I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3697 

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 

JUNE 4, 2021 

Mr. COHEN 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 for All Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. USE OF CREDIT CHECKS PROHIBITED FOR EMPLOY2 MENT PURPOSES. 

3 Section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

4 U.S.C. 1681b) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)(3)(B), by inserting ‘‘, sub6 ject to the requirements of subsection (b)’’ after 

7 ‘‘purposes’’; and 

8 (2) in subsection (b)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (i) by amending the paragraph head11 ing to read as follows: ‘‘USE OF CON12 SUMER REPORTS FOR EMPLOYMENT PUR13 POSES’’; 

14 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by redesig15 nating clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I) 

16 and (II), respectively, and by moving such 

17 subclauses two ems to the right; 

18 (iii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

19 (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respec20 tively, and by moving such clauses two ems 

21 to the right; 

22 (iv) by striking the period at the end 

23 of clause (ii) (as so redesignated) and in24 serting ‘‘; and’’; 

25 (v) by striking ‘‘agency may furnish’’ 

26 and inserting ‘‘agency— 


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1 ‘‘(A) may furnish’’; and 

2 (vi) by adding at the end the following 

3 new subparagraph: 

4 ‘‘(B) except as provided in paragraph (5), 

5 may not furnish a consumer report with respect 

6 to any consumer in which any information con7 tained in the report bears on the consumer’s 

8 creditworthiness, credit standing, or credit ca9 pacity to an employer if the employer seeks to 

10 use such information in a denial of employment 

11 or any other decision made for employment pur12 poses.’’; and 

13 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

14 paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(5) REQUIREMENTS FOR CONSUMER REPORTS

16 BEARING ON THE CONSUMER’S CREDITWORTHINESS, 

17 CREDIT STANDING, OR CREDIT CAPACITY.— 

18 ‘‘(A) EXCEPTIONS.—An employer may use 

19 a consumer report with respect to any con20 sumer in which any information contained in 

21 the report bears on the consumer’s credit22 worthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity 

23 in a decision made for employment purposes or 

24 before taking an adverse action for employment 

25 purposes only if the consumer authorizes the 


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1 procurement of the report as described in para2 graph (2)(A)(ii) and— 

3 ‘‘(i) the consumer applies for, or cur4 rently holds, employment that requires the 

5 consumer to be eligible for access to classi6 fied information; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) when otherwise required by law. 

8 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—A person who seeks to 

9 obtain or use a consumer report with respect to 

10 any consumer in which any information con11 tained in the report bears on the consumer’s 

12 creditworthiness, credit standing, or credit ca13 pacity may not deny employment to the con14 sumer or make any other decision for employ15 ment purposes with respect to the consumer be16 cause the consumer has not authorized the pro17 curement of the report as described in para18 graph (2)(A)(ii).’’. 

Æ 


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