I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3149 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit the use of consumer 

credit checks against prospective and current employees for the purposes 

of making adverse employment decisions. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 9, 2009 

Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Ms. WATERS, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Ms. WATSON, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE

JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. MCGOVERN, 

Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, 

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. RUSH, and 

Mr. MEEKS of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit the 

use of consumer credit checks against prospective and 

current employees for the purposes of making adverse 

employment decisions. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Equal Employment 

3 for All Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. USE OF CREDIT CHECKS PROHIBITED FOR EMPLOY5 MENT PURPOSES. 

6 (a) PROHIBITION FOR EMPLOYMENT AND ADVERSE

7 ACTION.—Section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act 

8 (15 U.S.C. 1681b) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a)(3)(B), by inserting ‘‘within 

10 the restrictions set forth in subsection (b)’’ after 

11 ‘‘purposes’’; 

12 (2) by redesignating subsections (b) through (g) 

13 as subsections (c) through (h), respectively; and 

14 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol15 lowing new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(b) USE OF CERTAIN CONSUMER REPORT PROHIB17 ITED FOR EMPLOYMENT PURPOSES OR ADVERSE AC18 TION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) GENERAL PROHIBITION.—Except as pro20 vided in paragraph (3), a person, including a pro21 spective employer or current employer, may not use 

22 a consumer report or investigative consumer report, 

23 or cause a consumer report or investigative con24 sumer report to be procured, with respect to any 

25 consumer where any information contained in the reVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:14 Jul 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3149.IH H3149

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1 port bears on the consumer’s creditworthiness, credit 

2 standing, or credit capacity— 

3 ‘‘(A) for employment purposes; or 

4 ‘‘(B) for making an adverse action, as de5 scribed in section 603(k)(1)(B)(ii). 

6 ‘‘(2) SOURCE OF CONSUMER REPORT IRRELE7 VANT.—The prohibition described in paragraph (1) 

8 shall apply even if the consumer consents or other9 wise authorizes the procurement or use of a con10 sumer report for employment purposes or in connec11 tion with an adverse action with respect to such con12 sumer. 

13 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding the prohi14 bitions set forth in this subsection, and consistent 

15 with the other sections of this Act, an employer may 

16 use a consumer report with respect to a consumer 

17 in the following situations: 

18 ‘‘(A) When the consumer applies for, or 

19 currently holds, employment that requires na20 tional security or FDIC clearance. 

21 ‘‘(B) When the consumer applies for, or 

22 currently holds, employment with a State or 

23 local government agency which otherwise re24 quires use of a consumer report. 


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1 ‘‘(C) When the consumer applies for, or 

2 currently holds, a supervisory, managerial, pro3 fessional, or executive position at a financial in4 stitution. 

5 ‘‘(D) When otherwise required by law. 

6 ‘‘(4) EFFECT ON DISCLOSURE AND NOTIFICA7 TION REQUIREMENTS.—The exceptions described in 

8 paragraph (3) shall have no effect upon the other re9 quirements of this Act, including requirements in re10 gards to disclosure and notification to a consumer 

11 when permissibly using a consumer report for em12 ployment purposes or for making an adverse action 

13 against such consumer.’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS AND CROSS REF15 ERENCES.—Such Act is further amended as follows: 

16 (1) In section 603 (15 U.S.C. 1681a)— 

17 (A) in subsection (d)(3), by striking 

18 ‘‘604(g)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘604(h)(3)’’; and 

19 (B) in subsection (o), by striking ‘‘A’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘Subject to the restrictions set forth 

21 in section 604(b), a’’. 

22 (2) In section 604 (15 U.S.C. 1681b)— 

23 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘sub24 section (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (d)’’; 


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1 (B) in subsection (c), as redesignated by 

2 subsection (a)(2) of this section— 

3 (i) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting 

4 ‘‘and subject to the restrictions set forth in 

5 subsection (b)’’ after ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; 

6 and 

7 (ii) in paragraph (3)(A), by inserting 

8 ‘‘and subject to the restrictions set forth in 

9 subsection (b)’’ after ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; 

10 (C) in subsection (d)(1), as redesignated 

11 by subsection (a)(2) of this section, by striking 

12 ‘‘subsection (e)’’ in both places it appears and 

13 inserting ‘‘subsection (f)’’; 

14 (D) in subsection (f), as redesignated by 

15 subsection (a)(2) of this section— 

16 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub17 section (c)(1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub18 section (d)(1)(B)’’; and 

19 (ii) in paragraph (5), by striking 

20 ‘‘subsection (c)(1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub21 section (d)(1)(B)’’. 

22 (3) In section 607(e)(3)(A) (15 U.S.C. 

23 1681e(e)(3)(A)), by striking ‘‘604(b)(4)(E)(i)’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘604(c)(4)(E)(i)’’. 

25 (4) In section 609 (15 U.S.C. 1681g)— 


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1 (A) in subsection (a)(3)(C)(i), by striking 

2 ‘‘604(b)(4)(E)(i)’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘604(c)(4)(E)(i)’’; and 

4 (B) in subsection (a)(3)(C)(ii), by striking 

5 ‘‘604(b)(4)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘604(c)(4)(A)’’. 

6 (5) In section 613(a) (15 U.S.C. 1681k(a)) by 

7 striking ‘‘section 604(b)(4)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec8 tion 604(c)(4)(A)’’. 

9 (6) In section 615 (15 U.S.C. 1681m)— 

10 (A) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘sec11 tion 604(c)(1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

12 604(d)(1)(B)’’; 

13 (B) in subsection (d)(1)(E), by striking 

14 ‘‘section 604(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

15 604(f)’’; and 

16 (C) in subsection (d)(2)(A), by striking 

17 ‘‘section 604(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

18 604(f)’’. 

Æ 


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