IB 
Union Calendar No. 150
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2622
[Report No. 108–263] 
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act, to prevent identity theft, improve 
resolution of consumer disputes, improve the accuracy of consumer 
records, make improvements in the use of, and consumer access to, 
credit information, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 26, 2003
Mr. BACHUS (for himself, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. 
MOORE, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. CASTLE, Mrs. 
MALONEY, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. FORD, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. 
HENSARLING, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. ROSS, Mr. MATHESON, 
Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. BAKER, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. LUCAS 
of Oklahoma, Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky, Mr. NEY, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. 
JONES of North Carolina, Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. HART, Mr. MILLER of North 
Carolina, Mrs. CAPITO, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. BARRETT of 
South Carolina, Mr. FEENEY, and Ms. HARRIS) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
SEPTEMBER 4, 2003
Additional sponsors: Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. 
BOYD, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. FROST, 
Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. CANTOR, 
Mr. BLUNT, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. TERRY, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mr. 
MICA, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. KIND, 
Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr. SCHROCK, Mr. REYNOLDS, Ms. PRYCE of 
Ohio, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. BEAUPREZ, and Mr. BOEHLERT
SEPTEMBER 4, 2003 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 26, 2003] 
A BILL 
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act, to prevent identity 
theft, improve resolution of consumer disputes, improve 
the accuracy of consumer records, make improvements 
in the use of, and consumer access to, credit information, 
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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act are as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Definitions. 
Sec. 3. Effective dates. 
TITLE I—UNIFORM NATIONAL CONSUMER PROTECTION STANDARDS 
Sec. 101. Uniform national consumer protection standards made permanent. 
TITLE II—IDENTITY THEFT PREVENTION 
Sec. 201. Investigating changes of address and inactive accounts. 
Sec. 202. Fraud alerts. 
Sec. 203. Truncation of credit card and debit card account numbers. 
Sec. 204. Summary of rights of identity theft victims. 
Sec. 205. Blocking of information resulting from identity theft. 
Sec. 206. Establishment of procedures for depository institutions to identify pos-
sible instances of identity theft. 
Sec. 207. Study on the use of technology to combat identity theft. 
TITLE III—IMPROVING RESOLUTION OF CONSUMER DISPUTES 
Sec. 301. Coordination of consumer complaint investigations.
Sec. 302. Notice of dispute through reseller. 
Sec. 303. Reasonable investigation required. 
Sec. 304. Duties of furnishers of information. 
Sec. 305. Prompt investigation of disputed consumer information. 
TITLE IV—IMPROVING ACCURACY OF CONSUMER RECORDS 
Sec. 401. Reconciling addresses. 
Sec. 402. Prevention of repollution of consumer reports. 
Sec. 403. Notice by users with respect to fraudulent information. 
Sec. 404. Disclosure to consumers of contact information for users and furnishers 
of information in consumer reports. 
Sec. 405. FTC study of the accuracy of consumer reports. 
TITLE V—IMPROVEMENTS IN USE OF AND CONSUMER ACCESS TO 
CREDIT INFORMATION 
Sec. 501. Free reports annually. 
Sec. 502. Disclosure of credit scores. 
Sec. 503. Simpler and easier method for consumers to use notification system. 
Sec. 504. Requirement to disclose communications to a consumer reporting agen-
cy. 
Sec. 505. Study of effects of credit scores and credit-based insurance scores on 
availability and affordability of financial products. 
Sec. 506. GAO study on disparate impact of credit system. 
Sec. 507. Analysis of further restrictions on offers of credit or insurance. 
Sec. 508. Study on the need and the means for improving financial literacy 
among consumers. 
Sec. 509. Disclosure of increase in APR under certain circumstances. 
TITLE VI—PROTECTING EMPLOYEE MISCONDUCT INVESTIGATIONS 
Sec. 601. Certain employee investigation communications excluded from defini-
tion of consumer report. 
TITLE VII—LIMITING THE USE AND SHARING OF MEDICAL 
INFORMATION IN THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM 
Sec. 701. Protection of medical information in the financial system. 
Sec. 702. Confidentiality of medical information in credit reports.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681a) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subsections: 
‘‘(r) RESELLER.—The term ‘reseller’ means a con-
sumer reporting agency that—
‘‘(1) assembles and merges information contained 
in the database of another consumer reporting agency
or multiple consumer reporting agencies concerning 
any consumer for purposes of furnishing such infor-
mation to any third party, to the extent of such ac-
tivities; and 
‘‘(2) does not maintain a database of the assem-
bled or merged information from which new consumer 
reports are produced. 
‘‘(s) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—
‘‘(1) 
BOARD; 
CREDIT; 
CREDITOR; 
CREDIT 
CARD.—The terms ‘Board’, ‘credit’, ‘creditor’, and 
‘credit card’ have the same meanings as in section 
103 of the Truth in Lending Act. 
‘‘(2) 
COMMISSION.—The 
term 
‘Commission’ 
means the Federal Trade Commission. 
‘‘(3) DEBIT CARD.—The term ‘debit card’ means 
any card issued by a financial institution to a con-
sumer for use in initiating electronic fund transfers 
(as defined in section 903(6) of the Electronic Fund 
Transfer Act) from the account (as defined in such 
Act) of the consumer at such financial institution for 
the purpose of transferring money between accounts 
or obtaining money, property, labor, or services. 
‘‘(4) ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFER.—The term 
‘electronic fund transfer’ has the same meaning as in 
section 903 of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.
‘‘(5) FEDERAL
BANKING
AGENCY.—The term 
‘Federal banking agency’ has the same meaning as in 
section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act.
‘‘(6) IDENTITY THEFT.—The term ‘identity theft’ 
means a fraud committed using another person’s 
identifying information, subject to such further defi-
nition as the Commission and the Board may pre-
scribe, jointly, by regulation. 
‘‘(7) POLICE REPORT.—The term ‘police report’ 
means a copy of any official valid report filed by a 
consumer with any appropriate Federal, State, or 
local government law enforcement agency, or any 
comparable official government document that the 
Board and the Commission shall jointly prescribe in 
regulations, that is subject to a criminal penalty for 
false statements.’’.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsections 
(b) and (c)—
(1) before the end of the 2-month period begin-
ning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
and the Federal Trade Commission shall jointly pre-
scribe regulations in final form establishing effective
dates for each provision of this Act (except as other-
wise specified); and 
(2) the regulations prescribed under paragraph 
(1) shall establish effective dates that are as early as 
possible while allowing a reasonable time for the im-
plementation of the provisions of this Act, but in no 
case shall the effective date be later than 10 months 
after the date of issuance of such regulations in final 
form. 
(b) IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE.—The following pro-
visions shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this 
Act: 
(1) Title I. 
(2) Section 201. 
(3) Section 609(d)(1) of the Fair Credit Report-
ing Act (as added by the amendment in section 
204(a)). 
(4) Section 305. 
(5) Section 505. 
(6) Section 506. 
(7) Title VI. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE FOR PROTECTION OF MEDICAL 
INFORMATION IN THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM.—Section 701 
shall take effect at the end of the 180-day period beginning 
on the date of the enactment of this Act, except that para-
graph (2) of section 604(g) of the Fair Credit Reporting 
Act (as added by section 701) shall take effect on the later 
of—
(1) the end of the 90-day period beginning on the 
date the regulations required under paragraph (5)(B) 
of such section 604(g) (as added by section 701) are 
prescribed in final form; or 
(2) the date specified in the regulations referred 
to in paragraph (1). 
TITLE 
I—UNIFORM 
NATIONAL 
CONSUMER 
PROTECTION 
STANDARDS 
SEC. 101. UNIFORM NATIONAL CONSUMER PROTECTION 
STANDARDS MADE PERMANENT. 
Section 624(d) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681t(d)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘Subsections (b) and (c)’’ and all 
that follows through ‘‘do not affect any settlement,’’ 
and inserting ‘‘Subsections (b) and (c) do not affect 
any settlement,’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘Consumer Credit Reporting Re-
form Act of 1996’’ and all that follows through the pe-
riod at the end of paragraph (2) and inserting ‘‘Con-
sumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 1996.’’.
