II 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3621 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JANUARY 30, 2020 
Received 
AN ACT 
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to remove adverse 
information for certain defaulted or delinquent private 
education loan borrowers who demonstrate a history of 
loan repayment, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:00 Jan 04, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3621.RDS
H3621
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
HR 3621 RDS
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Comprehensive Credit 
Reporting Enhancement, Disclosure, Innovation, and 
Transparency Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘Comprehensive 
CREDIT Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title. 
Sec. 2. Table of contents. 
Sec. 3. Findings. 
Sec. 4. Effective date. 
Sec. 5. Discretionary surplus fund. 
TITLE I—IMPROVEMENTS TO THE DISPUTE PROCESS 
Sec. 101. Dispute procedures and disclosures relating to reinvestigations. 
Sec. 102. Consumer awareness of dispute rights. 
Sec. 103. Maintenance of records by furnishers. 
Sec. 104. Duties of furnishers relating to dispute procedures, notices, and dis-
closures. 
Sec. 105. Right to appeal disputes relating to reinvestigations and investiga-
tions. 
Sec. 106. Revised consumer reports. 
Sec. 107. Indication of dispute by consumers and use of disputed information. 
Sec. 108. Accuracy and completeness report duties for consumer reporting 
agencies and furnishers. 
Sec. 109. Inclusion of public record data sources in consumer reports. 
Sec. 110. Injunctive relief for victims. 
TITLE II—FREE CREDIT SCORES FOR CONSUMERS 
Sec. 201. Definitions. 
Sec. 202. Consumer information on calculation of scores. 
Sec. 203. Disclosures relating to credit scores and educational credit scores. 
Sec. 204. Free credit score disclosures and consumer reports. 
Sec. 205. Provision of consumer reports and credit scores by private edu-
cational lenders. 
Sec. 206. Provision of consumer reports and credit scores by motor vehicle 
lenders or indirect auto lenders. 
Sec. 207. Provision of consumer reports and credit scores by residential mort-
gage lenders. 
TITLE III—STUDENT BORROWER CREDIT IMPROVEMENT ACT 
Sec. 301. Removal of adverse information for certain private education loan 
borrowers. 
Sec. 302. Private education loan definitions. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:00 Jan 04, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6211
E:\BILLS\H3621.RDS
H3621
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
HR 3621 RDS
TITLE IV—CREDIT RESTORATION FOR VICTIMS OF PREDATORY 
ACTIVITIES AND UNFAIR CONSUMER REPORTING PRACTICES 
Sec. 401. Adverse credit information. 
Sec. 402. Expedited removal of fully paid or settled debt from consumer re-
ports. 
Sec. 403. Medical debt collections. 
Sec. 404. Credit restoration for victims of predatory mortgage lending and serv-
icing. 
Sec. 405. Credit restoration for certain private education loans borrowers. 
Sec. 406. Financial abuse prevention. 
Sec. 407. Prohibition of certain factors related to Federal credit restoration or 
rehabilitation. 
TITLE V—CLARITY IN CREDIT SCORE FORMATION 
Sec. 501. Consumer Bureau study and report to Congress on the impact of 
non-traditional data. 
Sec. 502. Consumer Bureau oversight of credit scoring models. 
Sec. 503. Review of changes to credit scoring models. 
TITLE VI—RESTRICTIONS ON CREDIT CHECKS FOR 
EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS 
Sec. 601. Prohibition on the use of credit information for most employment de-
cisions. 
TITLE VII—PROHIBITION ON MISLEADING AND UNFAIR 
CONSUMER REPORTING PRACTICES 
Sec. 701. Prohibition on automatic renewals for promotional consumer report-
ing and credit scoring products and services. 
Sec. 702. Prohibition on misleading and deceptive marketing related to the pro-
vision of consumer reporting and credit scoring products and 
services. 
Sec. 703. Prohibition on excessive direct-to-consumer sales. 
Sec. 704. Fair access to consumer reporting and credit scoring disclosures for 
nonnative English speakers and the visually and hearing im-
paired. 
Sec. 705. Comparison shopping for loans without harm to credit standing. 
Sec. 706. Nationwide consumer reporting agencies registry. 
Sec. 707. Protection for certain consumers affected by a shutdown. 
TITLE VIII—PROTECTIONS AGAINST IDENTITY THEFT, FRAUD, 
OR A RELATED CRIME 
Sec. 801. Identity theft report definition. 
Sec. 802. Amendment to protection for files and credit records of protected 
consumers. 
Sec. 803. Enhancement to fraud alert protections. 
Sec. 804. Amendment to security freezes for consumer reports. 
Sec. 805. Clarification of information to be included with agency disclosures. 
Sec. 806. Provides access to fraud records for victims. 
Sec. 807. Required Bureau to set procedures for reporting identity theft, fraud, 
and other related crime. 
Sec. 808. Establishes the right to free credit monitoring and identity theft pro-
tection services for certain consumers. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:00 Jan 04, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6211
E:\BILLS\H3621.RDS
H3621
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
HR 3621 RDS
Sec. 809. Ensures removal of inquiries resulting from identity theft, fraud, or 
other related crime from consumer reports. 
TITLE IX—MISCELLANEOUS 
Sec. 901. Definitions. 
Sec. 902. Technical correction related to risk-based pricing notices. 
Sec. 903. FCRA findings and purpose; voids certain contracts not in the public 
interest. 
Sec. 904. GAO study on the use of credit in housing determinations. 
Sec. 905. GAO study on the effects of credit scores impacted by a student bor-
rower’s defaulted or delinquent private education loan. 
Sec. 906. GAO study on consumer reporting agency compliance with consent 
orders. 
Sec. 907. Protections for active duty uniformed consumer. 
Sec. 908. Positive credit reporting permitted. 
Sec. 909. Sense of Congress. 
Sec. 910. Cybersecurity supervision and examination of large consumer report-
ing agencies. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) GENERAL FINDINGS ON CREDIT REPORT-
ING.— 
(A) 
Consumer 
reporting 
agencies 
(‘‘CRAs’’) are companies that collect, compile, 
and provide information about consumers in the 
form of consumer reports for certain permis-
sible statutory purposes under the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) 
(‘‘FCRA’’). The three largest CRAs in this 
country 
are 
Equifax, 
TransUnion, 
and 
Experian. These CRAs are referred to as na-
tionwide CRAs and the reports that they pre-
pare are commonly referred to as credit reports. 
Furnishers, such as creditors, lenders, and debt 
collection agencies, voluntarily submit informa-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:00 Jan 04, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3621.RDS
H3621
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
HR 3621 RDS
tion to CRAs about their accounts such as the 
total amount for each loan or credit limit for 
each credit card and the consumer’s payment 
history on these products. Reports also include 
identifying information about a consumer, such 
as their birthdate, previous mailing addresses, 
and current and previous employers. 
(B) In a December 2012 paper, ‘‘Key Di-
mensions and Processes in the U.S. Credit Re-
porting System: A review for how the nation’s 
largest credit bureaus manage consumer data’’, 
the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection 
(‘‘Consumer Bureau’’) noted that the three na-
tionwide CRAs maintain credit files on approxi-
mately 200 million adults and receive informa-
tion from about 10,000 furnishers. On a 
monthly basis, these furnishers provide infor-
mation on over 1.3 billion consumer credit ac-
counts or other trade lines. 
(C) The 10 largest institutions furnishing 
credit information to each of the nationwide 
CRAs account for more than half of all ac-
counts reflected in consumers’ credit files. 
(D) Consumer reports play an increasingly 
important role in the lives of American con-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:00 Jan 04, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3621.RDS
H3621
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
HR 3621 RDS
sumers. Most creditors, for example, review 
these reports to make decisions about whether 
to extend credit to consumers and what terms 
and conditions to offer them. As such, informa-
tion contained in these reports affects whether 
a person is able to get a private education loan 
to pay for college costs, to secure a mortgage 
loan to buy a home, or to obtain a credit card, 
as well as the terms and conditions under which 
consumer credit products or services are offered 
to them. 
