FAIR AND ACCURATE CREDIT TRANSACTIONS ACT

PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

F AIR AND ACCURATE CREDIT TRANSACTIONS

ACT OF 2003

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117 STAT. 1952 PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

Public Law 108–159108th Congress

An Act

To a m en d the Fa ir Credit Repor t in g Act , to prevent iden t ity th eft , im prove r esolut ionof consum er disputes, im prove the a ccu racy of consu mer records, m ake im prove-ments in the u se of, a nd consum er a ccess to, cr edit informa t ion, an d for oth erpurposes.

Be it ena cted by the Sena te a nd House of Representa tives ofthe Un ited S ta tes of Amer ica in Congress a ssembled ,

S E CTIO N 1. SH O R T TITLE ; T ABLE O F CO N TE N TS.

(a) SHORT TITLE .—This Act may be cit ed as the ‘‘Fair a ndAccurate Credit Transa ct ions Act of 2003’’.

(b) TABLE OF CONTE NTS.—The t able of cont en ts for this Actis a s follows:Sec. 1. Shor t t it le; t able of con ten t s.Sec. 2. Defin it ion s.Sec. 3. Effect ive dates.

TITLE I—IDENTITY TH EFT PREVENTION AND CREDIT H ISTORY

RESTORATION

Subt it le A—Ident ity Theft Preven t ion

Sec. 111. Am en dm en t to defin itions.Sec. 112. Fra ud a ler t s a nd a ct ive duty a lert s .Sec. 113. Trun cat ion of cr edit ca rd an d debit ca rd account n um ber s.Sec. 114. Establishm ent of procedures for the iden t ifica t ion of possible insta nces of

iden t ity theft .Sec. 115. Au th ority to t run cate socia l secu rity num ber s.

Subt it le B—Protect ion a nd Restora t ion of Iden t ity Th eft Vict im Credit H istory

Sec. 151. Sum m ary of r ight s of ident ity theft vict im s.Sec. 152. Blockin g of inform at ion resu lt ing from ident ity th eft .Sec. 153. Coordina t ion of iden t ity theft complain t invest igat ion s.Sec. 154. Preven t ion of r epollu t ion of con su mer r epor t s.Sec. 155. Not ice by debt collector s with r espect to fr a udu lent informa t ion.Sec. 156. Sta tu te of lim ita t ions.Sec. 157. Study on th e use of t ech nology to combat ident ity th eft .

TITLE II—IMP ROVEMENTS IN U SE OF AND CONSUMER ACCESS TO CREDIT

INFORMATION

Sec. 211. Free consum er r epor t s .Sec. 212. Disclosu re of cr edit scores.Sec. 213. En han ced disclosure of th e mean s a vaila ble to opt ou t of prescreened

list s .Sec. 214. Affilia t e sh ar ing.Sec. 215. Study of effect s of cr edit scores a nd credit -ba sed insuran ce scores on

a va ilability a nd a ffordability of fina ncia l product s .Sec. 216. Disposa l of con su mer r epor t in form at ion an d r ecords.Sec. 217. Requ ir ement to disclose com m unicat ion s to a consu mer r epor t in g a gency.

TITLE III—EN HAN CING THE ACCURACY OF CONSUMER REPORT

INFORMATION

Sec. 311. Risk-ba sed pr icing n ot ice.

15 USC 1601n ote.

F air a ndAccurat e CreditTra nsact ion s Actof 2003.

Dec. 4, 2003

[H .R. 2622]


117 STAT. 1953PUBLIC LAW 108–159—DEC. 4, 2003

Sec. 312. Procedu res to enha nce the a ccuracy an d in tegr ity of in form at ion fur -n ish ed to consu mer r epor t in g agencies.

Sec. 313. FTC an d con sum er r epor ting a gen cy a ct ion concern in g com pla in t s.Sec. 314. Improved disclosure of the r esult s of reinvest iga t ion .Sec. 315. Recon ciling a ddresses.Sec. 316. Not ice of dispute through r eseller .Sec. 317. Reason able r einvest igat ion r equired.Sec. 318. FTC study of issues r ela t ing to the Fa ir Credit Repor t ing Act .Sec. 319. FTC study of th e a ccu racy of consum er r eport s .

TITLE IV—LIMITIN G THE USE AND SH ARIN G OF MEDICAL INFORMATION

IN TH E FINANCIAL SYSTEM

Sec. 411. Protect ion of medica l informa t ion in th e fina ncia l system .Sec. 412. Confident ia lity of medica l conta ct inform at ion in consum er r eport s .

TITLE V—F INANCIAL LITERACY AN D EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT

Sec. 511. Shor t t it le.Sec. 512. Defin it ion s.Sec. 513. Establishm ent of F inan cia l Lit era cy an d Educa t ion Comm ission.Sec. 514. Dut ies of the Comm ission .Sec. 515. Powers of the Com m ission .Sec. 516. Comm ission per sonnel ma t ter s .Sec. 517. Studies by the Com pt roller Genera l.Sec. 518. Th e na t iona l public service mu lt imedia ca m paign to enh an ce th e st a te of

finan cia l lit er acy.Sec. 519. Au th orizat ion of appropr ia t ions.

TITLE VI—PROTECTIN G EMPLOYEE MISCONDUCT INVESTIGATIONS

Sec. 611. Cer ta in employee invest iga t ion comm un ica t ions excluded from defin it ionof con sum er repor t .

TITLE VII—RELATION TO STATE LAWS

Sec. 711. Rela t ion to Sta te laws.

TITLE VIII—MISCELLAN EOUS

Sec. 811. Cler ica l a m en dments.

S E C. 2 . D E F IN ITIO N S.

As used in this Act—(1) t he t erm ‘‘Board’’ means the Boa rd of Governors of

the Federal Reserve Syst em;(2) t he term ‘‘Commission’’, other t han as used in t it le

V, means the Federal Trade Commission;(3) the terms ‘‘consumer’’, ‘‘consumer r epor t ’’, ‘‘consumer

report ing agency’’, ‘‘creditor’’, ‘‘Federal banking agencies’’, and‘‘financia l in st itu t ion’’ have the same meanings as in sect ion603 of the Fair Credit Report ing Act , a s amended by thisAct ; and

(4) t he term ‘‘affilia tes’’ means per sons that are r ela tedby common ownersh ip or affilia t ed by corporate control.

S E C. 3 . E F F E CTIVE D ATE S.

Except a s otherwise specifica lly provided in th is Act and thea mendments made by t his Act—

(1) before the end of the 2-mont h per iod beginn ing onthe dat e of enactment of th is Act , t he Board and the Commis-sion shall join t ly prescribe regula t ions in final form establishingeffect ive dates for each provision of this Act ; and

(2) the regu la t ions prescr ibed under paragraph (1) shallestablish effect ive dates that are as early as possible, wh ileallowing a reasonable t ime for the implementa t ion of t he provi-sions of this Act , bu t in no case shall any such effect ive datebe la ter t han 10 months after the da te of issuance of suchregula t ions in final form.

Regula t ion s.

15 USC 1681note.

15 USC 1681note.



TITLE I—IDE NTITY TH E F T P R E VE NTIONAND CR E DIT H ISTOR Y R E STOR ATION

Su b t it le A—Id en t i t y Th e ft P r even t ion

S E C. 111. AME ND ME N T TO D E F IN ITION S.

Sect ion 603 of t he Fair Credit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a)is am ended by adding a t the end the following:

‘‘(q) DEFINITIONS RELATING TO FRAUD ALE RTS.—‘‘(1) ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY CONSUME R.—The term ‘act ive

duty military consumer’ means a consumer in military servicewho—

‘‘(A) is on act ive duty (as defined in sect ion 101(d)(1)of t it le 10, United Sta t es Code) or is a r eservist per formingdu ty under a ca ll or order t o act ive du ty under a provisionof law refer red to in sect ion 101(a)(13) of t it le 10, UnitedSt ates Code; and

‘‘(B) is assigned to service away from the usual dutyst a t ion of the consum er .‘‘(2) FRAUD ALERT; ACTIVE DUTY ALERT.—The terms ‘fra ud

alert ’ and ‘a ct ive duty a lert ’ mean a sta tement in the fileof a consumer that—

‘‘(A) not ifies a ll prospect ive user s of a consumer r epor tr ela t ing to the consumer t hat the consumer may be avict im of fr aud, including iden t ity theft , or is a n act ivedu ty military consumer , as a pplicable; a nd

‘‘(B) is presen ted in a manner tha t fa cilit a tes a clearand conspicuous view of the st a tement descr ibed insubparagraph (A) by any per son r equest ing such consumerrepor t .‘‘(3) IDENTITY THEF T.—The term ‘ident it y theft ’ m ea ns a

fraud commit ted using the ident ifying in format ion of anotherperson , subject to such fur ther defin it ion as the Comm issionmay prescribe, by r egu la t ion .

‘‘(4) IDENTITY THE FT RE P ORT.—The term ‘ident ity t heftreport ’ has the mea ning given that term by rule of t he Commis-sion , and mea ns, a t a minimum, a report—

‘‘(A) tha t a lleges a n iden t ity theft ;‘‘(B) tha t is a copy of an officia l, valid report filed

by a consumer with an appropr ia te Federal, Sta te, or locallaw enforcemen t a gency, including t he Un ited Sta tes Posta lInspect ion Service, or such other governmen t agencydeemed appropr ia te by t he Commission; a nd

‘‘(C) the filing of which subjects the person filing therepor t to cr im inal penalt ies rela t ing to the filing of fa lsein format ion if, in fact , t he in format ion in the report isfa lse.‘‘(5) NEW CREDIT PLAN .—The t erm ‘new credit plan’ means

a new account under an open end credit plan (as definedin sect ion 103(i) of the Truth in Lending Act) or a new creditt r ansa ct ion not under an open end credit pla n.‘‘(r) CRE DIT AND DEBIT RELATED TERMS—

‘‘(1) CARD ISSUER.—The term ‘card issuer’ means—‘‘(A) a credit card issuer , in the case of a credit card;

and



‘‘(B) a debit card issuer , in the case of a debit card.‘‘(2) CREDIT CARD.—The t erm ‘credit ca rd’ has the same

meaning as in sect ion 103 of the Tru th in Lending Act .‘‘(3) DEBIT CARD.—The term ‘debit card’ means any card

issued by a financia l in st it ut ion to a consumer for use ininit ia t ing an elect ron ic fund t ra nsfer from the a ccount of theconsumer a t such financia l inst itut ion, for the purpose oft r ansfer r ing money between a ccount s or obta ining money, prop-erty, labor , or services.

‘‘(4) ACCOUNT AND ELE CTRONIC FUND TRANSFE R.—The terms‘account’ and ‘elect ron ic fund t r ansfer ’ have the same mean ingsas in sect ion 903 of t he Elect ron ic Fund Transfer Act .

‘‘(5) CREDIT AND CREDITOR.—The terms ‘credit ’ a nd ‘creditor ’have the same meanings as in sect ion 702 of t he Equal CreditOpport un ity Act .‘‘(s) FEDERAL BANKING AGENCY.—The term ‘Federal banking

agency’ has t he same mean ing as in sect ion 3 of the FederalDeposit Insu rance Act .

‘‘(t ) F INANCIAL INSTITUTION .—The term ‘financia l in st it ut ion ’m ea ns a Sta te or Na t ional bank, a St a te or Federal savings a ndloa n associa t ion , a mut ual savings bank, a Sta te or Federa l creditunion , or any other person tha t , direct ly or indir ect ly, holds at ransact ion a ccount (a s defined in sect ion 19(b) of the FederalReserve Act) belonging to a consum er .

‘‘(u) RESELLER.—The term ‘reseller ’ means a consumer report inga gency that —

‘‘(1) assem bles and merges informat ion conta ined in thedataba se of another consumer r eport ing a gency or mult ipleconsumer report ing agencies concern ing any consumer for pur -poses of furnishing such in format ion to any t hird part y, tothe extent of such act ivit ies; and

‘‘(2) does not main ta in a da tabase of the assembled ormerged informa t ion from which new consumer report s are pro-duced.‘‘(v) COMMISSION .—The term ‘Com mission’ means t he Federa l

Trade Commission.‘‘(w) NATIONWIDE SPECIALTY CONSUME R REPORTING AGENCY.—

The t erm ‘nat ionwide specia lty consumer report ing a gency’ m ea nsa consumer r epor t ing agency t hat compiles and main ta ins fileson consumers on a nat ionwide basis rela t ing to—

‘‘(1) medical records or payments;‘‘(2) resident ia l or tenant history;‘‘(3) check wr it ing hist ory;‘‘(4) employment hist ory; or‘‘(5) insu ra nce cla ims.’’.

S E C. 112. F R AU D ALE R T S AN D ACTIVE D U TY ALE R TS.

(a) FRAUD ALERTS.—The Fair Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C.1681 et seq.) is amended by inser t ing after sect ion 605 the following:

‘‘§ 605A. Id e n t i t y t h e ft p r e ve n t ion ; fr a u d a le r t s a n d a ct ived u t y a le r t s

‘‘(a) ONE -CALL FRAUD ALERTS.—‘‘(1) INITIAL ALE RTS.—Upon the direct request of a con-

sumer , or an individual act ing on behalf of or as a per sonalrepresenta t ive of a consumer , who a ssert s in good fa ith a sus-picion that t he consumer has been or is about to become a

15 USC 1681c–1.

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vict im of fr aud or rela t ed cr ime, including ident ity t heft , aconsumer r epor t ing agency descr ibed in sect ion 603(p) t hatmain ta ins a file on the consumer and ha s r eceived appropr ia teproof of t he iden t ity of the requester shall—

‘‘(A) include a fr aud a lert in the file of that consumer ,and a lso provide that a ler t a long with any credit scoregenerat ed in using that file, for a per iod of not less than90 days, beginning on the da te of such request , un lessthe consumer or such representa t ive r equests tha t suchfraud a lert be removed before the end of such per iod,and the agency ha s r eceived a ppropria t e proof of theident ity of the requester for such purpose; a nd

‘‘(B) refer t he in format ion regarding t he fr aud a lertunder this para graph t o ea ch of the ot her consumerrepor t ing a gencies descr ibed in sect ion 603(p), in accord-ance with procedures developed under sect ion 621(f).‘‘(2) ACCE SS TO FREE REPORTS.—In a ny case in which a

consumer r epor t ing agency includes a fr aud a lert in the fileof a consumer pur suant t o th is subsect ion, the consumerreport ing agency shall—

‘‘(A) disclose to the consumer that the consumer m ayrequest a free copy of the file of the consumer pur suantto sect ion 612(d); a nd

‘‘(B) provide t o the consumer a ll disclosu res r equiredto be ma de under sect ion 609, withou t cha rge to t he con-sumer, not la ter than 3 business da ys after any requestdescribed in subpa ragraph (A).

‘‘(b) EXTENDE D ALERTS.—‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the direct request of a consumer ,

or a n individual act ing on beha lf of or a s a per sonal representa-t ive of a consumer, who submits an ident ity theft r eport toa consumer report ing agency descr ibed in sect ion 603(p) thatmain ta ins a file on the consumer , if t he a gency has r eceivedappropr ia te proof of the ident it y of the requester , the agencyshall—

‘‘(A) include a fr aud a lert in the file of that consumer ,and a lso provide that a ler t a long with any credit scoregenerat ed in using that file, du ring the 7-year period begin-n ing on the dat e of such request , unless the consumeror such r epresent a t ive r equest s that such fr aud a lert berem oved before the end of such per iod a nd the agencyhas received appropria t e proof of the iden t ity of therequester for such purpose;

‘‘(B) dur ing t he 5-year period beginning on the dateof such r equest , exclude the consumer from a ny list ofconsumers prepared by t he consumer report ing agency andprovided to any third part y to offer credit or in su ranceto t he consumer a s par t of a t ransact ion that wa s notin it ia t ed by the consumer , unless t he consumer or suchrepresent a t ive r equests that such exclusion be r escindedbefore the end of such per iod; and

‘‘(C) refer the informat ion regarding the extended fr audaler t under th is pa ragraph to ea ch of the other consumerrepor t ing a gencies descr ibed in sect ion 603(p), in accord-ance with procedures developed under sect ion 621(f).‘‘(2) ACCE SS TO FREE REPORTS.—In a ny case in which a

consumer r epor t ing agency includes a fr aud a lert in the file

Deadline.



of a consumer pur suant t o th is subsect ion, the consumerreport ing agency shall—

‘‘(A) disclose to the consumer that the consumer m ayrequest 2 free copies of the file of t he consumer pur suantto sect ion 612(d) du ring t he 12-month per iod beginningon the dat e on which the fraud a lert was included inthe file; and

‘‘(B) provide t o the consumer a ll disclosu res r equiredto be ma de under sect ion 609, withou t cha rge to t he con-sumer, not la ter than 3 business da ys after any requestdescribed in subpa ragraph (A).

‘‘(c) ACTIVE DUTY ALERTS .—Upon the direct r equest of a n act ivedu ty military consumer , or an individual act ing on behalf of oras a personal represen ta t ive of an act ive duty military consumer,a consumer r epor t ing agency described in sect ion 603(p) tha t main-ta ins a file on the a ct ive duty military consumer a nd has receivedappropria te proof of the iden t ity of the r equester shall—

‘‘(1) include an act ive duty a ler t in the file of tha t a ct iveduty military consumer , and a lso provide that a ler t a long withany credit score genera ted in using t hat file, du ring a periodof not less than 12 months, or such longer per iod as theCommission shall determine, by regu la t ion , beginn ing on thedate of t he r equest , unless the act ive du ty milita ry consumeror such represen ta t ive r equest s that such fraud a ler t beremoved before the end of such per iod, and the agency hasreceived a ppropria t e proof of the ident ity of the r equester forsuch purpose;

‘‘(2) du ring the 2-year per iod beginn ing on t he dat e ofsuch request , exclude t he act ive duty military consumer fromany list of consumers prepa red by the consumer r epor t ingagency and provided to any th ird part y to offer credit or in sur -ance t o the consumer as par t of a t ransact ion tha t was notinit ia ted by the consumer , unless the consumer r equests thatsuch exclusion be r escinded before t he end of such per iod;and

‘‘(3) r efer t he in format ion r egarding the act ive dut y a ler tto ea ch of the other consumer r epor t ing agencies describedin sect ion 603(p), in accorda nce with procedures developedunder sect ion 621(f).‘‘(d) PROCEDURES.—Each consumer r epor t ing agency described

in sect ion 603(p) shall establish policies and procedures to complywith this sect ion, including procedures that in form consumers oft he availability of init ia l, extended, and a ct ive duty a lert s andprocedures that a llow consumers and act ive du ty military con-sumers to request in it ia l, ext ended, or a ct ive duty a lerts (asa pplicable) in a simple and easy manner , including by telephone.

‘‘(e) REFE RRALS OF ALERTS .—Each consum er report ing agencydescr ibed in sect ion 603(p) that r eceives a referr a l of a fra ud a ler tor act ive dut y a ler t from another consumer r eport ing agency pur su -a nt to th is sect ion shall, as t hough the agency received the requestfrom the consumer dir ect ly, follow the procedures r equired under—

‘‘(1) paragraphs (1)(A) and (2) of subsect ion (a), in thecase of a referr a l under subsect ion (a)(1)(B);

‘‘(2) paragra phs (1)(A), (1)(B), and (2) of subsect ion (b),in the case of a referr a l under subsect ion (b)(1)(C); and

‘‘(3) paragra phs (1) a nd (2) of subsect ion (c), in the caseof a referr a l under subsect ion (c)(3).

Deadline.



‘‘(f) DUTY OF RE SELLER TO RECONVEY ALERT.—A reseller sha llinclude in it s r epor t any fr aud a ler t or act ive dut y a ler t placedin t he file of a consumer pur sua nt to this sect ion by a notherconsumer report ing agency.

‘‘(g) DUTY OF OTHER CONSUMER REP ORTING AGE NCIES TO PRO-VIDE CONTACT INFORMATION.—If a consumer cont act s any consumerreport ing agency that is not described in sect ion 603(p) to commu-n icate a suspicion tha t the consumer ha s been or is about tobecome a vict im of fr aud or rela t ed crime, including ident ity t heft ,t he agency shall provide in format ion t o the consumer on how toconta ct the Comm ission a nd the consumer repor t ing agenciesdescr ibed in sect ion 603(p) to obta in more deta iled informat iona nd r equest a ler ts under th is sect ion.

‘‘(h) LIMITATIONS ON USE OF INFORMATION FOR CREDIT EXTE N-SIONS.—

‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS FOR INITIAL AND ACTIVE DUTY ALE RTS.—‘‘(A) NOTIFICATION.—E ach in it ia l fraud a ler t and act ive

du ty a ler t under t his sect ion shall include informa t ion t hatnot ifies a ll prospect ive user s of a consumer report on theconsumer to which the a ler t r ela tes that the consumerdoes not authorize the establishmen t of any new creditplan or extension of credit , other t han under an open-end credit plan (as defined in sect ion 103(i)), in the nam eof the consumer, or issuance of an addit ional card on anexist ing credit account requested by a consumer, or a nyincrease in credit limit on an exist ing credit accountrequested by a consumer, except in accordance withsubparagraph (B).

‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON USERS.—‘‘(i) IN GENE RAL.—No prospect ive user of a con-

sumer report t hat includes an init ia l fra ud a ler t ora n a ct ive dut y a ler t in a ccordance with this sect ionm ay establish a new credit plan or extension of credit ,ot her than under an open-end credit plan (a s definedin sect ion 103(i)), in t he name of the consumer, orissue an a ddit ional card on an exist ing credit a ccountrequested by a consumer, or gran t any increase incredit limit on an exist ing credit a ccount requestedby a consumer, un less the user ut ilizes reasonablepolicies and procedures to form a reasonable belieft hat the user knows t he iden t ity of the person ma kingt he r equest .

‘‘(ii) VERIFICATION.—If a consumer request ing thealert has specified a telephone number to be usedfor ident ity verifica t ion purposes, before authorizingany new credit plan or extension described in cla use(i) in the na me of such consumer, a user of such con-sumer r eport shall con tact the consumer using t hattelephone number or take r easona ble st eps to verifythe consumer ’s iden t ity and confirm that t he applica -t ion for a new credit plan is not the r esult of iden t itytheft .

‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR EXTE NDED ALE RTS.—‘‘(A) NOTIFICATION.—E ach extended a lert under t his

sect ion shall include informat ion that provides a ll prospec-t ive users of a consumer r epor t rela t ing to a consumerwith—



‘‘(i) not ifica t ion that the consumer does nota uthorize the establishment of any new credit planor extension of credit described in clause (i), ot hert han under an open-end credit plan (as defined insect ion 103(i)), in the name of t he consumer , orissuance of an addit ional card on an exist ing credita ccount requested by a consumer , or any increase incredit limit on an exist ing credit a ccount requestedby a consumer, except in a ccordance with subpara-gra ph (B); and

‘‘(ii) a t elephone number or other reasonable con-t act method designated by the consumer.‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON USERS.—No prospect ive user of

a consumer report or of a credit score generated usingthe in format ion in the file of a consumer tha t includesan extended fr aud a ler t in accordance with this sect ionmay establish a new credit plan or extension of credit ,other than under an open-end credit plan (as defined insect ion 103(i)), in the name of the consumer , or issue anaddit ional card on an exist ing credit account r equestedby a consumer , or any increase in credit limit on an exist ingcredit accoun t requested by a consumer , unless t he usercon tacts the consumer in per son or using t he cont actmethod described in subpa ragraph (A)(ii) to confirm thatthe applica t ion for a new credit plan or increa se in creditlimit , or r equest for an addit ional card is not the resu ltof iden t ity theft .’’.

(b) RULEMAKING.—The Commission sha ll prescr ibe regula t ionst o define wha t const itu tes appropr ia te proof of ident ity for pu rposesof sect ions 605A, 605B, and 609(a)(1) of t he Fair Credit Report ingAct , as amended by this Act .

S E C. 113. TR U N CATIO N O F CR E D IT CAR D AN D D E BIT CAR D ACCO U N T

N U MBE R S.

Sect ion 605 of the Fair Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c)is am ended by adding a t the end the following:

‘‘(g) TRUNCATION OF CRE DIT CARD AND DEBIT CARD NUMBERS.—‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in th is

subsect ion, no person tha t a ccept s credit cards or debit cardsfor the t r ansact ion of business shall prin t more than the last5 digits of the card number or t he expira t ion date upon anyreceipt provided t o t he cardholder a t t he point of t he sa leor t ransact ion.

‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—This subsect ion sha ll apply only toreceipts that are elect ron ica lly pr inted, and shall not applyto t ra nsact ions in which the sole means of r ecording a creditcard or debit card accoun t number is by handwr it ing or byan imprint or copy of the card.

‘‘(3) EF FECTIVE DATE.—This subsect ion sha ll becomeeffect ive—

‘‘(A) 3 years after the date of enact ment of this sub-sect ion, with respect t o any cash register or other mach ineor device that elect ron ically pr ints receipt s for credit cardor debit card t r ansa ct ions t hat is in use before J anuary1, 2005; and

‘‘(B) 1 year after the da te of enactmen t of t his sub-sect ion, with respect t o any cash register or other mach ine

Applica bility.

15 USC 1681c–1note.



or device that elect ron ically pr ints receipt s for credit cardor debit ca rd t r ansact ions t hat is first put int o use onor after J anuary 1, 2005.’’.

S E C. 114. E STABLIS H ME NT O F P R OCE DU R E S F O R TH E IDE NT IF ICA-

TIO N O F P O SS IBLE INS TAN CE S OF ID E N TITY T H E F T.

Sect ion 615 of the Fair Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681m)is am ended—

(1) by st r iking ‘‘(e)’’ a t t he end; and(2) by a dding a t the end the following:

‘‘(e) RED FLAG GUIDELINES AND RE GULATIONS REQUIRED.—‘‘(1) GUIDELINES.—The Federal banking agencies, the

Nat ional Credit Un ion Administ r a t ion, a nd the Comm issionshall joint ly, with respect to the en t it ies that are subject totheir r espect ive enforcement au thor ity under sect ion 621—

‘‘(A) est ablish and mainta in gu idelines for use by eachfinancia l inst itut ion a nd each creditor rega rding iden t itytheft wit h r espect to a ccount holders a t , or cust omers of,such en t it ies, and update such gu idelines as often a s nec-essary;

‘‘(B) prescribe regula t ions requ ir ing each financia linst it ut ion and ea ch creditor to establish r easona ble policiesand procedures for implement ing the gu idelines esta blishedpursuant to subparagraph (A), to iden t ify possible r isksto account holder s or customers or to the safety and sound-ness of the inst itut ion or cust omers; and

‘‘(C) prescribe regu la t ions a pplicable to card issuersto ensu re that , if a ca rd issuer r eceives not ifica t ion ofa change of address for an exist ing a ccount , and wit hina short period of t ime (dur ing a t lea st the first 30 da ysafter such not ifica t ion is r eceived) receives a request foran addit ional or r eplacement card for the same accoun t ,the card issuer may not issue t he addit iona l or replacemen tcard, un less the card issuer , in accordance with reasonablepolicies and procedures—

‘‘(i) not ifies the cardholder of the r equest a t theformer address of the ca rdholder and provides to thecardholder a means of promptly report ing incorrecta ddress changes;

‘‘(ii) not ifies the cardholder of t he request by suchot her means of communicat ion as t he cardholder andt he card issuer previously agreed to; or

‘‘(iii) uses other means of assessing the validityof the change of address, in accordance with r easonablepolicies and procedures established by t he card issuerin accordance wit h the regula t ions prescribed undersubparagraph (B).

‘‘(2) CRITE RIA.—‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In developing the gu idelines

required by paragraph (1)(A), the agencies described inparagraph (1) sha ll ident ify pat terns, pract ices, and specificforms of act ivity t hat indicat e the possible existence ofident ity theft .

‘‘(B) INACTIVE ACCOUNTS.—In developing the guidelinesrequired by paragraph (1)(A), the agencies described inparagraph (1) sha ll consider including reasonable gu ide-lines providing that when a t ransact ion occur s with r espect



to a credit or deposit accoun t that has been inact ive formore than 2 year s, the creditor or financia l inst itu t ionshall follow reasonable policies and procedures tha t providefor not ice to be given to a consumer in a manner r easonablydesigned to r educe the likelihood of ident it y theft withrespect to such account .‘‘(3) CONSISTE NCY WITH VERIFICATION RE QUIREMENTS.—

Guidelines established pursuan t t o paragraph (1) shall notbe inconsistent with the policies a nd procedures requ ired undersect ion 5318(l) of t it le 31, Unit ed Sta t es Code.’’.

S E C. 115. AUTH O R ITY TO TR U NCATE SO CIAL SE CU R ITY N U MBE R S.

Sect ion 609(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C.1681g(a )(1)) is amended by st r iking ‘‘except tha t nothing’’ andinser t ing the following: ‘‘except t hat—

‘‘(A) if t he consumer to whom the file rela tes requeststhat the first 5 digits of the socia l secu rity number (orsimilar iden t ifica t ion number ) of the consumer not beincluded in the disclosure and the consumer r epor t ingagency has received a ppropria t e proof of the iden t ity ofthe requester , t he consumer r epor t ing agency shall so t run -cate such number in such disclosu re; and

‘‘(B) noth ing’’.

Su b t i t le B—P r o t ec t ion a n d R e s t or a t ion ofId en t i t y Th e ft Vic t im Cr ed i t H is t o r y

S E C. 151. S UMMAR Y OF R IGH TS O F IDE N TITY TH E F T VICTIMS.

(a) IN GENE RAL.—(1) SUMMARY.—Sect ion 609 of the Fa ir Credit Report ing

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g) is amended by adding a t the end thefollowing:‘‘(d) SUMMARY OF RIGHTS OF IDE NTITY THEFT VICTIMS.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, in consult a t ion withthe Federal banking a gencies and the Nat ional Credit Un ionAdminist r a t ion, shall prepa re a model summa ry of t he r igh tsof consumers under th is t it le wit h r espect t o t he proceduresfor remedying the effect s of fr aud or iden t ity theft involvingcredit , an elect ron ic fund t ra nsfer , or an a ccount or t ransact ionat or with a financia l in st itu t ion or ot her creditor .

‘‘(2) SUMMARY OF RIGH TS AND CONTACT INFORMATION.—Beginning 60 days after t he date on which the model summa ryof r ights is prescribed in final form by the Commission pursuan tto paragraph (1), if any consumer con tacts a consumer r eport ingagency and expresses a belief that the consumer is a vict imof fr aud or iden t ity t heft involving credit , an elect ronic fundtransfer , or an a ccount or t r ansact ion a t or with a financia linst itu t ion or other credit or , the consumer repor t ing a gencyshall, in addit ion t o any other act ion that t he agency maytake, provide the consumer with a summa ry of r igh ts tha tcon ta ins a ll of the informat ion r equired by the Commissionunder paragraph (1), and informat ion on how to contact theCommission t o obta in more deta iled informat ion.‘‘(e) INF ORMATION AVAILABLE TO VICTIMS.—

‘‘(1) IN GENE RAL.—For the purpose of document ing fr audu-lent t ra nsact ions r esult ing from iden t ity theft , not la ter than

Deadline.

E ffect ive date.



30 days after the dat e of r eceipt of a r equest from a vict imin accordance with paragra ph (3), and subject t o verifica t ionof the ident it y of t he vict im and the cla im of ident ity t heftin accordance with pa ragraph (2), a business en t ity that hasprovided credit to, provided for considera t ion products, goods,or services to, accepted payment from, or otherwise enteredint o a commercia l t r ansact ion for considerat ion with , a per sonwho has a llegedly made unaut horized use of the means ofident ifica t ion of the vict im, shall provide a copy of applicat ionand business t ransact ion r ecords in the con trol of t he businessent it y, whether main ta ined by the business ent it y or by anot herperson on behalf of the business ent ity, evidencing a ny t ra ns-act ion a lleged t o be a resu lt of ident it y t heft t o—

‘‘(A) the vict im;‘‘(B) any Federa l, Sta t e, or local governmen t law

enforcement agency or officer specified by the vict im insuch a request ; or

‘‘(C) any law enforcemen t agency invest iga t ing theident ity t heft and au thor ized by the vict im to take receiptof r ecords provided under t his subsect ion.‘‘(2) VERIFICATION OF IDENTITY AND CLAIM.—Before a busi-

ness en t ity provides a ny informat ion under paragraph (1),un less the business ent ity, a t it s discret ion , otherwise hasa h igh degree of confidence that it knows the ident ity of thevict im making a r equest under paragraph (1), the vict im shallprovide to the business en t ity—

‘‘(A) as proof of posit ive iden t ifica t ion of the vict im,at the elect ion of t he business en t ity—

‘‘(i) the presen ta t ion of a government-issued ident i-fica t ion card;

‘‘(ii) personally ident ifying informat ion of the sa metype as wa s provided to t he business en t ity by theuna uthorized per son; or

‘‘(iii) personally ident ifying in format ion tha t thebusiness en t ity typically requests from new applica ntsor for new t ransact ions, a t the t ime of t he vict im’srequest for informat ion, including a ny document at iondescr ibed in clauses (i) a nd (ii); a nd‘‘(B) as proof of a cla im of iden t ity theft , a t the elect ion

of t he business en t ity—‘‘(i) a copy of a police r epor t evidencing the cla im

of the vict im of iden t ity theft ; and‘‘(ii) a properly completed—

‘‘(I) copy of a st andardized affidavit of ident itytheft developed and ma de availa ble by theCommission; or

‘‘(II) an a ffida vit of fact tha t is accepta ble tothe business ent ity for t hat purpose.

‘‘(3) PROCEDURES.—The request of a vict im under para -graph (1) shall—

‘‘(A) be in writ ing;‘‘(B) be ma iled to an address specified by the business

ent ity, if any; and‘‘(C) if a sked by the business ent it y, include r elevant

in format ion about any t ransact ion a lleged to be a r esultof ident ity t heft to facilit a te complia nce with th is sect ionincluding—



‘‘(i) if known by the vict im (or if readily obta inableby the vict im), t he date of the applicat ion or t r ans-a ct ion ; and

‘‘(ii) if known by the vict im (or if readily obta inableby t he vict im), any other iden t ifying informa t ion sucha s a n a ccount or t ra nsact ion number.

‘‘(4) NO CH ARGE TO VICTIM.—Informat ion required to beprovided under paragraph (1) shall be so provided withoutcharge.

‘‘(5) AUTHORITY TO DECLINE TO P ROVIDE INF ORMATION.—A business en t ity may decline to provide informat ion underpara gra ph (1) if, in the exercise of good fa ith, the businessent it y determines that—

‘‘(A) this subsect ion does not r equire disclosure of thein format ion ;

‘‘(B) aft er reviewing the in format ion provided pur suantto paragra ph (2), t he business ent it y does not ha ve a highdegree of confidence in knowing the t rue ident it y of theindividual r equest ing the in format ion ;

‘‘(C) the request for the in format ion is based on amisrepresen ta t ion of fact by the individual request ing thein format ion r elevan t to the request for informat ion; or

‘‘(D) the in format ion requested is In ternet navigat ionaldata or similar informa t ion abou t a per son’s visit t o awebsite or on line service.‘‘(6) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—Except as provided in sec-

t ion 621, sect ions 616 and 617 do not apply to any viola t ionof th is subsect ion .

‘‘(7) LIMITATION ON CIVIL LIABILITY.—No business ent it ymay be held civilly liable under any provision of Federal, Sta te,or other law for disclosu re, made in good fa ith pur suant tothis subsect ion.

‘‘(8) NO NEW RECORDKE EPING OBLIGATION .—Nothing in th issubsect ion creat es an obligat ion on t he par t of a business ent ityto obt a in, r eta in , or maint a in informat ion or records tha t arenot otherwise r equired to be obta ined, r eta ined, or main ta inedin t he ordinary course of it s business or under other applica blelaw.

‘‘(9) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No provision of subt it le A of t it le

V of Public Law 106–102, prohibit ing the disclosure offinancia l in format ion by a business ent ity to th ird par t iesshall be used to deny disclosu re of in format ion t o thevict im under t his subsect ion.

‘‘(B) LIMITATION .—Except as provided in subparagraph(A), not hing in this subsect ion perm its a business ent ityto disclose in format ion , including in format ion t o lawenforcement under subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph(1), that t he business en t ity is otherwise prohibited fromdisclosing under a ny other applicable provision of Federalor Sta te law.‘‘(10) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE .—In a ny civil act ion brough t

to enforce t his subsect ion, it is an affirmat ive defense (whichthe defendant must est ablish by a preponderance of the evi-dence) for a business ent it y t o file an affidavit or answersta t ing that—



‘‘(A) the business en t ity has ma de a r easona bly diligentsearch of it s a vaila ble business r ecords; and

‘‘(B) the r ecords r equested under this subsect ion donot exist or are not reasonably available.‘‘(11) DEFINITION OF VICTIM.—For purposes of th is sub-

sect ion, the term ‘vict im’ means a consumer whose means ofident ifica t ion or financia l informa t ion has been used or t r ans-ferr ed (or has been a lleged to have been used or t r ansfer red)wit hout the a uthor ity of tha t consumer, with t he inten t tocommit , or t o a id or abet , an ident it y theft or a similar cr im e.

‘‘(12) EFFECTIVE DATE .—This subsect ion shall become effec-t ive 180 days after the date of ena ctmen t of this subsect ion.

‘‘(13) EFFE CTIVENESS STUDY.—Not la ter t han 18 mont hsafter the dat e of enact men t of th is subsect ion , t he ComptrollerGeneral of the Un ited Sta t es shall submit a r eport to Congressassessing t he effect iveness of th is provision.’’.

(2) RELATION TO STATE LAWS .—Sect ion 625(b)(1) of the FairCredit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681t(b)(1), as so r edesignated)is amended by adding a t the end the following new subpara -graph:

‘‘(G) sect ion 609(e), r ela t ing t o in format ion availableto vict ims under sect ion 609(e);’’.

(b) PUBLIC CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT.—Not la terthan 2 years after t he date of enactmen t of th is Act , the Commissionshall est ablish a nd implemen t a media and dist r ibu t ion campaignto teach the public how t o preven t ident ity theft . Such ca mpaignshall include exist ing Commission educa t ion ma teria ls, as well asradio, t elevision , and print public service announcement s, videocasset tes, in tera ct ive digita l video discs (DVD’s) or compa ct audiodiscs (CD’s), and Int ernet resources.

S E C. 152. BLO CKIN G OF IN F O R MATIO N R E SU LTIN G F R O M ID E N TITY

TH E F T.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C.1681 et seq.) is amended by inser t ing after sect ion 605A, as addedby t his Act , the following:

‘‘§ 605B. Block o f in fo r m a t ion r e su lt in g fr om id e n t i t y t h e ft

‘‘(a) BLOCK.—Except a s ot herwise provided in th is sect ion, aconsumer r eport ing agency shall block the r epor t ing of any in forma-t ion in the file of a consumer t hat the consumer iden t ifies asinformat ion that r esulted from an a lleged ident ity t heft , not la tert han 4 business days after t he date of r eceipt by such agencyof—

‘‘(1) a ppropria te proof of t he iden t ity of the consumer;‘‘(2) a copy of an iden t ity theft repor t ;‘‘(3) t he ident ifica t ion of such in format ion by the consumer ;

and‘‘(4) a sta temen t by t he consumer t hat t he informa t ion

is not in format ion rela t ing to any t ra nsact ion by the consumer .‘‘(b) NOTIFICATION.—A consumer r epor t ing agency shall

promptly not ify the fu rn isher of in format ion ident ified by the con-sumer under subsect ion (a)—

‘‘(1) tha t t he informat ion may be a r esult of iden t ity theft ;‘‘(2) that an ident ity theft report ha s been filed;‘‘(3) tha t a block has been requested under t his sect ion;

and

Deadline.

15 USC 1681c–2.

Deadline.15 USC 1681c–1n ote.

Dead line.Repor t s.



‘‘(4) of the effect ive dat es of t he block.‘‘(c) AUTHORITY TO DECLINE OR RESCIND.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A consumer r epor t ing agency maydecline t o block, or may rescind any block, of informat ionrela t ing to a consumer under t his sect ion , if the consumerreport ing agency r ea sonably determines that—

‘‘(A) the in format ion was blocked in er ror or a blockwas r equested by the consumer in error;

‘‘(B) t he in format ion was blocked, or a block wasrequested by the consumer, on the basis of a ma teria lmisrepresen ta t ion of fact by t he consumer r elevant to therequest to block; or

‘‘(C) t he consumer obta ined possession of goods, serv-ices, or m oney as a r esult of the blocked t r ansact ion ort r ansact ions.‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION TO CONSUMER.—If a block of informa t ion

is declined or r escinded under th is subsect ion , t he affect edconsumer sha ll be not ified promptly, in the same manner asconsumers are not ified of the r einser t ion of in format ion undersect ion 611(a)(5)(B).

‘‘(3) SIGNIFICANCE OF BLOCK.—For purposes of this sub-sect ion, if a consumer r eport ing a gency r escinds a block, thepresence of informat ion in the file of a consumer pr ior t othe blocking of such in format ion is not evidence of whet herthe consumer knew or should have known t hat the consumerobta ined possession of any goods, services, or money as a r esultof the block.‘‘(d) EXCEPTION FOR RESELLE RS.—

‘‘(1) NO RESE LLER FILE .—This sect ion shall not apply toa consumer r epor t ing agency, if the consumer report ingagency—

‘‘(A) is a r eseller ;‘‘(B) is not , a t the t ime of the request of t he consumer

under subsect ion (a), otherwise fu rnishing or r eselling aconsumer report concerning the informat ion ident ified bythe consumer; and

‘‘(C) inform s the consumer , by any means, tha t theconsumer may report the iden t ity theft t o t he Commissionto obta in consumer in format ion r egarding iden t ity theft .‘‘(2) RESELLER WITH FILE .—The sole obligat ion of the con-

sumer report ing a gency under th is sect ion, with regard to anyrequest of a consumer under this sect ion, shall be to blockthe consum er r eport main ta ined by the consumer report ingagency from any subsequen t use, if—

‘‘(A) the consumer , in accorda nce wit h the provisionsof subsect ion (a), ident ifies, to a consumer r epor t ing agency,in format ion in the file of the consumer t hat resu lted fromiden t ity theft ; a nd

‘‘(B) the consumer r epor t ing agency is a r eseller ofthe ident ified in format ion .‘‘(3) NOTICE .—In ca rrying out it s obligat ion under pa ra-

graph (2), the r eseller shall promptly provide a not ice to theconsumer of the decision t o block the file. Such not ice shallcon ta in the name, address, and telephone number of each con-sumer r epor t ing agency from which the consumer informa t ionwas obta ined for resa le.



‘‘(e) EXCEPTION FOR VERIFICATION COMPANIES.—The provisionsof this sect ion do not a pply t o a check services company, act ingas such , which issues au thor izat ions for the pu rpose of approvingor processing negot ia ble in st rument s, elect ronic fund t r ansfers, orsimilar methods of payment s, except that , beginn ing 4 businessda ys aft er receipt of informat ion described in para gra phs (1)through (3) of subsect ion (a), a check services company shall notreport to a nat ional consumer r epor t ing agency described in sect ion603(p), a ny informa t ion iden t ified in the subject iden t ity theft reportas r esult ing from ident it y t heft .

‘‘(f) ACCESS TO BLOCKE D INFORMATION BY LAW ENFORCEMENT

AGENCIES.—No provision of t his sect ion shall be const rued asrequir ing a consumer report ing agency t o prevent a Federa l, Sta te,or loca l law enforcemen t agency from accessing blocked informa t ionin a consumer file to wh ich the agency could otherwise obta ina ccess under th is t it le.’’.

(b) CLERICAL AME NDMENT.—The table of sect ions for the Fa irCredit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended byinser t ing after the item rela t ing to sect ion 605 t he following newitems:

‘‘605A. Ident ity theft pr event ion ; fr au d alert s an d act ive du ty a ler t s .‘‘605B. Block of informa t ion r esu lt in g from iden t ity theft .’’.

S E C. 153. CO OR DIN ATIO N O F ID E NTITY TH E F T CO MP LAIN T IN VE STIG A-

TIO N S.

Sect ion 621 of t he Fair Credit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s)is am ended by adding a t the end the following:

‘‘(f) COORDINATION OF CONSUMER COMP LAINT INVESTIGATIONS.—‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Ea ch consumer report ing agency

descr ibed in sect ion 603(p) shall develop a nd main ta in proce-dures for the r efer ra l to each other such agency of any consumercomplaint r eceived by t he agency a lleging ident ity t heft , orrequest ing a fr aud a lert under sect ion 605A or a block undersect ion 605B.

‘‘(2) MODEL FORM AND PROCEDURE FOR RE PORTING IDENTITY

THEFT.—The Commission , in consu lta t ion with the Federalbanking a gencies and the Nat ional Credit Union Administ ra -t ion, shall develop a model form and model procedures to beused by consumers who are vict ims of ident it y theft for con-tact ing and informing creditor s and consumer r epor t ing agen-cies of the fra ud.