TITLE II—IDENTITY THEFT 
PREVENTION 
SEC. 201. INVESTIGATING CHANGES OF ADDRESS AND IN-
ACTIVE ACCOUNTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 605 of the Fair Credit Re-
porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c) is amended by inserting after 
subsection (f), the following new subsection: 
‘‘(g) ‘RED FLAG’ PATTERNS OF POSSIBLE IDENTITY 
THEFT.—
‘‘(1) INVESTIGATION
OF
CHANGES
OF
AD-
DRESS.—The Federal banking agencies and the Na-
tional Credit Union Administration, in carrying out 
the responsibilities of such agencies and Administra-
tion under subsection (k), shall jointly prescribe regu-
lations for credit card and debit card issuers to en-
sure that, if any such issuer receives a request for an 
additional or replacement card for an existing ac-
count within a short period of time after the issuer 
has received notification of a change of address for the 
same account, the issuer will follow reasonable poli-
cies and procedures that require, as appropriate, that 
the issuer not issue the additional or replacement 
card unless the issuer—
‘‘(A) notifies the cardholder of the request at 
the former address of the cardholder and provides
to the cardholder a means of promptly reporting 
incorrect address changes; 
‘‘(B) notifies the cardholder of the request 
by such other means of communication as the 
cardholder and the card issuer previously agreed 
to; or 
‘‘(C) uses other means of assessing the valid-
ity of the change of address, in accordance with 
reasonable policies and procedures established by 
the card issuer in accordance with the regula-
tions prescribed under subsection (k). 
‘‘(2) INACTIVE ACCOUNTS.—The Federal banking 
agencies and the National Credit Union Administra-
tion, in carrying out the responsibilities of such agen-
cies and Administration under subsection (k), shall 
consider including, as a possible ‘red flag’ pattern, 
reasonable guidelines providing that when a trans-
action occurs with respect to a credit or deposit ac-
count that has been inactive for more than 2 years, 
the creditor or depository institution shall follow rea-
sonable policies and procedures that provide for notice 
to be given to a consumer in a manner reasonably de-
signed to reduce the likelihood of identity theft with 
respect to such account.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—
(1) The heading for section 605 of the Fair Cred-
it Reporting Act is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘§ 605. Requirements relating to information con-
tained in consumer reports and to identity 
theft prevention.’’. 
(2) The table of sections for title VI of the Con-
sumer Credit Protection Act is amended by striking 
the item relating to section 605 and inserting the fol-
lowing new item:
‘‘605. Requirements relating to information contained in consumer reports and to 
identity theft prevention.’’.
(3) Section 624(b)(1)(E) of the Fair Credit Re-
porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681t(b)(1)(E)) is amended by 
inserting ‘‘and to identity theft prevention’’ after 
‘‘consumer reports’’. 
SEC. 202. FRAUD ALERTS. 
Section 605 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681c) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(i) ONE-CALL FRAUD ALERTS.—
‘‘(1) INITIAL ALERTS.—Upon the direct request 
of a consumer, or an individual acting on behalf of 
or as a personal representative of a consumer, who as-
serts, in good faith, a suspicion that the consumer has 
been or is about to become a victim of fraud or re-
lated crime, including identity theft, a consumer re-
porting agency described in section 603(p) shall, if 
the agency maintains a file on the consumer who is 
making the request and has a reasonable belief that 
the agency knows the identity of the consumer—
‘‘(A) include a fraud alert in the file of that 
consumer for a period of not less than 90 days 
beginning on the date of such request, unless the 
consumer specifically requests that such fraud 
alert be removed before the end of such period; 
‘‘(B) disclose to the consumer that the con-
sumer may request a free copy of the file of the 
consumer and provide the consumer, upon re-
quest, a free disclosure of the consumer’s file (as 
described in section 609(a)) within 3 business 
days after such request; 
‘‘(C) for 2 years after the date of such re-
quest, exclude the consumer from any list of con-
sumers prepared by the agency and provided to 
any third party to offer credit or insurance to 
the consumer as part of a transaction that was 
not initiated by the consumer, unless the con-
sumer subsequently requests that such exclusion 
be rescinded before the end of such period; and 
‘‘(D) refer the information regarding the 
fraud alert to each of the other consumer report-
ing agencies described in section 603(p), as re-
quired under section 621(f)(1). 
‘‘(2) EXTENDED ALERTS.—Upon the direct re-
quest of a consumer, or an individual acting on be-
half of or as a personal representative of a consumer, 
who contacts a consumer reporting agency described 
in section 603(p) to report details of an identity theft 
and submits evidence that provides the agency with 
reasonable cause to believe that such identity theft has 
occurred, the agency shall, if the agency maintains a 
file on the consumer who is making the request and 
has a reasonable belief that the agency knows the 
identity of the consumer—
‘‘(A) include a fraud alert in the file of that 
consumer and provide an opportunity for the 
consumer to extend the alert for a period of up 
to 7 years from the date of such request, unless 
the consumer subsequently requests that such 
fraud alert be removed before the end of such pe-
riod; 
‘‘(B) provide the consumer with the option 
of including more complete information in the 
consumer’s file, including a telephone number or 
some other reasonable means of communication 
that any person who requests the consumer’s re-
port may utilize for authorization before estab-
lishing a new credit plan in the name of the con-
sumer; and 
‘‘(C) provide the consumer with at least 2 
free disclosures of the information described in 
section 609(a) during the 12-month period begin-
ning on the date of such request. 
‘‘(3) ACTIVE DUTY ALERTS.—Upon the direct re-
quest of an active duty military consumer, or an in-
dividual acting on behalf of or as a personal rep-
resentative of an active duty military consumer, who 
contacts a consumer reporting agency described in 
section 603(p), the agency shall, if the agency main-
tains a file on the consumer who is making the re-
quest and has a reasonable belief that the agency 
knows the identity of the consumer—
‘‘(A) include an active duty alert in the file 
of that consumer during a period of not less than 
12 months beginning on the date of the request, 
unless the consumer requests that such active 
duty alert be removed before the end of such pe-
riod; 
‘‘(B) for 2 years after the date of such re-
quest, exclude the consumer from any list of con-
sumers prepared by the agency and provided to
any third party to offer credit or insurance to 
the consumer as part of a transaction that was 
not initiated by the consumer, unless the con-
sumer subsequently requests that such exclusion 
be rescinded before the end of such period; and 
‘‘(C) refer the information regarding the ac-
tive duty alert to each of the other consumer re-
porting agencies described in section 603(p), as 
required under section 621(f)(1). 
‘‘(4) PROCEDURES.—Each consumer reporting 
agency described in section 603(p) shall establish poli-
cies and procedures to comply with the obligations of 
paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), including procedures 
that allow consumers to request initial, extended, or 
active duty alerts in a simple and easy manner, in-
cluding by telephone. 
‘‘(5) NOTICE TO USERS.—No person who obtains 
any information that includes a fraud alert under 
this section from a file of any consumer from a con-
sumer reporting agency may establish a new credit 
plan in the name of the consumer for a person other 
than the consumer without utilizing reasonable poli-
cies and procedures described in paragraph (9). 
‘‘(6) REFERRALS OF FRAUD ALERTS.—Each con-
sumer reporting agency described in section 603(p)
that receives a referral of a fraud alert from another 
such agency pursuant to paragraph (1)(D) or (3)(C) 
shall follow the procedures required under subpara-
graphs (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (1), in the 
case of a referral under paragraph (1)(D), and sub-
paragraphs (A) and (B), in the case of a referral 
under paragraph (3)(C), as if the agency received the 
request from the consumer directly. 
‘‘(7) 
DUTY
OF
RESELLER
TO
RECONVEY 
ALERT.—A reseller that is notified of the existence of 
a fraud alert in a consumer’s consumer report shall 
communicate to each person procuring a consumer re-
port with respect to such consumer the existence of a 
fraud alert in effect for such consumer. 
‘‘(8) DUTY
OF
OTHER
CONSUMER
REPORTING 
AGENCIES TO PROVIDE CONTACT INFORMATION.—If a 
consumer contacts any consumer reporting agency 
that is not a consumer reporting agency described in 
section 603(p) to communicate a suspicion that the 
consumer has been or is about to become a victim of 
fraud or related crime, including identity theft, the 
agency shall provide the consumer with information 
on how to contact the Commission and the consumer 
reporting agencies described in section 603(p) to ob-
tain more detailed information and request alerts 
under this subsection. 
