the name, address, and telephone 

number of the consumer, if applicable; 

(2) The specific information that the 

consumer is disputing and an 

explanation of the basis for the dispute; 

and 

(3) All supporting documentation or 

other information reasonably required 

by the furnisher to substantiate the basis 

of the dispute. This documentation may 

include, for example: a copy of the 

relevant portion of the consumer report 

that contains the allegedly inaccurate 

information; a police report; a fraud or 

identity theft affidavit; a court order; or 

account statements. 

(e) Duty of furnisher after receiving a 

direct dispute notice. After receiving a 

dispute notice from a consumer 

pursuant to paragraphs (c) and (d) of 

this section, the furnisher must: 

(1) Conduct a reasonable investigation 

with respect to the disputed 

information; 

(2) Review all relevant information 

provided by the consumer with the 

dispute notice; 

(3) Complete its investigation of the 

dispute and report the results of the 

investigation to the consumer before the 

expiration of the period under section 

611(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting 

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(1)) within which 

a consumer reporting agency would be 

required to complete its action if the 

consumer had elected to dispute the 

information under that section; and 

(4) If the investigation finds that the 

information reported was inaccurate, 

promptly notify each consumer 

reporting agency to which the furnisher 

provided inaccurate information of that 

determination and provide to the 

consumer reporting agency any 

correction to that information that is 

necessary to make the information 

provided by the furnisher accurate. 

(f) Frivolous or irrelevant disputes. (1) 

A furnisher is not required to investigate 

a direct dispute if the furnisher has 

reasonably determined that the dispute 

is frivolous or irrelevant. A dispute 

qualifies as frivolous or irrelevant if: 

(i) The consumer did not provide 

sufficient information to investigate the 

disputed information as required by 

paragraph (d) of this section; 

(ii) The direct dispute is substantially 

the same as a dispute previously 

submitted by or on behalf of the 

consumer, either directly to the 

furnisher or through a consumer 

reporting agency, with respect to which 

the furnisher has already satisfied the 

applicable requirements of the Act or 

this section; provided, however, that a 

direct dispute is not substantially the 

same as a dispute previously submitted 

if the dispute includes information 

listed in paragraph (d) of this section 

that had not previously been provided 

to the furnisher; or 

(iii) The furnisher is not required to 

investigate the direct dispute because 

one or more of the exceptions listed in 

paragraph (b) of this section applies. 

(2) Notice of determination. Upon 

making a determination that a dispute is 

frivolous or irrelevant, the furnisher 

must notify the consumer of the 

determination not later than five 

business days after making the 

determination, by mail or, if authorized 

by the consumer for that purpose, by 

any other means available to the 

furnisher. 

(3) Contents of notice of 

determination that a dispute is frivolous 

or irrelevant. A notice of determination 

that a dispute is frivolous or irrelevant 

must include the reasons for such 

determination and identify any 

information required to investigate the 

disputed information, which notice may 

consist of a standardized form 

describing the general nature of such 

information. 

■ 3. Add a new appendix E to part 334 

to read as follows: 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31519 

Appendix E to Part 334—Interagency 

Guidelines Concerning the Accuracy 

and Integrity of Information Furnished 

to Consumer Reporting Agencies 

The FDIC encourages voluntary furnishing 

of information to consumer reporting 

agencies. Section 334.42 of this part requires 

each furnisher to establish and implement 

reasonable written policies and procedures 

concerning the accuracy and integrity of the 

information it furnishes to consumer 

reporting agencies. Under § 334.42(b), a 

furnisher must consider the guidelines set 

forth below in developing its policies and 

procedures. In establishing these policies and 

procedures, a furnisher may include any of 

its existing policies and procedures that are 

relevant and appropriate. Section 334.42(c) 

requires each furnisher to review its policies 

and procedures periodically and update them 

as necessary to ensure their continued 

effectiveness. 

I. Nature, Scope, and Objectives of Policies 

and Procedures 

(a) Nature and Scope. Section 334.42(a) of 

this part requires that a furnisher’s policies 

and procedures be appropriate to the nature, 

size, complexity, and scope of the furnisher’s 

activities. In developing its policies and 

procedures, a furnisher should consider, for 

example: 

(1) The types of business activities in 

which the furnisher engages; 

(2) The nature and frequency of the 

information the furnisher provides to 

consumer reporting agencies; and 

(3) The technology used by the furnisher to 

furnish information to consumer reporting 

agencies. 

(b) Objectives. A furnisher’s policies and 

procedures should be reasonably designed to 

promote the following objectives: 

(1) To furnish information about accounts 

or other relationships with a consumer that 

is accurate, such that the furnished 

information: 

(i) Identifies the appropriate consumer; 

(ii) Reflects the terms of and liability for 

those accounts or other relationships; and 

(iii) Reflects the consumer’s performance 

and other conduct with respect to the 

account or other relationship; 

(2) To furnish information about accounts 

or other relationships with a consumer that 

has integrity, such that the furnished 

information: 

(i) Is substantiated by the furnisher’s 

records at the time it is furnished; 

(ii) Is furnished in a form and manner that 

is designed to minimize the likelihood that 

the information may be incorrectly reflected 

in a consumer report; thus, the furnished 

information should: 

(A) Include appropriate identifying 

information about the consumer to whom it 

pertains; and 

(B) Be furnished in a standardized and 

clearly understandable form and manner and 

with a date specifying the time period to 

which the information pertains; and 

(iii) Includes the credit limit, if applicable 

and in the furnisher’s possession; 

(3) To conduct reasonable investigations of 

consumer disputes and take appropriate 

actions based on the outcome of such 

investigations; and 

(4) To update the information it furnishes 

as necessary to reflect the current status of 

the consumer’s account or other relationship, 

including, for example: 

(i) Any transfer of an account (e.g., by sale 

or assignment for collection) to a third party; 

and 

(ii) Any cure of the consumer’s failure to 

abide by the terms of the account or other 

relationship. 

II. Establishing and Implementing Policies 

and Procedures 

In establishing and implementing its 

policies and procedures, a furnisher should: 

(a) Identify practices or activities of the 

furnisher that can compromise the accuracy 

or integrity of information furnished to 

consumer reporting agencies, such as by: 

(1) Reviewing its existing practices and 

activities, including the technological means 

and other methods it uses to furnish 

information to consumer reporting agencies 

and the frequency and timing of its 

furnishing of information; 

(2) Reviewing its historical records relating 

to accuracy or integrity or to disputes; 

reviewing other information relating to the 

accuracy or integrity of information provided 

by the furnisher to consumer reporting 

agencies; and considering the types of errors, 

omissions, or other problems that may have 

affected the accuracy or integrity of 

information it has furnished about consumers 

to consumer reporting agencies; 

(3) Considering any feedback received from 

consumer reporting agencies, consumers, or 

other appropriate parties; 

(4) Obtaining feedback from the furnisher’s 

staff; and 

(5) Considering the potential impact of the 

furnisher’s policies and procedures on 

consumers. 

(b) Evaluate the effectiveness of existing 

policies and procedures of the furnisher 

regarding the accuracy and integrity of 

information furnished to consumer reporting 

agencies; consider whether new, additional, 

or different policies and procedures are 

necessary; and consider whether 

implementation of existing policies and 

procedures should be modified to enhance 

the accuracy and integrity of information 

about consumers furnished to consumer 

reporting agencies. 

(c) Evaluate the effectiveness of specific 

methods (including technological means) the 

furnisher uses to provide information to 

consumer reporting agencies; how those 

methods may affect the accuracy and 

integrity of the information it provides to 

consumer reporting agencies; and whether 

new, additional, or different methods 

(including technological means) should be 

used to provide information to consumer 

reporting agencies to enhance the accuracy 

and integrity of that information. 

III. Specific Components of Policies and 

Procedures 

In developing its policies and procedures, 

a furnisher should address the following, as 

appropriate: 

(a) Establishing and implementing a system 

for furnishing information about consumers 

to consumer reporting agencies that is 

appropriate to the nature, size, complexity, 

and scope of the furnisher’s business 

operations. 

