I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3821 
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to make improvements to the 
regulation of consumer reporting agencies and protect consumers, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 18, 2019 
Mr. MCHENRY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to make improve-
ments to the regulation of consumer reporting agencies 
and protect consumers, 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. CYBERSECURITY SUPERVISION AND EXAMINA-
TION 
OF 
LARGE 
CONSUMER 
REPORTING 
AGENCIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act 
(15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 630. CYBERSECURITY SUPERVISION AND EXAMINA-
TION 
OF 
LARGE 
CONSUMER 
REPORTING 
AGENCIES. 
‘‘Consumer reporting agencies described under sec-
tion 603(p) shall be subject to cybersecurity supervision 
and examination by the Bureau.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘630. Cybersecurity supervision and examination of large consumer reporting 
agencies.’’. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY 
NUMBERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 605 of the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(i) PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY 
NUMBERS.—A consumer reporting agency described 
under section 603(p)— 
‘‘(1) may not make any consumer report con-
taining a social security number; and 
‘‘(2) may not use the social security number of 
a consumer as a method to verify the consumer.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 609(a)(1) 
of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g(a)(1)) 
is amended by striking ‘‘except that—’’ and all that fol-
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lows through ‘‘(B) nothing’’ and inserting ‘‘except that 
nothing’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect on January 1, 2020. 
SEC. 3. EXCLUSION OF PAID MEDICAL DEBT. 
Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681c(a)) is amended, by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(9) Paid debt arising from the receipt of medi-
cally necessary, non-elective medical services, prod-
ucts, or devices which from the date of payment, 
antedate the report by more than 1 year.’’. 
SEC. 4. SECURITY FREEZES FOR PROTECTED CONSUMERS. 
(a) PLACEMENT OF FREEZE.—Section 605A(j)(2)(A) 
of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c– 
1(j)(2)(A)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon receiving a di-
rect request from a protected consumer’s rep-
resentative, by mail, toll-free telephone, or se-
cure electronic means, that a consumer report-
ing agency place a security freeze, and upon re-
ceiving sufficient proof of identification and suf-
ficient proof of authority, the consumer report-
ing agency shall, free of charge, place the secu-
rity freeze not later than 3 business days after 
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receiving the request directly from the protected 
consumer’s representative.’’. 
(b) REMOVAL OF FREEZE.—Section 605A(j)(4) of 
the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c–1(j)(4)) 
is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by inserting after 
‘‘Upon the direct request’’ the following: ‘‘, by mail 
or secure electronic means,’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by inserting after 
‘‘Upon the direct request’’ the following: ‘‘, by mail 
or secure electronic means,’’; and 
(3) in subparagraph (C)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘not later than—’’ and in-
serting the ‘‘not later than 3 days business days 
after receiving the request directly from the 
protected consumer or protected consumer’s 
representative.’’; and 
(B) by striking clauses (i) and (ii). 
SEC. 5. PUBLIC RECORD DATA SOURCES IN CONSUMER RE-
PORTS. 
Section 605(d) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681c(d)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(3) PUBLIC RECORD DATA.—If a consumer re-
porting agency furnishes a consumer report that 
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contains public record data, such consumer reporting 
agency shall include the source of such public record 
data in such report.’’. 
SEC. 6. PROHIBITION ON INCLUDING ADVERSE INFORMA-
TION RELATED TO PREDATORY MORTGAGE 
LENDING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act 
(15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 
section 605B the following: 
‘‘§ 605C. Adverse information relating to predatory 
mortgage lending 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A consumer reporting agency 
may not furnish any consumer report containing any ad-
verse item of information relating to a covered residential 
mortgage loan (including the origination and servicing of 
such a loan, any loss mitigation activities related to such 
a loan, and any foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure, 
or short sale related to such a loan), if the action or inac-
tion to which the item of information relates— 
‘‘(1) resulted from an unfair, deceptive, or abu-
sive act or practice, or a fraudulent, discriminatory, 
or illegal activity of a financial institution, as deter-
mined by a court of competent jurisdiction; or 
‘‘(2) is related to an unfair, deceptive, or abu-
sive act or practice, or a fraudulent, discriminatory, 
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or illegal activity of a financial institution that is the 
subject of a settlement agreement initiated on behalf 
of a consumer and that is between the financial in-
stitution and an agency or department of a local, 
State, or Federal Government. 
‘‘(b) COVERED RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE.—In this 
section, the term ‘covered residential mortgage loan’ 
means any loan made primarily for personal, family, or 
household use that is secured by a mortgage, deed of trust, 
or other equivalent consensual security interest on a dwell-
ing (as defined in section 103(w) of the Truth in Lending 
Act), including a loan in which the proceeds will be used 
for— 
‘‘(1) a manufactured home (as defined in sec-
tion 603 of the Housing and Community Develop-
ment Act of 1974); 
‘‘(2) any installment sales contract, land con-
tract, or contract for deed on a residential property; 
or 
‘‘(3) a reverse mortgage transaction (as defined 
in section 103(cc) of the Truth in Lending Act).’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 
of contents of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended 
by inserting after the item relating to section 605B the 
following new item: 
‘‘605C. Adverse information relating to predatory mortgage lending.’’. 
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SEC. 7. PROHIBITION ON INCLUDING ADVERSE INFORMA-
TION WHEN FINANCIAL ABUSE HAS BEEN DE-
TERMINED. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act 
(15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), as amended by section 6, is fur-
ther amended by inserting after section 605C the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘§ 605D. Adverse information in cases of financial 
abuse 
‘‘A consumer reporting agency may not furnish a con-
sumer report containing any adverse item of information 
about a consumer that resulted from intentionally abusive 
or harmful financial behavior if— 
‘‘(1) a court of competent jurisdiction, in a law-
suit that is not a class action lawsuit, has deter-
mined that the consumer is a victim of such inten-
tionally abusive or harmful financial behavior; 
‘‘(2) such intentionally abusive or harmful fi-
nancial behavior was conducted by a spouse, family 
or household member, caregiver, or person with 
whom such consumer had a dating relationship; and 
‘‘(3) such consumer did not participate in or 
consent to such behavior.’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 
of contents of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended 
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by inserting after the item relating to section 605C the 
following new item: 
‘‘605D. Adverse information in cases of financial abuse.’’. 
SEC. 8. PROHIBITION ON INCLUDING ADVERSE INFORMA-
TION WHEN A STUDENT OBLIGOR IS DE-
FRAUDED. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act 
(15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), as amended by section 7, is fur-
ther amended by inserting after section 605D the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘§ 605E. Adverse information in cases of a defrauded 
student obligor. 
‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.—A consumer reporting agency 
may not furnish a consumer report containing any adverse 
item of information about a consumer that resulted from 
a private student loan obligation if— 
‘‘(1) such consumer is a student obligor with 
respect to such private education loan; and 
‘‘(2) a court of competent jurisdiction, in a law-
suit that is not a class action lawsuit, has deter-
mined that such consumer is a victim of fraud with 
respect to such private education loan. 
‘‘(c) PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN DEFINED.—For the 
purposes of this section, the term ‘private education loan’ 
has the meaning given the term in section in section 
140(a) of the Truth in Lending Act.’’. 
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