‘‘(9) FRAUD ALERT.—
‘‘(A) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this 
subsection, the term ‘fraud alert’ means, at a 
minimum, a statement—
‘‘(i) in the file of a consumer that the 
consumer may be a victim of fraud, includ-
ing identity theft, or is a consumer de-
scribed in paragraph (3); and 
‘‘(ii) that is transmitted in a manner 
that facilitates a clear and conspicuous view 
of the statement by any person requesting 
such file. 
‘‘(B) OTHER INFORMATION.—A fraud alert 
shall include information that notifies all pro-
spective users of a consumer report on the con-
sumer to which the alert relates that the con-
sumer does not authorize establishing any new 
credit plan in the name of the consumer, unless 
the user utilizes reasonable policies and proce-
dures to form a reasonable belief that the user 
knows the identity of the person for whom such 
new plan is established, which may include ob-
taining authorization or preauthorization of the
consumer at a telephone number designated by 
the consumer or by such other reasonable means 
agreed to. 
‘‘(10) OTHER
DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of 
this subsection, the following definitions shall apply: 
‘‘(A) ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY CONSUMER.—
The term ‘active duty military consumer’ means 
a consumer in military service who—
‘‘(i) is on active duty (as defined in 
section 101(d)(1) of title 10, United States 
Code) or is a reservist performing duty 
under a call or order to active duty under 
a provision of law referred to in section 
101(a)(13) of title 10, United States Code; 
and 
‘‘(ii) is assigned to service away from 
the consumer’s usual duty station. 
‘‘(B) NEW CREDIT PLAN.—The term ‘new 
credit plan’ means a new account under an open 
end credit plan (as defined in section 103(i) of 
this Act) or a new credit transaction not under 
an open end credit plan.’’.
SEC. 203. TRUNCATION OF CREDIT CARD AND DEBIT CARD 
ACCOUNT NUMBERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 605 of the Fair Credit Re-
porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c) is amended by inserting after 
subsection (k) (as added by section 206 of this title) the 
following new subsection: 
‘‘(l) TRUNCATION OF CREDIT CARD AND DEBIT CARD 
ACCOUNT NUMBERS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in this 
subsection, no person that accepts credit cards or 
debit cards for the transaction of business shall print 
the expiration date or more than the last 5 digits of 
the card number upon any receipt provided to the 
cardholder at the point of the sale or transaction. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—This section shall apply only 
to receipts that are electronically printed, and shall 
not apply to transactions in which the sole means of 
recording the person’s credit card or debit card num-
ber is by handwriting or by an imprint or copy of 
the card.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by sub-
section (a) shall apply after the end of—
(1) the 3-year period beginning on the date of 
the enactment of this Act, with respect to any cash 
register or other machine or device that electronically
prints receipts for credit card or debit card trans-
actions that is in use before January 1, 2005; and 
(2) the 1-year period beginning on the date of 
the enactment of this Act, with respect to any cash 
register or other machine or device that electronically 
prints receipts for credit card or debit card trans-
actions that is first put into use on or after January 
1, 2005. 
SEC. 204. SUMMARY OF RIGHTS OF IDENTITY THEFT VIC-
TIMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 609 of the Fair Credit Re-
porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(d) SUMMARY OF RIGHTS OF IDENTITY THEFT VIC-
TIMS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Commission, in con-
sultation with the Federal banking agencies and the 
National Credit Union Administration, shall prepare 
a model summary of the rights of consumers under 
this title with respect to the procedures for remedying 
the effects of fraud or identity theft involving credit, 
electronic fund transfers, or accounts or transactions 
at or with a financial institution. 
‘‘(2) SUMMARY OF RIGHTS AND CONTACT INFOR-
MATION.—If any consumer contacts a consumer re-
porting agency and expresses a belief that the con-
sumer is a victim of fraud or identity theft involving 
credit, electronic fund transfers, or accounts or trans-
actions at or with a financial institution, the con-
sumer reporting agency shall, in addition to any 
other action the agency may take, provide the con-
sumer with the model summary of rights prepared by 
the Commission under paragraph (1) and informa-
tion on how to contact the Commission to obtain more 
detailed information.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Sec-
tion 624(b)(3) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 
1681t(b)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 609(c)’’ and 
inserting ‘‘subsection (c) or (d) of section 609’’. 
SEC. 205. BLOCKING OF INFORMATION RESULTING FROM 
IDENTITY THEFT. 
Section 605 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681c) is amended by inserting after subsection (i) 
(as added by section 202 of this title) the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(j) BLOCK OF INFORMATION RESULTING FROM IDEN-
TITY THEFT.—
‘‘(1) BLOCK.—Except as provided in paragraph 
(3), a consumer reporting agency shall block the re-
porting of any information in the file of a consumer
that the consumer identifies as information that re-
sulted from an alleged identity theft and confirms is 
not information relating to any transaction by the 
consumer not later than 5 business days after the date 
of receipt by such agency of—
‘‘(A) appropriate proof of the identity of a 
consumer; 
‘‘(B) a police report evidencing the claim of 
the consumer of identity theft; 
‘‘(C) the identification of the information 
by the consumer; and 
‘‘(D) confirmation by the consumer that the 
information is not information relating to any 
transaction by the consumer. 
‘‘(2) 
NOTIFICATION.—A 
consumer 
reporting 
agency shall promptly notify the furnisher of infor-
mation identified by the consumer under paragraph 
(1)—
‘‘(A) that the information may be a result 
of identity theft; 
‘‘(B) that a police report has been filed; 
‘‘(C) that a block has been requested under 
this subsection; and 
‘‘(D) of the effective date of the block. 
‘‘(3) AUTHORITY TO DECLINE OR RESCIND.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A consumer reporting 
agency may decline to block, or may rescind any 
block, of consumer information under this sub-
section if the consumer reporting agency reason-
ably determines that—
‘‘(i) the information was blocked in 
error or a block was requested by the con-
sumer in error; 
‘‘(ii) the information was blocked, or a 
block was requested by the consumer, on the 
basis of a misrepresentation of fact by the 
consumer relevant to the request to block; or 
‘‘(iii) the consumer knowingly obtained 
possession of goods, services, or moneys as a 
result of the blocked transaction or trans-
actions, or the consumer should have known 
that the consumer obtained possession of 
goods, services, or moneys as a result of the 
blocked transaction or transactions. 
‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION TO CONSUMER.—If the 
block of information is declined or rescinded 
under this paragraph, the affected consumer 
shall be notified promptly, in the same manner 
as consumers are notified of the reinsertion of in-
formation under section 611(a)(5)(B).
‘‘(C) SIGNIFICANCE OF BLOCK.—For pur-
poses of this paragraph, if a consumer reporting 
agency rescinds a block, the presence of informa-
tion in the file of a consumer prior to the block-
ing of such information is not evidence of wheth-
er the consumer knew or should have known that 
the consumer obtained possession of any goods, 
services, or monies as a result of the block. 
‘‘(4) EXCEPTIONS.—
‘‘(A) VERIFICATION COMPANIES.—This sub-
section shall not apply to—
‘‘(i) a check services company, which 
issues authorizations for the purpose of ap-
proving or processing negotiable instru-
ments, electronic funds transfers, or similar 
methods of payments; or 
‘‘(ii) a deposit account information 
service company, which issues reports re-
garding account closures due to fraud, sub-
stantial overdrafts, automated teller ma-
chine abuse, or similar negative informa-
tion regarding a consumer, to inquiring 
banks or other financial institutions for use 
only in reviewing a consumer request for a
deposit account at the inquiring bank or fi-
nancial institution. 
‘‘(B) RESELLERS.—
‘‘(i) NO
RESELLER
FILE.—This sub-
section shall not apply to a consumer re-
porting agency if the consumer reporting 
agency—
‘‘(I) is a reseller; 
‘‘(II) is not, at the time of the re-
quest of the consumer under paragraph 
(1), otherwise furnishing or reselling a 
consumer report concerning the infor-
mation identified by the consumer; and 
‘‘(III) informs the consumer, by 
any means, that the consumer may re-
port the identity theft to the Commis-
sion to obtain consumer information 
regarding identity theft. 
‘‘(ii) RESELLER WITH FILE.—The sole 
obligation of the consumer reporting agency 
under this subsection, with regard to any 
request of a consumer under this subsection, 
shall be to block the consumer report main-
tained by the consumer reporting agency 
from any subsequent use if—
‘‘(I) the consumer, in accordance 
with the provisions of paragraph (1), 
identifies, to a consumer reporting 
agency, information in the file of the 
consumer that resulted from identity 
theft; and 
‘‘(II) 
the 
consumer 
reporting 
agency is a reseller of the identified in-
formation. 