(b) Using standard data reporting formats 

and standard procedures for compiling and 

furnishing data, where feasible, such as the 

electronic transmission of information about 

consumers to consumer reporting agencies. 

(c) Maintaining records for a reasonable 

period of time, not less than any applicable 

recordkeeping requirement, in order to 

substantiate the accuracy of any information 

about consumers it furnishes that is subject 

to a direct dispute. 

(d) Establishing and implementing 

appropriate internal controls regarding the 

accuracy and integrity of information about 

consumers furnished to consumer reporting 

agencies, such as by implementing standard 

procedures and verifying random samples of 

information provided to consumer reporting 

agencies. 

(e) Training staff that participates in 

activities related to the furnishing of 

information about consumers to consumer 

reporting agencies to implement the policies 

and procedures. 

(f) Providing for appropriate and effective 

oversight of relevant service providers whose 

activities may affect the accuracy or integrity 

of information about consumers furnished to 

consumer reporting agencies to ensure 

compliance with the policies and procedures. 

(g) Furnishing information about 

consumers to consumer reporting agencies 

following mergers, portfolio acquisitions or 

sales, or other acquisitions or transfers of 

accounts or other obligations in a manner 

that prevents re-aging of information, 

duplicative reporting, or other problems that 

may similarly affect the accuracy or integrity 

of the information furnished. 

(h) Deleting, updating, and correcting 

information in the furnisher’s records, as 

appropriate, to avoid furnishing inaccurate 

information. 

(i) Conducting reasonable investigations of 

disputes. 

(j) Designing technological and other 

means of communication with consumer 

reporting agencies to prevent duplicative 

reporting of accounts, erroneous association 

of information with the wrong consumer(s), 

and other occurrences that may compromise 

the accuracy or integrity of information 

provided to consumer reporting agencies. 

(k) Providing consumer reporting agencies 

with sufficient identifying information in the 

furnisher’s possession about each consumer 

about whom information is furnished to 

enable the consumer reporting agency 

properly to identify the consumer. 

(l) Conducting a periodic evaluation of its 

own practices, consumer reporting agency 

practices of which the furnisher is aware, 

investigations of disputed information, 

corrections of inaccurate information, means 

of communication, and other factors that may 

affect the accuracy or integrity of information 

furnished to consumer reporting agencies. 

(m) Complying with applicable 

requirements under the Fair Credit Reporting 

Act and its implementing regulations. 

31520 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

Department of the Treasury 

Office of Thrift Supervision 

12 CFR Chapter V 

Authority and Issuance 

■ For the reasons discussed in the joint 

preamble, the Office of Thrift 

Supervision amends chapter V of title 

12 of the Code of Federal Regulations by 

amending 12 CFR Part 571 as follows: 

PART 571—FAIR CREDIT REPORTING 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 571 

is revised to read as follows: 

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 1462a, 1463, 1464, 

1467a, 1828, 1831p–1, and 1881–1884; 15 

U.S.C. 1681b, 1681c, 1681m, 1681s, 1681s–2, 

1681s–3, 1681t, and 1681w; 15 U.S.C. 6801 

and 6805; Sec. 214 Pub. L. 108–159, 117 Stat. 

1952. 

Subpart A—General Provisions 

■ 2. Amend § 571.1 by adding a new 

paragraph (b)(5) to read as follows: 

§ 571.1 Purpose and scope. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(5) The scope of subpart E of this part 

is stated in § 571.40 of this part. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Add a new subpart E to part 571 to 

read as follows: 

Subpart E—Duties of Furnishers of 

Information 

Sec. 

571.40 Scope. 

571.41 Definitions. 

571.42 Reasonable policies and procedures 

concerning the accuracy and integrity of 

furnished information. 

571.43 Direct disputes. 

Subpart E—Duties of Furnishers of 

Information 

§ 571.40 Scope. 

Subpart E of this part applies to 

savings associations whose deposits are 

insured by the Federal Deposit 

Insurance Corporation or, in accordance 

with § 559.3(h)(1) of this chapter, 

Federal savings association operating 

subsidiaries that are not functionally 

regulated within the meaning of section 

5(c)(5) of the Bank Holding Company 

Act of 1956, as amended (12 U.S.C. 

1844(c)(5)). 

§ 571.41 Definitions. 

For purposes of this subpart and 

Appendix E of this part, the following 

definitions apply: 

(a) Accuracy means that information 

that a furnisher provides to a consumer 

reporting agency about an account or 

other relationship with the consumer 

correctly: 

(1) Reflects the terms of and liability 

for the account or other relationship; 

(2) Reflects the consumer’s 

performance and other conduct with 

respect to the account or other 

relationship; and 

(3) Identifies the appropriate 

consumer. 

(b) Direct dispute means a dispute 

submitted directly to a furnisher 

(including a furnisher that is a debt 

collector) by a consumer concerning the 

accuracy of any information contained 

in a consumer report and pertaining to 

an account or other relationship that the 

furnisher has or had with the consumer. 

(c) Furnisher means an entity that 

furnishes information relating to 

consumers to one or more consumer 

reporting agencies for inclusion in a 

consumer report. An entity is not a 

furnisher when it: 

(1) Provides information to a 

consumer reporting agency solely to 

obtain a consumer report in accordance 

with sections 604(a) and (f) of the Fair 

Credit Reporting Act; 

(2) Is acting as a ‘‘consumer reporting 

agency’’ as defined in section 603(f) of 

the Fair Credit Reporting Act; 

(3) Is a consumer to whom the 

furnished information pertains; or 

(4) Is a neighbor, friend, or associate 

of the consumer, or another individual 

with whom the consumer is acquainted 

or who may have knowledge about the 

consumer, and who provides 

information about the consumer’s 

character, general reputation, personal 

characteristics, or mode of living in 

response to a specific request from a 

consumer reporting agency. 

(d) Identity theft has the same 

meaning as in 16 CFR 603.2(a). 

(e) Integrity means that information 

that a furnisher provides to a consumer 

reporting agency about an account or 

other relationship with the consumer: 

(1) Is substantiated by the furnisher’s 

records at the time it is furnished; 

(2) Is furnished in a form and manner 

that is designed to minimize the 

likelihood that the information may be 

incorrectly reflected in a consumer 

report; and 

(3) Includes the information in the 

furnisher’s possession about the account 

or other relationship that OTS has: 

(i) Determined that the absence of 

which would likely be materially 

misleading in evaluating a consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living; and 

(ii) Listed in section I.(b)(2)(iii) of 

Appendix E of this part. 

§ 571.42 Reasonable policies and 

procedures concerning the accuracy and 

integrity of furnished information. 

(a) Policies and procedures. Each 

furnisher must establish and implement 

reasonable written policies and 

procedures regarding the accuracy and 

integrity of the information relating to 

consumers that it furnishes to a 

consumer reporting agency. The policies 

and procedures must be appropriate to 

the nature, size, complexity, and scope 

of each furnisher’s activities. 

(b) Guidelines. Each furnisher must 

consider the guidelines in Appendix E 

of this part in developing its policies 

and procedures required by this section, 

and incorporate those guidelines that 

are appropriate. 

(c) Reviewing and updating policies 

and procedures. Each furnisher must 

review its policies and procedures 

required by this section periodically and 

update them as necessary to ensure their 

continued effectiveness. 

§ 571.43 Direct disputes. 

(a) General rule. Except as otherwise 

provided in this section, a furnisher 

must conduct a reasonable investigation 

of a direct dispute if it relates to: 

(1) The consumer’s liability for a 

credit account or other debt with the 

furnisher, such as direct disputes 

relating to whether there is or has been 

identity theft or fraud against the 

consumer, whether there is individual 

or joint liability on an account, or 

whether the consumer is an authorized 

user of a credit account; 

(2) The terms of a credit account or 

other debt with the furnisher, such as 

direct disputes relating to the type of 

account, principal balance, scheduled 

payment amount on an account, or the 

amount of the credit limit on an openend account; 

(3) The consumer’s performance or 

other conduct concerning an account or 

other relationship with the furnisher, 

such as direct disputes relating to the 

current payment status, high balance, 

date a payment was made, the amount 

of a payment made, or the date an 

account was opened or closed; or 

(4) Any other information contained 

in a consumer report regarding an 

account or other relationship with the 

furnisher that bears on the consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living. 

