H. Res. 77 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
January 29, 2019. 
Resolved, That it is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) financial institutions and other entities, such as 
landlords, consumer reporting agencies and companies 
engaged in the production of consumer scores, should 
help consumers affected by any shutdown of the Federal 
Government, including the shutdown that began on De-
cember 22, 2018; 
(2) even with the recent conclusion of the shutdown, 
the period of recovery has just begun and the negative 
impact the shutdown is having on millions of consumers 
and the U.S. economy is significant; for example, anal-
ysis from S&P Global Ratings estimates that the U.S. 
economy has already lost more than $6 billion as of Jan-
uary 25, 2019, and if the shutdown were to resume in 
a few weeks, the analysis suggests there would be a fur-
ther reduction of real Gross Domestic Product by $1.2 
billion each week the government is shutdown;
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(3) financial institutions and other companies, such 
as consumer reporting agencies and companies engaged 
in the production of consumer scores, should provide op-
portunities for consumers affected by any shutdown—in-
cluding Federal employees, government contractors, 
small businesses, and other individuals—who are or will 
be facing financial distress to easily contact and alert 
them of their situation immediately; 
(4) affected consumers may face financial hardship 
and emotional distress in making timely payments on 
their debts, such as mortgages, student loans, car loans, 
credit cards, and other debt, as well as paying for rent, 
food, transportation, school and other basic necessities, 
due to the temporary delay or permanent loss of their 
income; 
(5) to provide quick relief to their affected cus-
tomers or tenants, financial institutions and other enti-
ties, such as landlords, respectively, should for the dura-
tion of any shutdown, as well as for a reasonable period 
of time following a shutdown, consider waiving or reduc-
ing penalty, late payment, and similar fees; ceasing evic-
tions and foreclosures; and providing forbearance; 
(6) consumers affected by the shutdown, whose in-
come are directly or indirectly dependent on the full op-
eration of the Federal Government, may be experiencing
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financial and emotional stress through no fault of their 
own and their creditworthiness should not be impaired 
because of the shutdown; 
(7) financial institutions and other companies, such 
as consumer reporting agencies and companies engaged 
in the production of consumer scores, should take steps 
to prevent adverse information being reported and uti-
lized in any manner that harms affected consumers, in-
cluding by preventing modified credit arrangements in-
tended to help consumers fulfill their financial obliga-
tions from being reported to, and coded by, consumer re-
porting agencies on a person’s credit report in a manner 
that hurts the creditworthiness of the affected con-
sumers; 
(8) new products, services, or prudent workout ar-
rangements designed to help affected consumers that are 
consistent with safe and sound lending practices are gen-
erally in the long-term best interest of the financial insti-
tution, the consumer, and the economy; 
(9) financial institutions should work proactively to 
identify their customers who have been affected by any 
shutdown and adopt flexible, prudent arrangements to 
help such customers meet their debt and other obliga-
tions; and
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(10) prudent efforts to adopt flexible workout ar-
rangements for affected consumers should not be subject 
to examiner criticism or negative examinations. 
Attest: 
Clerk.