‘‘(iii) NOTICE.—In carrying out its ob-
ligation under clause (ii), the reseller shall 
promptly provide a notice to the consumer 
of the decision to block the file. Such notice 
shall contain the name, address, and tele-
phone number of each consumer reporting 
agency from which the consumer informa-
tion was obtained for resale. 
‘‘(5) ACCESS TO BLOCKED INFORMATION BY LAW 
ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.—No provision of this sub-
section shall be construed as requiring a consumer re-
porting agency to prevent a Federal, State, or local 
law enforcement agency from accessing blocked infor-
mation in a consumer file to which the agency could 
otherwise obtain access under this title.’’.
SEC. 206. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROCEDURES FOR DEPOSI-
TORY INSTITUTIONS TO IDENTIFY POSSIBLE 
INSTANCES OF IDENTITY THEFT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 605 of the Fair Credit Re-
porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c) is amended by inserting after 
subsection (j) (as added by section 205 of this title) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(k) ‘RED FLAG’ GUIDELINES REQUIRED.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal banking agen-
cies and the National Credit Union Administration, 
in consultation with the Commission, shall jointly es-
tablish and maintain guidelines for use by insured 
depository institutions in identifying patterns, prac-
tices, and specific forms of activity that indicate the 
possible existence of identity theft with respect to ac-
counts, and update such guidelines as often as nec-
essary. 
‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The Federal banking agen-
cies and the National Credit Union Administration, 
in consultation with the Commission, shall jointly 
prescribe regulations requiring insured depository in-
stitutions to establish and adhere to reasonable poli-
cies and procedures for implementing the guidelines 
established pursuant to paragraph (1) to identify pos-
sible risks to customer accounts or to the safety and 
soundness of the institutions.
‘‘(3) CONSISTENCY
WITH
VERIFICATION
RE-
QUIREMENTS.—Policies and procedures established 
pursuant to paragraph (2) shall not be inconsistent 
with, or duplicative of, the policies and procedures re-
quired under section 5318(l) of title 31, United States 
Code. 
‘‘(4) INSURED
DEPOSITORY
INSTITUTION
DE-
FINED.—For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘in-
sured depository institution’—
‘‘(A) has the meaning given to such term in 
section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act; 
and 
‘‘(B) includes an insured credit union (as 
defined in section 101 of the Federal Credit 
Union Act).’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by sub-
section (a) shall take effect at the end of the 1-year period 
beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 207. STUDY ON THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY TO COMBAT 
IDENTITY THEFT. 
(a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of the Treasury 
shall conduct a study of the use of biometrics and other 
similar technologies to reduce the incidence and costs of 
identity theft by providing convincing evidence of who actu-
ally performed a given financial transaction.
(b) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of the Treasury 
shall consult with Federal banking agencies, the Federal 
Trade Commission, and representatives of financial institu-
tions, credit reporting agencies, Federal, State, and local 
government agencies that issue official forms or means of 
identification, State prosecutors, law enforcement agencies, 
and the biometric industry and other representatives of the 
general public, in formulating and conducting the study re-
quired by subsection (a). 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Treas-
ury for fiscal year 2004 such sums as may be necessary 
to carry out the provisions of this section. 
(d) REPORT REQUIRED.—Before the end of the 180-
day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to Congress con-
taining the findings and conclusions of the study required 
under subsection (a), together with such recommendations 
for legislative or administrative actions as may be appro-
priate.
TITLE III—IMPROVING RESOLU-
TION 
OF 
CONSUMER 
DIS-
PUTES 
SEC. 301. COORDINATION OF CONSUMER COMPLAINT IN-
VESTIGATIONS. 
Section 621 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681s) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(f) COORDINATION OF CONSUMER COMPLAINT INVES-
TIGATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The consumer reporting 
agencies described in section 603(p) shall develop and 
maintain procedures for the referral, to each such 
agency, of any consumer complaint received by any 
such agency alleging any identity theft or requesting 
a block or a fraud alert. 
‘‘(2) MODEL FORM AND PROCEDURE FOR RE-
PORTING IDENTITY THEFT.—The Commission, in con-
sultation with the Federal banking agencies and the 
National Credit Union Administration, shall develop 
a model form and model procedures to be used by con-
sumers who are victims of identity theft for con-
tacting and informing creditors and consumer report-
ing agencies of the fraud.
‘‘(3) ANNUAL
SUMMARY
REPORTS.—Each con-
sumer reporting agency described in section 603(p) 
shall submit an annual summary report to the Com-
mission on consumer complaints received by the agen-
cy on identity theft or fraud alerts.’’. 
SEC. 302. NOTICE OF DISPUTE THROUGH RESELLER. 
(a) REQUIREMENT
FOR REINVESTIGATION
OF DIS-
PUTED INFORMATION UPON NOTICE FROM A RESELLER.—
Section 611(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 
1681i(a)(1)(A)) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1)—
(A) by striking ‘‘If the completeness’’ and 
inserting ‘‘Subject to subsection (e), if the com-
pleteness’’; 
(B) by inserting ‘‘, or indirectly through a 
reseller,’’ after ‘‘notifies the agency directly’’; and 
(C) by inserting ‘‘or reseller’’ before the pe-
riod at the end of such subparagraph; 
(2) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2)—
(A) by inserting ‘‘or a reseller’’ after ‘‘dis-
pute from any consumer’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘or reseller’’ before the pe-
riod at the end of such subparagraph; and 
(3) in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2), by 
inserting ‘‘or the reseller’’ after ‘‘from the consumer’’.
(b) REINVESTIGATION REQUIREMENT APPLICABLE TO 
RESELLERS.—Section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act 
(15 U.S.C. 1681i) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(e) REINVESTIGATION REQUIREMENT APPLICABLE TO 
RESELLERS.—
‘‘(1) EXEMPTION FROM GENERAL REINVESTIGA-
TION REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), a reseller shall be exempt from the require-
ments of this section. 
‘‘(2) ACTION REQUIRED UPON RECEIVING NOTICE 
OF A DISPUTE.—If a reseller receives a notice from a 
consumer of a dispute concerning the completeness or 
accuracy of any item of information contained in a 
consumer report on such consumer produced by the 
reseller, the reseller shall, within 5 business days of 
receiving the notice and free of charge—
‘‘(A) determine whether the item of informa-
tion is incomplete or inaccurate as a result of an 
act or omission of the reseller; and 
‘‘(B) if—
‘‘(i) the reseller determines that the 
item of information is incomplete or inac-
curate as a result of an act or omission of
the reseller, correct the information in the 
consumer report or delete it; or 
‘‘(ii) if the reseller determines that the 
item of information is not incomplete or in-
accurate as a result of an act or omission 
of the reseller, convey the notice of the dis-
pute, together with all relevant information 
provided by the consumer, to each consumer 
reporting agency that provided the reseller 
with the information that is the subject of 
the dispute. 
‘‘(3) RESELLER REINVESTIGATIONS.—No provi-
sion of this subsection shall be construed as prohib-
iting a reseller from conducting a reinvestigation of 
a consumer dispute directly.’’. 
(c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The 
heading for paragraph (2)(B) of section 611(a) of the Fair 
Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(2)(B)) is amend-
ed by striking ‘‘FROM CONSUMER’’. 
SEC. 303. REASONABLE REINVESTIGATION REQUIRED. 
Section 611(a)(1)(A) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act 
(15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘shall 
reinvestigate free of charge’’ and inserting ‘‘shall, free of 
charge, conduct a reasonable reinvestigation to determine 
whether the disputed information is inaccurate’’.
SEC. 304. DUTIES OF FURNISHERS OF INFORMATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 623(a) of the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘knows or 
consciously avoids knowing that the information is 
inaccurate’’ and inserting ‘‘knows or has reasonable 
cause to believe that the information is inaccurate’’; 
(2) in paragraph (1)—
(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 
and (C) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respec-
tively; 
(B) by inserting after subparagraph (A), 
the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(B) REASONABLE
PROCEDURES
TO
EN-
SURE ACCURACY.—A person that regularly fur-
nishes information relating to consumers to a 
consumer reporting agency described in section 
603(p) shall maintain reasonable procedures de-
signed to ensure that the information furnished 
is accurate.’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(F) DEFINITION.—For purposes of sub-
paragraph (A), the term ‘reasonable cause to be-
lieve that the information is inaccurate’ means, 
based on the procedures described in subpara-
graph (B), has knowledge, other than solely alle-
gations by the consumer, that would cause a rea-
sonable person to have substantial doubts about 
the accuracy of the information.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(6) ABILITY OF CONSUMER TO DISPUTE INFOR-
MATION DIRECTLY WITH FURNISHER.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A consumer may dis-
pute directly with a person the accuracy of in-
formation that—
‘‘(i) is contained in a consumer report 
on the consumer prepared by a consumer 
reporting 
agency 
described 
in 
section 
603(p); and 
‘‘(ii) was provided by the person to 
that consumer reporting agency in accord-
ance with paragraph (1)(B). 
‘‘(B) SUBMITTING A NOTICE OF DISPUTE.—
A consumer who seeks to dispute the accuracy of 
information with a person under subparagraph 
(A) shall provide a dispute notice directly to 
such person at the address specified by the per-
son for such notices that—
‘‘(i) identifies the specific information 
that is being disputed; and 
‘‘(ii) explains the basis for the dispute. 
‘‘(C) DUTY OF PERSON AFTER RECEIVING 
NOTICE OF DISPUTE.—After receiving a notice of 
dispute from a consumer pursuant to subpara-
graph (B), the person that provided the informa-
tion in dispute to a consumer reporting agency 
referred to in subparagraph (A) shall—
‘‘(i) conduct an investigation with re-
spect to the disputed information; 
‘‘(ii) review all relevant information 
provided by the consumer with the notice; 
‘‘(iii) complete such person’s investiga-
tion of the dispute and report the results of 
the investigation to the consumer before the 
expiration of the period under section 
611(a)(1) within which a consumer report-
ing agency would be required to complete 
its action if the consumer had elected to dis-
pute the information under that section; 
and 
‘‘(iv) if the investigation finds that the 
information 
reported 
was 
inaccurate, 
promptly thereafter report correct informa-
tion to each consumer reporting agency de-
scribed in section 603(p) to which the per-
son furnished the inaccurate information.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Section 621(c)(5)(A) of the Fair Credit Re-
porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s(c)(5)(A)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘section 623(a)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘para-
graph (1) or (6) of section 623(a)’’. 
(2) The heading for section 621(c)(5) of the Fair 
Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s(c)(5)) is 
amended 
by 
striking 
‘‘VIOLATION
OF
SECTION 
623(a)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘CERTAIN
VIOLATIONS
OF 
SECTION 623(a)’’. 
SEC. 305. PROMPT INVESTIGATION OF DISPUTED CON-
SUMER INFORMATION. 
(a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System and the Federal Trade Commission 
shall jointly study the extent to which, and the manner in 
which, consumer reporting agencies and furnishers of con-
sumer information to consumer reporting agencies are com-
plying with the procedures, time lines, and requirements 
under the Fair Credit Reporting Act for the prompt inves-
tigation of the disputed accuracy of any consumer informa-
tion, the completeness of the information provided to con-
sumer reporting agencies, and the prompt correction or de-
letion, in accordance with such Act, of any inaccurate or 
incomplete information or information that cannot be 
verified. 
(b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Before the end of the 6-
month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
and the Federal Trade Commission shall jointly submit a 
progress report to the Congress on the results of the study 
required under subsection (a). 
(c) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The report under subsection 
(b) shall include such recommendations as the Board and 
the Commission jointly determine to be appropriate for leg-
islative or administrative action to ensure that—
(1) consumer disputes with consumer reporting 
agencies over the accuracy or completeness of infor-
mation in a consumer’s file are promptly and fully 
investigated and any incorrect, incomplete, or unveri-
fiable information is corrected or deleted immediately 
thereafter; 
(2) furnishers of information to consumer report-
ing agencies maintain full and prompt compliance 
with the duties and responsibilities established under 
section 623 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act; and 
(3) consumer reporting agencies establish and 
maintain appropriate internal controls and manage-
ment review procedures for maintaining full and con-
tinuous compliance with the procedures, time lines, 
and requirements under the Fair Credit Reporting 
Act for the prompt investigation of the disputed accu-
racy of any consumer information and the prompt 
correction or deletion, in accordance with such Act, of 
any inaccurate or incomplete information or infor-
mation that cannot be verified. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 
terms ‘‘consumer’’, ‘‘consumer report’’, and ‘‘consumer re-
porting agency’’ have the same meaning as in the Fair 
Credit Reporting Act. 
TITLE 
IV—IMPROVING 
ACCU-
RACY 
OF 
CONSUMER 
RECORDS
SEC. 401. RECONCILING ADDRESSES. 
Section 605 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681c) is amended by inserting after subsection (g) 
(as added by section 201 of this Act) the following new sub-
section. 
‘‘(h) NOTICE OF DISCREPANCY.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a person has requested a 
consumer report relating to a consumer from a con-
sumer reporting agency described in section 603(p), 
the request includes an address for the consumer that
substantially differs from the addresses in the file of 
the consumer, and the agency provides a consumer re-
port in response to the request, the consumer report-
ing agency shall notify the requester of the existence 
of the discrepancy. 
‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—
‘‘(A) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The Fed-
eral banking agencies and the National Credit 
Union Administration shall jointly prescribe 
regulations providing guidance regarding rea-
sonable policies and procedures a user of a con-
sumer report should employ when such user has 
received a notice of discrepancy under paragraph 
(1). 
‘‘(B) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TO BE IN-
CLUDED.—The regulations prescribed under sub-
paragraph (A) shall describe reasonable policies 
and procedures for use by a user of a consumer 
report—
‘‘(i) to form a reasonable belief that the 
user knows the identity of the person to 
whom the consumer report pertains; and 
‘‘(ii) if the user establishes a con-
tinuing relationship with the consumer, and 
the user regularly and in the ordinary
course of business furnishes information to 
the consumer reporting agency from which 
the notice of discrepancy pertaining to the 
consumer was obtained, to reconcile the con-
sumer’s address with the consumer report-
ing agency by furnishing such address to 
such consumer reporting agency as part of 
information regularly furnished by the user 
for the period in which the relationship is 
established.’’.
SEC. 402. PREVENTION OF REPOLLUTION OF CONSUMER 
REPORTS. 
Section 623(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)(1)) is amended by inserting after sub-
paragraph (D) (as so redesignated by section 304(2)(A)) the 
following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(E) INFORMATION
ALLEGED
TO
RESULT 
FROM IDENTITY THEFT.—If a consumer submits 
a police report to a person who furnishes infor-
mation to a consumer reporting agency that 
states that information maintained by such per-
son that purports to relate to the consumer re-
sulted from identity theft, the person may not 
furnish such information that purports to relate 
to the consumer to any consumer reporting agen-
cy, unless the person subsequently knows or is 
informed by the consumer that the information 
is correct.’’. 
SEC. 403. NOTICE BY USERS WITH RESPECT TO FRAUDU-
LENT INFORMATION. 
Section 615 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681m) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(e) NOTICE OF FRAUDULENT INFORMATION RELAT-
ING TO IDENTITY THEFT.—If an agent acting as a debt 
collector (as defined in title VIII) of a person who furnishes 
information to any consumer reporting agency uses infor-
mation contained in a consumer report on any consumer 
and learns that any such information so used is the result 
of identity theft or otherwise is fraudulent, the agent shall—
‘‘(1) if such information—
‘‘(A) originated from the person for whom 
the debt collector is acting as agent, notify the 
person of the fraudulent information; or 
‘‘(B) originated from a person other than 
the person for whom the debt collector is acting 
as agent, notify the consumer reporting agency 
(that provided the consumer report) of the fraud-
ulent information, either directly or through the
person for whom the debt collector is acting as 
agent; and 
‘‘(2) upon the request of the consumer, provide 
the consumer with all information which the con-
sumer would be entitled to receive if the information 
related to the consumer other than by reason of iden-
tity theft.’’.
SEC. 404. DISCLOSURE TO CONSUMERS OF CONTACT IN-
FORMATION FOR USERS AND FURNISHERS OF 
INFORMATION IN CONSUMER REPORTS. 
Section 609(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681g(a)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, including 
addresses of the sources, and (if provided by the 
sources of information) the telephone numbers identi-
fied for customer service for the sources of informa-
tion’’ after ‘‘sources of information’’ the 1st place such 
term appears in such paragraph; and 
(2) in paragraph (3)(B) by striking clause (ii) 
and inserting the following new clause: 
‘‘(ii) the address and (if provided) the 
telephone numbers identified for customer 
service of the person.’’.