(b) Exceptions. The requirements of 

paragraph (a) of this section do not 

apply to a furnisher if: 

(1) The direct dispute relates to: 

(i) The consumer’s identifying 

information (other than a direct dispute 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31521 

relating to a consumer’s liability for a 

credit account or other debt with the 

furnisher, as provided in paragraph 

(a)(1) of this section) such as name(s), 

date of birth, Social Security number, 

telephone number(s), or address(es); 

(ii) The identity of past or present 

employers; 

(iii) Inquiries or requests for a 

consumer report; 

(iv) Information derived from public 

records, such as judgments, 

bankruptcies, liens, and other legal 

matters (unless provided by a furnisher 

with an account or other relationship 

with the consumer); 

(v) Information related to fraud alerts 

or active duty alerts; or 

(vi) Information provided to a 

consumer reporting agency by another 

furnisher; or 

(2) The furnisher has a reasonable 

belief that the direct dispute is 

submitted by, is prepared on behalf of 

the consumer by, or is submitted on a 

form supplied to the consumer by, a 

credit repair organization, as defined in 

15 U.S.C. 1679a(3), or an entity that 

would be a credit repair organization, 

but for 15 U.S.C. 1679a(3)(B)(i). 

(c) Direct dispute address. A furnisher 

is required to investigate a direct 

dispute only if a consumer submits a 

dispute notice to the furnisher at: 

(1) The address of a furnisher 

provided by a furnisher and set forth on 

a consumer report relating to the 

consumer; 

(2) An address clearly and 

conspicuously specified by the 

furnisher for submitting direct disputes 

that is provided to the consumer in 

writing or electronically (if the 

consumer has agreed to the electronic 

delivery of information from the 

furnisher); or 

(3) Any business address of the 

furnisher if the furnisher has not so 

specified and provided an address for 

submitting direct disputes under 

paragraphs (c)(1) or (2) of this section. 

(d) Direct dispute notice contents. A 

dispute notice must include: 

(1) Sufficient information to identify 

the account or other relationship that is 

in dispute, such as an account number 

and the name, address, and telephone 

number of the consumer, if applicable; 

(2) The specific information that the 

consumer is disputing and an 

explanation of the basis for the dispute; 

and 

(3) All supporting documentation or 

other information reasonably required 

by the furnisher to substantiate the basis 

of the dispute. This documentation may 

include, for example: A copy of the 

relevant portion of the consumer report 

that contains the allegedly inaccurate 

information; a police report; a fraud or 

identity theft affidavit; a court order; or 

account statements. 

(e) Duty of furnisher after receiving a 

direct dispute notice. After receiving a 

dispute notice from a consumer 

pursuant to paragraphs (c) and (d) of 

this section, the furnisher must: 

(1) Conduct a reasonable investigation 

with respect to the disputed 

information; 

(2) Review all relevant information 

provided by the consumer with the 

dispute notice; 

(3) Complete its investigation of the 

dispute and report the results of the 

investigation to the consumer before the 

expiration of the period under section 

611(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting 

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(1)) within which 

a consumer reporting agency would be 

required to complete its action if the 

consumer had elected to dispute the 

information under that section; and 

(4) If the investigation finds that the 

information reported was inaccurate, 

promptly notify each consumer 

reporting agency to which the furnisher 

provided inaccurate information of that 

determination and provide to the 

consumer reporting agency any 

correction to that information that is 

necessary to make the information 

provided by the furnisher accurate. 

(f) Frivolous or irrelevant disputes. (1) 

A furnisher is not required to investigate 

a direct dispute if the furnisher has 

reasonably determined that the dispute 

is frivolous or irrelevant. A dispute 

qualifies as frivolous or irrelevant if: 

(i) The consumer did not provide 

sufficient information to investigate the 

disputed information as required by 

paragraph (d) of this section; 

(ii) The direct dispute is substantially 

the same as a dispute previously 

submitted by or on behalf of the 

consumer, either directly to the 

furnisher or through a consumer 

reporting agency, with respect to which 

the furnisher has already satisfied the 

applicable requirements of the Act or 

this section; provided, however, that a 

direct dispute is not substantially the 

same as a dispute previously submitted 

if the dispute includes information 

listed in paragraph (d) of this section 

that had not previously been provided 

to the furnisher; or 

(iii) The furnisher is not required to 

investigate the direct dispute because 

one or more of the exceptions listed in 

paragraph (b) of this section applies. 

(2) Notice of determination. Upon 

making a determination that a dispute is 

frivolous or irrelevant, the furnisher 

must notify the consumer of the 

determination not later than five 

business days after making the 

determination, by mail or, if authorized 

by the consumer for that purpose, by 

any other means available to the 

furnisher. 

(3) Contents of notice of 

determination that a dispute is frivolous 

or irrelevant. A notice of determination 

that a dispute is frivolous or irrelevant 

must include the reasons for such 

determination and identify any 

information required to investigate the 

disputed information, which notice may 

consist of a standardized form 

describing the general nature of such 

information. 

■ 3. Add a new Appendix E to part 571 

to read as follows: 

Appendix E to Part 571—Interagency 

Guidelines Concerning the Accuracy 

and Integrity of Information Furnished 

to Consumer Reporting Agencies 

OTS encourages voluntary furnishing of 

information to consumer reporting agencies. 

Section 571.42 of this part requires each 

furnisher to establish and implement 

reasonable written policies and procedures 

concerning the accuracy and integrity of the 

information it furnishes to consumer 

reporting agencies. Under § 571.42(b), a 

furnisher must consider the guidelines set 

forth below in developing its policies and 

procedures. In establishing these policies and 

procedures, a furnisher may include any of 

its existing policies and procedures that are 

relevant and appropriate. Section 571.42(c) 

requires each furnisher to review its policies 

and procedures periodically and update them 

as necessary to ensure their continued 

effectiveness. 

I. Nature, Scope, and Objectives of Policies 

and Procedures 

(a) Nature and Scope. Section 571.42(a) of 

this part requires that a furnisher’s policies 

and procedures be appropriate to the nature, 

size, complexity, and scope of the furnisher’s 

activities. In developing its policies and 

procedures, a furnisher should consider, for 

example: 

(1) The types of business activities in 

which the furnisher engages; 

(2) The nature and frequency of the 

information the furnisher provides to 

consumer reporting agencies; and 

(3) The technology used by the furnisher to 

furnish information to consumer reporting 

agencies. 

(b) Objectives. A furnisher’s policies and 

procedures should be reasonably designed to 

promote the following objectives: 

(1) To furnish information about accounts 

or other relationships with a consumer that 

is accurate, such that the furnished 

information: 

(i) Identifies the appropriate consumer; 

(ii) Reflects the terms of and liability for 

those accounts or other relationships; and 

(iii) Reflects the consumer’s performance 

and other conduct with respect to the 

account or other relationship; 

(2) To furnish information about accounts 

or other relationships with a consumer that 

31522 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

has integrity, such that the furnished 

information: 

(i) Is substantiated by the furnisher’s 

records at the time it is furnished; 

(ii) Is furnished in a form and manner that 

is designed to minimize the likelihood that 

the information may be incorrectly reflected 

in a consumer report; thus, the furnished 

information should: 

(A) Include appropriate identifying 

information about the consumer to whom it 

pertains; and 

(B) Be furnished in a standardized and 

clearly understandable form and manner and 

with a date specifying the time period to 

which the information pertains; and 

(iii) Includes the credit limit, if applicable 

and in the furnisher’s possession; 

(3) To conduct reasonable investigations of 

consumer disputes and take appropriate 

actions based on the outcome of such 

investigations; and 

(4) To update the information it furnishes 

as necessary to reflect the current status of 

the consumer’s account or other relationship, 

including, for example: 

(i) Any transfer of an account (e.g., by sale 

or assignment for collection) to a third party; 

and 

(ii) Any cure of the consumer’s failure to 

abide by the terms of the account or other 

relationship. 

II. Establishing and Implementing Policies 

and Procedures 

In establishing and implementing its 

policies and procedures, a furnisher should: 

(a) Identify practices or activities of the 

furnisher that can compromise the accuracy 

or integrity of information furnished to 

consumer reporting agencies, such as by: 

(1) Reviewing its existing practices and 

activities, including the technological means 

and other methods it uses to furnish 

information to consumer reporting agencies 

and the frequency and timing of its 

furnishing of information; 

(2) Reviewing its historical records relating 

to accuracy or integrity or to disputes; 

reviewing other information relating to the 

accuracy or integrity of information provided 

by the furnisher to consumer reporting 

agencies; and considering the types of errors, 

omissions, or other problems that may have 

affected the accuracy or integrity of 

information it has furnished about consumers 

to consumer reporting agencies; 

(3) Considering any feedback received from 

consumer reporting agencies, consumers, or 

other appropriate parties; 

(4) Obtaining feedback from the furnisher’s 

staff; and 

(5) Considering the potential impact of the 

furnisher’s policies and procedures on 

consumers. 

(b) Evaluate the effectiveness of existing 

policies and procedures of the furnisher 

regarding the accuracy and integrity of 

information furnished to consumer reporting 

agencies; consider whether new, additional, 

or different policies and procedures are 

necessary; and consider whether 

implementation of existing policies and 

procedures should be modified to enhance 

the accuracy and integrity of information 

about consumers furnished to consumer 

reporting agencies. 

(c) Evaluate the effectiveness of specific 

methods (including technological means) the 

furnisher uses to provide information to 

consumer reporting agencies; how those 

methods may affect the accuracy and 

integrity of the information it provides to 

consumer reporting agencies; and whether 

new, additional, or different methods 

(including technological means) should be 

used to provide information to consumer 

reporting agencies to enhance the accuracy 

and integrity of that information. 

III. Specific Components of Policies and 

Procedures 

In developing its policies and procedures, 

a furnisher should address the following, as 

appropriate: 

(a) Establishing and implementing a system 

for furnishing information about consumers 

to consumer reporting agencies that is 

appropriate to the nature, size, complexity, 

and scope of the furnisher’s business 

operations. 

(b) Using standard data reporting formats 

and standard procedures for compiling and 

furnishing data, where feasible, such as the 

electronic transmission of information about 

consumers to consumer reporting agencies. 

(c) Maintaining records for a reasonable 

period of time, not less than any applicable 

recordkeeping requirement, in order to 

substantiate the accuracy of any information 

about consumers it furnishes that is subject 

to a direct dispute. 

(d) Establishing and implementing 

appropriate internal controls regarding the 

accuracy and integrity of information about 

consumers furnished to consumer reporting 

agencies, such as by implementing standard 

procedures and verifying random samples of 

information provided to consumer reporting 

agencies. 

(e) Training staff that participates in 

activities related to the furnishing of 

information about consumers to consumer 

reporting agencies to implement the policies 

and procedures. 

(f) Providing for appropriate and effective 

oversight of relevant service providers whose 

activities may affect the accuracy or integrity 

of information about consumers furnished to 

consumer reporting agencies to ensure 

compliance with the policies and procedures. 

(g) Furnishing information about 

consumers to consumer reporting agencies 

following mergers, portfolio acquisitions or 

sales, or other acquisitions or transfers of 

accounts or other obligations in a manner 

that prevents re-aging of information, 

duplicative reporting, or other problems that 

may similarly affect the accuracy or integrity 

of the information furnished. 

(h) Deleting, updating, and correcting 

information in the furnisher’s records, as 

appropriate, to avoid furnishing inaccurate 

information. 

(i) Conducting reasonable investigations of 

disputes. 

(j) Designing technological and other 

means of communication with consumer 

reporting agencies to prevent duplicative 

reporting of accounts, erroneous association 

of information with the wrong consumer(s), 

and other occurrences that may compromise 

the accuracy or integrity of information 

provided to consumer reporting agencies. 

(k) Providing consumer reporting agencies 

with sufficient identifying information in the 

furnisher’s possession about each consumer 

about whom information is furnished to 

enable the consumer reporting agency 

properly to identify the consumer. 

(l) Conducting a periodic evaluation of its 

own practices, consumer reporting agency 

practices of which the furnisher is aware, 

investigations of disputed information, 

corrections of inaccurate information, means 

of communication, and other factors that may 

affect the accuracy or integrity of information 

furnished to consumer reporting agencies. 

(m) Complying with applicable 

requirements under the Fair Credit Reporting 

Act and its implementing regulations. 

National Credit Union Administration 

12 CFR Chapter VII 

Authority and Issuance 

■ For the reasons discussed in the joint 

preamble, the National Credit Union 

Administration amends chapter VII of 

title 12 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations by amending 12 CFR part 

717 as follows: 

PART 717—FAIR CREDIT REPORTING 

■ 1. Revise the authority citation for part 

717 to read as follows: 

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.; 15 

U.S.C. 1681a, 1681b, 1681c, 1681m, 1681s, 

1681s–1, 1681t, 1681w, 6801 and 6805, 

Public Law 108–159, 117 Stat. 1952. 

■ 2. Add a new subpart E to part 717 to 

read as follows: 

Subpart E—Duties of Furnishers of 

Information 

717.40 Scope. 

717.41 Definitions. 

717.42 Reasonable policies and procedures 

concerning the accuracy and integrity of 

furnished information. 

717.43 Direct disputes. 

Subpart E—Duties of Furnishers of 

Information 

§ 717.40 Scope. 

This subpart applies to a Federal credit 

union that furnishes information to a 

consumer reporting agency. 

§ 717.41 Definitions. 

For purposes of this subpart and 

Appendix E of this part, the following 

definitions apply: 

(a) Accuracy means that information 

that a furnisher provides to a consumer 

reporting agency about an account or 

other relationship with the consumer 

correctly: 

(1) Reflects the terms of and liability 

for the account or other relationship; 

(2) Reflects the consumer’s 

performance and other conduct with 

respect to the account or other 

relationship; and 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31523 

(3) Identifies the appropriate 

consumer. 

(b) Direct dispute means a dispute 

submitted directly to a furnisher 

(including a furnisher that is a debt 

collector) by a consumer concerning the 

accuracy of any information contained 

in a consumer report and pertaining to 

an account or other relationship that the 

furnisher has or had with the consumer. 

(c) Furnisher means an entity that 

furnishes information relating to 

consumers to one or more consumer 

reporting agencies for inclusion in a 

consumer report. An entity is not a 

furnisher when it: 

(1) Provides information to a 

consumer reporting agency solely to 

obtain a consumer report in accordance 

with sections 604(a) and (f) of the Fair 

Credit Reporting Act; 

(2) Is acting as a ‘‘consumer reporting 

agency’’ as defined in section 603(f) of 

the Fair Credit Reporting Act; 

(3) Is a consumer to whom the 

furnished information pertains; or 

(4) Is a neighbor, friend, or associate 

of the consumer, or another individual 

with whom the consumer is acquainted 

or who may have knowledge about the 

consumer, and who provides 

information about the consumer’s 

character, general reputation, personal 

characteristics, or mode of living in 

response to a specific request from a 

consumer reporting agency. 

(d) Identity theft has the same 

meaning as in 16 CFR 603.2(a). 

(e) Integrity means that information 

that a furnisher provides to a consumer 

reporting agency about an account or 

other relationship with the consumer: 

(1) Is substantiated by the furnisher’s 

records at the time it is furnished; 

(2) Is furnished in a form and manner 

that is designed to minimize the 

likelihood that the information may be 

incorrectly reflected in a consumer 

report; and 

(3) Includes the information in the 

furnisher’s possession about the account 

or other relationship that the NCUA has: 

(i) Determined that the absence of 

which would likely be materially 

misleading in evaluating a consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living; and 

(ii) Listed in section I.(b)(2)(iii) of 

Appendix E of this part. 

§ 717.42 Reasonable policies and 

procedures concerning the accuracy and 

integrity of furnished information. 

(a) Policies and procedures. Each 

furnisher must establish and implement 

reasonable written policies and 

procedures regarding the accuracy and 

integrity of the information relating to 

consumers that it furnishes to a 

consumer reporting agency. The policies 

and procedures must be appropriate to 

the nature, size, complexity, and scope 

of each furnisher’s activities. 