(E) Credit reports are also increasingly 
used for many noncredit decisions, including by 
landlords to determine whether to rent an 
apartment to a prospective tenant and by em-
ployers to decide whether to hire potential job 
applicants or to offer a promotion to existing 
employees. 
(F) CRAs have a statutory obligation to 
verify independently the accuracy and complete-
ness of information included on the reports that 
they provide. 
(G) The nationwide CRAs have failed to 
establish and follow reasonable procedures, as 
required by existing law, to establish the max-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:00 Jan 04, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3621.RDS
H3621
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
HR 3621 RDS
imum level of accuracy of information contained 
on consumer reports. Given the repeated fail-
ures of these CRAs to comply with accuracy re-
quirements on their own, legislation is intended 
to provide them with detailed guidance improv-
ing the accuracy and completeness of informa-
tion contained in consumer reports, including 
procedures, policies, and practices that these 
CRAs should already be following to ensure full 
compliance with their existing obligations. 
(H) The presence of inaccurate or incom-
plete information on these reports can result in 
substantial financial and emotional harm to 
consumers. Credit reporting errors can lead to 
the loss of a new employment opportunity or a 
denial of a promotion in an existing job, stop 
someone from being able to access credit on fa-
vorable terms, prevent a person from obtaining 
rental housing, or even trigger mental distress. 
(I) Current industry practices impose an 
unfair burden of proof on consumers trying to 
fix errors on their reports. 
(J) Consumer reports containing inac-
curate or incomplete credit information also un-
dermine the ability of creditors and lenders to 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:00 Jan 04, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3621.RDS
H3621
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
HR 3621 RDS
effectively and accurately underwrite and price 
credit. 
(K) Recognizing that credit reporting af-
fects the lives of almost all consumers in this 
country and that the consequences of errors on 
a consumer report can be catastrophic for a 
consumer, the Consumer Bureau began accept-
ing consumer complaints about credit reporting 
in October 2012. 
(L) As of early December 2019, the Con-
sumer Bureau has handled approximately 
391,560 credit reporting complaints about the 
top three CRAs, making credit reporting con-
sistently in the top third most-complained-about 
subject matter on which the Consumer Bureau 
accepts consumer complaints. Incorrect infor-
mation in reports and frustrations about bur-
densome and time-consuming process to dis-
puting items is are consistently top reported 
concerns from consumers. 
(M) Other common types of credit report-
ing complaints submitted to the Consumer Bu-
reau related to the improper use of a report, 
trouble obtaining a report or credit score, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:00 Jan 04, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3621.RDS
H3621
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
HR 3621 RDS
CRAs’ investigations, and credit monitoring or 
identity protection. 
(N) In the fall 2019 ‘‘Supervisory High-
lights’’, the Consumer Bureau noted that one or 
more of the largest CRAs continue to struggle 
to adequately oversee furnishers to ensure that 
they were adhering to the CRA’s vetting poli-
cies and to establish proper procedures to verify 
public record information. 
(O) According to the fall 2016 ‘‘Super-
visory Highlights’’, Consumer Bureau exam-
iners determined that one or more debt collec-
tors never investigated indirect disputes that 
lacked detail or were not accompanied by at-
tachments with relevant information from the 
consumer. Examiners also found that notifica-
tions sent to consumers about disputes consid-
ered frivolous failed to identify for the con-
sumers the type of material that they could pro-
vide in order for the debt collector to complete 
the investigation of the disputed item. 
(P) A February 2014 Consumer Bureau 
report titled ‘‘Credit Reporting Complaint 
Snapshot’’ found that consumers are confused 
about the extent to which the nationwide CRAs 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:00 Jan 04, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3621.RDS
H3621
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
HR 3621 RDS
are required to provide them with validation 
and documentation of a debt that appears on 
their credit report. 
(Q) As evidence that the current system 
lacks sufficient market incentives for CRAs to 
develop more robust procedures to increase the 
accuracy and completeness of information on 
credit reports, litigation discovery documented 
by 
the 
National 
Consumer 
Law 
Center 
(‘‘NCLC’’), as part of a February 2019 report 
titled ‘‘Automated Injustice Redux: Ten Years 
after a Key Report, Consumers Are Still Frus-
trated Trying to Fix Credit Reporting Errors’’, 
showed that at least two of the three largest 
CRAs use quota systems to force employees to 
process disputes hastily and without the oppor-
tunity for conducting meaningful investigations. 