SEC. 405. FTC STUDY OF THE ACCURACY OF CONSUMER RE-
PORTS. 
(a) STUDY REQUIRED.—Until the final report is sub-
mitted under subsection (b)(2), the Federal Trade Commis-
sion shall conduct an ongoing study of the accuracy and 
completeness of information contained in consumer reports 
prepared or maintained by consumer reporting agencies 
and methods for improving the accuracy and completeness 
of such information. 
(b) BIENNIAL REPORTS REQUIRED.—
(1) INTERIM
REPORTS.—The Federal Trade 
Commission shall submit an interim report to the 
Congress on the study conducted under subsection (a) 
at the end of the 6-month period beginning on the 
date of the enactment of this Act and biennially there-
after for 8 years. 
(2) FINAL REPORT.—The Federal Trade Com-
mission shall submit a final report to the Congress on 
the study conducted under subsection (a) at the end 
of the 2-year period beginning on the date the final 
interim report is submitted to the Congress under 
paragraph (1). 
(3) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 
this subsection shall contain a detailed summary of 
the findings and conclusions of the Commission with 
respect to the study required under subsection (a) and
such recommendations for legislative and administra-
tive action as the Commission may determine to be 
appropriate. 
TITLE 
V—IMPROVEMENTS 
IN 
USE OF AND CONSUMER AC-
CESS TO CREDIT INFORMA-
TION 
SEC. 501. FREE REPORTS ANNUALLY. 
(a) FREE REPORTS ANNUALLY FROM NATIONWIDE 
CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES.—Section 612 of the 
Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681j) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(e) FREE ANNUAL DISCLOSURE.—Upon the direct re-
quest of the consumer, a consumer reporting agency de-
scribed in section 603(p) shall make all disclosures pursu-
ant to section 609 once during any 12-month period with-
out charge to the consumer.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Sec-
tion 612(c) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 
1681j(c)) is amended by inserting ‘‘that is not a consumer 
reporting agency described in section 603(p)’’ after ‘‘con-
sumer reporting agency’’.
SEC. 502. DISCLOSURE OF CREDIT SCORES. 
(a) 
STATEMENT
ON
AVAILABILITY
OF
CREDIT 
SCORES.—Section 609(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
(15 U.S.C. 1681g(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(6) If the consumer requests the credit file and 
not the credit score, a statement that the consumer 
may request and obtain a credit score.’’. 
(b) DISCLOSURE OF CREDIT SCORES.—Section 609 of 
the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g) is amend-
ed by inserting after subsection (d) (as added by section 
204 of this Act) the following new subsection: 
‘‘(e) DISCLOSURE OF CREDIT SCORES.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the consumer’s request 
for a credit score, a consumer reporting agency shall 
supply to a consumer a statement indicating that the 
information and credit scoring model may be dif-
ferent than the credit score that may be used by the 
lender, and a notice which shall include the following 
information: 
‘‘(A) The consumer’s current credit score or 
the consumer’s most recent credit score that was 
previously calculated by the credit reporting 
agency for a purpose related to the extension of 
credit. 
‘‘(B) The range of possible credit scores 
under the model used.
‘‘(C) All the key factors that adversely af-
fected the consumer’s credit score in the model 
used, the total number of which shall not exceed 
four, subject to paragraph (9). 
‘‘(D) The date the credit score was created. 
‘‘(E) The name of the person or entity that 
provided the credit score or credit file upon 
which the credit score was created. 
‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, 
the following definitions shall apply: 
‘‘(A) CREDIT
SCORE.—The term ‘credit 
score’—
‘‘(i) means a numerical value or a cat-
egorization derived from a statistical tool or 
modeling system used by a person who 
makes or arranges a loan to predict the 
likelihood of certain credit behaviors, in-
cluding default (and the numerical value or 
the categorization derived from this analysis 
may also be referred to as a ‘risk predictor’ 
or ‘risk score’); and 
‘‘(ii) does not include—
‘‘(I) any mortgage score or rating 
of an automated underwriting system 
that considers one or more factors in
addition to credit information, includ-
ing the loan to value ratio, the amount 
of down payment, or a consumer’s fi-
nancial assets; or 
‘‘(II) any other elements of the 
underwriting process or underwriting 
decision. 
‘‘(B) KEY FACTORS.—The term ‘key factors’ 
means all relevant elements or reasons adversely 
affecting the credit score for the particular indi-
vidual listed in the order of their importance 
based on their effect on the credit score. 
‘‘(3) TIMEFRAME
AND
MANNER
OF
DISCLO-
SURE.—The information required by this subsection 
shall be provided in the same timeframe and manner 
as the information described in subsection (a). 
‘‘(4) APPLICABILITY
TO
CERTAIN
USES.—This 
subsection shall not be construed so as to compel a 
consumer reporting agency to develop or disclose a 
score if the agency does not—
‘‘(A) distribute scores that are used in con-
nection with residential real property loans; or 
‘‘(B) develop scores that assist credit pro-
viders in understanding a consumer’s general
credit behavior and predicting the future credit 
behavior of the consumer. 
‘‘(5) APPLICABILITY TO CREDIT SCORES DEVEL-
OPED BY ANOTHER PERSON.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—This subsection shall 
not be construed to require a consumer reporting 
agency that distributes credit scores developed by 
another person or entity to provide a further ex-
planation of them, or to process a dispute aris-
ing pursuant to section 611, except that the con-
sumer reporting agency shall provide the con-
sumer with the name and address and website 
for contacting the person or entity who developed 
the score or developed the methodology of the 
score. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—This paragraph shall 
not apply to a consumer reporting agency that 
develops or modifies scores that are developed by 
another person or entity. 
‘‘(6) MAINTENANCE OF CREDIT SCORES NOT RE-
QUIRED.—This subsection shall not be construed to re-
quire a consumer reporting agency to maintain credit 
scores in its files.
‘‘(7) COMPLIANCE IN CERTAIN CASES.—In com-
plying with this subsection, a consumer reporting 
agency shall—
‘‘(A) supply the consumer with a credit 
score that is derived from a credit scoring model 
that is widely distributed to users by that con-
sumer reporting agency in connection with resi-
dential real property loans or with a credit score 
that assists the consumer in understanding the 
credit scoring assessment of the credit behavior of 
the consumer and predictions about the future 
credit behavior of the consumer; and 
‘‘(B) a statement indicating that the infor-
mation and credit scoring model may be dif-
ferent than that used by the lender. 
‘‘(8) REASONABLE FEE.—A consumer reporting 
agency may charge a reasonable fee for providing the 
information required under this subsection. 
‘‘(9) USE OF ENQUIRIES AS A KEY FACTOR.—If 
a key factor that adversely affects a consumer’s credit 
score consists of the number of enquiries made with 
respect to a consumer report, that factor shall be in-
cluded in the disclosure pursuant to paragraph (1)(C) 
without regard to the numerical limitation in such 
paragraph.’’.
(c) DISCLOSURE
OF CREDIT SCORES
BY CERTAIN 
MORTGAGE LENDERS.—Section 609 of the Fair Credit Re-
porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g) is amended by inserting 
after subsection (e) (as added by subsection (b) of this sec-
tion) the following new subsection: 
‘‘(f) DISCLOSURE OF CREDIT SCORES BY CERTAIN 
MORTGAGE LENDERS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who makes or 
arranges loans and who uses a consumer credit score 
as defined in subsection (e) in connection with an ap-
plication initiated or sought by a consumer for a 
closed end loan or establishment of an open end loan 
for a consumer purpose that is secured by 1 to 4 units 
of residential real property (hereafter in this sub-
section referred to as the ‘lender’) shall provide the 
following to the consumer as soon as reasonably prac-
ticable:
‘‘(A) INFORMATION REQUIRED UNDER SUB-
SECTION(e).—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A copy of the infor-
mation identified in subsection (e) that was 
obtained from a consumer reporting agency 
or was developed and used by the user of the 
information.
‘‘(ii) NOTICE
UNDER
SUBPARAGRAPH 
(D).—In addition to the information pro-
vided to it by a third party that provided 
the credit score or scores, a lender is only 
required to provide the notice contained in 
subparagraph (D). 