‘‘(3) ANNUAL SUMMARY REP ORTS.—Each consumer report ingagency described in sect ion 603(p) shall submit an a nnual sum-mary report to the Commission on consumer complaintsreceived by the agency on ident ity theft or fr aud a lerts.’’.

S E C. 154. P R E VE NTIO N O F R E P OLL UTIO N O F CO NS UME R R E P O R TS .

(a) PREVENTION OF REINSERTION OF ERRONEOUS INFORMA-TION.—Sect ion 623(a) of the Fair Credit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C.1681s–2(a)) is amended by a dding a t the end the following:

‘‘(6) DUTIES OF F URNISHERS UPON NOTICE OF IDENTITY

THEFT-RELATED INFORMATION .—‘‘(A) REASONABLE PROCE DURE S.—A per son that fur -

n ishes informat ion to any consumer r eport ing a gency shallhave in pla ce r easona ble procedures to respond to anynot ifica t ion tha t it receives from a consumer r epor t ingagency under sect ion 605B rela t ing to in format ion r esult ing

P rocedures.



from iden t ity theft , to preven t that person from refu r-n ishing such blocked informat ion.

‘‘(B) INFORMATION ALLEGE D TO RESULT FROM IDE NTITY

THEFT.—If a consumer submits an ident it y theft r epor tto a person who fu rn ishes in format ion t o a consumerrepor t ing a gency a t t he a ddress specified by that per sonfor r eceiving such reports sta t ing that in format ion main-ta ined by such person that pu rport s to r ela te to t he con-sumer resu lted from iden t ity theft , the person may notfurnish such in format ion that purpor ts to r ela te to theconsumer to any consumer r epor t ing agency, unless theperson subsequent ly knows or is informed by the consumerthat the informa t ion is correct .’’.

(b) PROHIBITION ON SALE OR TRANSFER OF DEBT CAUSED BY

IDENTITY THEFT.—Sect ion 615 of the Fair Credit Report ing Act(15 U.S.C. 1681m), as amended by this Act , is amended by addingat t he end the following:

‘‘(f) PROH IBITION ON SALE OR TRANSFE R OF DEBT CAUSED BY

IDENTITY THEF T.—‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No per son shall sell, t r ansfer for consid-

era t ion , or place for collect ion a debt that such per son hasbeen not ified under sect ion 605B ha s r esulted from ident it ytheft .

‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—The prohibit ions of this subsect ionshall a pply to a ll per sons collect ing a debt described in pa ra-graph (1) a ft er the date of a not ifica t ion under paragraph(1).

‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this subsect ionshall be construed to prohibit—

‘‘(A) the repurchase of a debt in any case in wh ichthe assignee of the debt r equires such repurchase becausethe debt has resulted from ident ity theft ;

‘‘(B) the secur it iza t ion of a debt or the pledging ofa por t folio of debt as colla t era l in connect ion with a bor -rowing; or

‘‘(C) the t r ansfer of debt as a resu lt of a merger, acqu isi-t ion , purchase and assum pt ion t r ansa ct ion , or t r ansfer ofsubst ant ia lly a ll of the assets of an en t ity.’’.

S E C. 155. NO TICE BY D E BT COLL E CTO R S WITH R E SP E CT TO F R AU D U -

LE NT INF O R MATIO N .

Sect ion 615 of the Fair Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681m),a s amended by this Act , is amended by adding a t the end thefollowing:

‘‘(g) DEBT COLLECTOR COMMUNICATIONS CONCERNING IDE NTITY

THEFT.—If a per son act ing as a debt collector (as that t erm isdefined in t it le VIII) on behalf of a th ird part y that is a creditoror other user of a consumer report is not ified that any in format ionrela t ing to a debt that t he person is a t t empt ing to collect maybe fraudulent or ma y be the result of iden t ity theft , that per sonshall—

‘‘(1) not ify the third par ty that t he in format ion may befraudulen t or may be t he r esult of iden t ity theft ; and

‘‘(2) upon r equest of the consumer to whom the debtpurpor tedly rela tes, provide to the consumer a ll informat ion



to which the consumer would otherwise be en t it led if t he con-sumer were not a vict im of iden t ity t heft , but wished to disput ethe debt under provisions of law applicable to that person.’’.

S E C. 156. S TATU TE O F L IMITATIO N S.

Sect ion 618 of the Fair Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681p)is am ended to r ead as follows:

‘‘§ 618. J u r isd ic t ion of cou r t s ; lim i t a t ion of a c t ion s

‘‘An act ion to enforce any liabilit y created under this t it lem ay be brought in any a ppropria t e Un ited Sta tes dist r ict court ,without r egard t o the amount in con trover sy, or in any other courtof competent ju risdict ion , not la ter than the ea rlier of—

‘‘(1) 2 yea rs after the date of discovery by the pla in t iffof the viola t ion that is the basis for such liability; or

‘‘(2) 5 years after t he date on which the viola t ion t hatis the basis for such liability occur s.’’.

S E C. 157. STU D Y O N TH E US E O F TE CH N O LOG Y TO CO MBAT ID E NTITY

TH E F T.

(a) STUDY REQUIRE D.—The Secretary of the Treasu ry shallconduct a study of the use of biometrics and other similar tech -nologies t o reduce the incidence and cost s to society of ident itytheft by providing convincing evidence of who a ctually performeda given financia l t r ansact ion.

(b) CONSULTATION.—The Secret ary of the Treasury shall consu ltwith Federa l banking agencies, the Commission, and r epresenta -t ives of financia l in st itu t ions, consumer repor t ing agencies, Federa l,Sta te, and local governmen t agencies that issue officia l forms orm ea ns of ident ifica t ion , Sta te prosecu tors, law en forcem en t agen-cies, t he biomet ric indust ry, and the general public in form ulat inga nd conduct ing the study r equired by subsect ion (a ).

(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are aut horizedto be a ppropria t ed t o the Secretary of t he Treasu ry for fiscal year2004, such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisionsof this sect ion.

(d) REPORT RE QUIRED.—Before the end of the 180-day periodbeginn ing on the da te of ena ctmen t of t his Act , the Secretaryshall submit a report to Congress con ta in ing the findings andconclusions of the st udy requ ired under subsect ion (a), togetherwith such recomm endat ions for legisla t ive or administ ra t ive act ionsas ma y be appropr ia te.

T ITLE I I—IMP R OVE ME NTS IN USE OFAND CONSUME R AC CE SS TO C R E DITINF OR MATION

S E C. 211. F R E E CO N SU ME R R E P O R TS.

(a) IN GENE RAL.—Sect ion 612 of the Fair Credit Report ingAct (15 U.S.C. 1681j) is amended—

(1) by redesignat ing subsect ion (a) as subsect ion (f), andtransfer r ing it to the end of t he sect ion ;

(2) by inser t ing before subsect ion (b) the following:‘‘(a) FREE ANNUAL DISCLOSURE .—

‘‘(1) NATIONWIDE CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES.—

Deadline.



‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—All consumer report ing agenciesdescribed in subsect ions (p) and (w) of sect ion 603 shallmake a ll disclosures pur sua nt to sect ion 609 once duringany 12-month per iod upon request of the consumer andwithou t charge to the consumer .

‘‘(B) CENTRALIZED SOURCE.—Subpa ragraph (A) shallapply wit h r espect to a consumer report ing agencydescribed in sect ion 603(p) on ly if the request from theconsumer is ma de using the centr a lized source est ablishedfor such purpose in accorda nce with sect ion 211(c) of theFair and Accurat e Credit Transact ions Act of 2003.

‘‘(C) NATIONWIDE SPECIALTY CONSUMER REPORTING

AGENCY.—‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall prescribe

regu la t ions applicable to each consumer report inga gency described in sect ion 603(w) to r equire theestablishment of a st reamlined process for consumerst o request consumer report s under subpa ragraph (A),which shall include, a t a minimum, the esta blishmentby each such agency of a toll-fr ee telephone numberfor such r equest s.

‘‘(ii) CONSIDERATIONS.—In prescribing r egula t ionsunder clause (i), the Commission shall consider—

‘‘(I) the significant dema nds t hat may beplaced on consumer report ing agencies in providingsuch consumer r epor ts;

‘‘(II) appropr ia te means to ensure that con-sumer report ing a gencies can sa t isfact or ily meetthose demands, including the efficacy of a syst emof staggering t he availability t o consumers of suchconsumer r epor ts; and

‘‘(III) the ease by which consumers should beable to con tact consumer r epor t ing agencies withrespect t o access to such consumer report s.‘‘(iii) DATE OF ISSUANCE .—The Commission shall

issue the r egula t ions r equired by this subparagraphin final form not la ter t han 6 months after the dateof enact men t of t he Fair and Accurate Credit Tra ns-a ct ions Act of 2003.

‘‘(iv) CONSIDE RATION OF ABILITY TO COMP LY.—Theregu la t ions of t he Commission under t his subpara -gra ph shall esta blish an effect ive date by which eachnat ionwide specia lty consumer r eport ing agency (asdefined in sect ion 603(w)) shall be requ ired to complywith subsect ion (a), which effect ive date—

‘‘(I) shall be established a ft er considerat ion ofthe ability of each nat ionwide specia lty consumerreport ing agency to comply with subsect ion (a);and

‘‘(II) shall be not la ter than 6 mont hs afterthe date on which such regula t ions are issuedin final form (or such addit ional period not t oexceed 3 months, as the Commission determinesappropr ia te).

‘‘(2) TIMING.—A consumer report ing agency shall providea consumer r epor t under pa ragraph (1) not la t er than 15 da ys

Deadline.

Deadline.

E ffect ive date.

Deadline.

Regula t ion s.

Applica bility.



after the dat e on which the request is received under paragraph(1).

‘‘(3) REINVESTIGATIONS.—Notwithstanding the t ime periodsspecified in sect ion 611(a)(1), a reinvest igat ion under that sec-t ion by a consumer r eport ing agency upon a r equest of a con-sumer t hat is ma de after receiving a consumer report underth is subsect ion shall be completed not la ter than 45 days a ft erthe date on which t he r equest is received.

‘‘(4) E XCEPTION F OR FIRST 12 MONTHS OF OPERATION.—Thissubsect ion shall not apply to a consumer r eport ing a gencythat ha s not been furnishing consumer r epor ts t o t hird part ieson a con t inuing basis dur ing t he 12-month per iod precedinga request under paragraph (1), with r espect to consumersresiding na t ionwide.’’;

(3) by r edesignat ing subsect ion (d) as subsect ion (e);(4) by insert ing before subsect ion (e), as r edesigna ted, the

following:‘‘(d) F REE DISCLOSURES IN CONNECTION WITH FRAUD ALE RTS.—

Upon the request of a consumer , a consumer report ing agencydescr ibed in sect ion 603(p) shall make a ll disclosures pur suantt o sect ion 609 withou t charge to the consumer, as provided insubsect ions (a)(2) and (b)(2) of sect ion 605A, as applicable.’’;

(5) in subsect ion (e), as redesignated, by st r iking ‘‘sub-sect ion (a )’’ and inser t ing ‘‘subsect ion (f)’’; and

(6) in subsect ion (f), as redesignated, by st r iking ‘‘Exceptas provided in subsect ions (b), (c), and (d), a’’ and insert ing‘‘In the case of a r equest from a consumer other t han a r equesttha t is covered by any of subsect ions (a) th rough (d), a ’’.(b) CIRCUMVENTION PROHIBITED.—The Fair Credit Report ing

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by a dding after sect ion628, a s added by sect ion 216 of th is Act , the following new sect ion :

‘‘§ 629. Cor p or a t e a n d t e ch n o logica l c ir cu m ve n t ion p r oh ib -it e d

‘‘The Commission shall prescribe r egula t ions, to become effec-t ive not la ter than 90 days after the da te of enactmen t of th issect ion , to preven t a consumer r eport ing a gency from cir cumvent ingor evading t reat men t as a consumer report ing agency descr ibedin sect ion 603(p) for pu rposes of th is t it le, including—

‘‘(1) by means of a corpora te reorganiza t ion or rest ruc-tu ring, including a merger , acqu isit ion , dissolut ion , divest itu re,or asset sa le of a consumer report ing agency; or

‘‘(2) by main ta in ing or merging public r ecord and creditaccoun t in format ion in a manner that is substan t ia lly equ iva-lent to that described in pa ragraphs (1) a nd (2) of sect ion603(p), in the manner descr ibed in sect ion 603(p).’’.(c) SUMMARY OF RIGHTS TO OBTAIN AND DISPUTE INFORMATION

IN CONSUMER REPORTS AND TO OBTAIN CREDIT SCORES.—Sect ion609(c) of the Fair Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g) is amendedt o read as follows:

‘‘(c) SUMMARY OF RIGHTS TO OBTAIN AND DISPUTE INF ORMATION

IN CONSUMER REPORTS AND TO OBTAIN CREDIT SCORE S.—‘‘(1) COMMISSION SUMMARY OF RIGHTS REQUIRED.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall prepare amodel summary of the r ights of consumers under t hist it le.

Regulat ion s.E ffect ive da te.

15 USC 1681x.

Deadline.



‘‘(B) CONTE NT OF SUMMARY.—The summary of r igh tsprepared under subpara gra ph (A) shall include a descr ip-t ion of—

‘‘(i) the r ight of a consumer to obta in a copy ofa consumer r epor t under subsect ion (a) from each con-sumer r epor t ing agency;

‘‘(ii) t he fr equency and circumstances under whicha consumer is ent it led to receive a consumer reportwithout charge under sect ion 612;

‘‘(iii) the r ight of a consumer t o disput e inform at ionin t he file of the consumer under sect ion 611;

‘‘(iv) the r ight of a consumer to obta in a creditscore from a consumer report ing agency, and a descr ip-t ion of how to obta in a credit score;

‘‘(v) the method by which a consumer can con tact ,a nd obta in a consumer r epor t from, a consumerreport ing agency withou t charge, a s provided in theregu la t ions of the Commission prescribed under sect ion211(c) of the Fair and Accura te Credit Transact ionsAct of 2003; a nd

‘‘(vi) the method by which a consumer can con tact ,a nd obta in a consumer r epor t from, a consumerreport ing agency descr ibed in sect ion 603(w), as pro-vided in the regula t ions of the Commission prescribedunder sect ion 612(a)(1)(C).‘‘(C) AVAILABILITY OF SUMMARY OF RIGHTS.—The

Commission sha ll—‘‘(i) a ct ively publicize the availability of the sum-

m ary of r igh ts prepared under th is pa ragraph ;‘‘(ii) conspicuously post on it s Int ernet website the

a vaila bility of such summary of r ights; and‘‘(iii) promptly make such summary of r ight s avail-

a ble to consumers, on request .‘‘(2) SUMMARY OF RIGH TS REQUIRED TO BE INCLUDED WITH

AGENCY DISCLOSURE S.—A consumer report ing agency shall pro-vide to a consumer , with each wr it ten disclosure by the agencyto the consumer under th is sect ion—

‘‘(A) t he summary of r igh ts prepared by t he Commis-sion under para gra ph (1);

‘‘(B) in the case of a consumer r epor t ing a gencydescribed in sect ion 603(p), a toll-free telephone numberesta blished by t he agency, a t which personnel are accessibleto consumers du ring normal business hour s;

‘‘(C) a list of a ll Federal agencies responsible forenforcing any provision of th is t it le, and the address andany appropr ia te phone number of each such agency, ina form that will assist the consumer in select ing the a ppro-pr ia te agency;

‘‘(D) a st a tement that the consumer may have addi-t ional r ights under Sta te law, and that the consumer ma ywish t o contact a St a te or loca l consumer protect ion agencyor a Sta te a t t orney general (or the equ ivalen t thereof)to learn of those r igh ts; and

‘‘(E) a sta t emen t t hat a consumer r epor t ing agencyis not requ ired to r emove accurate derogat ory informa t ionfrom t he file of a consumer , unless the in format ion isout dated under sect ion 605 or cannot be verified.’’.

Publicin form at ion .



(d) RULEMAKING RE QUIRED.—(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall prescr ibe r egula -

t ions applicable t o consumer r epor t ing agencies described insect ion 603(p) of t he Fair Credit Repor t ing Act , t o requ irethe establishmen t of—

(A) a cen tr a lized source through which consumers mayobta in a consumer report from each such consumerrepor t ing a gency, u sing a single r equest , and withoutcharge to the consumer, a s provided in sect ion 612(a) ofthe Fair Credit Report ing Act (as amended by th is sect ion);and

(B) a standardized form for a consumer to ma ke sucha request for a consumer report by ma il or t hrough anIn ternet website.(2) CONSIDE RATIONS.—In prescribing regula t ions under

para gra ph (1), t he Commission shall consider—(A) t he significant demands that may be placed on

consumer r epor t ing agencies in providing such consumerrepor ts;

(B) appropr ia te means to ensure that consumerrepor t ing agencies can sa t isfact orily meet those demands,including t he efficacy of a system of staggering the avail-ability to consumers of such consumer reports; and

(C) the ea se by which consumers should be able tocon tact consumer report ing agencies wit h respect to accessto such consumer r epor ts.(3) CE NTRALIZED SOURCE .—The cent ra lized source for a

request for a consumer r eport from a consumer requ ired byth is subsect ion shall provide for—

(A) a t oll-fr ee telephone number for such purpose;(B) use of an Internet website for such purpose; and(C) a process for requests by mail for such purpose.

(4) TRANSITION.—The regula t ions of t he Commission underpara gra ph (1) shall provide for an order ly t r ansit ion by con-sumer r eport ing agencies descr ibed in sect ion 603(p) of theFair Credit Repor t ing Act to the cen tra lized source for consumerreport dist r ibut ion r equired by sect ion 612(a)(1)(B), a s amendedby this sect ion , in a manner that—

(A) does not temporar ily overwhelm such consumerrepor t ing a gencies with r equests for disclosu res of con-sumer reports beyond their capacity to deliver; and

(B) does not deny creditors, other users, and consumersaccess to consumer r epor ts on a t ime-sensit ive basis forspecific purposes, such as home purchases or suspicionsof iden t ity theft , du ring the t ra nsit ion per iod.(5) TIMING.—Regula t ions r equired by t his subsect ion

shall—(A) be issued in final form not la ter than 6 mon ths

after the date of enactment of th is Act ; and(B) become effect ive not la ter than 6 mont hs after

the date on which they are issued in final form.(6) SCOPE OF REGULATIONS.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall, by ru le, deter-mine whether to r equire a consumer r epor t ing a gency t hatcom piles and maint a ins files on consumers on substa nt ia llya na t ionwide basis, other than one described in sect ion

E ffect ive da te.

Dead line.

15 USC 1681jn ote.



603(p) of t he Fair Credit Repor t ing Act , to make free con-sumer repor ts available upon consum er request , and ifso, whether such consumer report ing agencies should makesuch fr ee reports available through the cen tr a lized sourcedescribed in paragraph (1)(A).

(B) CONSIDE RATIONS.—Before making any determina -t ion under subpa ragraph (A), the Commission shallconsider—

(i) the num ber of r equests for consumer r epor tsto, and the number of consumer r epor ts generatedby, the consumer r epor t ing agency, in compa rison wit hconsumer r epor t ing agencies descr ibed in subsect ions(p) and (w) of sect ion 603 of the Fair Credit Report ingAct ;

(ii) the overa ll scope of the opera t ions of the con-sumer r epor t ing agency;

(iii) t he needs of consumers for access to consumerreports provided by consumer report ing agencies fr eeof charge;

(iv) the cost s of providing a ccess to consumerreports by consumer r epor t ing agencies free of charge;and

(v) the effects on the ongoing compet it ive via bilityof such consumer r epor t ing agencies if such fr ee accessis r equired.

S E C. 212. D ISCLO SU R E OF CR E D IT SCO R E S .

(a) STATEME NT ON AVAILABILITY OF CREDIT SCORES .—Sect ion609(a) of the Fa ir Credit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g(a)) isa mended by adding a t the end the following new paragraph :

‘‘(6) If the consumer r equest s t he credit file a nd not t hecredit score, a sta tement that the consumer may request a ndobtain a credit score.’’.(b) DISCLOSURE OF CREDIT SCORES.—Sect ion 609 of the Fair

Credit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g), as amended by th is Act ,is am ended by adding a t the end the following:

‘‘(f) DISCLOSURE OF CRE DIT SCORES.—‘‘(1) IN GENE RAL.—Upon the r equest of a consumer for

a credit score, a consumer r epor t ing agency sha ll supply tothe consumer a sta t emen t indicat ing that the in format ion andcredit scor ing model m ay be differen t t han t he credit scoretha t may be used by the lender , and a not ice which shallinclude—

‘‘(A) the cur ren t credit score of the consumer or themost recent credit score of the consumer t hat was pre-viously ca lcu la ted by the credit report ing agency for apurpose r ela ted t o the extension of credit ;

‘‘(B) t he ra nge of possible credit scores under the modelused;

‘‘(C) a ll of the key fact or s tha t a dversely a ffected thecredit score of the consumer in t he m odel used, t he tota lnumber of wh ich shall not exceed 4, subject to paragraph(9);

‘‘(D) the dat e on which the credit score was created;and



‘‘(E) the na me of t he per son or ent it y that providedthe credit score or credit file upon which t he credit scorewas creat ed.‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this subsect ion, t he fol-

lowing defin it ions shall apply:‘‘(A) CREDIT SCORE .—The term ‘credit score’—

‘‘(i) means a numerical value or a ca tegor izat ionder ived from a sta t ist ica l tool or modeling system usedby a person who makes or ar ranges a loan to predictthe likelihood of certa in credit behavior s, includingdefau lt (a nd t he numer ical value or the ca tegorizat ionder ived from such analysis may a lso be referr ed toas a ‘r isk predict or ’ or ‘r isk score’); a nd

‘‘(ii) does not include—‘‘(I) any mortgage score or ra t ing of an au to-

mated underwr it ing system that considers one ormore fact or s in addit ion to credit informat ion,including t he loan to value r a t io, t he amoun t ofdown payment , or the financia l assets of a con-sumer ; or

‘‘(II) any other elements of the underwrit ingprocess or underwrit ing decision.

‘‘(B) KE Y FACTORS.—The term ‘key factors’ means a llr elevant elem en ts or reasons adver sely a ffect ing the creditscore for the part icular individual, listed in t he order oftheir impor tance based on their effect on the credit score.‘‘(3) TIMEFRAME AND MANNER OF DISCLOSURE .—The

informat ion r equired by th is subsect ion shall be provided inthe same t imefra me and manner as the in format ion descr ibedin subsect ion (a).

‘‘(4) AP PLICABILITY TO CE RTAIN USES.—This subsect ion shallnot be construed so as t o compel a consumer r epor t ing agencyto develop or disclose a score if the agency does not—

‘‘(A) dist r ibute scores tha t are used in connect ion wit hresident ia l r ea l proper ty loans; or

‘‘(B) develop scores t hat assist credit provider s inunderstanding the general credit behavior of a consumerand predict ing the fu ture credit beha vior of t he consumer .‘‘(5) APPLICABILITY TO CREDIT SCORES DEVELOPED BY

ANOTHE R P ERSON.—‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—This subsect ion shall not be con-

st rued t o requ ire a consumer r epor t ing agency that dist r ib-u tes credit scores developed by a nother per son or en t ityto provide a fu rt her explanat ion of them, or to processa dispu te ar ising pur sua nt to sect ion 611, except that theconsumer r epor t ing a gency shall provide the consumer wit hthe name a nd address and websit e for con tact ing t he per sonor en t ity who developed t he score or developed the method-ology of the score.

‘‘(B) EXCEP TION.—This paragra ph shall not apply t oa consumer r epor t ing agency tha t develops or modifiesscores t hat are developed by a nother person or en t ity.‘‘(6) MAINTE NANCE OF CREDIT SCORES NOT REQUIRED.—This

subsect ion shall not be const rued to r equire a consumerreport ing agency to maint a in credit scores in it s files.

‘‘(7) COMPLIANCE IN CERTAIN CASE S.—In complying withth is subsect ion , a consumer r eport ing agency sha ll—



‘‘(A) supply the consumer with a credit score that isderived from a credit scor ing model that is widely dist r ib-u ted t o users by that consumer r eport ing agency in connec-t ion with residen t ia l r ea l proper ty loans or with a creditscore t hat assists the consumer in understanding the creditscoring assessment of t he credit behavior of t he consumerand predict ions about the fut ure credit behavior of theconsumer; and

‘‘(B) a sta temen t indica t ing that the informat ion andcredit scor ing model may be differen t than that used bythe lender .‘‘(8) F AIR AND REASONABLE F EE .—A consumer report ing

agency may charge a fa ir and reasonable fee, a s determinedby the Comm ission , for providing the informat ion r equiredunder t his subsect ion.

‘‘(9) USE OF ENQUIRIE S AS A KEY FACTOR.—If a key factorthat adversely affects the credit score of a consumer consistsof the number of enquir ies made with respect to a consumerreport , t hat factor sha ll be included in the disclosure pu rsuan tto paragraph (1)(C) wit hout regard t o the numer ical lim ita t ionin such paragraph.’’.(c) DISCLOSURE OF CRE DIT SCORES BY CERTAIN MORTGAGE

LENDERS.—Sect ion 609 of the Fair Credit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C.1681g), as amended by this Act , is amended by adding a t theend the following:

‘‘(g) DISCLOSURE OF CREDIT SCORE S BY CERTAIN MORTGAGE

LENDERS.—‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any per son who makes or arr anges loans

and who uses a consumer credit score, as defined in subsect ion(f), in connect ion with a n applicat ion in it ia t ed or sough t bya consumer for a closed end loa n or the esta blishment of anopen end loan for a consumer purpose tha t is secured by 1to 4 units of r esident ia l r ea l propert y (hereafter in t his sub-sect ion r efer red to as the ‘lender’) shall provide the followingto the consumer as soon as r ea sonably pract ica ble:

‘‘(A) INFORMATION REQUIRED UNDER SUBSECTION (f ).—‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A copy of the in format ion ident i-

fied in subsect ion (f) t hat was obta ined from a con-sumer report ing agency or was developed a nd usedby t he user of the in format ion .

‘‘(ii) NOTICE UNDER SUBPARAGRAP H (D).—In a ddi-t ion to the in format ion provided to it by a t hird par tythat provided t he credit score or scores, a lender ison ly r equired t o provide the not ice con ta ined insubpa ragraph (D).‘‘(B) DISCLOSURES IN CASE OF AUTOMATED UNDER-

WRITING SYSTEM.—‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If a per son that is subject to

t his subsect ion uses a n automat ed underwrit ingsyst em t o underwrit e a loan , t hat person may sat isfyt he obligat ion to provide a credit score by disclosinga credit score a nd associa ted key factors supplied bya consumer r epor t ing agency.

‘‘(ii) NUMERICAL CRE DIT SCORE .—However , if anumer ica l credit score is generat ed by an aut oma tedunderwr it ing system used by an en terpr ise, and t hatscore is disclosed t o t he person , the score shall be



disclosed to the consumer consisten t with subpara-gra ph (C).

‘‘(iii) ENTERPRISE DEFINED.—For purposes of t hissubparagraph , t he term ‘en terprise’ has t he sa mem ea ning as in pa ragraph (6) of sect ion 1303 of theFedera l Housing En terpr ises Financia l Safety andSoundness Act of 1992.‘‘(C) DISCLOSURE S OF CREDIT SCORES NOT OBTAINED

FROM A CONSUMER RE PORTING AGENCY.—A per son that issubject to t he provisions of t his subsect ion and that usesa credit score, other t han a credit score provided by aconsumer r epor t ing agency, ma y sa t isfy t he obligat ion toprovide a credit score by disclosing a credit score andassocia ted key factors supplied by a consumer r epor t ingagency.

‘‘(D) NOTICE TO HOME LOAN AP PLICANTS.—A copy ofthe following not ice, which shall include t he nam e, address,and telephone number of each consumer report ing agencyproviding a credit score tha t was used:

‘NOTICE TO THE H OME LOAN APPLICANT

‘In connect ion with your applicat ion for a home loan, the lenderm ust disclose to you the score that a consumer repor t ing agencydist r ibuted to users and the lender used in connect ion with yourhome loan , and the key fact or s affect ing your credit scores.

‘The credit score is a computer generated summ ary calcula t eda t the t ime of the r equest and based on informa t ion t hat a consumerreport ing agency or lender ha s on file. The scores are based onda ta a bout your credit history and payment pat terns. Credit scoresa re importan t because they are used to assist t he lender in deter-m ining whet her you will obta in a loan. They may a lso be usedt o determine what in terest ra te you may be offered on t he mor tgage.Credit scores can cha nge over t ime, depending on your conduct ,how your credit history and payment pat terns cha nge, and howcredit scoring t echnologies change.

‘Because t he score is based on informa t ion in your credit his-t ory, it is very importa nt that you r eview the credit -r ela ted informa -t ion that is being fu rnished to make su re it is accura te. Creditr ecords may vary from one company to a nother .

‘If you have quest ions abou t your credit score or the creditinformat ion tha t is fu rn ished to you, contact the consumer r epor t inga gency a t the address and telephone number provided wit h thisnot ice, or contact the lender, if t he lender developed or generat edt he credit score. The consumer report ing agency plays no pa rtin t he decision to t ake any act ion on the loa n a pplicat ion a ndis una ble to provide you with specific reasons for the decisionon a loan applicat ion.

‘If you have quest ions concerning t he t erms of the loan, contactt he lender.’.

‘‘(E) ACTIONS NOT REQUIRED UNDER THIS SUBSECTION.—This subsect ion shall not r equire any per son to—

‘‘(i) expla in the in format ion provided pur sua nt tosubsect ion (f);

‘‘(ii) disclose any informa t ion other tha n a creditscore or key factors, a s defined in subsect ion (f);



‘‘(iii) disclose any credit score or r ela ted in forma-t ion obt a ined by t he user after a loan ha s closed;

‘‘(iv) provide more than 1 disclosu re per loan t r ans-a ct ion ; or

‘‘(v) provide the disclosure r equired by this sub-sect ion when another per son has made the disclosuret o the consumer for tha t loan t r ansact ion.‘‘(F) NO OBLIGATION FOR CONTENT.—

‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The obligat ion of any per sonpursuan t to t his subsect ion shall be limit ed solely t oproviding a copy of the in format ion tha t was r eceivedfrom the consumer r epor t ing a gency.

‘‘(ii) LIMIT ON LIABILITY.—No per son has liabilityunder this subsect ion for the conten t of that in forma-t ion or for the omission of any informat ion with inthe r eport provided by t he consumer report ing agency.‘‘(G) PERSON DEF INED AS EXCLUDING ENTE RPRISE .—As

used in t his subsect ion , t he term ‘person’ does not includean en terpr ise (as defined in paragraph (6) of sect ion 1303of the Federa l Housing En terpr ises F inancia l Safet y andSoundness Act of 1992).‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON DISCLOSURE CLAUSES NULL AND VOID.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any provision in a con tra ct t hatproh ibits t he disclosure of a credit score by a person whomakes or arr anges loans or a consumer r epor t ing agencyis void.

‘‘(B) NO LIABILITY FOR DISCLOSURE UNDER THIS SUB-SECTION.—A lender shall not have liability under a nycontract ual provision for disclosure of a credit score pur su-an t t o th is subsect ion .’’.

(d) INCLUSION OF KEY FACTOR IN CREDIT SCORE INFORMATION

IN CONSUMER REP ORT.—Sect ion 605(d) of the Fair Credit Report ingAct (15 U.S.C. 1681c(d)) is amended—

(1) by st r iking ‘‘DISCLOSED.—Any consumer report ingagency’’ and insert ing ‘‘DISCLOSED.—

‘‘(1) TITLE 11 INFORMATION.—Any consum er report ingagency’’; and

(2) by adding a t the end the following new paragraph:‘‘(2) KEY FACTOR IN CREDIT SCORE INF ORMATION.—Any con-

sumer r epor t ing agency that furnishes a consumer r epor t thatcon ta ins any credit score or any other r isk score or predictoron any consumer shall include in the report a clea r and con-spicuous sta t em en t that a key fa ctor (as defined in sect ion609(f)(2)(B)) tha t adver sely affected such score or predictorwas the number of enqu ir ies, if such a predictor was in fa cta key factor t hat adversely affected such score. This paragraphshall not apply to a check services company, act ing as such,which issues au thor izat ions for the purpose of approving orprocessing negot iable inst rumen ts, elect ronic fund t r ansfer s,or similar methods of payments, but only to t he extent thatsuch company is engaged in such act ivit ies.’’.(e) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDME NTS.—Sect ion 625(b)

of the Fa ir Credit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681t (b)), a s so des-igna ted by sect ion 214 of this Act , is amended—

(1) by st r iking ‘‘or’’ a t the end of para graph (2); a nd(2) by st r iking pa ragraph (3) and insert ing t he following:



‘‘(3) with r espect to the disclosures requ ired t o be madeunder subsect ion (c), (d), (e), or (g) of sect ion 609, or subsect ion(f) of sect ion 609 r ela t ing t o the disclosure of credit scoresfor credit grant ing purposes, except that this paragraph—

‘‘(A) shall not a pply wit h respect to sect ions 1785.10,1785.16, and 1785.20.2 of the California Civil Code (asin effect on the date of enactment of the Fa ir and AccurateCredit Transact ions Act of 2003) and sect ion 1785.15th rough sect ion 1785.15.2 of such Code (a s in effect onsuch dat e);

‘‘(B) shall not a pply with r espect to sect ions 5–3–106(2)and 212–14.3–104.3 of the Colorado Revised Sta t utes (asin effect on the date of enactment of the Fa ir and AccurateCredit Transa ct ions Act of 2003); and

‘‘(C) shall not be construed as limit ing, annulling,affect ing, or super seding any provision of the la ws of anySt ate regula t ing t he use in an insurance act ivity, or regu-la t ing disclosu res concern ing such use, of a credit -basedinsurance score of a consumer by any person engaged inthe business of insu ra nce;‘‘(4) with respect to the frequency of any disclosure under

sect ion 612(a), except that th is paragraph shall not a pply—‘‘(A) with r espect t o sect ion 12–14.3–105(1)(d) of the

Colorado Revised Sta tu tes (a s in effect on the date ofena ctmen t of the Fa ir and Accurate Credit Transact ionsAct of 2003);

‘‘(B) with respect to sect ion 10–1–393(29)(C) of theGeorgia Code (as in effect on the date of enactment ofthe Fair and Accurate Credit Transact ions Act of 2003);

‘‘(C) with r espect to sect ion 1316.2 of t it le 10 of theMa ine Revised Sta tut es (as in effect on the date of enact-ment of the Fa ir and Accurate Credit Transact ions Actof 2003);

‘‘(D) with r espect to sect ions 14–1209(a)(1) and 14–1209(b)(1)(i) of the Commercia l Law Ar t icle of the Codeof Maryland (as in effect on the date of enactment ofthe Fair and Accurate Credit Transact ions Act of 2003);

‘‘(E) wit h respect to sect ion 59(d) and sect ion 59(e)of chapter 93 of the General Laws of Ma ssachuset ts (asin effect on the date of enactment of the Fa ir and AccurateCredit Transa ct ions Act of 2003);

‘‘(F) with r espect t o sect ion 56:11–37.10(a)(1) of theNew J er sey Revised Sta t utes (as in effect on the dat eof ena ctmen t of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transact ionsAct of 2003); or

‘‘(G) with respect to sect ion 2480c(a)(1) of t it le 9 ofthe Vermont St a tut es Annot ated (as in effect on the dateof ena ctmen t of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transact ionsAct of 2003); or’’.

S E C. 213. E N H ANCE D D ISCLO SU R E OF TH E ME AN S AVAILABLE TO O P T

O U T O F P R E SCR E E N E D LISTS.

(a) NOTICE AND RESPONSE FORMAT FOR USERS OF REPORTS.—Sect ion 615(d)(2) of the Fair Credit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C.1681m(d)(2)) is amended t o read as follows:

‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE OF ADDRESS AND TELEP HONE NUMBER; FOR-MAT.—A sta tement under paragraph (1) shall—



‘‘(A) include t he address a nd t oll-fr ee telephone numberof t he appropria te not ifica t ion system est ablished undersect ion 604(e); and

‘‘(B) be present ed in such forma t and in such t ypesize and m anner as to be simple and easy to underst and,as established by t he Commission, by ru le, in consu lta t ionwith t he Federal ba nking agencies a nd the Nat iona l CreditUn ion Administ ra t ion .’’.

(b) RULEMAKING SCHEDULE .—Regulat ions r equired by sect ion615(d)(2) of the Fair Credit Repor t ing Act , as amended by th issect ion , sha ll be issued in final form not la t er t han 1 year aftert he dat e of ena ctmen t of t his Act .

(c) DURATION OF ELECTIONS.—Sect ion 604(e) of the Fair CreditRepor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(e)) is amended in each of paragraphs(3)(A) and (4)(B)(i)), by st r iking ‘‘2-yea r period’’ each place tha tt erm a ppear s and inser t ing ‘‘5-year per iod’’.

(d) PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN.—The Commission shalla ct ively publicize and conspicuously post on it s website any addressa nd the toll-free telephone number established as part of a not ifica-t ion syst em for opt ing ou t of prescreening under sect ion 604(e)of the Fair Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(e)), and ot herwiset ake measures t o increase public awareness regarding t he avail-a bility of t he r igh t t o opt out of prescreen ing.

(e) ANALYSIS OF FURTH ER RE STRICTIONS ON OFFERS OF CREDIT

OR INSURANCE .—(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board sha ll conduct a st udy of—

(A) the ability of consumers to avoid r eceiving wr it tenoffers of credit or insu ra nce in connect ion wit h t ransact ionsnot in it ia t ed by the consumer; a nd

(B) the poten t ia l impact that any fur ther r est r ict ionson providing consum ers with such wr it ten offers of creditor in surance wou ld have on consumers.(2) REPORT.—The Board shall submit a r epor t summarizing

the r esu lts of the study requ ired under paragraph (1) to theCongress not la ter t han 12 months after the date of enact men tof t his Act , together wit h such recommendat ions for legisla t iveor a dminist ra t ive act ion as the Board m ay determine to beappropr ia te.

(3) CONTE NT OF REPORT.—The repor t descr ibed in pa ra-graph (2) shall address the following issues:

(A) The cur rent sta tu tory or volun tary mechanismsthat are ava ilable to a consumer to not ify lenders andinsu rance provider s that the consumer does not wish toreceive wr it ten offer s of credit or insurance.

(B) The exten t to which consumers are cu rrent ly ut i-lizing exist ing sta tu tory and volunta ry mechanisms to avoidreceiving offer s of credit or insurance.

(C) The benefits provided t o consumers as a resu ltof r eceiving wr it ten offer s of credit or in surance.

(D) Whether consumers incur sign ifican t costs or areotherwise adversely affected by the receipt of wr it ten offersof credit or insu ra nce.

(E) Whether fur ther r est r ict ing the ability of lendersand insurers to provide wr it t en offers of credit or insuranceto consumers would a ffect—

(i) t he cost consumers pay to obta in credit or insu r-ance;

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15 USC 1601note.

In tern et.15 USC 1681bnote.

Deadline.15 USC 1681mnote.



(ii) the availability of credit or in su rance;(iii) consumers’ knowledge abou t new or a lter-

nat ive products and services;(iv) t he ability of lenders or in su rer s to compet e

with one another; and(v) the ability to offer credit or insu rance products

t o consumers who have been t radit ionally underserved.

S E C. 214. AF F ILIATE S H AR IN G.

(a) LIMITATION.—The Fair Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1601et seq.) is amended—

(1) by redesignat ing sect ions 624 (15 U.S.C. 1681t), 625(15 U.S.C. 1681u), a nd 626 (15 U.S.C. 6181v) as sect ions 625,626, and 627, respect ively; and

(2) by inser t ing after sect ion 623 the following:

‘‘§ 624. Affi lia t e sh a r in g

‘‘(a) SPECIAL RULE FOR SOLICITATION FOR PURP OSES OF MAR-KE TING.—

‘‘(1) NOTICE .—Any per son that receives from a nother per sonrela t ed to it by common ownersh ip or affilia ted by corporatecon trol a communicat ion of in format ion t hat wou ld be a con-sumer report , but for clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of sect ion603(d)(2)(A), may not use t he in format ion to m ake a solicita t ionfor market ing purposes to a consumer about it s products orservices, unless—

‘‘(A) it is clearly a nd conspicuously disclosed to theconsumer t hat the informat ion may be communicat edamong such per sons for pu rposes of making such solicita-t ions t o the consumer ; and

‘‘(B) the consumer is provided a n oppor tun ity and asimple method to proh ibit the making of such solicita t ionsto the consumer by such person .‘‘(2) CONSUMER CHOICE .—

‘‘(A) IN GENE RAL.—The not ice requ ired under para -graph (1) sha ll a llow the consumer the oppor tun ity to pro-h ibit a ll solicit a t ions r efer red t o in such paragraph, andmay a llow the consumer t o choose from differen t opt ionswhen elect ing to prohibit the sending of such solicita t ions,including opt ions rega rding the types of en t it ies andin format ion covered, and which methods of delivering solici-ta t ions the consumer elect s t o prohibit .

‘‘(B) FORMAT.—Not withsta nding subparagraph (A), thenot ice requ ired under paragraph (1) shall be clear , con-spicuous, and concise, and any method provided underparagraph (1)(B) shall be simple. The r egula t ions pre-scribed t o implemen t th is sect ion shall provide specificguidance regarding how to comply with such standards.‘‘(3) DURATION.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The elect ion of a consumer pur suantto paragraph (1)(B) to proh ibit the m aking of solicita t ionsshall be effect ive for a t least 5 year s, beginning on thedate on which the person receives the elect ion of the con-sumer, unless t he consumer requests tha t such elect ionbe revoked.

‘‘(B) NOTICE UPON EXP IRATION OF EFFECTIVE PE RIOD.—At such t ime as the elect ion of a consumer pur sua nt to

15 USC 1681s–3.



paragraph (1)(B) is no longer effect ive, a person may notuse in format ion that t he person r eceives in the mannerdescribed in paragraph (1) to make any solicita t ion formarket ing purposes to t he consumer, unless the consumerreceives a not ice and an oppor tunity, using a simplemethod, t o extend the opt-ou t for another per iod of a tleast 5 years, pur suan t t o the procedures descr ibed inparagraph (1).‘‘(4) SCOPE .—This sect ion shall not apply t o a person—

‘‘(A) using informa t ion to make a solicita t ion for mar -ket ing purposes t o a consumer with whom the per son hasa pre-exist ing business r ela t ionship;

‘‘(B) using informat ion t o facilit a te communicat ions toan individua l for whose benefit the per son providesemployee benefit or other services pur suant to a con tractwith a n employer rela t ed t o and ar ising ou t of the cur rentemployment r ela t ionship or sta tus of the individual asa par t icipa nt or beneficiary of an employee benefit plan ;

‘‘(C) using in format ion to per form services on behalfof another person rela ted by common ownership or affili-a t ed by corporate control, except that t his subpa ragraphshall not be construed as permit t ing a per son to sendsolicita t ions on beha lf of a nother person , if such otherperson wou ld not be permit ted to send the solicita t ionon its own behalf as a resu lt of the elect ion of the consumerto prohibit solicit a t ions under paragraph (1)(B);

‘‘(D) using informa t ion in response t o a communicat ionin it ia t ed by the consumer ;

‘‘(E) using informat ion in response to solicita t ionsau thor ized or requested by t he consumer; or

‘‘(F) if compliance with this sect ion by t hat per sonwould prevent compliance by tha t person with a ny provi-sion of Sta te in surance laws per ta in ing to un fa ir discr imi-nat ion in a ny Sta te in which the person is lawfu lly doingbusiness.‘‘(5) NO RE TROACTIVITY.—This subsect ion shall not proh ibit

the use of informat ion to send a solicita t ion to a consumerif such informa t ion was r eceived pr ior to t he dat e on whichpersons are requ ired to comply with r egu la t ions implement ingth is subsect ion .‘‘(b) NOTICE FOR OTHER PURPOSES PERMISSIBLE .—A not ice or

ot her disclosure under t his sect ion ma y be coordinated and consoli-da ted with any other not ice required to be issued under any otherprovision of la w by a per son that is subject to this sect ion, anda not ice or other disclosure that is equivalent to the not ice r equiredby subsect ion (a), and that is provided by a per son descr ibed insubsect ion (a) to a consumer toget her with disclosures requ iredby any other provision of law, shall sa t isfy t he requ irement s ofsubsect ion (a).

‘‘(c) USE R REQUIREMENTS.—Requ irement s wit h r espect to theuse by a person of informat ion r eceived from a nother per son rela tedt o it by com mon ownersh ip or affilia ted by corporate con trol, sucha s the r equirements of th is sect ion, const itu te requ iremen ts withrespect to the exchange of informat ion a mong per sons affilia tedby common ownership or common corpora te control, within them ea ning of sect ion 625(b)(2).



‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sect ion , the followingdefin it ions shall apply:

‘‘(1) P RE-EXISTING BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP .—The t erm ‘pre-exist ing business r ela t ionship’ means a r ela t ionship betweena person , or a person’s licensed agen t , and a consumer , ba sedon—

‘‘(A) a fina ncia l contract between a per son a nd a con-sumer wh ich is in force;

‘‘(B) the purcha se, r enta l, or lease by the consumerof that per son’s goods or services, or a fina ncia l t ra nsact ion(including holding an act ive accoun t or a policy in forceor having another cont inu ing rela t ionsh ip) bet ween theconsumer and that person during the 18-mont h per iodimmediat ely preceding the dat e on which the consumeris sen t a solicita t ion covered by t his sect ion;

‘‘(C) an inquiry or a pplicat ion by the consumerregarding a product or service offered by that per son,during the 3-month per iod immediately preceding t he da teon which t he consumer is sen t a solicita t ion covered byth is sect ion ; or

‘‘(D) any other pre-exist ing customer r ela t ionshipdefined in the r egu la t ions implemen t ing th is sect ion .‘‘(2) SOLICITATION.—The term ‘solicita t ion ’ m ea ns the mar-

ket ing of a product or service init ia ted by a person to a pa r-t icular consumer that is based on a n exchange of informa t iondescr ibed in subsect ion (a), and is in tended to encourage theconsumer to purcha se such product or service, bu t does notinclude communicat ions that are directed a t the general publicor determined not to be a solicita t ion by the r egula t ions pre-scribed under th is sect ion .’’.(b) RULEMAKING RE QUIRED.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal banking agencies, theNat ional Credit Union Admin ist r a t ion, and the Com mission ,wit h respect t o the en t it ies that are subject t o their respect iveenforcement a uthority under sect ion 621 of the Fair CreditReport ing Act and the Securit ies and Exchange Commission,and in coordinat ion as described in pa ragraph (2), sha ll pre-scribe regula t ions to implement sect ion 624 of t he Fa ir CreditReport ing Act , a s added by t his sect ion.

(2) COORDINATION.—Each a gency r equired to prescriberegula t ions under para gra ph (1) shall consult and coordinatewit h each other such agency so that , to t he ext ent possible,the r egula t ions prescr ibed by each such ent ity are consistentand compa rable with t he regu la t ions prescribed by ea ch othersuch agency.

(3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In promulgat ing regula t ions underthis subsect ion , ea ch agency r efer red to in paragraph (1) shall—

(A) ensure that affilia t e shar ing not ifica t ion methodsprovide a simple means for consumers t o make determina-t ions and choices under sect ion 624 of the Fair CreditReport ing Act , as added by this sect ion;

(B) consider the affilia te shar ing not ifica t ion pract icesemployed on the date of enactment of this Act by personsthat will be subject t o that sect ion 624; and

(C) ensu re t hat not ices and disclosu res may be coordi-nated a nd consolidated, as provided in subsect ion (b) ofthat sect ion 624.

15 USC 1681s–3n ote.



(4) TIMING.—Regula t ions r equired by t his subsect ionshall—

(A) be issued in final form not la ter than 9 mon thsafter the date of enactment of th is Act ; and

(B) become effect ive not la ter than 6 mont hs afterthe date on which they are issued in final form.

(c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) DEFINITIONS.—Sect ion 603(d)(2)(A) of the Fair Credit

Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681(d)(2)(A)) is amended by insert ing‘‘subject to sect ion 624,’’ after ‘‘(A)’’.

(2) RELATION TO STATE LAWS.—Sect ion 625(b)(1) of the FairCredit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681t (b)(1)), as so designatedby subsect ion (a) of th is sect ion , is a mended—

(A) by st r iking ‘‘or ’’ after the semicolon a t the endof subparagraph (E); and

(B) by adding a t the end t he following new subpara-graph :

‘‘(H) sect ion 624, r ela t ing t o the exchange and useof informat ion to ma ke a solicit a t ion for market ing pur -poses; or ’’.(3) CROSS REFE RENCE CORRECTION.—Sect ion 627(d) of the

Fair Credit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681v(d)), as so designat edby subsect ion (a) of t his sect ion , is amended by st r iking ‘‘sect ion625’’ and inser t ing ‘‘sect ion 626’’.

(4) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The ta ble of sect ions for t it leVI of the Consumer Credit Protect ion Act (15 U.S.C. 1601et seq.) is amended by st r iking the it ems rela t ing to sect ions624 through 626 a nd inser t ing the following:

‘‘624. Affilia t e sha r ing.‘‘625. Relat ion to Sta te la ws.‘‘626. Disclosures to FBI for counter in telligen ce pu rposes.‘‘627. Disclosures to governm en tal agencies for counter in telligen ce pu rposes.’’.

(e) STUDIES OF INFORMATION SH ARING PRACTICE S.—(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal banking agencies, the

Nat ional Credit Union Admin ist r a t ion, and the Com missionshall joint ly conduct r egula r studies of the consumer informa -t ion sharing pra ct ices by financia l in st itut ions and other per -sons tha t are credit or s or user s of consumer repor ts with t heiraffilia t es.

(2) MATTERS F OR STUDY.—In conduct ing the st udiesrequ ired by paragraph (1), t he agencies described in paragraph(1) shall—

(A) ident ify—(i) the purposes for which fina ncia l in st itu t ions

and other creditors and users of consumer r epor tsshare consumer informa t ion;

(ii) the types of in format ion shared by such ent it ieswith their affilia tes;

(iii) the number of choices provided to consumerswith respect to t he con trol of such shar ing, and thedegree to and manner in wh ich consumers exercisesuch choices, if a t a ll; and

(iv) whether such en t it ies share or may shareper sona lly ident ifiable t r ansact ion or exper ienceinforma t ion with affilia tes for purposes—

(I) that are r ela ted to employment or h ir ing,including whether t he person that is the subject

15 USC 1681s–3note.

15 USC 1681a .

E ffect ive date.

Deadline.



of such informat ion is given not ice of such shar ing,and the specific uses of such shared in format ion ;or

(II) of general publicat ion of such in format ion ;and

(B) specifica lly examine the in format ion shar ing prac-t ices tha t financia l in st it ut ions and other creditor s andusers of consumer r epor ts and their a ffilia tes employ forthe purpose of making underwrit ing decisions or crediteva luat ions of consumers.(3) REPORTS.—

(A) INITIAL REPORT.—Not la ter t han 3 yea rs after t hedate of enactment of th is Act , t he Federal banking agencies,the Nat ional Credit Union Admin ist r a t ion , and theCommission shall joint ly submit a r epor t to the Congresson the resu lts of the in it ia l st udy conducted in accordancewith this subsect ion, t ogether with any r ecommendat ionsfor legisla t ive or regu la tory act ion .

(B) FOLLOWUP RE PORTS.—The Federa l ba nking a gen-cies, t he Nat iona l Credit Union Administ ra t ion, and theCommission shall, not less frequen t ly tha n once every 3yea rs following t he dat e of submission of the init ia l r epor tunder subparagraph (A), join t ly submit a report to theCongress that , together with any r ecommendat ions forlegisla t ive or regula t ory act ion—

(i) documents any changes in the a reas of studyreferred to in paragraph (2)(A) occurr ing since theda te of submission of the previous r eport ;

(ii) iden t ifies any cha nges in the pract ices of finan-cia l in st it ut ions and other credit ors and users of con-sumer r epor ts in sharing consumer in format ion withtheir affilia t es for t he pu rpose of making underwrit ingdecisions or credit evaluat ions of consumers occurr ingsince t he dat e of submission of t he previous r epor t ;and

(iii) examines the effects that changes describedin clause (ii) have had, if any, on the degree to wh ichsuch affilia te shar ing pract ices reduce the need forfinancia l inst itut ions, cr editors, and other user s of con-sumer reports to rely on consumer r epor ts for suchdecisions.

S E C. 215. STU D Y O F E F F E CTS OF CR E DIT S COR E S AN D CR E D IT-BASE D

IN SU R AN CE SCO R E S O N AVAILABILITY AN D AF F O R D -

ABILITY OF F INANCIAL P R O D UCTS .

(a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Comm ission a nd the Board, in con-sult a t ion with the Office of Fair Housing a nd E qual Oppor tun ityof the Depar tment of Housing and Urba n Development , shall con-duct a study of—

(1) the effects of the use of credit scores and credit -basedinsurance scores on the availabilit y a nd a ffordabilit y of financia lproducts and services, including credit cards, mor tga ges, aut oloans, and property and casualty insurance;

(2) the st a t ist ica l r ela t ionship, ut ilizing a mult ivaria te a nal-ysis that controls for prohibited fact or s under the Equal CreditOpport un ity Act and ot her known risk fact ors, between credit

15 USC 1681n ote.

Dead lines.



scores and credit -based insu rance scores a nd the quan t ifiablerisks and actua l losses exper ienced by businesses;

(3) the extent to wh ich , if any, the use of credit scoringmodels, cr edit scores, and credit -based insurance scores impacton t he availability and affordability of credit and insuranceto the extent in format ion is cu rren t ly available or is availablethrough proxies, by geography, income, ethn icity, race, color ,religion, nat ional origin, age, sex, marit a l sta t us, and creed,including the extent to which the considerat ion or lack of consid-era t ion of certa in factor s by credit scor ing systems could resu ltin negat ive or different ia l t rea tmen t of protected classes underthe Equal Credit Opport unity Act , a nd the ext en t to wh ich,if any, t he use of underwrit ing systems relying on these modelscou ld ach ieve comparable resu lts through the use of factorswit h less negat ive impact ; and

(4) the extent to which credit scoring systems are usedby businesses, the fa ctor s considered by such systems, andthe effects of variables which are not considered by such sys-tems.(b) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Commission sha ll seek public

input about t he prescribed methodology and r esearch design oft he study described in subsect ion (a), including from releva nt Fed-era l regu la tor s, Sta te insura nce r egula tors, community, civil r ight s,consumer, a nd housing groups.

(c) REPORT REQUIRED.—(1) IN GENERAL.—Before the end of t he 24-month per iod

beginning on the da te of enact men t of this Act , the Commissionshall submit a deta iled repor t on the study conducted pur suantto subsect ion (a) to the Comm it tee on F ina ncia l Services ofthe House of Represent a t ives a nd the Commit tee on Ba nking,Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.

(2) CONTENTS OF REP ORT.—The repor t submit t ed underpara gra ph (1) shall include the findings and conclusions ofthe Commission , recommendat ions t o address specific areasof concerns addressed in the study, and r ecommenda t ions forlegisla t ive or administ ra t ive act ion that the Commission maydetermine to be necessary to ensure tha t credit a nd credit -based insurance scores are used appropr ia tely a nd fa ir ly toavoid nega t ive effect s.

S E C. 216. D IS P O SAL O F CO N SU ME R R E P O R T IN F O R MATIO N AN D

R E COR DS .

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C.1681 et seq.), as amended by th is Act , is amended by a ddinga t the end the following:

‘‘§ 628. Disp osa l of r ec or d s

‘‘(a) REGULATIONS .—‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not la ter than 1 year after the date

of ena ctmen t of th is sect ion , the Federal ba nking agencies,the Nat ional Credit Union Administ ra t ion, and the Commissionwit h respect t o the en t it ies that are subject t o their respect iveenforcement aut hority under sect ion 621, and the Secur it iesand Exchange Commission , and in coordinat ion a s describedin para gra ph (2), shall issue final r egu la t ions r equir ing anyperson that maint a ins or otherwise possesses consumerinformat ion, or a ny compila t ion of consumer in format ion ,

Deadline.

15 USC 1681w.

Deadline.



derived from consumer report s for a business purpose to prop-erly dispose of any such in format ion or com pila t ion.

‘‘(2) COORDINATION.—Each agency requ ired to prescriberegula t ions under paragraph (1) shall—

‘‘(A) consu lt and coordinate wit h each other suchagency so that , to the extent possible, the regu la t ions pre-scribed by each such a gency are consist en t and comparablewith the regu la t ions by each such other agency; and

‘‘(B) ensu re tha t such r egu la t ions a re consistent withthe r equirements and r egula t ions issued pur suan t to PublicLaw 106–102 and ot her provisions of Federal law.‘‘(3) EXEMPTION AUTHORITY.—In issu ing r egula t ions under

this sect ion , the Federal banking a gencies, the Nat ional CreditUnion Administ ra t ion, the Comm ission , and the Securit ies andExchange Commission ma y exempt any person or class of per -sons from applicat ion of those regu la t ions, as such agencydeems a ppropria te t o carry out the pu rpose of t his sect ion.‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Noth ing in th is sect ion sha ll

be construed—‘‘(1) t o requ ire a person to maint a in or dest roy any record

perta ining to a consum er tha t is not imposed under otherlaw; or

‘‘(2) to a lter or affect any requ irement imposed under anyother provision of law to main ta in or dest roy such a r ecord.’’.(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sect ions for t it le VI

of the Consumer Credit Prot ect ion Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)is amended by inser t ing after the item rela t ing to sect ion 627,a s a dded by sect ion 214 of th is Act , t he following:

‘‘628. Disposal of r ecords.‘‘629. Corporate an d t ech nologica l cir cum vent ion prohibit ed.’’.

S E C. 217. R E Q UIR E ME NT TO D IS CL OS E CO MMU N ICATION S TO A CO N -

S UME R R E P O R TIN G AG E N CY.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Sect ion 623(a) of the Fair Credit Repor t ingAct (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)) as a mended by t his Act , is a mendedby insert ing after pa ragraph (6), t he following new paragraph :

‘‘(7) NEGATIVE INFORMATION.—‘‘(A) NOTICE TO CONSUMER REQUIRED.—

‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If any financia l in st itu t ion thatextends credit and r egularly a nd in the ordinary courseof business fu rn ishes in format ion t o a consumerreport ing agency descr ibed in sect ion 603(p) furnishesnegat ive in format ion to such an agency r egardingcredit extended to a cust omer , t he fina ncia l inst itu t ionshall provide a not ice of such furnish ing of negat iveinformat ion, in writ ing, t o the customer.

‘‘(ii) NOTICE EFFECTIVE FOR SUBSEQUE NT SUBMIS-SIONS.—Aft er providing such not ice, t he financia linst itut ion may submit addit ional negat ive inform at iont o a consumer report ing agency descr ibed in sect ion603(p) with r espect to t he same t ransact ion, extensionof credit , account , or cust omer without providing addi-t ional not ice to the customer.‘‘(B) TIME OF NOTICE .—

‘‘(i) IN GE NERAL.—The not ice r equired undersubparagraph (A) shall be provided to the customerpr ior to, or no la ter tha n 30 days after , furnishing

Deadline.



t he negat ive in format ion to a consumer report inga gency descr ibed in sect ion 603(p).

‘‘(ii) COORDINATION WITH NEW ACCOUNT DISCLO-SURES .—If the not ice is provided to the customer priort o furnishing t he negat ive informat ion to a consumerreport ing agency, the not ice may not be included int he init ia l disclosu res provided under sect ion 127(a)of the Truth in Lending Act .‘‘(C) COORDINATION WITH OTH ER DISCLOSURES.—The

not ice required under subpara gra ph (A)—‘‘(i) ma y be included on or with any not ice of

defau lt , any billing sta tement , or a ny other mater ia lsprovided t o the customer; a nd

‘‘(ii) must be clear and conspicuous.‘‘(D) MODE L DISCLOSURE .—

‘‘(i) DUTY OF BOARD TO P REP ARE .—The Boa rd shallprescribe a br ief model disclosu re a financia l inst itut ionm ay use to comply with subparagraph (A), which shallnot exceed 30 words.

‘‘(ii) USE OF MODEL NOT REQUIRED.—No provisionof th is paragraph shall be construed as requ ir ing afinancia l in st itu t ion to use any such model form pre-scr ibed by the Board.

‘‘(iii) COMPLIANCE USING MODE L.—A financia linst itut ion shall be deemed to be in compliance withsubpa ragraph (A) if the fina ncia l in st it ut ion uses anysuch model form prescribed by the Board, or the finan-cia l in st itut ion uses any such model form andrear ranges it s format .‘‘(E) USE OF NOTICE WITHOUT SUBMITTING NEGATIVE

INFORMATION.—No provision of th is para gra ph shall be con-st rued as r equir ing a financia l inst itu t ion that has provideda customer with a not ice descr ibed in subpa ragraph (A)to furnish negat ive in format ion a bout the customer to aconsumer report ing agency.

‘‘(F) SAFE HARBOR.—A fina ncia l inst itut ion shall notbe liable for fa ilure to perform the du t ies r equired byth is para gra ph if, a t the t ime of the fa ilu re, the financia linst it ut ion mainta ined r easona ble policies and proceduresto comply with th is paragraph or the financia l in st itu t ionrea sonably believed that the inst itut ion is proh ibit ed, bylaw, from conta ct ing the consumer .

‘‘(G) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of t his paragraph , thefollowing definit ions shall apply:

‘‘(i) NEGATIVE INFORMATION .—The term ‘negat iveinformat ion’ means informat ion concern ing a cus-t omer ’s delinquencies, la te payments, insolvency, ora ny form of defau lt .

‘‘(ii) CUSTOMER; F INANCIAL INSTITUTION .—Thet erms ‘cust om er ’ and ‘financia l inst itut ion ’ have thesame mea nings as in sect ion 509 Public Law 106–102.’’.

(b) MODEL DISCLOSURE FORM.—Before the end of t he 6-monthper iod beginn ing on the date of ena ctmen t of th is Act , the Boardshall adopt the model disclosu re requ ired under t he amendment

Deadline.Federa l Register,pu blica t ion.15 USC 1681s–2note.



m ade by subsect ion (a) a ft er not ice duly given in the Federa l Reg-ister and an opportunit y for public comment in accordance withsect ion 553 of t it le 5, Un ited St a tes Code.

T IT LE I I I—E NH ANCING TH E AC CUR AC YOF C ONSUME R R E P OR T INF OR MATION

S E C. 311. R IS K-BASE D P R ICING N O TICE .

(a) DUTIES OF USE RS.—Sect ion 615 of the Fair Credit Report ingAct (15 U.S.C. 1681m), as amended by th is Act , is amended byadding a t the end the following:

‘‘(h) DUTIE S OF USERS IN CERTAIN CREDIT TRANSACTIONS.—‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to rules prescribed as provided

in paragraph (6), if any person uses a consum er report inconnect ion wit h an applica t ion for , or a gran t , extension , orother provision of, credit on mater ia l t erms that are materia llyless fa vorable tha n the most favorable terms available to asubstan t ia l proport ion of consumers from or th rough that per -son, based in whole or in par t on a consumer r epor t , t heperson sha ll provide an ora l, writ ten, or elect ron ic not ice t othe consumer in the form and manner requ ired by r egula t ionsprescribed in accordance with th is subsect ion .

‘‘(2) TIMING.—The not ice r equired under para gra ph (1) maybe provided a t the t ime of an applicat ion for , or a gran t ,extension, or other provision of, credit or t he t ime of commu-nicat ion of an approval of an a pplicat ion for , or gra nt , extension,or ot her provision of, credit , except as provided in the r egu la-t ions prescr ibed under paragra ph (6).

‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.—No not ice sha ll be requ ired from a per -son under t his subsect ion if—

‘‘(A) the consumer applied for specific materia l termsand was gra nted those terms, un less those terms werein it ia lly specified by the person after t he t ra nsa ct ion wasin it ia t ed by the consumer and after t he person obta ineda consumer r epor t ; or

‘‘(B) t he person ha s provided or will provide a not iceto the consumer under subsect ion (a) in connect ion withthe t r ansact ion.‘‘(4) OTHER NOTICE NOT SUFFICIENT.—A per son t hat is

requ ired to provide a not ice under subsect ion (a) cannot meetthat requ iremen t by providing a not ice under this subsect ion .

‘‘(5) CONTENT AND DE LIVERY OF NOTICE .—A not ice underth is subsect ion shall, a t a m inimum—

‘‘(A) include a st a tement informing the consumer t hatthe terms offered t o the consumer are set based on in forma-t ion from a consumer report ;

‘‘(B) ident ify the consumer r epor t ing agency furnishingthe r epor t ;

‘‘(C) include a st a tement informing the consumer t hatthe consumer may obta in a copy of a consumer reportfrom t hat consumer r epor t ing agency wit hout charge; and

‘‘(D) include t he con tact in format ion specified by thatconsumer repor t ing agency for obta ining such consumerrepor ts (including a t oll-fr ee t elephone number esta blishedby the agency in the case of a consumer r epor t ing agencydescribed in sect ion 603(p)).



‘‘(6) RULE MAKING.—‘‘(A) RULES REQUIRED.—The Commission and t he Board

shall join t ly prescribe ru les.‘‘(B) CONTENT.—Rules requ ired by subparagraph (A)

shall address, but are not limited to—‘‘(i) the form, cont en t , t ime, and ma nner of delivery

of any not ice under th is subsect ion ;‘‘(ii) cla r ifica t ion of the meaning of terms used

in t his subsect ion, including what credit terms arem ateria l, a nd when credit terms are mater ia lly lessfa vorable;

‘‘(iii) except ions to the not ice r equirement undert his subsect ion for classes of per sons or t r ansact ionsregarding which the agencies determine that not icewould not sign ifica nt ly benefit consumers;

‘‘(iv) a model not ice that may be used to complywith th is subsect ion ; and

‘‘(v) the t iming of the not ice requ ired under para -gra ph (1), including t he cir cumstances under whicht he not ice must be provided after the term s offeredt o the consumer were set based on informat ion froma consumer r epor t .

‘‘(7) COMPLIANCE .—A per son shall not be liable for fa ilu reto perform the dut ies r equired by this sect ion if, a t the t imeof the fa ilu re, the person main ta ined reasonable policies andprocedures to comply with th is sect ion .

‘‘(8) E NFORCEMENT.—‘‘(A) NO CIVIL ACTIONS.—Sect ions 616 and 617 shall

not a pply to a ny fa ilure by a ny person to comply withth is sect ion .

‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT.—This sect ionshall be enforced exclusively under sect ion 621 by the Fed-era l agencies and officia ls iden t ified in t hat sect ion.’’.

(b) RELATION TO STATE LAWS.—Sect ion 625(b)(1) of the FairCredit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681t (b)(1)), as so designated bysect ion 214 of th is Act , is amended by adding a t the end thefollowing:

‘‘(I) sect ion 615(h), rela t ing to the dut ies of users ofconsumer reports t o provide not ice with r espect to termsin certa in credit t r ansact ions;’’.

S E C. 312. P R O CE D U R E S TO E NH ANCE TH E ACCU R ACY AN D IN TE G R ITY

O F IN F OR MATIO N F U R N IS H E D T O CO N SU ME R

R E P O R TIN G AG E N CIE S.

(a) ACCURACY GUIDELINES AND REGULATIONS.—Sect ion 623 ofthe Fair Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2) is a mendedby a dding a t the end the following:

‘‘(e) ACCURACY GUIDE LINES AND REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—‘‘(1) GUIDELINES.—The Federal banking agencies, the

Nat ional Credit Un ion Administ r a t ion, a nd the Comm issionshall, with respect t o the ent it ies t hat are subject t o theirrespect ive enforcement au thor ity under sect ion 621, a nd incoordinat ion as described in pa ragraph (2)—

‘‘(A) est ablish and mainta in gu idelines for use by eachperson that fu rn ishes in format ion to a consumer report ingagency rega rding the accuracy and integr ity of the informa-t ion r ela t ing to consumers that such en t it ies furnish t o



consumer report ing a gencies, a nd updat e such gu idelinesas often as necessary; and

‘‘(B) prescr ibe r egula t ions requ ir ing each per son thatfurnishes informat ion to a consumer r epor t ing agency toesta blish r ea sonable policies and procedures for imple-ment ing the gu idelines established pur sua nt to subpara-graph (A).‘‘(2) COORDINATION.—Each agency requ ired to prescribe

regula t ions under para graph (1) shall consult and coordinatewit h each other such agency so that , to t he extent possible,the r egula t ions prescr ibed by each such ent ity are consistentand comparable with t he regu la t ions prescribed by each ot hersuch agency.

‘‘(3) CRITERIA.—In developing the guidelines requ ired bypara gra ph (1)(A), the agencies descr ibed in paragraph (1)shall—

‘‘(A) iden t ify pa t terns, pract ices, and specific forms ofact ivity that can compromise the accuracy a nd integr ityof informat ion fu rn ished t o consumer r epor t ing agencies;

‘‘(B) r eview t he methods (including technologicalmeans) used to fu rn ish informat ion rela t ing to consumersto consumer repor t ing agencies;

‘‘(C) determine whether per sons that fu rn ish informa -t ion to consumer report ing agencies main ta in and enforcepolicies to a ssu re the accuracy and in tegr ity of informa t ionfurnished t o consum er r epor t ing a gencies; and

‘‘(D) examine t he policies a nd processes that personsthat furnish inform at ion to consumer r epor t ing agenciesemploy to conduct reinvest igat ions a nd correct ina ccuratein format ion rela t ing to consumers tha t has been fu rn ishedto consumer repor t ing agencies.’’.

(b) DUTY OF FURNISHE RS TO PROVIDE ACCURATE INFORMA-TION.—Sect ion 623(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C.1681s–2(a)(1)) is amended—

(1) in subparagraph (A), by st r iking ‘‘knows or consciouslyavoids knowing tha t the in format ion is inaccurate’’ andinsert ing ‘‘knows or has r easonable ca use to believe tha t theinformat ion is inaccura te’’; and

(2) by a dding a t the end the following:‘‘(D) DEFINITION.—For purposes of subparagraph (A),

the term ‘reasonable cause to believe that t he informat ionis ina ccurate’ means having specific knowledge, other thansolely a llegat ions by the consumer, t hat wou ld cause area sonable per son to have substan t ia l doubts abou t theaccuracy of the informat ion.’’.

(c) ABILITY OF CONSUME R TO DISPUTE INFORMATION DIRECTLY

WITH FURNISHER.—Sect ion 623(a) of the Fair Credit Repor t ing Act(15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)), as amended by this Act , is amended byadding a t the end the following:

‘‘(8) ABILITY OF CONSUMER TO DISPUTE INFORMATION

DIRECTLY WITH FURNISHER.—‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal ba nking agencies, the

Nat ional Credit Un ion Administ ra t ion, a nd the Commissionshall join t ly prescr ibe r egu la t ions t hat shall ident ify thecircumstances under wh ich a fu rn isher shall be requ iredto reinvest igate a disput e concerning the accuracy of

Regulat ion s.



in format ion conta ined in a consumer r epor t on the con-sumer, ba sed on a dir ect request of a consumer.

‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In prescr ibing r egula t ionsunder subparagraph (A), the agencies shall weigh—

‘‘(i) the benefits to consumers with the cost s onfu rn ishers and the credit r epor t ing system;

‘‘(ii) t he impact on the overall accuracy and integ-rity of consumer report s of any such requ irement s;

‘‘(iii) whet her dir ect con tact by the consumer withthe fu rn isher wou ld likely resu lt in the most expedi-t ious resolu t ion of any such disput e; a nd

‘‘(iv) the potent ia l impact on the credit r epor t ingprocess if cr edit repair organ izat ions, as defined insect ion 403(3), including ent it ies t hat wou ld be a creditrepair organizat ion, bu t for sect ion 403(3)(B)(i), a r eable to circumven t the prohibit ion in subparagraph(G).‘‘(C) APPLICABILITY.—Subpa ragraphs (D) th rough (G)

shall apply in any cir cumsta nce iden t ified under t he regu la-t ions promulgated under subpara gra ph (A).

‘‘(D) SUBMITTING A NOTICE OF DISP UTE.—A consumerwho seeks to disput e t he accuracy of informat ion shallprovide a dispu te not ice dir ect ly t o such per son a t theaddress specified by t he per son for such not ices that —

‘‘(i) ident ifies t he specific informat ion t hat is beingdisputed;

‘‘(ii) expla ins the basis for the dispu te; and‘‘(iii) includes a ll suppor t ing documentat ion

required by the furnisher to substan t ia t e the basisof the dispute.‘‘(E) DUTY OF PERSON AFTER RECEIVING NOTICE OF DIS-

PUTE .—After receiving a not ice of dispu te from a consumerpursuant to subpara graph (D), the person tha t providedthe informa t ion in dispu te to a consumer report ing a gencyshall—

‘‘(i) conduct an invest iga t ion with r espect to thedisputed informa t ion;

‘‘(ii) r eview all r elevan t informat ion provided byt he consumer with t he not ice;

‘‘(iii) complete such person’s invest igat ion of thedispute and report the r esults of t he invest igat ion tot he consumer before t he expira t ion of the per iod undersect ion 611(a )(1) with in which a consumer r epor t inga gency would be r equired to complete it s act ion ift he consumer had elected t o dispu te the informat ionunder that sect ion ; and

‘‘(iv) if the invest igat ion finds that t he informa t ionreported wa s inaccura te, prompt ly not ify each con-sumer report ing a gency to which the per son fu rn ishedt he ina ccurate informa t ion of that determina t ion andprovide t o the agency any correct ion to t hat in format iont hat is necessa ry to make t he informat ion providedby t he per son accurate.‘‘(F) FRIVOLOUS OR IRRELEVANT DISP UTE.—

‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—This paragraph shall not applyif t he person receiving a not ice of a dispute from a



consumer r easonably determines that the dispute isfr ivolous or ir releva nt , including—

‘‘(I) by r eason of the fa ilu re of a consumerto provide sufficient informa t ion t o invest iga te thedispu ted informat ion ; or

‘‘(II) the submission by a consumer of a dispu tetha t is substant ia lly the same as a dispute pre-viously submit ted by or for t he consumer , eitherdirect ly to the per son or th rough a consumerreport ing agency under subsect ion (b), with r espectto wh ich the person has a lready per formed theperson’s du t ies under t his pa ragraph or subsect ion(b), as applica ble.‘‘(ii) NOTICE OF DETERMINATION.—Upon ma king

a ny determinat ion under cla use (i) tha t a disput e isfr ivolous or irr elevan t , the per son shall not ify the con-sumer of such determinat ion not la ter than 5 businessda ys aft er making such det erminat ion, by mail or ,if aut horized by t he consumer for tha t purpose, bya ny other means a vailable to t he per son.

‘‘(iii) CONTENTS OF NOTICE .—A not ice under clause(ii) shall include—

‘‘(I) the r easons for the determina t ion undercla use (i); a nd

‘‘(II) ident ifica t ion of a ny informat ion r equiredto invest igat e the dispu ted in format ion, which mayconsist of a st andardized form describing the gen-era l nat ure of such in format ion .

‘‘(G) EXCLUSION OF CREDIT REPAIR ORGANIZATIONS.—This paragraph shall not apply if the not ice of the disputeis submit ted by, is prepared on behalf of the consumerby, or is subm it ted on a form supplied to the consumerby, a credit repair organ izat ion , as defined in sect ion 403(3),or an en t ity that would be a credit r epair orga nizat ion,bu t for sect ion 403(3)(B)(i).’’.

(d) FURNISHER LIABILITY EXCEPTION.—Sect ion 623(a )(5) of theFair Credit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)(5)) is amended—

(1) by st r iking ‘‘A person’’ a nd inser t ing the following:‘‘(A) IN GE NERAL.—A per son’’;

(2) by inser t ing ‘‘dat e of delinquency on the account , whichshall be the’’ before ‘‘mon th’’;

(3) by inser t ing ‘‘on the account’’ before ‘‘t hat immediatelypreceded’’; and

(4) by a dding a t the end the following:‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of th is

paragraph on ly, and provided that the consumer does notdispu te the informa t ion, a person that furnishes informa -t ion on a delinquent accoun t t hat is placed for collect ion,charged for profit or loss, or subjected to any similar act ion ,com plies with th is paragraph , if—

‘‘(i) the person reports the sa me date of delin-quency as tha t provided by the creditor to wh ich thea ccount was owed a t the t ime a t wh ich the commence-m en t of the delinquency occurred, if the credit or pre-viously r epor ted tha t date of delinquency to a consumerreport ing agency;

Deadline.



‘‘(ii) the creditor did not previously r epor t the dateof delinquency to a consumer r eport ing agency, andt he person esta blishes and follows r easonable proce-dures to obta in the date of delinquency from t he cred-itor or another r eliable source and r epor ts tha t dat et o a consumer r epor t ing a gency as the date of delin -quency; or

‘‘(iii) the creditor did not previously r epor t theda te of delinquency t o a consumer r epor t ing agencya nd t he date of delinquency cannot be reasonablyobt a ined as provided in clause (ii), the per son estab-lishes and follows r easona ble procedures to ensure theda te r epor ted as the date of delinquency precedes theda te on which the a ccount is pla ced for collect ion,cha rged t o profit or loss, or subjected to any similara ct ion , and report s such date t o the credit r eport inga gency.’’.

(e) LIABILITY AND E NFORCEME NT.—(1) CIVIL LIABILITY.—Sect ion 623 of the Fair Credit

Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2) is amended by st r iking sub-sect ions (c) a nd (d) a nd inser t ing the following:‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—Except as provided in sect ion

621(c)(1)(B), sect ions 616 and 617 do not apply to a ny viola t ionof—

‘‘(1) subsect ion (a) of th is sect ion , including any regula t ionsissued thereunder;

‘‘(2) subsect ion (e) of this sect ion, except that not hing inthis paragraph shall limit , expand, or otherwise affect liabilityunder sect ion 616 or 617, as applicable, for viola t ions of sub-sect ion (b) of th is sect ion ; or

‘‘(3) subsect ion (e) of sect ion 615.‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON ENFORCEMENT.—The provisions of law

descr ibed in para gra phs (1) th rough (3) of subsect ion (c) (otherthan with respect to the except ion described in paragra ph (2) ofsubsect ion (c)) shall be en forced exclusively as provided under sec-t ion 621 by the Federal agencies a nd officia ls and the Sta te officia lsiden t ified in sect ion 621.’’.

(2) STATE ACTIONS.—Sect ion 621(c) of the Fair CreditRepor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s(c)) is amended—

(A) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii), by st r iking ‘‘of sect ion623(a)’’ and inser t ing ‘‘descr ibed in any of paragraphs (1)th rough (3) of sect ion 623(c)’’; and

(B) in paragra ph (5)—(i) in each of subparagraphs (A) and (B), by

st r iking ‘‘of sect ion 623(a)(1)’’ each place that terma ppear s and inser t ing ‘‘described in any of para gra phs(1) through (3) of sect ion 623(c)’’; a nd

(ii) by amending t he pa ragraph heading to reada s follows:

‘‘(5) LIMITATIONS ON STATE ACTIONS FOR CERTAIN VIOLA-TIONS.—’’.(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing in th is sect ion , the

a mendments ma de by th is sect ion, or a ny other provision of th isAct shall be construed t o a ffect any liability under sect ion 616or 617 of the Fair Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681n, 1681o)t hat existed on the day before the da te of enact ment of th is Act .

15 USC 1681nnote.



S E C. 313. F TC AN D CO N SU ME R R E P OR TIN G AG E N CY ACTIO N CO N -

CE R NIN G CO MP LAIN TS.

(a) IN GENE RAL.—Sect ion 611 of the Fair Credit Report ingAct (15 U.S.C. 1681i) is amended by adding a t t he end the following:

‘‘(e) TREATMENT OF COMPLAINTS AND REP ORT TO CONGRESS.—‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall—

‘‘(A) compile a ll complain ts that it receives that a fileof a consumer that is main ta ined by a consumer r epor t ingagency descr ibed in sect ion 603(p) cont a ins incomplet e orinaccurate informa t ion, with r espect to which, the con-sumer appear s to have dispu ted the complet eness oraccuracy with t he consumer report ing agency or ot herwiseu t ilized the procedures provided by subsect ion (a); and

‘‘(B) t r ansmit each such compla int to each consumerrepor t ing agency involved.‘‘(2) EXCLUSION.—Complain ts received or obta ined by the

Commission pursuan t to it s invest igat ive authorit y under theFederal Trade Commission Act shall not be subject to paragraph(1).

‘‘(3) AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES.—E ach consumer report ingagency described in sect ion 603(p) tha t receives a complain tt r ansmit ted by t he Com mission pursuan t t o paragraph (1)shall—

‘‘(A) r eview each such compla int to determine whetherall lega l obligat ions imposed on the consumer report ingagency under this t it le (including any obligat ion imposedby an applica ble court or admin ist r a t ive order) have beenmet with respect to the subject ma t ter of the complaint ;

‘‘(B) provide r eports on a r egular ba sis to the Commis-sion rega rding the determinat ions of a nd act ions ta kenby the consumer r epor t ing agency, if any, in connect ionwith it s review of such complain ts; and

‘‘(C) main ta in , for a r easona ble t ime per iod, r ecordsregarding the disposit ion of each such complaint that issu fficien t to demonstr a te compliance with th is subsect ion .‘‘(4) RULE MAKING AUTHORITY.—The Commission may pre-

scribe r egula t ions, as a ppropria t e t o im plemen t th is subsect ion.‘‘(5) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Commission shall submit t o

the Commit tee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affair s ofthe Senate a nd the Commit tee on Financia l Services of theHouse of Represen ta t ives an annual report r egarding informa-t ion gat hered by the Commission under this subsect ion.’’.(b) PROMP T INVESTIGATION OF DISP UTED CONSUMER INFORMA-

TION.—(1) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Board and t he Commission shall

join t ly study the extent to which, and the manner in which,consumer r epor t ing agencies and furnishers of consumerinformat ion to consumer report ing agencies are complying wit hthe procedures, t ime lines, and r equirements under t he FairCredit Report ing Act for the prompt invest igat ion of the dis-puted a ccuracy of any consumer in format ion , the completenessof the in format ion provided to consumer r epor t ing agencies,and t he prompt correct ion or delet ion, in a ccordance wit h suchAct , of any inaccurate or incom plet e informa t ion or informa t iontha t cannot be verified.

(2) RE PORT REQUIRED.—Before the end of the 12-mont hperiod beginning on the date of enactment of t his Act , the

Deadline.

15 USC 1681in ote.

Records.

Records.



Board and the Commission shall joint ly submit a progressreport to the Congress on the r esult s of the study requ iredunder paragraph (1).

(3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In prepar ing the r epor t r equiredunder paragraph (2), t he Board and the Commission shallconsider in format ion rela t ing to compla ints compiled by theCommission under sect ion 611(e) of the Fa ir Credit Report ingAct , as a dded by this sect ion.

(4) RECOMMENDATIONS .—The repor t r equired under pa ra-graph (2) shall include such r ecommendat ions as t he Boardand the Commission joint ly determine to be appropria te forlegisla t ive or administ ra t ive act ion , to ensure that—

(A) consumer dispu tes with consumer report ing agen-cies over the accura cy or completeness of in format ion ina consumer’s file are promptly a nd fully invest igated andany incor rect , incomplete, or unver ifiable in format ion iscorrected or deleted immediat ely thereafter ;

(B) furnishers of in format ion to consumer repor t ingagencies main ta in fu ll and prompt compliance with thedu t ies and r esponsibilit ies est ablished under sect ion 623of t he Fair Credit Report ing Act ; and

(C) consumer r epor t ing agencies establish and main -ta in appropria te internal con trols and ma nagement r eviewprocedures for main ta in ing fu ll and con t inuous complia ncewith the procedures, t ime lines, and requ irement s underthe Fair Credit Repor t ing Act for the prompt invest igat ionof the dispu ted accuracy of any consum er inform at ion andthe prompt correct ion or delet ion, in accordance with suchAct , of any inaccurat e or incomplet e informat ion or inform a-t ion that cannot be ver ified.

S E C. 314. IMP R OVE D D ISCLO SU R E OF TH E R E SU LTS O F R E IN VE STIG A-

TIO N .

(a) IN GENERAL.—Sect ion 611(a)(5)(A) of the Fair CreditRepor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(5)(A)) is amended by st r iking‘‘shall’’ and a ll that follows th rough the end of the subpa ragraph ,a nd inser t ing the following: ‘‘shall—

‘‘(i) promptly delete t hat item of in format ion fromt he file of the consumer, or modify that it em of informa-t ion, a s a ppropria te, based on the results of the reinves-t igat ion; and

‘‘(ii) prom pt ly not ify the furnisher of tha t in forma-t ion that the in format ion has been m odified or deletedfrom the file of the consumer.’’.

(b) FURNISHER REQUIRE MENTS RELATING TO INACCURATE ,INCOMPLETE , OR UNVERIFIABLE INFORMATION .—Sect ion 623(b)(1) oft he Fa ir Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(b)(1)) isa mended—

(1) in subparagraph (C), by st r iking ‘‘and’’ a t t he end;and

(2) in subpa ragraph (D), by st r iking the per iod a t theend a nd inser t ing the following: ‘‘; and

‘‘(E) if a n it em of in format ion dispu ted by a consumeris found to be inaccurat e or incomplete or cannot be verifiedafter any r einvest iga t ion under para gra ph (1), for pu rposes

Not ificat ion .



of report ing t o a consumer r epor t ing agency on ly, as appro-pr ia te, based on the results of the reinvest igat ionprompt ly—

‘‘(i) modify that item of informat ion;‘‘(ii) delete t hat item of informa t ion; or‘‘(iii) permanen t ly block t he r epor t ing of that item

of informa t ion.’’.

S E C. 315. R E CO NCILIN G AD DR E SSE S.

Sect ion 605 of the Fair Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c),a s amended by this Act , is amended by adding a t the end thefollowing:

‘‘(h) NOTICE OF DISCREPANCY IN ADDRE SS.—‘‘(1) IN GENE RAL.—If a person has requested a consumer

report r ela t ing to a consumer from a consumer r epor t ing a gencydescr ibed in sect ion 603(p), t he request includes an addressfor the consumer that substan t ia lly differ s from t he a ddressesin the file of the consumer , and the agency provides a consumerreport in r esponse to the r equest , the consumer r epor t ingagency shall not ify t he r equester of the existence of t he discrep-ancy.

‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—‘‘(A) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The Federal banking

agencies, the Nat ional Credit Un ion Admin ist r a t ion , andthe Commission shall join t ly, with respect to the en t it iesthat are subject to their r espect ive en forcemen t au thor ityunder sect ion 621, prescr ibe regu la t ions providing guidanceregarding r easonable policies and procedures that a userof a consumer r eport shou ld employ when such user hasreceived a not ice of discrepancy under paragraph (1).

‘‘(B) POLICIES AND P ROCEDURES TO BE INCLUDED.—Theregula t ions prescr ibed under subparagraph (A) shalldescribe reasonable policies and procedures for use by auser of a consumer report—

‘‘(i) to form a r ea sonable belief that the user knowst he ident it y of the per son to whom t he consumer r epor tper ta ins; and

‘‘(ii) if t he user establishes a cont inuing r ela t ion-ship with the consumer, and t he user r egula rly andin the ordina ry course of business fu rn ishes in forma-t ion to t he consumer r epor t ing agency from which thenot ice of discrepancy per ta in ing to the consumer wasobt a ined, to reconcile the address of the consumer witht he consumer r epor t ing a gency by furnishing sucha ddress to such consumer report ing agency as partof informat ion r egula rly fu rn ished by the user for theper iod in wh ich t he r ela t ionship is established.’’.

S E C. 316. N O TICE O F D ISP U TE TH R O U GH R E SE LLE R .

(a) REQUIRE MENT FOR REINVESTIGATION OF DISPUTE D INFORMA-TION UPON NOTICE FROM A RESELLER.—Sect ion 611(a) of the FairCredit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(1)(A)) is amended—

(1) in pa ragraph (1)(A)—(A) by st r iking ‘‘If the completeness’’ and insert ing

‘‘Subject t o subsect ion (f), if t he completeness’’;(B) by insert ing ‘‘, or indir ect ly th rough a r eseller ,’’

after ‘‘not ifies t he agency dir ect ly’’; and



(C) by insert ing ‘‘or reseller ’’ before the per iod a t theend;(2) in pa ragraph (2)(A)—

(A) by insert ing ‘‘or a reseller ’’ aft er ‘‘dispute fromany consumer’’; a nd

(B) by insert ing ‘‘or reseller ’’ before the per iod a t theend; a nd(3) in paragraph (2)(B), by inser t ing ‘‘or t he reseller ’’ after

‘‘from t he consumer’’.(b) REINVESTIGATION RE QUIREMENT APPLICABLE TO RE-

SELLERS.—Sect ion 611 of the Fa ir Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C.1681i), a s amended by this Act , is a mended by adding a t theend the following:

‘‘(f) REINVE STIGATION REQUIREMENT APPLICABLE TO RE-SELLERS.—

‘‘(1) EXE MPTION FROM GENERAL RE INVESTIGATION RE QUIRE-MENT.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), a r eseller shallbe exempt from t he r equirements of th is sect ion .

