Protecting Consumer Access to Credit Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1645 To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to make improvements to the regulation of consumer reporting agencies and protect consumers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 8, 2021 Mr. MCHENRY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to make improve- ments to the regulation of consumer reporting agencies and protect consumers, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Consumer 4 Access to Credit Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1645.IH H1645 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1645 IH SEC. 2. CYBERSECURITY SUPERVISION AND EXAMINATION 1 OF LARGE CONSUMER REPORTING AGEN- 2 CIES. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act 4 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 5 the following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 630. CYBERSECURITY SUPERVISION AND EXAMINA- 7 TION OF LARGE CONSUMER REPORTING 8 AGENCIES. 9 ‘‘Consumer reporting agencies described under sec- 10 tion 603(p) shall be subject to cybersecurity supervision 11 and examination by the Bureau.’’. 12 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 13 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended by adding 14 at the end the following: 15 ‘‘630. Cybersecurity supervision and examination of large consumer reporting agencies.’’. SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY 16 NUMBERS. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 605 of the Fair Credit 18 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c) is amended by adding 19 at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(i) PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY 21 NUMBERS.—A consumer reporting agency described 22 under section 603(p)— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1645.IH H1645 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1645 IH ‘‘(1) may not make any consumer report con- 1 taining a social security number; and 2 ‘‘(2) may not use the social security number of 3 a consumer as a method to verify the consumer.’’. 4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 609(a)(1) 5 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g(a)(1)) 6 is amended by striking ‘‘except that—’’ and all that fol- 7 lows through ‘‘(B) nothing’’ and inserting ‘‘except that 8 nothing’’. 9 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 10 this section shall take effect on January 1, 2022. 11 SEC. 4. EXCLUSION OF PAID MEDICAL DEBT. 12 Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 13 U.S.C. 1681c(a)) is amended, by adding at the end the 14 following: 15 ‘‘(9) Paid debt arising from the receipt of medi- 16 cally necessary, non-elective medical services, prod- 17 ucts, or devices which from the date of payment, 18 antedate the report by more than 1 year.’’. 19 SEC. 5. SECURITY FREEZES FOR PROTECTED CONSUMERS. 20 (a) PLACEMENT OF FREEZE.—Section 605A(j)(2)(A) 21 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c– 22 1(j)(2)(A)) is amended to read as follows: 23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon receiving a di- 24 rect request from a protected consumer’s rep- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1645.IH H1645 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1645 IH resentative, by mail, toll-free telephone, or se- 1 cure electronic means, that a consumer report- 2 ing agency place a security freeze, and upon re- 3 ceiving sufficient proof of identification and suf- 4 ficient proof of authority, the consumer report- 5 ing agency shall, free of charge, place the secu- 6 rity freeze not later than 3 business days after 7 receiving the request directly from the protected 8 consumer’s representative.’’. 9 (b) REMOVAL OF FREEZE.—Section 605A(j)(4) of 10 the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c–1(j)(4)) 11 is amended— 12 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by inserting after 13 ‘‘Upon the direct request’’ the following: ‘‘, by mail 14 or secure electronic means,’’; 15 (2) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by inserting after 16 ‘‘Upon the direct request’’ the following: ‘‘, by mail 17 or secure electronic means,’’; and 18 (3) in subparagraph (C)— 19 (A) by striking ‘‘not later than—’’ and in- 20 serting the ‘‘not later than 3 days business days 21 after receiving the request directly from the 22 protected consumer or protected consumer’s 23 representative.’’; and 24 (B) by striking clauses (i) and (ii). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1645.IH H1645 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1645 IH SEC. 6. PUBLIC RECORD DATA SOURCES IN CONSUMER RE- 1 PORTS. 2 Section 605(d) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 3 U.S.C. 1681c(d)) is amended by adding at the end the 4 following: 5 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC RECORD DATA.—If a consumer re- 6 porting agency furnishes a consumer report that 7 contains public record data, such consumer reporting 8 agency shall include the source of such public record 9 data in such report.’’. 10 SEC. 7. PROHIBITION ON INCLUDING ADVERSE INFORMA- 11 TION RELATED TO PREDATORY MORTGAGE 12 LENDING. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act 14 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 15 section 605B the following: 16 ‘‘§ 605C. Adverse information relating to predatory 17 mortgage lending 18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A consumer reporting agency 19 may not furnish any consumer report containing any ad- 20 verse item of information relating to a covered residential 21 mortgage loan (including the origination and servicing of 22 such a loan, any loss mitigation activities related to such 23 a loan, and any foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure, 24 or short sale related to such a loan), if the action or inac- 25 tion to which the item of information relates— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1645.IH H1645 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1645 IH ‘‘(1) resulted from an unfair, deceptive, or abu- 1 sive act or practice, or a fraudulent, discriminatory, 2 or illegal activity of a financial institution, as deter- 3 mined by a court of competent jurisdiction; or 4 ‘‘(2) is related to an unfair, deceptive, or abu- 5 sive act or practice, or a fraudulent, discriminatory, 6 or illegal activity of a financial institution that is the 7 subject of a settlement agreement initiated on behalf 8 of a consumer and that is between the financial in- 9 stitution and an agency or department of a local, 10 State, or Federal Government. 