At least one nationwide CRA only allowed dis-
pute resolution staff 5 minutes to handle a con-
sumer’s call. Furthermore, these CRAs were 
found to have awarded bonuses for meeting 
quotas and punished those who didn’t meet pro-
duction numbers with probation. 
(R) Unlike most other business relation-
ships, where consumers can register their satis-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:00 Jan 04, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3621.RDS
H3621
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
HR 3621 RDS
faction or unhappiness with a particular credit 
product or service simply by taking their busi-
ness elsewhere, consumers have no say in 
whether their information is included in the 
CRAs databases and limited legal remedies to 
hold the CRAs accountable for inaccuracies or 
poor service. 
(S) Accordingly, despite the existing statu-
tory mandate for CRAs to follow reasonable 
procedures to assure the maximum possible ac-
curacy of the information whenever they pre-
pare consumer reports, numerous studies, the 
high volume of consumer complaints submitted 
to the Consumer Bureau about incorrect infor-
mation on consumer reports, and supervisory 
activities by the Consumer Bureau demonstrate 
that CRAs continue to skirt their obligations 
under the law. 
(2) INCORRECT
INFORMATION
ON
CONSUMER 
REPORTS.— 
(A) Consumers are entitled to dispute er-
rors on their consumer reports with either the 
CRA, who issued the report, or directly with 
furnishers, who supplied the account informa-
tion to the CRA, and request that mistakes be 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:00 Jan 04, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3621.RDS
H3621
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
HR 3621 RDS
deleted or removed. Consumers, who believe an 
investigation has not correctly resolved their 
dispute, however, have few options, other than 
requesting that a statement about the dispute 
be included with their future reports. 
(B) CRAs have a statutory obligation 
under the FCRA to perform a reasonable inves-
tigation by conducting a substantive and 
searching inquiry when a consumer disputes an 
item on their report. In doing so, CRAs must 
conduct an independent review about the accu-
racy of any disputed item and cannot merely 
rely 
on 
a 
furnisher’s 
‘‘rubber-stamp’’ 
verification of the integrity of the information 
they have provided to CRAs. 
(C) In ‘‘Report to Congress Under Section 
319 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Trans-
actions Act of 2003’’ released by the Federal 
Government in December 2012, found that 26 
percent of survey participants identified at least 
one potentially material error on their consumer 
reports, and 13 percent experienced a change in 
their credit score once the error was fixed. 
(D) Consumer Bureau examiners have 
identified repeated deficiencies with the nation-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:00 Jan 04, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3621.RDS
H3621
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
HR 3621 RDS
wide CRAs’ information collection. In the fall 
2019 ‘‘Supervisory Highlights’’, the Consumer 
Bureau noted continued weaknesses with CRAs’ 
methods and processes for assuring maximum 
possible accuracy in their reports. Examiners 
also found, with certain exceptions, no quality 
control policies and procedures in place to test 
consumer reports for accuracy. 
(E) In its ‘‘Credit Reporting Complaint 
Snapshot’’ released in February 2014, the Con-
sumer Bureau found that consumers were un-
certain about the depth and validity of the in-
vestigations performed about a disputed item. 
Consumers also expressed frustration that, even 
though they provided supporting materials that 
they believed demonstrated the inaccuracy of 
the information provided by furnishers, errors 
continued to remain on their reports. 
(F) In the winter 2015 ‘‘Supervisory High-
lights’’ released in March 2015, the Consumer 
Bureau reported that one or more nationwide 
CRAs failed to adequately fulfill their dispute- 
handling obligations, including by not for-
warding to furnishers all relevant information 
found in letters and supporting documents sup-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:00 Jan 04, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00013
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3621.RDS
H3621
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
HR 3621 RDS
plied by consumers when they submitted dis-
putes failing to notify consumers that they had 
completed investigations, and not providing con-
sumers with the results of the CRAs’ reviews 
about their disputes. 