‘‘(2) ACTION REQUIRED UPON RE CEIVING NOTICE OF A DIS-PUTE .—If a reseller r eceives a not ice from a consumer of adispu te concerning the complet eness or accura cy of any itemof in format ion conta ined in a consumer r epor t on such consumerproduced by the r eseller , the reseller shall, wit hin 5 businessdays of r eceiving the not ice, and fr ee of charge—

‘‘(A) det ermine whether the item of inform at ion isincomplete or ina ccurate as a resu lt of an act or omissionof the r eseller ; and

‘‘(B) if—‘‘(i) the r eseller determines that t he item of

informat ion is incomplete or inaccura te as a r esultof an act or omission of the reseller , not la ter than20 days after r eceiving the not ice, correct the in forma-t ion in the consumer report or delet e it ; or

‘‘(ii) if the r eseller det ermines t hat the item ofinformat ion is not incomplet e or inaccurate as a r esultof an a ct or omission of the reseller , convey the not iceof the dispu te, together with a ll r elevan t informat ionprovided by the consumer , to each consum er report inga gency tha t provided t he r eseller with the in format iont hat is the subject of the dispute, using an addressor a not ifica t ion mechan ism specified by the consumerreport ing agency for such not ices.

‘‘(3) RE SPONSIBILITY OF CONSUMER REP ORTING AGENCY TO

NOTIFY CONSUMER THROUGH RESELLER.—Upon the complet ionof a r einvest igat ion under th is sect ion of a disput e concerningthe completeness or accuracy of any in format ion in the fileof a consumer by a consumer r epor t ing agency that r eceivednot ice of the dispu te from a r eseller under paragraph (2)—

‘‘(A) the not ice by t he consumer r epor t ing agency underparagraph (6), (7), or (8) of subsect ion (a) shall be providedto the reseller in lieu of the consumer ; and

‘‘(B) t he reseller shall immediat ely reconvey such not iceto the consumer, including any not ice of a delet ion bytelephone in the manner requ ired under paragra ph (8)(A).‘‘(4) RESELLE R REINVESTIGATIONS.—No provision of th is sub-

sect ion sha ll be construed as prohibit ing a r eseller from con-duct ing a reinvest igat ion of a consumer dispu te dir ect ly.’’.

Deadline.

Deadline.



(c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDME NT.—Sect ion611(a)(2)(B) of t he Fair Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C.1681i(a)(2)(B)) is amended in t he subparagraph heading, by st r iking‘‘FROM CONSUMER’’.

S E C. 317. R E ASO N ABLE R E IN VE S TIG ATIO N R E QU IR E D .

Sect ion 611(a)(1)(A) of t he Fair Credit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C.1681i(a)(1)(A)) is amended by st r iking ‘‘shall r einvest igate free ofcha rge’’ and insert ing ‘‘shall, free of charge, conduct a r easonablereinvest igat ion to det ermine whether the disputed informa t ion isinaccurat e’’.

S E C. 318. F TC STU D Y O F ISS UE S R E LAT IN G TO TH E F AIR CR E D IT

R E P O R TIN G ACT.

(a) STUDY REQUIRED.—(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission sha ll conduct a st udy

on ways t o improve the operat ion of the Fa ir Credit Report ingAct .

(2) AREAS FOR STUDY.—In conduct ing t he study under para -graph (1), the Commission shall review—

(A) t he effica cy of increasing t he number of poin tsof iden t ifying informat ion that a credit r epor t ing a gencyis requ ired to ma tch to ensure tha t a consumer is thecor rect individual t o whom a consumer report rela t es beforerelea sing a consumer r epor t t o a user , including—

(i) the ext en t to which r equir ing addit iona l pointsof such ident ifying in format ion to match would—

(I) enhance the accuracy of credit r epor ts; and(II) combat the provision of incor rect consumer

report s t o user s;(ii) the exten t to which r equir ing an exa ct mat ch

of t he fir st a nd la st name, socia l security number ,a nd address and ZIP Code of the consumer wouldenhance t he likelihood of increasing credit r epor ta ccuracy; and

(iii) the effects of a llowing consumer report inga gencies to use par t ia l matches of socia l secur ity num-ber s and name recognit ion software on t he a ccuracyof credit r epor ts;(B) requ ir ing not ifica t ion to consumers when negat ive

in format ion has been a dded to their cr edit report s,including—

(i) the potent ia l impa ct of such not ifica t ion on thea bility of consumers t o ident ify er ror s on t heir creditr eports; and

(ii) the potent ia l impact of such not ifica t ion ont he ability of consumers to r emove fraudulent informa-t ion from their cr edit r epor ts;(C) the effects of requ ir ing that a consumer who has

exper ienced an adver se act ion based on a credit reportr eceives a copy of the sa me credit r epor t t hat the credit orrelied on in taking the adver se act ion , including—

(i) the exten t to which providing such r epor ts toconsumers would increase the ability of consumers toiden t ify error s in their credit report s; and

(ii) the exten t to which providing such r epor tst o consumers wou ld increase the ability of consumers

15 USC 1681n ote.



t o remove fra udulen t in format ion from their creditr eports;(D) any com mon financia l t ransact ions tha t are not

generally reported to the consumer r epor t ing agencies, butwou ld provide useful in format ion in determining the creditwor th iness of consumers; and

(E) any act ions that migh t be ta ken within a volun taryrepor t ing system to encourage the report ing of t he typesof t r ansact ions descr ibed in subparagraph (D).(3) COSTS AND BE NEFITS.—With r espect to each area of

study described in pa ragraph (2), the Commission shall considerthe extent to which such r equirem en ts would benefit consumers,balanced against the cost of implem en t ing such provisions.(b) REPORT REQUIRE D.—Not la ter t han 1 year after the dat e

of enactment of this Act , t he chairma n of the Commission shallsubmit a repor t to the Commit tee on Ba nking, Housing, and UrbanAffa irs of t he Senate and the Commit tee on F inancia l Servicesof the House of Represent a t ives con ta in ing a deta iled summa ryof the findings a nd conclusions of t he study under t his sect ion ,together with such r ecommendat ions for legisla t ive or a dminist ra-t ive a ct ions a s ma y be appropr ia te.

S E C. 319. F TC STU DY O F TH E ACCUR ACY O F CO N SU ME R R E P O R TS.

(a) STUDY REQUIRE D.—Until the fina l report is submit ted undersubsect ion (b)(2), t he Commission shall conduct an ongoing st udyof t he accuracy a nd complet eness of in format ion con ta ined in con-sumer report s prepa red or maint a ined by consumer r epor t ing a gen-cies and methods for improving the a ccura cy a nd completenessof such informat ion.

(b) BIENNIAL RE PORTS REQUIRED.—(1) INTE RIM RE PORTS.—The Commission shall submit an

int er im repor t to t he Congress on t he study conduct ed undersubsect ion (a) a t the end of the 1-year period beginning onthe date of enact men t of t his Act and biennia lly thereafterfor 8 year s.

(2) F INAL REPORT.—The Commission shall submit a finalreport to t he Congress on the st udy conduct ed under subsect ion(a) a t the end of the 2-year period beginning on the da teon which t he final in terim report is submit ted t o the Congressunder paragraph (1).

(3) CONTENTS.—Each repor t submit ted under this sub-sect ion shall con ta in a deta iled summary of the findings andconclusions of t he Commission with r espect t o t he studyrequ ired under subsect ion (a) and such r ecommendat ions forlegisla t ive and a dminist ra t ive act ion as the Commission maydetermine to be appropr ia te.

T ITLE IV—LIMITING TH E USE ANDSH AR ING OF ME DIC AL INF OR MATIONIN TH E F INANCIAL SYSTE M

S E C. 411. P R O TE CTIO N O F ME DICAL IN F O R MATION IN TH E F IN AN CIAL

S YSTE M.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Sect ion 604(g) of the Fair Credit Report ingAct (15 U.S.C. 1681b(g)) is amended t o read as follows:

15 USC 1681note.

Deadline.



‘‘(g) PROTECTION OF MEDICAL INFORMATION .—‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON CONSUME R REPORTING AGENCIES .—A

consumer report ing agency shall not fu rn ish for employmentpurposes, or in connect ion wit h a credit or in surance t r ans-act ion, a consumer r epor t that con ta ins medical informat ionabout a consumer , un less—

‘‘(A) if furnished in connect ion with an insu ra nce t r ans-act ion, the consumer affirmat ively consents to the fur -n ish ing of the repor t ;

‘‘(B) if furnished for employment pu rposes or in connec-t ion with a credit t r ansact ion—

‘‘(i) the informat ion to be furnished is relevantto process or effect the employment or credit t ra ns-act ion ; and

‘‘(ii) the consumer provides specific wr it t en consentfor t he fu rn ish ing of the report t hat describes in clearand conspicuous language the use for wh ich theinforma t ion will be fu rnished; or‘‘(C) the in format ion t o be furnished per ta ins solely

to t ra nsact ions, accoun ts, or bala nces r ela t ing t o debtsar ising from t he r eceipt of medical services, products, ordevises, where such inform at ion, other tha n account st a tusor amoun ts, is r est r icted or r epor ted using codes that donot ident ify, or do not provide informat ion sufficient t oin fer , t he specific provider or the natu re of such services,product s, or devices, a s provided in sect ion 605(a)(6).‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON CREDITORS.—E xcept as permit t ed

pursua nt to paragraph (3)(C) or r egula t ions prescribed underpara gra ph (5)(A), a creditor shall not obta in or use medicalinformat ion perta ining t o a consumer in connect ion with anydeterminat ion of the consumer ’s eligibility, or con t inued eligi-bilit y, for credit .

‘‘(3) ACTIONS AUTHORIZED BY FEDE RAL LAW, INSURANCE

ACTIVITIES AND REGULATORY DE TERMINATIONS.—Sect ion603(d)(3) shall not be const rued so as to t rea t informat ionor any com municat ion of informa t ion as a consumer reportif the in format ion or communicat ion is disclosed—

‘‘(A) in connect ion with the business of in surance orannu it ies, including the act ivit ies described in sect ion 18Bof the model Privacy of Consumer Financia l and Healt hIn format ion Regu lat ion issued by t he Nat ional Associa t ionof Insurance Commissioners (as in effect on J a nuary 1,2003);

‘‘(B) for any purpose permit ted without authoriza t ionunder the Standards for Individually Iden t ifiable Hea lthIn format ion promulgated by the Depar tment of Health andHuma n Services pur suant to the Health Insurance Por t -ability and Accounta bility Act of 1996, or r efer red to undersect ion 1179 of such Act , or described in sect ion 502(e)of Public Law 106–102; or

‘‘(C) as otherwise determined to be necessary andappropr ia te, by regula t ion or order and subject t o para-graph (6), by the Commission , any Federal banking agencyor t he Nat iona l Credit Union Administ ra t ion (wit h respectto any financia l in st it ut ion subject to the jur isdict ion ofsuch agency or Administ ra t ion under paragraph (1), (2),or (3) of sect ion 621(b), or the applicable Sta te in surance



au thor ity (with r espect t o a ny per son engaged in providinginsurance or annu it ies).‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON REDISCLOSURE OF ME DICAL INFORMA-

TION.—Any person that r eceives medical in format ion pur suantto pa ragraph (1) or (3) shall not disclose such informat ionto a ny other person, except as necessa ry to car ry out the pur -pose for which the in format ion was in it ia lly disclosed, or asotherwise permit t ed by sta t ute, r egula t ion, or order .

‘‘(5) REGULATIONS AND E FFECTIVE DATE F OR PARAGRAP H

(2).—‘‘(A) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Each Federal banking

agency and the Nat ional Credit Un ion Admin ist r a t ionshall, subject to pa ragraph (6) a nd after not ice and oppor -tunit y for comment , prescr ibe r egula t ions that permitt r ansact ions under pa ragraph (2) that are determined t obe necessa ry and appropr ia te t o protect legit ima te oper -a t ional, t ransact ional, r isk, consumer, and other needs (andwhich shall include permit t ing act ions necessary foradmin ist r a t ive ver ifica t ion purposes), consistent with thein tent of pa ragraph (2) to r est r ict t he use of medicalin format ion for ina ppropria t e purposes.

‘‘(B) F INAL REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The Federalba nking agencies and the Nat ional Credit Union Admin is-t r a t ion shall issue the r egula t ions r equired under subpara -graph (A) in final form before the end of the 6-monthperiod beginn ing on the date of enactment of t he Fairand Accurat e Credit Transact ions Act of 2003.‘‘(6) COORDINATION WITH OTHER LAWS.—No provision of

th is subsect ion shall be construed as a lter ing, affect ing, orsuper seding the applicabilit y of any other provision of Federallaw rela t ing to medical confiden t ia lity.’’.(b) RE STRICTION ON SH ARING OF ME DICAL INFORMATION.—Sec-

t ion 603(d) of the Fair Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(d))is a mended—

(1) in para gra ph (2), by st r iking ‘‘The term’’ and insert ing‘‘Except as provided in para graph (3), t he t erm’’; and

(2) by adding a t the end the following new paragraph:‘‘(3) RESTRICTION ON SHARING OF ME DICAL INFORMATION.—

Except for in format ion or any communicat ion of in format iondisclosed as provided in sect ion 604(g)(3), the exclusions inpara gra ph (2) sha ll not apply wit h r espect to in format ion dis-closed to any per son r ela ted by common ownership or affilia t edby corporate cont rol, if t he in format ion is—

‘‘(A) medical informat ion ;‘‘(B) an individualized list or descr ipt ion based on the

payment t r ansact ions of the consumer for medical productsor services; or

‘‘(C) an aggregate list of iden t ified consumers basedon payment t ra nsact ions for medical products or services.’’.

(c) DEFINITION .—Sect ion 603(i) of the Fa ir Credit Repor t ingAct (15 U.S.C. 1681a (i)) is amended to read a s follows:

‘‘(i) MEDICAL INFORMATION.—The t erm ‘medical informa t ion’—‘‘(1) m ea ns inform at ion or da ta , whether ora l or recorded,

in any form or medium, creat ed by or derived from a healthcare provider or t he consumer, that rela t es to—

‘‘(A) the past , presen t , or fu ture physica l, men tal, orbehavioral health or condit ion of an individual;

Deadline.



‘‘(B) the provision of health ca re to an individua l; or‘‘(C) t he payment for the provision of health ca re to

an individual.‘‘(2) does not include the age or gender of a consumer,

demograph ic informat ion abou t the consumer, including a con-sumer ’s r esidence a ddress or e-mail address, or any ot herinformat ion about a consumer tha t does not r ela te to the phys-ica l, mental, or behavioral health or condit ion of a consumer,including the exist ence or value of any insu rance policy.’’.(d) EF F ECTIVE DATES.—This sect ion shall take effect a t t he

end of the 180-da y period beginn ing on the date of enactmentof th is Act , except t hat paragraph (2) of sect ion 604(g) of theFair Credit Repor t ing Act (a s am ended by subsect ion (a) of th issect ion ) shall take effect on the la t er of—

(1) t he end of the 90-da y period beginning on the da teon which the r egu la t ions requ ired under paragraph (5)(B) ofsuch sect ion 604(g) are issued in fina l form; or

(2) the da te specified in t he regu la t ions r efer red to inpara gra ph (1).

S E C. 412. CO NF ID E N TIALITY O F ME D ICAL CO N TACT IN F O R MATION IN

CO N SU ME R R E P O R TS.

(a) DUTIES OF MEDICAL INFORMATION FURNISHERS.—Sect ion623(a) of the Fair Credit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)),a s amended by this Act , is amended by adding a t the end thefollowing:

‘‘(9) DUTY TO P ROVIDE NOTICE OF STATUS AS MEDICAL

INF ORMATION F URNISHER.—A per son whose primary businessis providing medical services, products, or devices, or the per-son’s agent or assignee, who furnishes in format ion to a con-sumer r epor t ing agency on a consumer shall be considereda medical informat ion fu rn isher for pu rposes of t his t it le, andshall not ify the agency of such st a tus.’’.(b) RESTRICTION OF DISSEMINATION OF MEDICAL CONTACT

INF ORMATION.—Sect ion 605(a ) of the Fair Credit Report ing Act(15 U.S.C. 1681c(a )) is a mended by adding a t the end the following:

‘‘(6) The name, address, and telephone number of any med-ica l informat ion furnisher t hat has not ified the agency of it ssta t us, unless—

‘‘(A) such name, address, and t elephone number arerest r icted or r epor ted using codes that do not ident ify,or provide informa t ion sufficient to in fer , the specific pro-vider or the na ture of such services, products, or devicesto a person other tha n t he consumer; or

‘‘(B) the report is being provided t o an insurance com-pany for a purpose rela t ing to engaging in the businessof in surance other tha n proper ty and ca sualty in su rance.’’.

(c) NO E XCEPTIONS ALLOWED FOR DOLLAR AMOUNTS.—Sect ion605(b) of the Fair Credit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(b)) isamended by st r iking ‘‘The provisions of subsect ion (a)’’ and insert ing‘‘The provisions of pa ragraphs (1) th rough (5) of subsect ion (a)’’.

(d) COORDINATION WITH OTHER LAWS.—No provision of anyamendment made by th is sect ion shall be const rued as a lter ing,affect ing, or superseding the a pplicability of any other provisionof Federal la w rela t ing to medica l confident ia lity.

15 USC 1681bn ote.

15 USC 1681an ote.



(e) FTC REGULATION OF CODING OF TRADE NAMES.—Sect ion621 of the Fair Credit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s), as a mendedby t his Act , is amended by adding a t the end the following:

‘‘(g) FTC REGULATION OF CODING OF TRADE NAME S.—If theComm ission determines that a person descr ibed in paragraph (9)of sect ion 623(a) has not met t he r equirem en ts of such paragraph,the Commission shall t ake act ion to ensu re the person’s compliancewith such paragraph, which m ay include issuing model gu idanceor prescr ibing reasonable policies and procedures, a s necessaryto ensure tha t such per son complies with such pa ragraph .’’.

(f) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Sect ion 604(g)of t he Fair Credit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(g)), as amendedby sect ion 411 of th is Act , is am ended—

(1) in pa ragraph (1), by insert ing ‘‘(ot her than medicalcon tact in format ion t reated in the manner r equired under sec-t ion 605(a)(6))’’ after ‘‘a consumer report that con ta ins medicalinformat ion’’; a nd

(2) in pa ragraph (2), by insert ing ‘‘(ot her than medicalinformat ion t reated in the manner requ ired under sect ion605(a)(6))’’ after ‘‘a creditor shall not obt a in or use medicalinformat ion’’.(g) E FFECTIVE DATE .—The a mendments made by th is sect ion

shall t ake effect a t the end of the 15-month period beginning onthe da te of ena ctmen t of t his Act .

T ITLE V—F INANC IAL L IT E R ACY ANDE DUCATION IMP R OVE ME NT

S E C. 511. S H OR T TITLE .

This t it le m ay be cited a s the ‘‘F inancia l Litera cy and Educat ionImprovement Act ’’.

S E C. 512. D E F IN ITION S.

As used in this t it le—(1) t he term ‘‘Cha irperson’’ means t he Chairper son of t he

Financia l Literacy and Educat ion Commission; and(2) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Financia l Litera cy

and Educat ion Commission established under sect ion 513.

S E C. 513. E STABLIS H ME NT O F F IN AN CIAL LITE R ACY AND E D UCATION

CO MMISS IO N .

(a) IN GE NERAL.—There is esta blished a comm ission t o beknown as the ‘‘Financia l Litera cy and Educat ion Commission’’.

(b) PURPOSE .—The Commission shall serve t o improve thefinancia l liter acy and educat ion of persons in the United Sta testhrough development of a nat ional st r a tegy to promote financia lliteracy and educa t ion.

(c) MEMBERSHIP .—(1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission shall be composed of—

(A) the Secretary of t he Trea sury;(B) the r espect ive head of ea ch of the Federal banking

agencies (as defined in sect ion 3 of the Federa l DepositInsurance Act), t he Na t ional Credit Union Admin ist r a t ion ,the Securit ies and Exchange Com mission , each of theDepar tmen ts of Educa t ion, Agr icu lture, Defense, Healthand Human Services, Housing and Urban Development ,

20 USC 9702.

20 USC 9701.

20 USC 9701note.

F ina ncia lLitera cy a ndE du ca t ionImprovem entAct .



Labor , and Vet erans Affairs, the Federal Trade Commis-sion , the General Services Admin ist ra t ion , the Small Busi-ness Admin ist r a t ion , t he Socia l Secur ity Admin ist ra t ion ,the Commodity Fu tures Trading Commission, and theOffice of Personnel Management ; and

(C) a t the discret ion of the President , not more than5 individuals a ppoin ted by t he Presiden t from among theadmin ist r a t ive heads of any other Federal agencies, depart -ment s, or ot her Federal Government en t it ies, whom thePresiden t determines t o be engaged in a serious effortto improve financia l lit er acy and educat ion .(2) ALTE RNATES.—Each member of the Commission m ay

designate a n a lternate if t he member is unable t o a t tend ameet ing of the Commission . Such a lternate shall be an indi-vidual who exercises sign ifica nt decisionmaking au thor ity.(d) CHAIRP ERSON.—The Secretary of the Treasury sha ll serve

a s t he Chairper son.(e) ME ETINGS.—The Commission shall hold, a t the call of the

Chairperson , a t lea st 1 meet ing every 4 months. All such m eet ingsshall be open t o the public. The Commission ma y hold, a t thecall of t he Cha irperson, such ot her meet ings as the Cha irpersonsees fit to carry out this t it le.

(f) QUORUM.—A ma jorit y of the members of t he Commissionshall const itu te a quorum, but a lesser number of members mayhold hearings.

(g) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission shall hold it s fir stmeet ing not la ter than 60 days after the da te of enactment ofthis Act .

S E C. 514. D U TIE S OF TH E CO MMISS IO N .

(a) DUTIES.—(1) IN GENE RAL.—The Commission , th rough the au thor ity

of the members referr ed to in sect ion 513(c), shall take suchact ions as it deems necessary to st reamline, improve, or aug-ment the financia l liter acy a nd educat ion programs, grants,and ma teria ls of the Federal Government , including cur riculafor a ll Amer ica ns.

(2) AREAS OF EMPHASIS.—To improve financia l lit er acy andeducat ion, the Commission shall emphasize, among other ele-ments, basic personal income and household money manage-ment and plann ing skills, including how to—

(A) creat e household budget s, init ia te savings plans,and make st r a tegic investmen t decisions for educat ion,r et iremen t , home ownership, wealt h bu ilding, or othersa vings goals;

(B) manage spending, credit , a nd debt , including creditcard debt , effect ively;

(C) increase awareness of the availability and sign ifi-cance of credit r eports and credit scores in obt a ining credit ,the importance of their accuracy (and how t o correct inac-curacies), their effect on credit t erms, and the effectcommon financia l decisions may have on credit scores;

(D) ascert a in fa ir and favorable credit terms;(E) avoid abusive, predatory, or decept ive credit offers

and financia l products;(F) understand, evaluat e, a nd com pa re financia l prod-

ucts, services, a nd opport unit ies;

20 USC 9703.

Deadline.

