I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8485 
To amend the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to require creditors to consider 
certain additional credit information when making mortgage loans, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 22, 2022 
Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to require credi-
tors to consider certain additional credit information 
when making mortgage loans, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Expanding Access to 
Credit through Consumer-Permissioned Data Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Using alternative data in mortgage lending 
(either through alternative credit scores or in under-
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writing) has the potential to increase access to credit 
for individuals with little or no credit history with 
the national credit reporting agencies (NCRAs), ac-
cording to a review of alternative data use in mort-
gage lending by the Government Accountability Of-
fice in December 2021. 
(2) Approximately 45 million consumers do not 
have any credit history with the NCRAs or did not 
have enough credit history to be scored, according to 
a 2015 report by the Bureau of Consumer Financial 
Protection (CFPB), entitled ‘‘Data Point: Credit 
Invisibles’’. The CFPB also reported that this popu-
lation disproportionately included low-income con-
sumers, younger consumers, and consumers of color. 
(3) The use of alternative data to establish a 
low- or moderate-income borrower’s credit history 
for the purpose of extending mortgage credit can 
help lenders meet goals of the Community Reinvest-
ment Act. 
(4) Mortgage underwriting systems that allow 
lenders to use consumer-permissioned alternative 
credit information may help expand access to mort-
gages for borrowers with lower credit scores and 
communities of color. On September 21, 2021, 
Fannie Mae updated its automated underwriting 
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system so that it notifies lenders that a borrower 
may benefit from the inclusion of consistent rental 
payment information, and with the consumer’s per-
mission, the underwriting system will automatically 
identify rental payments within bank statement data 
and include this in its credit assessment. According 
to a fair lending and credit risk analysis by Fannie 
Mae and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the 
populations most likely to benefit from this change 
are applicants with lower credit scores, who are dis-
proportionately consumers of color. 
SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT TO CONSIDER ADDITIONAL CREDIT 
INFORMATION WHEN MAKING MORTGAGE 
LOANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Equal Credit Opportunity 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1691 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 
section 701 the following: 
‘‘§ 701A. Requirement to consider additional credit 
information when making mortgage loans 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A creditor extending a mortgage 
loan shall, in evaluating the creditworthiness of an appli-
cant, consider credit information not reported through a 
consumer reporting agency, if— 
‘‘(1) the applicant— 
‘‘(A) requests such consideration; 
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‘‘(B) authorizes the provision of the credit 
information to be considered; and 
‘‘(C) states that the applicant does not be-
lieve that credit information reported through 
consumer reporting agencies fully or accurately 
reflects the applicant’s creditworthiness in the 
absence of such information; and 
‘‘(2) the credit information relates to the types 
of information that the creditor would consider if 
otherwise reported and includes current payment 
and transaction information, such as bank statement 
information or rental payment information. 
‘‘(b) TREATMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.— 
A creditor shall treat any information provided pursuant 
to subsection (a) in the same manner and with the same 
weight as the creditor would treat the same information 
if it were provided by a consumer reporting agency, as 
defined through regulations by the Director of the Bureau 
of Consumer Financial Protection, unless the creditor rea-
sonably determines that the information is the result of 
a material misrepresentation, according to regulations 
provided by the Director of the Bureau. 
‘‘(c) NOTICE TO APPLICANTS.— 
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tions as, in the judgement of the Director, may be 
necessary to capture consumer-permissioned data in 
automated underwriting systems. 
‘‘(f) CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY DEFINED.—In 
this section, the term ‘consumer reporting agency’ has the 
meaning given that term under section 603 of the Fair 
Credit Reporting Act.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
for the Equal Credit Opportunity Act is amended by in-
serting after the item relating to section 701 the following: 
‘‘701A. Requirement to consider additional credit information when making 
mortgage loans.’’. 
(c) RULEMAKING; APPLICATION DATE.—Not later 
than the end of the 18-month period beginning on the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Bureau of 
Consumer Financial Protection shall issue final rules to 
carry out the amendments made by this section, and such 
amendments shall apply to creditors on and after the ef-
fective date of such final rules. 
Æ 
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