I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 306 
To amend the Credit Repair Organizations Act to add additional protections 
against harmful practices within the credit repair organization industry, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 9, 2025 
Ms. MCBRIDE (for herself and Mrs. KIM) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Credit Repair Organizations Act to add addi-
tional protections against harmful practices within the 
credit repair organization industry, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ending Scam Credit 
Repair Act’’ or the ‘‘ESCRA Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CREDIT REPAIR ORGANIZATION DEFINITION. 
Section 403(3) of the Credit Repair Organizations 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1679a(3))— 
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(1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘(not in-
cluding anything received in return for representing 
a consumer in preparation for or during litigation)’’ 
after ‘‘consideration’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (B)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘an entity or individual 
that is, in good faith and not for the purpose 
of evading this title’’ after ‘‘include’’; 
(B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘or’’; 
(C) in clause (iii), by striking the period 
and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(D) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iv) any attorney that provides legal 
services rendered or to be rendered to a 
consumer in contemplation of or in connec-
tion with a case filed, or to be filed within 
12 months, under title 11 or title 15, 
United States Code, by an attorney within 
the same law firm.’’. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITED PRACTICES. 
(a) UNTRUE OR MISLEADING STATEMENTS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 404(a)(1) of the 
Credit 
Repair 
Organizations 
Act 
(15 
U.S.C. 
1679b(a)(1)) is amended— 
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(A) by inserting ‘‘knowingly’’ before ‘‘make 
any statement, or’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’; 
and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) the Bureau of Consumer Financial 
Protection directly or through an online portal 
established to receive complaints, disputes, or 
reports of fraud; 
‘‘(D) the Federal Trade Commission di-
rectly or through an online portal established to 
receive complaints, disputes, or reports of 
fraud; or 
‘‘(E) any Federal, State, local, or Tribal 
law enforcement agency, directly or through an 
online portal established to receive complaints, 
disputes, or reports of fraud;’’. 
(2) FINDING.—The Congress finds that it is al-
ready unlawful to make materially false, fictitious, or 
fraudulent statements or representations to the Bu-
reau of Consumer Financial Protection. 
(b) ADDITIONAL PROHIBITED PRACTICES.—Section 
404 of the Credit Repair Organizations Act (15 U.S.C. 
1679b) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(2)— 
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(A) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by inserting 
‘‘or’’ after ‘‘credit;’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) the Bureau of Consumer Financial 
Protection or the Federal Trade Commission;’’; 
(2) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(b) PAYMENT IN ADVANCE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No credit repair organiza-
tion may request or receive payment of any fee or 
consideration from a consumer for services rep-
resented to remove derogatory or inaccurate infor-
mation from, or improve, such consumer’s credit his-
tory, credit record, or credit rating, or services re-
lated to such a representation, until the credit repair 
organization has provided such consumer with docu-
mentation in the form of a consumer report, issued 
not less than 6 months after such service, from a 
consumer reporting agency that demonstrates that 
such representation has been achieved. 
‘‘(2) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this subsection shall be construed to alter the per-
missible purposes of furnishing a consumer report 
described in section 604 of the Fair Credit Report-
ing Act.’’; and 
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(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(c) JAMMING.—A credit repair organization may not 
submit multiple disputes described in section 611 of the 
Fair Credit Reporting Act of the same information unless 
all of the following are true: 
‘‘(1) The consumer reporting agency or data 
furnisher has had the time permitted under the Fair 
Credit Reporting Act to conduct a reasonable inves-
tigation on the prior dispute. 
‘‘(2) The consumer reporting agency or data 
furnisher has returned the results of its investigation 
to the consumer with respect to such dispute, unless 
there are material changes to the information sub-
mitted with the dispute. 
‘‘(3) The credit repair organization includes 
with the resubmitted dispute a specific description of 
what information is inaccurate.’’. 
SEC. 4. DISCLOSURES. 
Section 405 of the Credit Repair Organizations Act 
(15 U.S.C. 1679c) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘due to fraud.’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘due to fraud. Credit repair organizations 
do not provide any services that you cannot do 
yourself for free.’’; 
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(B) by striking ‘‘regulates’’ and inserting 
‘‘and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Pro-
tection regulate’’; and 
(C) by inserting ‘‘The Bureau of Consumer 
Financial Protection 1700 G St. NW, Wash-
ington, DC, 20552 Tel: 855–411–2372 TTY/ 
TTD: 855–729–2372’’ after ‘‘20580’’; and 
(2) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘and any record-
ings of telephone communications with the con-
sumer.’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘2’’ in the heading and 
inserting ‘‘5’’; 
(ii) by inserting ‘‘and any telephone 
recordings with the consumer’’ after ‘‘con-
sumer’s statement’’; 
(iii) by striking ‘‘2’’ and inserting 
‘‘5’’; and 
(iv) by striking ‘‘statement is signed 
by the consumer’’ and inserting ‘‘statement 
or the telephone recordings are created’’. 