P residen t .



(G) under stand resources that ought to be easily acces-sible and affordable, and that in form and educate investorsas to their r ights and avenues of r ecour se when an investorbelieves his or her r ights ha ve been viola ted by unpro-fessional conduct of market int ermediar ies;

(H) increase awareness of the par t icular financia lneeds and financia l t ransact ions (such as the sending ofrem it tances) of consumers who are targeted in mult ilingualfinancia l litera cy and educa t ion programs and improve thedevelopment and dist r ibu t ion of mult ilingual financia l lit -era cy and educat ion mater ia ls;

(I) promote bringing individuals who la ck ba sicbanking services into the financia l mainst r ea m by open ingand main ta in ing an accoun t with a fina ncia l in st it ut ion ;and

(J ) improve fina ncia l liter acy and educat ion th roughall other rela ted skills, including personal finance andrela ted economic educat ion , with the pr imary goal of pro-grams not simply t o improve knowledge, but ra ther toimprove consumers’ financia l choices and ou tcom es.

(b) WEBSITE .—(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall establish and

main ta in a websit e, such as the domain nam e‘‘Financia lLiteracy.gov’’, or a simila r doma in name.

(2) PURP OSES .—The website est ablished under paragraph(1) shall—

(A) serve as a clear inghouse of informat ion about Fed-era l financia l litera cy and educat ion programs;

(B) provide a coordinated entry poin t for accessingin format ion about a ll Federal publicat ions, gran ts, andmat er ia ls promoting enhanced financia l liter acy and edu-cat ion;

(C) offer informa t ion on a ll Federal grants to promotefinancia l literacy and educat ion, and on how to target ,apply for , and receive a gran t that is most appropr ia teunder the cir cumstances;

(D) as t he Commission consider s a ppropria t e, fea turewebsite links to effort s that have no commercia l con tentand that fea tu re informat ion abou t financia l litera cy andeducat ion programs, materia ls, or ca mpaigns; and

(E) offer such other informat ion as t he Commissionfinds appropr ia te to share wit h the public in the fulfillmen tof it s pu rpose.

(c) TOLL-FREE HOTLINE .—The Commission shall esta blish at oll-free telephone number t hat shall be ma de ava ilable to membersof the public seeking in format ion abou t issues per ta in ing to finan-cia l liter acy and educat ion .

(d) DEVE LOP ME NT AND DISSEMINATION OF MATE RIALS.—TheCommission shall—

(1) develop ma teria ls to promote financia l lit er acy and edu-cat ion; and

(2) disseminate such ma teria ls to the general public.(e) COORDINATION OF EF FORTS.—The Commission shall ta ke

such st eps a s are necessary to coordinat e and promote financia lliteracy and educat ion effor ts a t the St a te and local level, includingpromoting par tner ships among Federal, Sta te, and local govern-m en ts, nonprofit organiza t ions, and pr iva te ent erprises.



(f) NATIONAL STRATE GY.—(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall—

(A) not la ter tha n 18 months after the date of enact -men t of this Act , develop a nat ional st ra tegy to promot eba sic financia l lit er acy and educat ion among a ll Americanconsumers; a nd

(B) coordinate Federal effort s t o implement thest ra t egy developed under subparagraph (A).(2) STRATEGY.—The st ra tegy to promote basic financia l lit -

eracy and educat ion required to be developed under paragraph(1) shall provide for—

(A) part icipat ion by Sta te and local governm en ts andpr ivate, nonprofit , and public inst itu t ions in t he creat ionand implemen tat ion of such st ra t egy;

(B) the development of met hods—(i) to increase t he general fina ncia l educat ion level

of cu rren t a nd fu ture consumers of financia l servicesand products; and

(ii) t o enhance the general underst anding of finan-cia l services and products;(C) review of Federal act ivit ies designed to promote

financia l liter acy and educat ion, and development of a pla nto improve coordinat ion of such act ivit ies; and

(D) the ident ifica t ion of areas of overlap and duplica-t ion among Federal financia l liter acy a nd educa t ion act ivi-t ies a nd proposed m ea ns of eliminat ing any such overlapand duplicat ion.(3) NATIONAL STRATEGY REVIEW.—The Commission shall,

not less than annua lly, r eview the nat iona l st ra t egy developedunder th is subsect ion a nd make such changes and recommenda -t ions as it deems necessary.(g) CONSULTATION.—The Commission shall act ively consu lt wit h

a va riety of r epresent a t ives from private and nonprofit orga niza-t ions and Sta t e and local agencies, as determined appropria te byt he Commission .

(h) REPORTS.—(1) IN GENERAL.—Not la ter than 18 mont hs after t he date

of the fir st meet ing of the Commission, a nd a nnually thereafter ,the Commission shall issue a report , the Str a tegy for Assu ringFinancia l Empowerment (‘‘SAFE Stra t egy’’), to the Commit teeon Banking, Housing, and Urban Affair s of the Senate andthe Commit tee on F inancia l Services of the House of Represen t-a t ives on the progress of the Commission in car rying out th ist it le.

(2) CONTENTS .—The report requ ired under pa ragraph (1)shall include—

(A) the nat ional st r a tegy for financia l literacy and edu-cat ion, a s described under subsect ion (f);

(B) informat ion concerning the implementa t ion of thedu t ies of the Commission under subsect ions (a) th rough(g);

(C) an assessment of t he success of the Commissionin implemen t ing the na t ional st r a tegy developed undersubsect ion (f);

(D) an a ssessmen t of the availability, ut iliza t ion, andimpact of Federal financia l liter acy and educat ion ma te-r ia ls;

Deadline.

Deadline.



(E) in format ion concerning the conten t and public useof—

(i) the websit e established under subsect ion (b);a nd

(ii) t he t oll-fr ee telephone number establishedunder subsect ion (c);(F) a brief su rvey of the financia l liter acy and educat ion

mat er ia ls developed under subsect ion (d), and dataregarding t he disseminat ion and impact of such mat eria ls,as measured by improved financia l decisionmaking;

(G) a br ief summa ry of any hearings conducted bythe Commission, including a list of witnesses who test ifiedat such hea rings;

(H) informat ion a bout the act ivit ies of the Commissionplanned for the next fiscal year ;

(I) a summa ry of a ll Federal fina ncia l litera cy andeducat ion act ivit ies ta rget ed to communit ies that haveh istor ically lacked access t o financia l liter acy materia lsand educat ion , and have been under served by the main -st ream financia l systems; and

(J ) such other mat er ia ls rela t ing to the du t ies of theCommission as the Commission deems a ppropria t e.(3) INITIAL RE PORT.—The in it ia l report under paragraph

(1) shall include informa t ion r egarding a ll Federal progra ms,mater ia ls, and gran ts which seek to improve financia l liter acy,and assess t he effect iveness of such progra ms.(i) TESTIMONY.—The Commission shall annually provide test i-

mony by t he Chairper son to the Commit t ee on Banking, Housing,and Urban Affair s of the Senate and the Commit tee on F inancia lServices of the House of Representa t ives.

S E C. 515. P OWE R S O F TH E COMMISSIO N.

(a) HEARINGS.—(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall hold such hear ings,

sit and act a t such t im es a nd places, take such t est imony,and r eceive such evidence as t he Commission deems appro-pria te to car ry out th is t it le.

(2) PARTICIPATION.—In hear ings held under th is subsect ion ,the Commission sha ll consider invit ing witnesses from, a mongother groups—

(A) other Federal Government officia ls;(B) Sta t e and local governmen t officia ls;(C) consumer and communit y groups;(D) nonprofit financia l litera cy a nd educat ion groups

(such as t hose involved in per sonal finance and economiceducat ion ); and

(E) the financia l services indust ry.(b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The Commission

may secure direct ly from any Federal depart men t or agency suchinforma t ion as t he Commission considers necessary to carry ou tthis t it le. Upon request of the Cha irperson, the head of such depar t -men t or agency sha ll furnish such in format ion to the Commission .

(c) PERIODIC STUDIES.—The Commission may conduct per iodicstudies regarding the sta te of financia l liter acy and educat ion inthe United Sta tes, as the Commission det ermines appropr ia te.

(d) MULTILINGUAL.—The Com mission may take any act ion todevelop and promote fina ncia l liter acy and educat ion mater ia ls

20 USC 9704.



in langua ges other than English , as t he Commission deems a ppro-pr ia te, including for t he website established under sect ion 514(b),a t the t oll-fr ee num ber esta blished under sect ion 514(c), and int he ma teria ls developed and disseminated under sect ion 514(d).

S E C. 516. CO MMISS ION P E R SO N N E L MATTE R S.

(a) COMP ENSATION OF MEMBERS.—Each member of t he Commis-sion shall serve without compensat ion in addit ion to that receivedfor t heir service as an officer or employee of the Unit ed Sta tes.

(b) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the Commission shallbe a llowed t ravel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsist ence,a t ra tes au thor ized for employees of agencies under subchapterI of cha pter 57 of t it le 5, United Sta tes Code, while away fromtheir homes or r egula r places of business in the performance ofservices for t he Commission.

(c) ASSISTANCE .—(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of Financia l

Educat ion of the Depart men t of t he Treasury shall provideassistance to the Commission , upon request of the Commission,wit hout reimbursement .

(2) DETAIL OF GOVERNME NT EMPLOYEES .—Any FederalGovernmen t employee ma y be deta iled to the Commission with -out r eimbursement , and such deta il shall be withou t int er rup-t ion or loss of civil service sta tus or privilege.

S E C. 517. S TUD IE S BY TH E COMP TR OLLE R G E N E R AL.

(a) EFFECTIVENESS STUDY.—Not la t er than 3 year s after theda te of enactm en t of this Act , the Comptroller General of theUnited Sta t es shall submit a r epor t to Congress assessing theeffect iveness of the Commission in promoting financia l liter acy andeducat ion.

(b) STUDY AND REP ORT ON THE NEED AND MEANS FOR

IMP ROVING F INANCIAL LITERACY AMONG CONSUMERS.—(1) STUDY REQUIRE D.—The Comptroller Genera l of the

Unit ed Sta t es shall conduct a study to assess the exten t ofconsumers’ knowledge a nd awareness of credit r epor ts, creditscores, a nd the dispu te r esolut ion process, a nd on methodsfor improving financia l liter acy among consumers.

(2) FACTORS TO BE INCLUDED.—The study requ ired underpara gra ph (1) shall include the following issues:

(A) The number of consumers who view their creditr epor ts.

(B) Under what condit ions a nd for what purposes doconsumers primar ily obta in a copy of their consumer report(such as for the purpose of ensur ing t he completeness andaccuracy of the con tents, to protect a gainst fr aud, inresponse to an adver se act ion based on the r epor t , or inresponse to suspected ident ity theft ) and approximatelywhat percen tage of the tota l number of consumers whoobta in a copy of their consum er report do so for eachsuch pr imary purpose.

(C) The extent of consumers’ knowledge of the datacollect ion process.

(D) The extent to wh ich consumers know how to geta copy of a consumer report .

(E) The extent t o which consumers know and under -st and the fact or s that posit ively or negat ively impact creditscores.

Deadline.Repor t s.

20 USC 9706.

20 USC 9705.



(3) REP ORT REQUIRE D.—Before the end of the 12-mont hperiod beginning on the date of enactment of t his Act , theComptroller General shall submit a r epor t to Congress on thefindings and conclusions of the Comptroller General pur suantto the st udy conducted under this subsect ion , toget her withsuch r ecommendat ions for legisla t ive or admin ist r a t ive act ionas the Compt roller General may determine to be appropr ia te,including recommenda t ions on methods for improving financia lliter acy among consumers.

S E C. 518. TH E N ATIO NAL P UBLIC SE R VICE MU LTIME DIA CAMP AIG N

TO E NH AN CE TH E STATE O F F INAN CIAL LITE R ACY.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasu ry (in th is sect ionreferred to as the ‘‘Secreta ry’’), after review of the recommenda t ionsof the Commission, as par t of the na t ional st ra tegy, shall develop,implemen t , and conduct a pilot na t ional public service mult imediacampaign t o enhance the sta te of financia l litera cy and educat ionin t he Un ited Sta tes.

(b) PROGRAM RE QUIREMENTS .—(1) PUBLIC SERVICE CAMP AIGN.—The Secret ary, after r eview

of t he recommendat ions of the Commission , shall select andwork with a nonprofit organiza t ion or organiza t ions tha t areespecia lly well-qualified in the dist r ibut ion of public servicecam pa igns, and have secured pr iva te sector funds to producethe pilot nat ional public service mult imedia campaign.

(2) DEVE LOPMENT OF MULTIME DIA CAMPAIGN .—The Sec-reta ry, a ft er r eview of the recommendat ions of the Commission ,shall develop, in consu lta t ion with nonprofit , public, or pr iva teorganiza t ions, especia lly those that are well qualified by vir tueof their experience in t he field of financia l litera cy and edu-ca t ion, t o develop the financia l literacy na t ional public servicemult imedia campaign.

(3) FOCUS OF CAMPAIGN.—The pilot nat ional public servicemult imedia cam pa ign shall be consistent with the nat iona lst r a tegy, and shall promote the toll-fr ee t elephone number andthe website developed under this t it le.(c) MULTILINGUAL.—The Secretary m ay develop the mult imedia

campaign in langua ges ot her than English , as the Secretary deemsa ppropria te.

(d) PERFORMANCE MEASURE S.—The Secret ary shall developm ea sures to eva luat e the effect iveness of the pilot nat ional publicservice mult imedia ca mpaign , as measured by im proved financia ldecision making among individuals.

(e) REPORT.—For each fisca l year for wh ich there are appropria -t ions pu rsuan t to t he aut horizat ion in subsect ion (e), the Secretaryshall submit a report to t he Commit tee on Banking, Housing, andUrban Affair s and the Commit tee on Appropr ia t ions of the Sena teand the Commit tee on F inancia l Services and the Commit t ee onAppropria t ions of the House of Represent a t ives, descr ibing thesta tus and implementa t ion of the provisions of t his sect ion andthe sta te of financia l lit er acy and educat ion in the United St a tes.

(f) AUTH ORIZATION OF APPROP RIATIONS.—There are aut horizedto be a ppropria t ed t o the Secretary, not to exceed $3,000,000 forfiscal years 2004, 2005, and 2006, for the development , product ion ,and dist r ibu t ion of a pilot nat iona l public service mult imedia cam-pa ign under this sect ion.

20 USC 9707.

Deadline.



S E C. 519. AUTH O R IZATION O F AP P R OP R IATION S.

There are authorized to be appropr ia ted to the Commissionsuch sums as may be necessary to car ry ou t th is t it le, includinga dminist ra t ive expenses of the Commission .

TITLE VI—P R OTE C TING E MP LOYE EMISC ONDUCT INVE STIGATIONS

S E C. 611. CE R TAIN E MP LO YE E IN VE STIG ATIO N COMMU NICATIO N S

E XCLUD E D F R O M DE F INITIO N O F CO NS UME R R E P OR T.

(a) IN GENE RAL.—Sect ion 603 of the Fair Credit Report ingAct (15 U.S.C. 1681a), as amended by t his Act is amended bya dding a t the end the following:

‘‘(x) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS F OR EMPLOYEE

INVE STIGATIONS.—‘‘(1) COMMUNICATIONS DESCRIBE D IN THIS SUBSECTION.—

A communicat ion is described in th is subsect ion if—‘‘(A) bu t for subsect ion (d)(2)(D), the communica t ion

would be a consumer report ;‘‘(B) the communicat ion is made t o an employer in

connect ion wit h a n invest igat ion of—‘‘(i) suspected misconduct r ela t ing t o employment ;

or‘‘(ii) compliance with Federal, Sta te, or local laws

and r egula t ions, t he rules of a self-regu la tory organiza-t ion, or any preexist ing writ ten policies of theemployer ;‘‘(C) the communica t ion is not made for the purpose

of invest igat ing a consumer’s credit wor thiness, creditst anding, or credit capacity; a nd

‘‘(D) t he communica t ion is not provided to any per sonexcept—

‘‘(i) to the employer or an agent of the employer;‘‘(ii) to any Federal or Sta te officer , agency, or

depar tment , or any officer , agency, or depa rtmen t ofa unit of general local government ;

‘‘(iii) t o any self-r egula tory organizat ion wit h r egu-la tory au thor ity over t he act ivit ies of the employeror employee;

‘‘(iv) as otherwise r equired by law; or‘‘(v) pu rsuan t to sect ion 608.

‘‘(2) SUBSE QUENT DISCLOSURE .—After t aking a ny adver seact ion based in whole or in part on a communicat ion describedin paragraph (1), the employer shall disclose to the consumera summary con ta in ing the nature and subst ance of t he commu-nicat ion upon which the a dverse act ion is based, except t hatthe sources of in format ion a cqu ired solely for use in prepar ingwhat would be but for subsect ion (d)(2)(D) an invest igat iveconsumer r epor t need not be disclosed.

‘‘(3) SELF -REGULATORY ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—For pur -poses of t his subsect ion, the term ‘self-r egula tory organ izat ion ’includes any self-r egu la tory organ izat ion (as defined in sect ion3(a)(26) of the Secur it ies Excha nge Act of 1934), any en t ityestablished under t it le I of the Sa rbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,any board of t r ade designa ted by the Commodity Futu res

20 USC 9708.



Trading Commission, and any futu res associa t ion r egisteredwit h such Com mission .’’.(b) TECH NICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Sect ion

603(d)(2)(D) of the Fair Credit Report ing Act (15 U.S.C.1681a(d)(2)(D)) is amended by insert ing ‘‘or (x)’’ after ‘‘subsect ion(o)’’.

TITLE VII—R E LAT ION TO STATE LAWS

S E C. 711. R E LATIO N TO STAT E LAWS.

Sect ion 625 of the Fair Credit Repor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681t),a s so designated by sect ion 214 of th is Act , is amended—

(1) in subsect ion (a), by inser t ing ‘‘or for the preven t ionor mit igat ion of iden t ity theft ,’’ after ‘‘informa t ion on con-sumers,’’;

(2) in subsect ion (b), by a dding a t the end t he following:‘‘(5) with r espect to the conduct r equired by t he specific

provisions of—‘‘(A) sect ion 605(g);‘‘(B) sect ion 605A;‘‘(C) sect ion 605B;‘‘(D) sect ion 609(a)(1)(A);‘‘(E) sect ion 612(a);‘‘(F) subsect ions (e), (f), and (g) of sect ion 615;‘‘(G) sect ion 621(f);‘‘(H) sect ion 623(a )(6); or‘‘(I) sect ion 628.’’; a nd

(3) in subsect ion (d)—(A) by st r iking para graph (2);(B) by st r iking ‘‘(c)—’’ and a ll that follows th rough

‘‘do not affect ’’ and insert ing ‘‘(c) do not affect ’’; and(C) by st r iking ‘‘1996; and’’ and inser t ing ‘‘1996.’’.

T IT LE VII I—MISCE LL ANE OUS

S E C. 811. CLE R ICAL AME N D ME N TS.

(a) SHORT TITLE .—Sect ion 601 of t he Fa ir Credit Report ingAct (15 U.S.C. 1601 note) is amended by st r iking ‘‘t he Fair CreditRepor t ing Act .’’ and insert ing ‘‘the ‘Fair Credit Report ing Act’.’’.

(b) SECTION 604.—Sect ion 604(a ) of t he Fa ir Credit Report ingAct (15 U.S.C. 1681b(a)) is amended in pa ragraphs (1) th rough(5), other than subparagraphs (E) a nd (F) of paragraph (3), bymoving each margin 2 ems to the r igh t .

(c) SECTION 605.—(1) Sect ion 605(a)(1) of the Fair Credit Report ing Act (15

U.S.C. 1681c(a)(1)) is amended by st r iking ‘‘(1) cases’’ andinsert ing ‘‘(1) Cases’’.

(2)(A) Sect ion 5(1) of Public Law 105–347 (112 Sta t . 3211)is amended by st r iking ‘‘J udgments which’’ and inser t ing ‘‘judg-ments which’’.

(B) The amendment made by subparagraph (A) shall bedeemed t o have the same effect ive date as sect ion 5(1) ofPublic Law 105–347 (112 Sta t . 3211).(d) SECTION 609.—Sect ion 609(a) of t he Fair Credit Repor t ing

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g(a)) is amended—

15 USC 1681cnote.

15 USC 1681c.



LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H .R. 2622 (S. 1753):

H OUSE REPORTS: Nos. 108–263 an d Pt .2 (Comm . on F ina ncia l Services) a nd 108–396 (Comm . of Conferen ce).

SE NATE REPORTS: No. 108–166 a ccom pan ying S. 1753 (Comm . on Ban king, H ou s-ing, an d Urba n Affa ir s).

CON GRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 149 (2003):Sept . 10, considered a nd pa ssed House.Nov. 5, considered an d passed Sena te, am en ded, in lieu of S. 1753.Nov. 21, H ou se agreed to conferen ce r epor t .Nov. 22, Sena te a greed to conference repor t .

WEEKLY COMP ILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMEN TS, Vol. 39 (2003):Dec. 4, President ia l r em arks.

Æ

(1) in para gra ph (2), by moving the margin 2 em s t o theright ; a nd

(2) in pa ragraph (3)(C), by moving t he ma rgins 2 emsto the left .(e) SE CTION 617.—Sect ion 617(a)(1) of the Fa ir Credit Report ing

Act (15 U.S.C. 1681o(a)(1)) is a mended by adding ‘‘and’’ a t theend.

(f) SECTION 621.—Sect ion 621(b)(1)(B) of the Fa ir CreditRepor t ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s(b)(1)(B)) is amended by st r iking‘‘25(a)’’ and insert ing ‘‘25A’’.

(g) TITLE 31.—Sect ion 5318 of t it le 31, Un ited Sta tes Code,is amended by redesignat ing the second item designated as sub-sect ion (l) (rela t ing to applica bility of ru les) as subsect ion (m).

(h) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Sect ion 2411(c) of Public Law104–208 (110 Sta t . 3009–445) is r epealed.

Approved December 4, 2003.

15 USC 1681m .


FAIR AND ACCURATE CREDIT TRANSACTIONS ACT

Documents

credit information

fair credit reporting

consumer access

disclosure of credit

identity theft victims

consumer reporting agencies

accuracy of consumer

truncation of credit