Title: Military Families Credit Reporting Act of 2017
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Military Families Credit Reporting Act of 2017
This bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to: (1) allow a consumer to provide proof to a consumer reporting agency that an adverse credit report item occurred while on active duty, and (2) require a consumer reporting agency to provide an active duty military consumer's relevant active duty status on adverse credit report items.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is required to publish a model form that allows a consumer to: (1) notify a consumer reporting agency that the consumer is an active duty military consumer, and (2) provide contact information for communicating with the consumer while on active duty.
Notice of active duty status may not be the basis for an adverse credit action.
A consumer reporting agency must notify an active duty military consumer of negative information received about that consumer.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2181 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2181

   To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide protections for 
                    active duty military consumers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 30, 2017

 Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Booker, and Mr. Brown) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide protections for 
                    active duty military consumers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Military Families Credit Reporting 
Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. NOTICE OF STATUS AS AN ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY CONSUMER.

    The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 605 (15 U.S.C. 1681c), by adding at the end 
        the following:
    ``(i) Notice of Status as an Active Duty Military Consumer.--
            ``(1) In general.--With respect to an item of adverse 
        information about a consumer that arises from the failure of 
        the consumer to make any required payment on a debt or other 
        obligation, if the action or inaction that gave rise to the 
        item occurred while the consumer was an active duty military 
        consumer--
                    ``(A) the consumer may provide appropriate proof, 
                including official orders, to a consumer reporting 
                agency that the consumer was an active duty military 
                consumer at the time the action or inaction occurred; 
                and
                    ``(B) any consumer report provided by the consumer 
                reporting agency that includes the item shall clearly 
                and conspicuously disclose that the consumer was an 
                active duty military consumer when the action or 
                inaction that gave rise to the item occurred.
            ``(2) Model form.--The Bureau shall prepare a model form, 
        which shall be made publicly available, including in an 
        electronic format, by which a consumer may--
                    ``(A) notify, and provide appropriate proof to, a 
                consumer reporting agency in a simple and easy manner, 
                including electronically, that the consumer is or was 
                an active duty military consumer; and
                    ``(B) provide contact information of the consumer 
                for the purpose of communicating with the consumer 
                while the consumer is an active duty military consumer.
            ``(3) No adverse consequences.--Notice, whether provided by 
        the model form described in paragraph (2) or otherwise, that a 
        consumer is or was an active duty military consumer may not 
        provide the sole basis for--
                    ``(A) with respect to a credit transaction between 
                the consumer and a creditor, a creditor--
                            ``(i) denying an application of credit 
                        submitted by the consumer;
                            ``(ii) revoking an offer of credit made to 
                        the consumer by the creditor;
                            ``(iii) changing the terms of an existing 
                        credit arrangement with the consumer; or
                            ``(iv) refusing to grant credit to the 
                        consumer in a substantially similar amount or 
                        on substantially similar terms requested by the 
                        consumer;
                    ``(B) furnishing negative information relating to 
                the creditworthiness of the consumer by or to a 
                consumer reporting agency; or
                    ``(C) except as otherwise provided in this title, a 
                creditor or consumer reporting agency noting in the 
                file of the consumer that the consumer is or was an 
                active duty military consumer.'';
            (2) in section 605A (15 U.S.C. 1681c-1)--
                    (A) in subsection (c)--
                            (i) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), 
                        and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), 
                        respectively, and adjusting the margins 
                        accordingly;
                            (ii) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
                        (A), as so redesignated, by striking ``Upon'' 
                        and inserting the following:
            ``(1) In general.--Upon''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Negative information notification.--If a consumer 
        reporting agency receives an item of adverse information about 
        a consumer who has provided appropriate proof that the consumer 
        is an active duty military consumer, the consumer reporting 
        agency shall promptly notify the consumer, with a frequency, in 
        a manner, and according to a timeline determined by the Bureau 
        or specified by the consumer--
                    ``(A) that the consumer reporting agency has 
                received the item of adverse information, along with a 
                description of the item; and
                    ``(B) the method by which the consumer may dispute 
                the validity of the item.
            ``(3) Contact information for active duty military 
        consumers.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If a consumer who has provided 
                appropriate proof to a consumer reporting agency that 
                the consumer is an active duty military consumer 
                provides the consumer reporting agency with contact 
                information for the purpose of communicating with the 
                consumer while the consumer is an active duty military 
                consumer, the consumer reporting agency shall use that 
                contact information for all communications with the 
                consumer while the consumer is an active duty military 
                consumer.
                    ``(B) Direct request.--Unless a consumer directs 
                otherwise, the provision of contact information by the 
                consumer under subparagraph (A) shall be deemed to be a 
                request for the consumer to receive an active duty 
                alert under paragraph (1).
            ``(4) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
        any person making use of a consumer report that contains an 
        item of adverse information with respect to a consumer should, 
        if the action or inaction that gave rise to the item occurred 
        while the consumer was an active duty military consumer, take 
        that fact into account when evaluating the creditworthiness of 
        the consumer.''; and
                    (B) in subsection (e), by striking paragraph (3) 
                and inserting the following:
            ``(3) subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (c)(1), in 
        the case of a referral under subsection (c)(1)(C).''; and
            (3) in section 611(a)(1) (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(1)), by adding 
        at the end the following:
                    ``(D) Notice of dispute related to active duty 
                military consumers.--With respect to an item of 
                information described under subparagraph (A) that is 
                under dispute, if the consumer to whom the item relates 
                has notified the consumer reporting agency conducting 
                the investigation described in that subparagraph, and 
                has provided appropriate proof, that the consumer was 
                an active duty military consumer at the time the action 
                or inaction that gave rise to the disputed item 
                occurred, the consumer reporting agency shall--
                            ``(i) include that fact in the file of the 
                        consumer; and
                            ``(ii) indicate that fact in each consumer 
                        report that includes the disputed item.''.
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