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SEC. 5. CONSUMER CONTRACT REQUIRED. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 407(c) of the Credit Re-
pair Organizations Act (15 U.S.C. 1679e(c)) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) copies of all communications sent on be-
half of the consumer, at the time the communication 
is sent.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 407(c) of the 
Credit Repair Organizations Act (15 U.S.C. 1679e(c)) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘at the time the contract or the 
other document is signed.’’; 
(2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘; and’’ insert-
ing ‘‘, at the time the contract or the other docu-
ment is signed;’’; and 
(3) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end ‘‘at 
the time the contract or the other document is 
signed; and’’. 
SEC. 6. NONCOMPLIANCE. 
Section 408 of the Credit Repair Organizations Act 
(15 U.S.C. 1679f) is amended by adding at the end fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(d) LEGAL SERVICES WITHIN CREDIT REPAIR OR-
GANIZATIONS.—A credit repair organization shall be sub-
ject to this title regardless of whether the organization is, 
or employs, an attorney who also provides legal services 
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to a consumer, except if such attorney is an attorney de-
scribed in section 403(3)(B)(iv). 
‘‘(e) CREDIT REPAIR ORGANIZATIONS WITHOUT A 
STATE LICENSE.—On or after January 1, 2026, no per-
son may act as a credit repair organization unless such 
person is licensed by a State.’’. 
SEC. 7. CREDIT REPAIR ORGANIZATION COMMUNICATIONS 
WITH FURNISHERS OF INFORMATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Credit Repair Organizations 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1679 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 
section 408 the following new section: 
‘‘§ 408A. Credit repair organization communications 
with furnishers of information 
‘‘Disputes submitted to a person who furnishes infor-
mation to a consumer reporting agency by or on behalf 
of a credit repair organization shall meet the following re-
quirements: 
‘‘(1) If sent by mail, the dispute shall be trans-
mitted by first class mail and list on the envelope 
the— 
‘‘(A) name of the credit repair organiza-
tion; and 
‘‘(B) State license number of the credit re-
pair organization, if applicable. 
‘‘(2) The dispute shall list the— 
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‘‘(A) name of the credit repair organiza-
tion; 
‘‘(B) State license number of the credit re-
pair organization, if applicable; and 
‘‘(C) name of the consumer on whose be-
half the dispute is submitted. 
‘‘(3) In the case of any additional communica-
tion after an initial dispute, the additional commu-
nication shall clearly and conspicuously identify any 
material changes to the information provided in the 
initial written dispute and include the information 
described in paragraphs (1) and (2). 
‘‘(4) In the case where a credit repair organiza-
tion sells or otherwise provides an online or paper 
blank dispute form to be completed and filed by the 
consumer, such form must contain the— 
‘‘(A) name and address of such credit re-
pair organization; and 
‘‘(B) State license number of such credit 
repair organization, if applicable. 
‘‘(5) In the case where the person responds to 
a dispute submitted by a credit repair organization 
seeking clarifying information, verifying if the cus-
tomer has actually engaged with the credit repair or-
ganization, or denying the accuracy of the under-
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lying claim, the credit repair organization shall re-
spond in writing within 15 business days. 
‘‘(6) In the case where the credit repair organi-
zation is an attorney, the attorney shall certify that 
any communication is consistent with any informa-
tion or documentation provided by the consumer, 
confirmed based upon methods or means proven to 
be historically reliable and accurate. 
‘‘(7) A credit repair organization, when sending 
a dispute, shall disclose the fact that it is a credit 
repair organization by placing the following disclo-
sure on the dispute letter: ‘This communication was 
submitted or prepared on behalf of the consumer by 
a credit repair organization, as defined in section 
403 of the Credit Repair Organizations Act (15 
U.S.C. 1679a).’ ’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
for the Credit Repair Organizations Act is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 408 the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘408A. Credit repair organization communications with furnishers of informa-
tion.’’. 
SEC. 8. CIVIL LIABILITY. 
Section 409(a)(1) of the Credit Repair Organizations 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1679g(a)(1)) is amended— 
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(1) by striking ‘‘ACTUAL DAMAGES’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘DAMAGES’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’; 
(3) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 
at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) the amount of $500 in damages for 
each violation of this title.’’. 
Æ 
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