(b) Guidelines. Each furnisher must 

consider the guidelines in Appendix E 

of this part in developing its policies 

and procedures required by this section, 

and incorporate those guidelines that 

are appropriate. 

(c) Reviewing and updating policies 

and procedures. Each furnisher must 

review its policies and procedures 

required by this section periodically and 

update them as necessary to ensure their 

continued effectiveness. 

§ 717.43 Direct disputes. 

(a) General rule. Except as otherwise 

provided in this section, a furnisher 

must conduct a reasonable investigation 

of a direct dispute if it relates to: 

(1) The consumer’s liability for a 

credit account or other debt with the 

furnisher, such as direct disputes 

relating to whether there is or has been 

identity theft or fraud against the 

consumer, whether there is individual 

or joint liability on an account, or 

whether the consumer is an authorized 

user of a credit account; 

(2) The terms of a credit account or 

other debt with the furnisher, such as 

direct disputes relating to the type of 

account, principal balance, scheduled 

payment amount on an account, or the 

amount of the credit limit on an openend account; 

(3) The consumer’s performance or 

other conduct concerning an account or 

other relationship with the furnisher, 

such as direct disputes relating to the 

current payment status, high balance, 

date a payment was made, the amount 

of a payment made, or the date an 

account was opened or closed; or 

(4) Any other information contained 

in a consumer report regarding an 

account or other relationship with the 

furnisher that bears on the consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living. 

(b) Exceptions. The requirements of 

paragraph (a) of this section do not 

apply to a furnisher if: 

(1) The direct dispute relates to: 

(i) The consumer’s identifying 

information (other than a direct dispute 

relating to a consumer’s liability for a 

credit account or other debt with the 

furnisher, as provided in paragraph 

(a)(1) of this section) such as name(s), 

date of birth, Social Security number, 

telephone number(s), or address(es); 

(ii) The identity of past or present 

employers; 

(iii) Inquiries or requests for a 

consumer report; 

(iv) Information derived from public 

records, such as judgments, 

bankruptcies, liens, and other legal 

matters (unless provided by a furnisher 

with an account or other relationship 

with the consumer); 

(v) Information related to fraud alerts 

or active duty alerts; or 

(vi) Information provided to a 

consumer reporting agency by another 

furnisher; or 

(2) The furnisher has a reasonable 

belief that the direct dispute is 

submitted by, is prepared on behalf of 

the consumer by, or is submitted on a 

form supplied to the consumer by, a 

credit repair organization, as defined in 

15 U.S.C. 1679a(3), or an entity that 

would be a credit repair organization, 

but for 15 U.S.C. 1679a(3)(B)(i). 

(c) Direct dispute address. A furnisher 

is required to investigate a direct 

dispute only if a consumer submits a 

dispute notice to the furnisher at: 

(1) The address of a furnisher 

provided by a furnisher and set forth on 

a consumer report relating to the 

consumer; 

(2) An address clearly and 

conspicuously specified by the 

furnisher for submitting direct disputes 

that is provided to the consumer in 

writing or electronically (if the 

consumer has agreed to the electronic 

delivery of information from the 

furnisher); or 

(3) Any business address of the 

furnisher if the furnisher has not so 

specified and provided an address for 

submitting direct disputes under 

paragraphs (c)(1) or (2) of this section. 

(d) Direct dispute notice contents. A 

dispute notice must include: 

(1) Sufficient information to identify 

the account or other relationship that is 

in dispute, such as an account number 

and the name, address, and telephone 

number of the consumer, if applicable; 

(2) The specific information that the 

consumer is disputing and an 

explanation of the basis for the dispute; 

and 

(3) All supporting documentation or 

other information reasonably required 

by the furnisher to substantiate the basis 

of the dispute. This documentation may 

include, for example: a copy of the 

relevant portion of the consumer report 

that contains the allegedly inaccurate 

information; a police report; a fraud or 

identity theft affidavit; a court order; or 

account statements. 

(e) Duty of furnisher after receiving a 

direct dispute notice. After receiving a 

dispute notice from a consumer 

31524 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

pursuant to paragraphs (c) and (d) of 

this section, the furnisher must: 

(1) Conduct a reasonable investigation 

with respect to the disputed 

information; 

(2) Review all relevant information 

provided by the consumer with the 

dispute notice; 

(3) Complete its investigation of the 

dispute and report the results of the 

investigation to the consumer before the 

expiration of the period under section 

611(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting 

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(1)) within which 

a consumer reporting agency would be 

required to complete its action if the 

consumer had elected to dispute the 

information under that section; and 

(4) If the investigation finds that the 

information reported was inaccurate, 

promptly notify each consumer 

reporting agency to which the furnisher 

provided inaccurate information of that 

determination and provide to the 

consumer reporting agency any 

correction to that information that is 

necessary to make the information 

provided by the furnisher accurate. 

(f) Frivolous or irrelevant disputes. (1) 

A furnisher is not required to investigate 

a direct dispute if the furnisher has 

reasonably determined that the dispute 

is frivolous or irrelevant. A dispute 

qualifies as frivolous or irrelevant if: 

(i) The consumer did not provide 

sufficient information to investigate the 

disputed information as required by 

paragraph (d) of this section; 

(ii) The direct dispute is substantially 

the same as a dispute previously 

submitted by or on behalf of the 

consumer, either directly to the 

furnisher or through a consumer 

reporting agency, with respect to which 

the furnisher has already satisfied the 

applicable requirements of the Act or 

this section; provided, however, that a 

direct dispute is not substantially the 

same as a dispute previously submitted 

if the dispute includes information 

listed in paragraph (d) of this section 

that had not previously been provided 

to the furnisher; or 

(iii) The furnisher is not required to 

investigate the direct dispute because 

one or more of the exceptions listed in 

paragraph (b) of this section applies. 

(2) Notice of determination. Upon 

making a determination that a dispute is 

frivolous or irrelevant, the furnisher 

must notify the consumer of the 

determination not later than five 

business days after making the 

determination, by mail or, if authorized 

by the consumer for that purpose, by 

any other means available to the 

furnisher. 

(3) Contents of notice of 

determination that a dispute is frivolous 

or irrelevant. A notice of determination 

that a dispute is frivolous or irrelevant 

must include the reasons for such 

determination and identify any 

information required to investigate the 

disputed information, which notice may 

consist of a standardized form 

describing the general nature of such 

information. 

■ 3. Add a new appendix E to part 717 

to read as follows: 

Appendix E to Part 717—Interagency 

Guidelines Concerning the Accuracy 

and Integrity of Information Furnished 

to Consumer Reporting Agencies 

The NCUA encourages voluntary 

furnishing of information to consumer 

reporting agencies. Section 717.42 of this part 

requires each furnisher to establish and 

implement reasonable written policies and 

procedures concerning the accuracy and 

integrity of the information it furnishes to 

consumer reporting agencies. Under 

§ 717.42(b), a furnisher must consider the 

guidelines set forth below in developing its 

policies and procedures. In establishing these 

policies and procedures, a furnisher may 

include any of its existing policies and 

procedures that are relevant and appropriate. 

Section 717.42(c) requires each furnisher to 

review its policies and procedures 

periodically and update them as necessary to 

ensure their continued effectiveness. 

I. Nature, Scope, and Objectives of Policies 

and Procedures 

(a) Nature and Scope. Section 717.42(a) of 

this part requires that a furnisher’s policies 

and procedures be appropriate to the nature, 

size, complexity, and scope of the furnisher’s 

activities. In developing its policies and 

procedures, a furnisher should consider, for 

example: 

(1) The types of business activities in 

which the furnisher engages; 

(2) The nature and frequency of the 

information the furnisher provides to 

consumer reporting agencies; and 

(3) The technology used by the furnisher to 

furnish information to consumer reporting 

agencies. 

(b) Objectives. A furnisher’s policies and 

procedures should be reasonably designed to 

promote the following objectives: 

(1) To furnish information about accounts 

or other relationships with a consumer that 

is accurate, such that the furnished 

information: 

(i) Identifies the appropriate consumer; 

(ii) Reflects the terms of and liability for 

those accounts or other relationships; and 

(iii) Reflects the consumer’s performance 

and other conduct with respect to the 

account or other relationship; 

(2) To furnish information about accounts 

or other relationships with a consumer that 

has integrity, such that the furnished 

information: 

(i) Is substantiated by the furnisher’s 

records at the time it is furnished; 

(ii) Is furnished in a form and manner that 

is designed to minimize the likelihood that 

the information may be incorrectly reflected 

in a consumer report; thus, the furnished 

information should: 

(A) Include appropriate identifying 

information about the consumer to whom it 

pertains; and 

(B) Be furnished in a standardized and 

clearly understandable form and manner and 

with a date specifying the time period to 

which the information pertains; and 

(iii) Includes the credit limit, if applicable 

and in the furnisher’s possession; 

(3) To conduct reasonable investigations of 

consumer disputes and take appropriate 

actions based on the outcome of such 

investigations; and 

(4) To update the information it furnishes 

as necessary to reflect the current status of 

the consumer’s account or other relationship, 

including, for example: 

(i) Any transfer of an account (e.g., by sale 

or assignment for collection) to a third party; 

and 

(ii) Any cure of the consumer’s failure to 

abide by the terms of the account or other 

relationship. 

II. Establishing and Implementing Policies 

and Procedures 

In establishing and implementing its 

policies and procedures, a furnisher should: 

(a) Identify practices or activities of the 

furnisher that can compromise the accuracy 

or integrity of information furnished to 

consumer reporting agencies, such as by: 

(1) Reviewing its existing practices and 

activities, including the technological means 

and other methods it uses to furnish 

information to consumer reporting agencies 

and the frequency and timing of its 

furnishing of information; 

(2) Reviewing its historical records relating 

to accuracy or integrity or to disputes; 

reviewing other information relating to the 

accuracy or integrity of information provided 

by the furnisher to consumer reporting 

agencies; and considering the types of errors, 

omissions, or other problems that may have 

affected the accuracy or integrity of 

information it has furnished about consumers 

to consumer reporting agencies; 

(3) Considering any feedback received from 

consumer reporting agencies, consumers, or 

other appropriate parties; 

(4) Obtaining feedback from the furnisher’s 

staff; and 

(5) Considering the potential impact of the 

furnisher’s policies and procedures on 

consumers. 

(b) Evaluate the effectiveness of existing 

policies and procedures of the furnisher 

regarding the accuracy and integrity of 

information furnished to consumer reporting 

agencies; consider whether new, additional, 

or different policies and procedures are 

necessary; and consider whether 

implementation of existing policies and 

procedures should be modified to enhance 

the accuracy and integrity of information 

about consumers furnished to consumer 

reporting agencies. 

(c) Evaluate the effectiveness of specific 

methods (including technological means) the 

furnisher uses to provide information to 

consumer reporting agencies; how those 

methods may affect the accuracy and 

integrity of the information it provides to 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31525 

consumer reporting agencies; and whether 

new, additional, or different methods 

(including technological means) should be 

used to provide information to consumer 

reporting agencies to enhance the accuracy 

and integrity of that information. 

III. Specific Components of Policies and 

Procedures 

In developing its policies and procedures, 

a furnisher should address the following, as 

appropriate: 

(a) Establishing and implementing a system 

for furnishing information about consumers 

to consumer reporting agencies that is 

appropriate to the nature, size, complexity, 

and scope of the furnisher’s business 

operations. 

(b) Using standard data reporting formats 

and standard procedures for compiling and 

furnishing data, where feasible, such as the 

electronic transmission of information about 

consumers to consumer reporting agencies. 

(c) Maintaining records for a reasonable 

period of time, not less than any applicable 

recordkeeping requirement, in order to 

substantiate the accuracy of any information 

about consumers it furnishes that is subject 

to a direct dispute. 

(d) Establishing and implementing 

appropriate internal controls regarding the 

accuracy and integrity of information about 

consumers furnished to consumer reporting 

agencies, such as by implementing standard 

procedures and verifying random samples of 

information provided to consumer reporting 

agencies. 

(e) Training staff that participates in 

activities related to the furnishing of 

information about consumers to consumer 

reporting agencies to implement the policies 

and procedures. 

(f) Providing for appropriate and effective 

oversight of relevant service providers whose 

activities may affect the accuracy or integrity 

of information about consumers furnished to 

consumer reporting agencies to ensure 

compliance with the policies and procedures. 

(g) Furnishing information about 

consumers to consumer reporting agencies 

following mergers, portfolio acquisitions or 

sales, or other acquisitions or transfers of 

accounts or other obligations in a manner 

that prevents re-aging of information, 

duplicative reporting, or other problems that 

may similarly affect the accuracy or integrity 

of the information furnished. 

(h) Deleting, updating, and correcting 

information in the furnisher’s records, as 

appropriate, to avoid furnishing inaccurate 

information. 

(i) Conducting reasonable investigations of 

disputes. 

(j) Designing technological and other 

means of communication with consumer 

reporting agencies to prevent duplicative 

reporting of accounts, erroneous association 

of information with the wrong consumer(s), 

and other occurrences that may compromise 

the accuracy or integrity of information 

provided to consumer reporting agencies. 

(k) Providing consumer reporting agencies 

with sufficient identifying information in the 

furnisher’s possession about each consumer 

about whom information is furnished to 

enable the consumer reporting agency 

properly to identify the consumer. 

(l) Conducting a periodic evaluation of its 

own practices, consumer reporting agency 

practices of which the furnisher is aware, 

investigations of disputed information, 

corrections of inaccurate information, means 

of communication, and other factors that may 

affect the accuracy or integrity of information 

furnished to consumer reporting agencies. 

(m) Complying with applicable 

requirements under the Fair Credit Reporting 

Act and its implementing regulations. 

Federal Trade Commission 

16 CFR Chapter I 

Authority and Issuance 

■ For the reasons discussed in the joint 

preamble, the Federal Trade 

Commission adds a new part 660 to title 

16 of the Code of Federal Regulations to 

read as follows: 

PART 660—DUTIES OF FURNISHERS 

OF INFORMATION TO CONSUMER 

REPORTING AGENCIES 

Sec. 

660.1 Scope. 

660.2 Definitions. 

660.3 Reasonable policies and procedures 

concerning the accuracy and integrity of 

furnisher information. 

660.4 Direct disputes. 

Appendix A to Part 660—Interagency 

Guidelines Concerning the Accuracy and 

Integrity of Information Furnished to 

Consumer Reporting Agencies 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1681s-2(a)(8) and 

1681s-2(e); Sec. 312, Pub. L. 108–159, 117 

Stat. 1989. 

§ 660.1 Scope. 

This part applies to furnishers of 

information to consumer reporting 

agencies that are subject to 

administrative enforcement of the FCRA 

by the Federal Trade Commission 

pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 1681s(a)(1) 

(referred to as ‘‘furnishers’’). 

§ 660.2 Definitions. 

For purposes of this part and 

Appendix A of this part, the following 

definitions apply: 

(a) Accuracy means that information 

that a furnisher provides to a consumer 

reporting agency about an account or 

other relationship with the consumer 

correctly: 

(1) Reflects the terms of and liability 

for the account or other relationship; 

(2) Reflects the consumer’s 

performance and other conduct with 

respect to the account or other 

relationship; and 

(3) Identifies the appropriate 

consumer. 

(b) Direct dispute means a dispute 

submitted directly to a furnisher 

(including a furnisher that is a debt 

collector) by a consumer concerning the 

accuracy of any information contained 

in a consumer report and pertaining to 

an account or other relationship that the 

furnisher has or had with the consumer. 

(c) Furnisher means an entity that 

furnishes information relating to 

consumers to one or more consumer 

reporting agencies for inclusion in a 

consumer report. An entity is not a 

furnisher when it: 

(1) Provides information to a 

consumer reporting agency solely to 

obtain a consumer report in accordance 

with sections 604(a) and (f) of the Fair 

Credit Reporting Act; 

(2) Is acting as a ‘‘consumer reporting 

agency’’ as defined in section 603(f) of 

the Fair Credit Reporting Act; 

(3) Is a consumer to whom the 

furnished information pertains; or 

(4) Is a neighbor, friend, or associate 

of the consumer, or another individual 

with whom the consumer is acquainted 

or who may have knowledge about the 

consumer, and who provides 

information about the consumer’s 

character, general reputation, personal 

characteristics, or mode of living in 

response to a specific request from a 

consumer reporting agency. 

(d) Identity theft has the same 

meaning as in 16 CFR 603.2(a). 

(e) Integrity means that information 

that a furnisher provides to a consumer 

reporting agency about an account or 

other relationship with the consumer: 

(1) Is substantiated by the furnisher’s 

records at the time it is furnished; 

(2) Is furnished in a form and manner 

that is designed to minimize the 

likelihood that the information may be 

incorrectly reflected in a consumer 

report; and 

(3) Includes the information in the 

furnisher’s possession about the account 

or other relationship that the 

Commission has: 

(i) Determined that the absence of 

which would likely be materially 

misleading in evaluating a consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living; and (ii) Listed in section 

I.(b)(2)(iii) of Appendix A of this part. 

§ 660.3 Reasonable policies and 

procedures concerning the accuracy and 

integrity of furnished information. 

(a) Policies and procedures. Each 

furnisher must establish and implement 

reasonable written policies and 

procedures regarding the accuracy and 

integrity of the information relating to 

consumers that it furnishes to a 

consumer reporting agency. The policies 

and procedures must be appropriate to 

the nature, size, complexity, and scope 

of each furnisher’s activities. 

(b) Guidelines. Each furnisher must 

consider the guidelines in Appendix A 

31526 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

of this part in developing its policies 

and procedures required by this section, 

and incorporate those guidelines that 

are appropriate. 

(c) Reviewing and updating policies 

and procedures. Each furnisher must 

review its policies and procedures 

required by this section periodically and 

update them as necessary to ensure their 

continued effectiveness. 

§ 660.4 Direct disputes. 

(a) General rule. Except as otherwise 

provided in this section, a furnisher 

must conduct a reasonable investigation 

of a direct dispute if it relates to: 

(1) The consumer’s liability for a 

credit account or other debt with the 

furnisher, such as direct disputes 

relating to whether there is or has been 

identity theft or fraud against the 

consumer, whether there is individual 

or joint liability on an account, or 

whether the consumer is an authorized 

user of a credit account; 

(2) The terms of a credit account or 

other debt with the furnisher, such as 

direct disputes relating to the type of 

account, principal balance, scheduled 

payment amount on an account, or the 

amount of the credit limit on an openend account; 

(3) The consumer’s performance or 

other conduct concerning an account or 

other relationship with the furnisher, 

such as direct disputes relating to the 

current payment status, high balance, 

date a payment was made, the amount 

of a payment made, or the date an 

account was opened or closed; or 

(4) Any other information contained 

in a consumer report regarding an 

account or other relationship with the 

furnisher that bears on the consumer’s 

creditworthiness, credit standing, credit 

capacity, character, general reputation, 

personal characteristics, or mode of 

living. 

(b) Exceptions. The requirements of 

paragraph (a) of this section do not 

apply to a furnisher if: 

(1) The direct dispute relates to: 

(i) The consumer’s identifying 

information (other than a direct dispute 

relating to a consumer’s liability for a 

credit account or other debt with the 

furnisher, as provided in paragraph 

(a)(1) of this section) such as name(s), 

date of birth, Social Security number, 

telephone number(s), or address(es); 

(ii) The identity of past or present 

employers; 

(iii) Inquiries or requests for a 

consumer report; 

(iv) Information derived from public 

records, such as judgments, 

bankruptcies, liens, and other legal 

matters (unless provided by a furnisher 

with an account or other relationship 

with the consumer); 

(v) Information related to fraud alerts 

or active duty alerts; or 

(vi) Information provided to a 

consumer reporting agency by another 

furnisher; or 

(2) The furnisher has a reasonable 

belief that the direct dispute is 

submitted by, is prepared on behalf of 

the consumer by, or is submitted on a 

form supplied to the consumer by, a 

credit repair organization, as defined in 

15 U.S.C. 1679a(3), or an entity that 

would be a credit repair organization, 

but for 15 U.S.C. 1679a(3)(B)(i). 

(c) Direct dispute address. A furnisher 

is required to investigate a direct 

dispute only if a consumer submits a 

dispute notice to the furnisher at: 

(1) The address of a furnisher 

provided by a furnisher and set forth on 

a consumer report relating to the 

consumer; 

(2) An address clearly and 

conspicuously specified by the 

furnisher for submitting direct disputes 

that is provided to the consumer in 

writing or electronically (if the 

consumer has agreed to the electronic 

delivery of information from the 

furnisher); or 

(3) Any business address of the 

furnisher if the furnisher has not so 

specified and provided an address for 

submitting direct disputes under 

paragraphs (c)(1) or (2) of this section. 

(d) Direct dispute notice contents. A 

dispute notice must include: 

(1) Sufficient information to identify 

the account or other relationship that is 

in dispute, such as an account number 

and the name, address, and telephone 

number of the consumer, if applicable; 

(2) The specific information that the 

consumer is disputing and an 

explanation of the basis for the dispute; 

and 

(3) All supporting documentation or 

other information reasonably required 

by the furnisher to substantiate the basis 

of the dispute. This documentation may 

include, for example: a copy of the 

relevant portion of the consumer report 

that contains the allegedly inaccurate 

information; a police report; a fraud or 

identity theft affidavit; a court order; or 

account statements. 

(e) Duty of furnisher after receiving a 

direct dispute notice. After receiving a 

dispute notice from a consumer 

pursuant to paragraphs (c) and (d) of 

this section, the furnisher must: 

(1) Conduct a reasonable investigation 

with respect to the disputed 

information; 

(2) Review all relevant information 

provided by the consumer with the 

dispute notice; 

(3) Complete its investigation of the 

dispute and report the results of the 

investigation to the consumer before the 

expiration of the period under section 

611(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting 

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(1)) within which 

a consumer reporting agency would be 

required to complete its action if the 

consumer had elected to dispute the 

information under that section; and 

(4) If the investigation finds that the 

information reported was inaccurate, 

promptly notify each consumer 

reporting agency to which the furnisher 

provided inaccurate information of that 

determination and provide to the 

consumer reporting agency any 

correction to that information that is 

necessary to make the information 

provided by the furnisher accurate. 

(f) Frivolous or irrelevant disputes. (1) 

A furnisher is not required to investigate 

a direct dispute if the furnisher has 

reasonably determined that the dispute 

is frivolous or irrelevant. A dispute 

qualifies as frivolous or irrelevant if: 

(i) The consumer did not provide 

sufficient information to investigate the 

disputed information as required by 

paragraph (d) of this section; 

(ii) The direct dispute is substantially 

the same as a dispute previously 

submitted by or on behalf of the 

consumer, either directly to the 

furnisher or through a consumer 

reporting agency, with respect to which 

the furnisher has already satisfied the 

applicable requirements of the Act or 

this section; provided, however, that a 

direct dispute is not substantially the 

same as a dispute previously submitted 

if the dispute includes information 

listed in paragraph (d) of this section 

that had not previously been provided 

to the furnisher; or 

(iii) The furnisher is not required to 

investigate the direct dispute because 

one or more of the exceptions listed in 

paragraph (b) of this section applies. 

(2) Notice of determination. Upon 

making a determination that a dispute is 

frivolous or irrelevant, the furnisher 

must notify the consumer of the 

determination not later than five 

business days after making the 

determination, by mail or, if authorized 

by the consumer for that purpose, by 

any other means available to the 

furnisher. 

(3) Contents of notice of 

determination that a dispute is frivolous 

or irrelevant. A notice of determination 

that a dispute is frivolous or irrelevant 

must include the reasons for such 

determination and identify any 

information required to investigate the 

disputed information, which notice may 

consist of a standardized form 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 31527 

describing the general nature of such 

information. 