‘‘(B) DISCLOSURES IN CASE OF AUTOMATED 
UNDERWRITING SYSTEM.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If a person who is 
subject to this section uses an automated 
underwriting system to underwrite a loan, 
that person may satisfy the obligation to 
provide a credit score by disclosing a credit 
score and associated key factors supplied by 
a consumer reporting agency. 
‘‘(ii) NUMERICAL
CREDIT
SCORE.—
However, if a numerical credit score is gen-
erated by an automated underwriting sys-
tem used by an enterprise, and that score is 
disclosed to the person, the score shall be 
disclosed to the consumer consistent with 
subparagraph (C). 
‘‘(iii) 
ENTERPRISE
DEFINED.—For 
purposes of this subparagraph, the term ‘en-
terprise’ shall have the same meaning as in
paragraph (6) of section 1303 of the Federal 
Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and 
Soundness Act of 1992. 
‘‘(C) DISCLOSURES OF CREDIT SCORES NOT 
OBTAINED FROM A CONSUMER REPORTING AGEN-
CY.—A person subject to the provisions of this 
subsection who uses a credit score other than a 
credit score provided by a consumer reporting 
agency may satisfy the obligation to provide a 
credit score by disclosing a credit score and asso-
ciated key factors supplied by a consumer report-
ing agency. 
‘‘(D) NOTICE
TO
HOME
LOAN
APPLI-
CANTS.—A copy of the following notice, which 
shall include the name, address, and telephone 
number of each consumer reporting agency pro-
viding a credit score that was used: 
‘‘ ‘NOTICE TO THE HOME LOAN APPLICANT 
‘‘ ‘In connection with your application for a home 
loan, the lender must disclose to you the score that a con-
sumer reporting agency distributed to users and the lender 
used in connection with your home loan, and the key factors 
affecting your credit scores. 
‘‘ ‘The credit score is a computer generated summary 
calculated at the time of the request and based on informa-
tion a consumer reporting agency or lender has on file. The 
scores are based on data about your credit history and pay-
ment patterns. Credit scores are important because they are 
used to assist the lender in determining whether you will 
obtain a loan. They may also be used to determine what 
interest rate you may be offered on the mortgage. Credit 
scores can change over time, depending on your conduct, 
how your credit history and payment patterns change, and 
how credit scoring technologies change. 
‘‘ ‘Because the score is based on information in your 
credit history, it is very important that you review the cred-
it-related information that is being furnished to make sure 
it is accurate. Credit records may vary from one company 
to another. 
‘‘ ‘If you have questions about your credit score or the 
credit information that is furnished to you, contact the con-
sumer reporting agency at the address and telephone num-
ber provided with this notice, or contact the lender, if the 
lender developed or generated the credit score. The consumer 
reporting agency plays no part in the decision to take any 
action on the loan application and is unable to provide you 
with specific reasons for the decision on a loan application. 
‘‘ ‘If you have questions concerning the terms of 
the loan, contact the lender.’.
‘‘(E) ACTIONS NOT REQUIRED UNDER THIS 
SUBSECTION.—This subsection shall not require 
any person to do any of the following: 
‘‘(i) Explain the information provided 
pursuant to subsection (e). 
‘‘(ii) Disclose any information other 
than a credit score or key factor, as defined 
in subsection (e). 
‘‘(iii) Disclose any credit score or re-
lated information obtained by the user after 
a loan has closed. 
‘‘(iv) Provide more than 1 disclosure 
per loan transaction. 
‘‘(v) Provide the disclosure required by 
this subsection when another person has 
made the disclosure to the consumer for that 
loan transaction. 
‘‘(F) NO OBLIGATION FOR CONTENT.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any person’s obli-
gation pursuant to this subsection shall be 
limited solely to providing a copy of the in-
formation that was received from the con-
sumer reporting agency. 
‘‘(ii) LIMIT ON LIABILITY.—No person 
has liability under this subsection for the
content of that information or for the omis-
sion of any information within the report 
provided by the consumer reporting agency. 
‘‘(G) PERSON DEFINED AS EXCLUDING EN-
TERPRISE.—As used in this subsection, the term 
‘person’ does not include an enterprise (as de-
fined in paragraph (6) of section 1303 of the 
Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety 
and Soundness Act of 1992). 
‘‘(2) PROHIBITION
ON
DISCLOSURE
CLAUSES 
NULL AND VOID.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Any provision in a 
contract that prohibits the disclosure of a credit 
score by a person who makes or arranges loans 
or a consumer reporting agency is void. 
‘‘(B) NO LIABILITY FOR DISCLOSURE UNDER 
THIS SUBSECTION.—A lender shall not have li-
ability under any contractual provision for dis-
closure of a credit score pursuant to this sub-
section.’’. 
(d) INCLUSION OF KEY FACTOR IN CREDIT SCORE IN-
FORMATION IN CONSUMER REPORT.—Section 605(d) of the 
Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(d)) is amend-
ed—
(1) by striking ‘‘DISCLOSED.—Any consumer re-
porting agency’’ and inserting ‘‘DISCLOSED.—
‘‘(1) TITLE 11 INFORMATION.—Any consumer re-
porting agency’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(2) KEY FACTOR IN CREDIT SCORE INFORMA-
TION.—Any consumer reporting agency that furnishes 
a consumer report that contains any credit score or 
any other risk score or predictor on any consumer 
shall include in the report a clear and conspicuous 
statement that a key factor (as defined in section 
609(e)(2)(B)) that adversely affected such score or 
predictor was the number of enquiries, if such a pre-
dictor was in fact a key factor that adversely affected 
such score.’’. 
SEC. 503. SIMPLER AND EASIER METHOD FOR CONSUMERS 
TO USE NOTIFICATION SYSTEM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 604(e)(5)(A)(i) of the Fair 
Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(e)(5)(A)(i)) is 
amended by inserting ‘‘in a simple and easy manner and’’ 
after ‘‘notify the agency,’’. 
(b) SIMPLIFIED NOTICE AND RESPONSE FORMAT FOR 
USERS.—Section 615(d) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act 
(15 U.S.C. 1681m(d)) is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), and 
(4), as paragraphs (3), (4) and (5); and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(2) SIMPLE
AND
EASY
NOTIFICATION.—Any 
statement given the consumer under paragraph (1)(E) 
shall be in a simple and easy to understand format 
and shall describe the simple and easy method estab-
lished under section 604(e)(5)(A)(i) for the consumer 
to respond.’’.
SEC. 504. REQUIREMENT TO DISCLOSE COMMUNICATIONS 
TO A CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 623(a) of the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)) is amended by in-
serting after paragraph (6) (as added by section 304(3)) 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(7) NEGATIVE INFORMATION.—
‘‘(A) NOTICE TO CONSUMER REQUIRED.—
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—If any financial 
institution that extends credit and regularly 
and in the ordinary course of business fur-
nishes information to a consumer reporting 
agency described in section 603(p) furnishes 
negative information to such an agency re-
garding credit extended to a customer, the
financial institution shall provide a notice 
of such furnishing of negative information, 
in writing, to the customer. 
‘‘(ii) NOTICE EFFECTIVE FOR SUBSE-
QUENT SUBMISSIONS.—After providing such 
notice, the financial institution may submit 
additional negative information to a con-
sumer reporting agency described in section 
603(p) with respect to the same transaction, 
extension of credit, account, or customer 
without providing additional notice to the 
customer. 
‘‘(B) TIME OF NOTICE.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The notice required 
under subparagraph (A) shall be provided 
to the customer prior to, or no later than 30 
days after, furnishing the negative informa-
tion to a consumer reporting agency de-
scribed in section 603(p). 
‘‘(ii) COORDINATION
WITH
NEW
AC-
COUNT DISCLOSURES.—If the notice is pro-
vided to the customer prior to furnishing 
the negative information to a consumer re-
porting agency, the notice may not be in-
cluded in the initial disclosures provided
under section 127(a) of the Truth in Lend-
ing Act. 
‘‘(C) COORDINATION WITH OTHER DISCLO-
SURES.—The notice required under subpara-
graph (A)—
‘‘(i) may be included on or with any 
notice of default, any billing statement, or 
any other materials provided to the cus-
tomer; and 
‘‘(ii) must be clear and conspicuous. 
‘‘(D) MODEL DISCLOSURE.—
‘‘(i) DUTY OF BOARD TO PREPARE.—
The Board shall prescribe a brief model dis-
closure a financial institution may use to 
comply with subparagraph (A), which shall 
not exceed 30 words. 
‘‘(ii) 
USE
OF
MODEL
NOT
RE-
QUIRED.—No provision of this paragraph 
shall be construed as requiring a financial 
institution to use any such model form pre-
scribed by the Board. 
‘‘(iii) COMPLIANCE USING MODEL.—A 
financial institution shall be deemed to be 
in compliance with subparagraph (A) if the 
financial institution uses any such model
form prescribed by the Board, or the finan-
cial institution uses any such model form 
and rearranges its format. 
‘‘(E) USE OF NOTICE WITHOUT SUBMITTING 
NEGATIVE INFORMATION.—No provision of this 
paragraph shall be construed as requiring a fi-
nancial institution that has provided a customer 
with a notice described in subparagraph (A) to 
furnish negative information about the customer 
to a consumer reporting agency. 
‘‘(F) SAFE HARBOR.—A financial institu-
tion shall not be liable for failure to perform the 
duties required by this paragraph if, at the time 
of the failure, the financial institution main-
tained reasonable policies and procedures to 
comply with this paragraph. 
‘‘(G) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 
paragraph, the following definitions shall apply: 
‘‘(i) 
NEGATIVE
INFORMATION.—The 
term ‘negative information’ means informa-
tion concerning a customer’s delinquencies, 
late payments, insolvency, or any form of 
default. 
‘‘(ii) CUSTOMER; FINANCIAL INSTITU-
TION.—The terms ‘customer’ and ‘financial
institution’ have the same meaning as in 
section 509 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley 
Act.’’. 
(b) MODEL DISCLOSURE FORM.—Before the end of the 
6-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys-
tem shall adopt the model disclosure required under the 
amendment made by subsection (a) after notice duly given 
in the Federal Register and an opportunity for public com-
ment in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United 
States Code.
SEC. 505. STUDY OF EFFECTS OF CREDIT SCORES AND 
CREDIT-BASED 
INSURANCE 
SCORES 
ON 
AVAILABILITY AND AFFORDABILITY OF FI-
NANCIAL PRODUCTS. 
(a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Federal Trade Commis-
sion, in consultation with the Office of Fair Housing and 
Equal Opportunity of the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development, shall conduct a study of—
(1) the effects of the use of credit scores and cred-
it-based insurance scores on the availability and af-
fordability of financial products and services, includ-
ing credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, and property 
and casualty insurance;
(2) the degree of causality between the factors 
considered by credit score systems and the quantifi-
able risks and actual losses experienced by businesses, 
including the extent to which, if any, each of the fac-
tors considered or otherwise taken into account by 
such systems are accurate predictors of risk or loss, 
and where the means square error of a scoring model’s 
predictions are considered in the evaluation of accu-
racy; 
(3) the extent to which, if any, the use of credit 
scoring models, credit scores and credit-based insur-
ance scores result in disparate impact by geography, 
income, ethnicity, race, color, religion, national ori-
gin, age, sex or marital status, and creed, including 
the extent to which the consideration or lack of con-
sideration of certain factors by credit scoring systems 
could result in disparate effects and the extent to 
which, if any, the use of underwriting systems relying 
on these models could achieve comparable results 
through the use of factors with less disparate impact; 
and 
(4) the extent to which credit scoring systems are 
used by businesses, the factors considered by such sys-
tems, and the effects of variables which are not con-
sidered by such systems.
(b) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Commission shall 
seek public input about the prescribed methodology and re-
search design of the study required in subsection (a). 
(c) REPORT REQUIRED.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Before the end of the 18-
month period beginning on the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Federal Trade Commission shall sub-
mit a detailed report on the study conducted pursu-
ant to subsection (a) to the Committee on Financial 
Services of the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 
the Senate. 
(2) CONTENTS
OF
REPORT.—The report sub-
mitted under paragraph (1) shall include the findings 
and conclusions of the Commission, together with such 
recommendations for legislative or administrative ac-
tion as the Commission may determine to be nec-
essary to ensure that credit and credit-based insur-
ances score are used appropriately and fairly to avoid 
disparate effects. 
(d) CREDIT SCORE DEFINED.—For purposes of this 
section, the term ‘‘credit score’’ means a numerical value 
or a categorization derived from a statistical tool or mod-
eling system used to predict the likelihood of certain credit 
or insurance behaviors, including default.
SEC. 506. GAO STUDY ON DISPARATE IMPACT OF CREDIT 
SYSTEM. 
(a) STUDY
REQUIRED.—The Comptroller General 
shall conduct a study of the credit system to determine the 
extent to which, if any, discrimination exists with regard 
to the availability and the terms of credit which has a dis-
parate impact on the basis of race, color, income and edu-
cation level, geographic location, age, sex, sexual orienta-
tion, national origin, or marital status and the nature of 
any such discriminatory effect. 
(b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Before the end of the 2-year 
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Comptroller General shall submit a report to the Con-
gress on the findings and conclusions of the Comptroller 
General pursuant to the study conducted under subsection 
(a), together with such recommendations for legislative or 
administrative action as the Comptroller General may de-
termine to be appropriate. 
SEC. 507. ANALYSIS OF FURTHER RESTRICTIONS ON OF-
FERS OF CREDIT OR INSURANCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Board of Governors of the Fed-
eral Reserve System shall conduct a study of—
(1) the ability of consumers to avoid receiving 
written offers of credit or insurance in connection 
with transactions not initiated by the consumer; and
(2) the potential impact any further restrictions 
on providing consumers with such written offers of 
credit or insurance would have on consumers. 
(b) REPORT.—The Board of Governors of the Federal 
Reserve System shall submit a report summarizing the re-
sults of the study required under subsection (a) to the Con-
gress no later than 12 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, together with such recommendatioons for 
legislative or administrative action as the Board may deter-
mine to be appropriate. 
(c) CONTENT OF REPORT.—The report described in 
subsection (b) shall address the following issues: 
(1) The current statutory or voluntary mecha-
nisms that are available to a consumer to notify lend-
ers and insurance providers that the consumer does 
not wish to receive written offers of credit or insur-
ance. 
(2) The extent to which consumers are currently 
utilizing existing statutory and voluntary mecha-
nisms to avoid receiving offers of credit or insurance. 
(3) The benefits provided to consumers as a re-
sult of receiving written offers of credit or insurance. 
(4) Whether consumers incur significant costs or 
are otherwise adversely affected by the receipt of writ-
ten offers of credit or insurance.
(5) Whether further restricting the ability of 
lenders and insurers to provide written offers of credit 
or insurance to consumers would affect—
(A) the cost consumers pay to obtain credit 
or insurance; 
(B) the availability of credit or insurance; 
(C) consumers’ knowledge about new or al-
ternative products and services; 
(D) the ability of lenders or insurers to 
compete with one another; and 
(E) the ability to offer credit or insurance 
products to consumers who have been tradition-
ally underserved. 
SEC. 508. STUDY ON THE NEED AND THE MEANS FOR IM-
PROVING FINANCIAL LITERACY AMONG CON-
SUMERS. 
(a) STUDY
REQUIRED.—The Comptroller General 
shall conduct a study to assess the extent of consumers’ 
knowledge and awareness of credit reports, credit scores, 
and the dispute resolution process, and on methods for im-
proving financial literacy among consumers. 
(b) FACTORS TO BE INCLUDED.—The study required 
under subsection (a) shall include the following issues: 
(1) The number of consumers who view their 
credit reports.
(2) Under what conditions and for what pur-
poses do consumers primarily obtain a copy of their 
consumer report (such as for the purpose of ensuring 
the completeness and accuracy of the contents, to pro-
tect against fraud, in response to an adverse action 
based on the report, or in response to suspected iden-
tity theft) and approximately what percentage of the 
total number of consumers who obtain a copy of their 
consumer report do so for each such primary purpose. 
(3) The extent of consumers’ knowledge of the 
data collection process. 
(4) The extent to which consumers know how to 
get a copy of a consumer report. 
(5) The extent to which consumers know and un-
derstand the factors that positively or negatively im-
pact credit scores. 
(c) REPORT REQUIRED.—Before the end of the 9-
month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Comptroller General shall submit a report to the 
Congress on the findings and conclusions of the Comptroller 
General pursuant to the study conducted under subsection 
(a), together with such recommendations for legislative or 
administrative action as the Comptroller General may de-
termine to be appropriate, including recommendations on 
methods for improving financial literacy among consumers.