Fair Credit Reporting for Servicemembers Act

Bill: 116-hr-5677
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Sánchez, Linda T. [D-CA-38]
Introduced: 2020-01-24
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Business records

Consumer affairs

Consumer credit

Department of Commerce

Department of Health and Human Services

Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management

Health personnel

Military personnel and dependents
Latest action: action_date: 2020-01-24
text: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Summaries:
action_date: 2020-01-24
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p> <b>Fair Credit Reporting for Servicemembers Act</b> <p>This bill revises consumer credit protections for servicemembers. Among other things, the bill (1) extends consumer credit protections to certain active duty uniformed consumers in a combat zone or aboard a U.S. vessel, and (2) prohibits the inclusion on a consumer report of adverse credit information that occurred while a uniformed consumer was engaged in that type of active duty. </p> <p>The bill also adds to those groups covered by specified active duty credit protections individuals in the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Public Health Service. </p> <p>

tv_txt: I 116th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5677 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 24, 2020 Ms. Sánchez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide protections for extended active duty uniformed consumers, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Fair Credit Reporting for Servicemembers Act . 2. Protections for active duty uniformed consumer (a) Definitions Section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1681a ) is amended— (1) in subsection (q), by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows: (1) Active duty uniformed consumer The term active duty uniformed consumer means a consumer who is— (A) in military service and on active service (as defined in section 101(d) of title 10, United States Code); or (B) a member of the uniformed services (as defined in section 101(a) of title 10, United States Code) who is not a member of the armed forces and is on active service. ; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (bb) Extended active duty uniformed consumer The term extended active duty uniformed consumer means an active duty uniformed consumer that is deployed— (1) in a combat zone (as defined under section 112(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986); or (2) aboard a United States vessel. . (b) Prohibition on including certain adverse information in consumer reports Section 605 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1681c ) is amended— (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following: (9) Any item of adverse information about a consumer, if the action or inaction that gave rise to the item occurred while the consumer was an extended active duty uniformed consumer. ; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (i) Notice of status as an extended active duty uniformed consumer With respect to an item of adverse information about a consumer, if the action or inaction that gave rise to the item occurred while the consumer was an extended active duty uniformed consumer, the consumer may provide appropriate proof, including official orders, to a consumer reporting agency that the consumer was an extended active duty uniformed consumer at the time such action or inaction occurred. The consumer reporting agency shall promptly delete that item of adverse information from the file of the consumer and notify the consumer and the furnisher of the information of the deletion. . (c) Communications between the consumer and consumer reporting agencies Section 605A of the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1681c–1 ) is amended— (1) in subsection (c)— (A) by striking Upon and inserting the following: (1) In general Upon ; (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), and moving such redesignated subparagraphs 2 ems to the right; and (C) by adding at the end the following: (2) Negative information alert Any time a consumer reporting agency receives an item of adverse information about a consumer, if the consumer has provided appropriate proof that the consumer is an extended active duty uniformed consumer, the consumer reporting agency shall promptly notify the consumer— (A) that the agency has received such item of adverse information, along with a description of the item; and (B) the method by which the consumer can dispute the validity of the item. (3) Contact information for extended active duty uniformed consumers With respect to any consumer that has provided appropriate proof to a consumer reporting agency that the consumer is an extended active duty uniformed consumer, if the consumer provides the consumer reporting agency with separate contact information to be used when communicating with the consumer while the consumer is an extended active duty uniformed consumer, the consumer reporting agency shall use such contact information for all communications while the consumer is an extended active duty uniformed consumer. ; and (2) in subsection (e), by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows: (3) subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (c)(1), in the case of a referral under subsection (c)(1)(C). . (d) Conforming amendment The Fair Credit Reporting Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by striking active duty military each place such term appears and inserting active duty uniformed . (e) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that any person making use of a consumer report containing an item of adverse information should, if the action or inaction that gave rise to the item occurred while the consumer was an extended active duty uniformed consumer, take such fact into account when evaluating the creditworthiness of the consumer.