Appendix A to Part 660—Interagency 

Guidelines Concerning the Accuracy 

and Integrity of Information Furnished 

to Consumer Reporting Agencies 

The Commission encourages voluntary 

furnishing of information to consumer 

reporting agencies. Section 660.3 of this part 

requires each furnisher to establish and 

implement reasonable written policies and 

procedures concerning the accuracy and 

integrity of the information it furnishes to 

consumer reporting agencies. Under 

§ 660.3(b), a furnisher must consider the 

guidelines set forth below in developing its 

policies and procedures. In establishing these 

policies and procedures, a furnisher may 

include any of its existing policies and 

procedures that are relevant and appropriate. 

Section 660.3(c) requires each furnisher to 

review its policies and procedures 

periodically and update them as necessary to 

ensure their continued effectiveness. 

I. Nature, Scope, and Objectives of Policies 

and Procedures 

(a) Nature and Scope. Section 660.3(a) of 

this part requires that a furnisher’s policies 

and procedures be appropriate to the nature, 

size, complexity, and scope of the furnisher’s 

activities. In developing its policies and 

procedures, a furnisher should consider, for 

example: 

(1) The types of business activities in 

which the furnisher engages; 

(2) The nature and frequency of the 

information the furnisher provides to 

consumer reporting agencies; and 

(3) The technology used by the furnisher to 

furnish information to consumer reporting 

agencies. 

(b) Objectives. A furnisher’s policies and 

procedures should be reasonably designed to 

promote the following objectives: 

(1) To furnish information about accounts 

or other relationships with a consumer that 

is accurate, such that the furnished 

information: 

(i) Identifies the appropriate consumer; 

(ii) Reflects the terms of and liability for 

those accounts or other relationships; and 

(iii) Reflects the consumer’s performance 

and other conduct with respect to the 

account or other relationship; 

(2) To furnish information about accounts 

or other relationships with a consumer that 

has integrity, such that the furnished 

information: 

(i) Is substantiated by the furnisher’s 

records at the time it is furnished; 

(ii) Is furnished in a form and manner that 

is designed to minimize the likelihood that 

the information may be incorrectly reflected 

in a consumer report; thus, the furnished 

information should: 

(A) Include appropriate identifying 

information about the consumer to whom it 

pertains; and 

(B) Be furnished in a standardized and 

clearly understandable form and manner and 

with a date specifying the time period to 

which the information pertains; and 

(iii) Includes the credit limit, if applicable 

and in the furnisher’s possession; 

(3) To conduct reasonable investigations of 

consumer disputes and take appropriate 

actions based on the outcome of such 

investigations; and 

(4) To update the information it furnishes 

as necessary to reflect the current status of 

the consumer’s account or other relationship, 

including, for example: 

(i) Any transfer of an account (e.g., by sale 

or assignment for collection) to a third party; 

and 

(ii) Any cure of the consumer’s failure to 

abide by the terms of the account or other 

relationship. 

II. Establishing and Implementing Policies 

and Procedures 

In establishing and implementing its 

policies and procedures, a furnisher should: 

(a) Identify practices or activities of the 

furnisher that can compromise the accuracy 

or integrity of information furnished to 

consumer reporting agencies, such as by: 

(1) Reviewing its existing practices and 

activities, including the technological means 

and other methods it uses to furnish 

information to consumer reporting agencies 

and the frequency and timing of its 

furnishing of information; 

(2) Reviewing its historical records relating 

to accuracy or integrity or to disputes; 

reviewing other information relating to the 

accuracy or integrity of information provided 

by the furnisher to consumer reporting 

agencies; and considering the types of errors, 

omissions, or other problems that may have 

affected the accuracy or integrity of 

information it has furnished about consumers 

to consumer reporting agencies; 

(3) Considering any feedback received from 

consumer reporting agencies, consumers, or 

other appropriate parties; 

(4) Obtaining feedback from the furnisher’s 

staff; and 

(5) Considering the potential impact of the 

furnisher’s policies and procedures on 

consumers. 

(b) Evaluate the effectiveness of existing 

policies and procedures of the furnisher 

regarding the accuracy and integrity of 

information furnished to consumer reporting 

agencies; consider whether new, additional, 

or different policies and procedures are 

necessary; and consider whether 

implementation of existing policies and 

procedures should be modified to enhance 

the accuracy and integrity of information 

about consumers furnished to consumer 

reporting agencies. 

(c) Evaluate the effectiveness of specific 

methods (including technological means) the 

furnisher uses to provide information to 

consumer reporting agencies; how those 

methods may affect the accuracy and 

integrity of the information it provides to 

consumer reporting agencies; and whether 

new, additional, or different methods 

(including technological means) should be 

used to provide information to consumer 

reporting agencies to enhance the accuracy 

and integrity of that information. 

III. Specific Components of Policies and 

Procedures 

In developing its policies and procedures, 

a furnisher should address the following, as 

appropriate: 

(a) Establishing and implementing a system 

for furnishing information about consumers 

to consumer reporting agencies that is 

appropriate to the nature, size, complexity, 

and scope of the furnisher’s business 

operations. 

(b) Using standard data reporting formats 

and standard procedures for compiling and 

furnishing data, where feasible, such as the 

electronic transmission of information about 

consumers to consumer reporting agencies. 

(c) Maintaining records for a reasonable 

period of time, not less than any applicable 

recordkeeping requirement, in order to 

substantiate the accuracy of any information 

about consumers it furnishes that is subject 

to a direct dispute. 

(d) Establishing and implementing 

appropriate internal controls regarding the 

accuracy and integrity of information about 

consumers furnished to consumer reporting 

agencies, such as by implementing standard 

procedures and verifying random samples of 

information provided to consumer reporting 

agencies. 

(e) Training staff that participates in 

activities related to the furnishing of 

information about consumers to consumer 

reporting agencies to implement the policies 

and procedures. 

(f) Providing for appropriate and effective 

oversight of relevant service providers whose 

activities may affect the accuracy or integrity 

of information about consumers furnished to 

consumer reporting agencies to ensure 

compliance with the policies and procedures. 

(g) Furnishing information about 

consumers to consumer reporting agencies 

following mergers, portfolio acquisitions or 

sales, or other acquisitions or transfers of 

accounts or other obligations in a manner 

that prevents re-aging of information, 

duplicative reporting, or other problems that 

may similarly affect the accuracy or integrity 

of the information furnished. 

(h) Deleting, updating, and correcting 

information in the furnisher’s records, as 

appropriate, to avoid furnishing inaccurate 

information. 

(i) Conducting reasonable investigations of 

disputes. 

(j) Designing technological and other 

means of communication with consumer 

reporting agencies to prevent duplicative 

reporting of accounts, erroneous association 

of information with the wrong consumer(s), 

and other occurrences that may compromise 

the accuracy or integrity of information 

provided to consumer reporting agencies. 

(k) Providing consumer reporting agencies 

with sufficient identifying information in the 

furnisher’s possession about each consumer 

about whom information is furnished to 

enable the consumer reporting agency 

properly to identify the consumer. 

(l) Conducting a periodic evaluation of its 

own practices, consumer reporting agency 

practices of which the furnisher is aware, 

investigations of disputed information, 

corrections of inaccurate information, means 

of communication, and other factors that may 

affect the accuracy or integrity of information 

furnished to consumer reporting agencies. 

(m) Complying with applicable 

requirements under the Fair Credit Reporting 

Act and its implementing regulations. 

31528 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 125 / Wednesday, July 1, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

Dated: May 15, 2009. 

John C. Dugan, 

Comptroller of the Currency. 

By order of the Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System June 4, 2009. 

Jennifer J. Johnson, 

Secretary of the Board. 

By order of the Board of Directors. 

Dated at Washington, DC, the 29th day of 

May 2009. 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. 

Robert E. Feldman, 

Executive Secretary. 

Dated: April 2, 2009. 

By the Office of Thrift Supervision, 

John E. Bowman, 

Acting Director. 

By the National Credit Union 

Administration Board on May 21, 2009. 

Mary Rupp, 

Secretary of the Board. 

By Direction of the Commission. 

Donald S. Clark, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–15323 Filed 6–30–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–33–P, 6210–01–P, 6714–10–P, 

6720–01–P, 7535–01–P, 6750–01–P