(G) Consumer Bureau examiners also 
noted in the fall 2016 ‘‘Supervisory Highlights’’ 
released in October 2016 that one or more enti-
ties failed to provide adequate guidance and 
training to staff about how to differentiate 
FCRA disputes from general customer inquir-
ies, complaints, or debt validation requests. 
Consumer Bureau supervisors also directed one 
or more entities to develop and implement rea-
sonable procedures to ensure that direct and in-
direct disputes are appropriately logged, cat-
egorized, and resolved. 
(H) Consumers’ increasing frustration 
about the difficulties of trying to fix credit re-
porting errors, evidenced through the volume of 
consumer complaints related to errors sub-
mitted to the Consumer Bureau, are also 
echoed in another Federal Government study 
issued in January 2015. In the ‘‘Report to Con-
gress under Section 319 for the Fair and Accu-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:00 Jan 04, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3621.RDS
H3621
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
HR 3621 RDS
rate Credit Transactions Act of 2003’’, the 
study found that nearly 70 percent (84 people) 
of participants from a previous survey that had 
filed disputes with CRAs continued to believe 
that at least some of the disputed information 
remained inaccurate at the time of the follow- 
up survey. Despite these views, 50 percent (42 
people) of the survey participants decided to 
just give up trying to fix the errors, with only 
45 percent (38 people) of them planning to con-
tinue to try to resolve their disputes. 
(I) The consistently high volume of con-
sumer complaints submitted to the Consumer 
Bureau about credit reporting errors, coupled 
with the largest CRAs’ repeated quality control 
weaknesses found by Consumer Bureau exam-
iners, show that the nationwide CRAs have 
failed to establish and follow reasonable proce-
dures to assure maximum accuracy of informa-
tion and to conduct independent investigations 
of consumers’ disputes. These ongoing problems 
demonstrate the need for legislation to— 
(i) enhance obligations on furnishers 
to substantiate information and require 
furnishers to keep records for the same 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:00 Jan 04, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00015
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3621.RDS
H3621
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
HR 3621 RDS
consumer, by other means. The contents of 
such notice shall include— 
‘‘(i) a statement that the appeal is 
completed and the date on which it was 
completed, the results of the appeal, and 
the specific reasons supporting the results 
of the appeal; 
‘‘(ii) a copy of all information relating 
to the consumer that was used as a basis 
for deciding the results of the appeal; 
‘‘(iii) a consumer report that is based 
upon the consumer’s file as that file may 
have been revised as a result of the appeal; 
‘‘(iv) a description of the procedure 
used to determine the accuracy and com-
pleteness of the information, including the 
business name, telephone number, mailing 
address, and Internet website address (if 
applicable) of any person who provided in-
formation that was contacted in connection 
with such information, if reasonably avail-
able; 
‘‘(v) information describing that the 
consumer may submit a statement, without 
charge, disputing the accuracy or com-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:00 Jan 04, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00088
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3621.RDS
H3621
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
HR 3621 RDS
pleteness of information in the consumer’s 
file that was the subject of an appeal 
under this subsection by submitting a 
statement directly to each consumer re-
porting agency that received the informa-
tion; 
‘‘(vi) a description of the consumer’s 
rights pursuant to subsection (d) (relating 
to furnishing notifications to certain users 
of consumer reports); and 
‘‘(vii) any other information, as deter-
mined by the Bureau. 
‘‘(E) NO EXCUSE FOR FAILURE TO CON-
DUCT APPEAL.—A consumer reporting agency 
may not refuse to conduct a review of an appeal 
under this subsection because the agency deter-
mines that the notice of appeal was submitted 
by an authorized third party, unless the agency 
has clear and convincing evidence that the third 
party is not authorized to submit the notice of 
appeal on the consumer’s behalf. If the con-
sumer reporting agency refuses to conduct a re-
view of the appeal for these reasons, it shall 
provide a clear and conspicuous written notice 
to the consumer explaining the reasons for the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:00 Jan 04, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00089
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3621.RDS
H3621
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS