IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 77 

Expressing the sense of Congress that financial institutions and other companies should work proactively with their customers affected by the shutdown of the Federal Government who may be facing short-term financial 

hardship and long-term damage to their creditworthiness through no 

fault of their own. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 25, 2019 

Ms. WATERS submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of Congress that financial institutions 

and other companies should work proactively with their 

customers affected by the shutdown of the Federal Government who may be facing short-term financial hardship 

and long-term damage to their creditworthiness through 

no fault of their own. 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of Congress that— 

2 (1) financial institutions and other companies, 

3 such as consumer reporting agencies and companies 

4 engaged in the production of consumer scores, 

5 should work with consumers affected by the shutVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:59 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR77.IH HR77

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•HRES 77 IH 

1 down of the Federal Government that began on De2 cember 22, 2018; 

3 (2) the negative impact the shutdown is having 

4 on millions of consumers and the U.S. economy is 

5 significant and growing; for example, analysis from 

6 S&P Global Ratings estimates that the U.S. econ7 omy has already lost more than $6 billion as of Jan8 uary 25, 2019, and will continue to reduce real 

9 Gross Domestic Product by $1.2 billion each week 

10 the government shutdown continues; 

11 (3) financial institutions and other companies, 

12 such as consumer reporting agencies and companies 

13 engaged in the production of consumer scores should 

14 provide opportunities for consumers affected by the 

15 shutdown—including Federal employees, government 

16 contractors, small businesses, and other individ17 uals—who are or will be facing financial distress to 

18 easily contact and alert them of their situation im19 mediately; 

20 (4) affected consumers may face financial hard21 ship in making timely payments on their debts, such 

22 as mortgages, student loans, car loans, credit cards, 

23 and other debt, as well as paying for rent, food, 

24 transportation, school and other basic necessities, 


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1 due to the temporary delay or permanent loss of 

2 their income; 

3 (5) financial institutions should consider waiv4 ing or reducing penalty, late payment, and similar 

5 fees as well as ceasing foreclosures and providing 

6 forbearance for the duration of the shutdown, in 

7 order to provide quick relief to their affected cus8 tomers; 

9 (6) consumers affected by the shutdown may be 

10 experiencing financial stress through no fault of 

11 their own and their creditworthiness should not be 

12 impaired because of the shutdown; 

13 (7) financial institutions and other companies, 

14 such as consumer reporting agencies and companies 

15 engaged in the production of consumer scores, 

16 should take steps to prevent adverse information 

17 being reported and utilized in any manner that 

18 harms affected consumers, including by preventing 

19 modified credit arrangements intended to help con20 sumers fulfill their financial obligations from being 

21 reported to, and coded by, consumer reporting agen22 cies on a person’s credit report in a manner that 

23 hurts the creditworthiness of the affected consumers; 

24 (8) new products, services, or prudent workout 

25 arrangements designed to help affected consumers 


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1 that are consistent with safe and sound lending 

2 practices are generally in the long-term best interest 

3 of the financial institution, the consumer, and the 

4 economy; 

5 (9) financial institutions should work proactive6 ly to identify their customers who have been affected 

7 and adopt flexible, prudent arrangements to help 

8 such customers meet their debt and other obliga9 tions; and 

10 (10) prudent efforts to adopt flexible workout 

11 arrangements for affected consumers should not be 

12 subject to examiner criticism or negative examina13 tions. 

Æ 


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