11 ‘‘(b) COVERED RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE.—In this 12 section, the term ‘covered residential mortgage loan’ 13 means any loan made primarily for personal, family, or 14 household use that is secured by a mortgage, deed of trust, 15 or other equivalent consensual security interest on a dwell- 16 ing (as defined in section 103(w) of the Truth in Lending 17 Act), including a loan in which the proceeds will be used 18 for— 19 ‘‘(1) a manufactured home (as defined in sec- 20 tion 603 of the Housing and Community Develop- 21 ment Act of 1974); 22 ‘‘(2) any installment sales contract, land con- 23 tract, or contract for deed on a residential property; 24 or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1645.IH H1645 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1645 IH ‘‘(3) a reverse mortgage transaction (as defined 1 in section 103(cc) of the Truth in Lending Act).’’. 2 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 3 of contents of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended 4 by inserting after the item relating to section 605B the 5 following new item: 6 ‘‘605C. Adverse information relating to predatory mortgage lending.’’. SEC. 8. PROHIBITION ON INCLUDING ADVERSE INFORMA- 7 TION WHEN FINANCIAL ABUSE HAS BEEN DE- 8 TERMINED. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act 10 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), as amended by section 7, is fur- 11 ther amended by inserting after section 605C the fol- 12 lowing: 13 ‘‘§ 605D. Adverse information in cases of financial 14 abuse 15 ‘‘A consumer reporting agency may not furnish a con- 16 sumer report containing any adverse item of information 17 about a consumer that resulted from intentionally abusive 18 or harmful financial behavior if— 19 ‘‘(1) a court of competent jurisdiction, in a law- 20 suit that is not a class action lawsuit, has deter- 21 mined that the consumer is a victim of such inten- 22 tionally abusive or harmful financial behavior; 23 ‘‘(2) such intentionally abusive or harmful fi- 24 nancial behavior was conducted by a spouse, family 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1645.IH H1645 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1645 IH or household member, caregiver, or person with 1 whom such consumer had a dating relationship; and 2 ‘‘(3) such consumer did not participate in or 3 consent to such behavior.’’. 4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 5 of contents of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended 6 by inserting after the item relating to section 605C the 7 following new item: 8 ‘‘605D. Adverse information in cases of financial abuse.’’. SEC. 9. PROHIBITION ON INCLUDING ADVERSE INFORMA- 9 TION WHEN A STUDENT OBLIGOR IS DE- 10 FRAUDED. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act 12 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), as amended by section 8, is fur- 13 ther amended by inserting after section 605D the fol- 14 lowing: 15 ‘‘§ 605E. Adverse information in cases of a defrauded 16 student obligor. 17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A consumer reporting agency 18 may not furnish a consumer report containing any adverse 19 item of information about a consumer that resulted from 20 a private student loan obligation if— 21 ‘‘(1) such consumer is a student obligor with 22 respect to such private education loan; and 23 ‘‘(2) a court of competent jurisdiction, in a law- 24 suit that is not a class action lawsuit, has deter- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:31 May 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1645.IH H1645 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1645 IH mined that such consumer is a victim of fraud with 1 respect to such private education loan. 2 ‘‘(b) PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN DEFINED.—For the 3 purposes of this section, the term ‘private education loan’ 4 has the meaning given the term in section 140(a) of the 5 Truth in Lending Act.’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 7 of contents of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended 8 by inserting after the item relating to section 605D the 9 following new item: 10 ‘‘605E. Adverse information in cases of a defrauded student obligor.’’. SEC. 10. BUREAU LIST OF CREDIT REPORTING AGENCIES. 11 The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall 12 maintain a list of credit reporting agencies in the United 13 States and publish such list of the website on the Bureau 14 of Consumer Financial Protection. 15 SEC. 11. STUDY AND REPORT TO CONGRESS ON USE OF 16 NON-TRADITIONAL DATA IN CREDIT SCOR- 17 ING. 18 (a) STUDY.—The Bureau of Consumer Financial 19 Protection shall carry out a study about the use of non- 20 traditional data— 21 (1) by consumer reporting agencies when com- 22 piling and furnishing consumer reports; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:31 May 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1645.IH H1645 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1645 IH (2) by persons that create, maintain, or pur- 1 chase credit scoring models used in making credit 2 decisions. 3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 4 date of the enactment of this section, the Bureau of Con- 5 sumer Financial Protection shall issue a report to the 6 Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep- 7 resentatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 8 Urban Affairs of the Senate containing all findings and 9 determinations, including any recommendations for any 10 legislative or regulatory changes, made in carrying out the 11 study required under subsection (a). 12 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section, 13 the terms ‘‘consumer reporting agency’’ and ‘‘consumer 14 report’’ shall have the meanings given the terms in section 15 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1645.IH H1645 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS