Credit Access and Inclusion Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1828 To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to clarify Federal law with respect to reporting certain positive consumer credit information to consumer reporting agencies, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 13, 2019 Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. COTTON, Mr. JONES, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. KING, and Mr. TESTER) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Bank- ing, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to clarify Federal law with respect to reporting certain positive consumer credit information to consumer reporting agencies, 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 ‘‘Credit Access and In- 4 clusion Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:18 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1828.IS S1828 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1828 IS SEC. 2. POSITIVE CREDIT REPORTING PERMITTED. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 623 of the Fair Credit 2 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2) is amended by adding 3 at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(f) FULL-FILE CREDIT REPORTING.— 5 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 6 ‘‘(A) ENERGY UTILITY FIRM.—The term 7 ‘energy utility firm’ means an entity that pro- 8 vides gas or electric utility services to the pub- 9 lic. 10 ‘‘(B) UTILITY OR TELECOMMUNICATION 11 FIRM.—The term ‘utility or telecommunication 12 firm’ means an entity that provides utility serv- 13 ices to the public through pipe, wire, landline, 14 wireless, cable, or other connected facilities, or 15 radio, electronic, or similar transmission (in- 16 cluding the extension of such facilities). 17 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION RELATING TO LEASE 18 AGREEMENTS, UTILITIES, AND TELECOMMUNI- 19 CATIONS SERVICES.—Subject to the limitation in 20 paragraph (3) and notwithstanding any other provi- 21 sion of law, a person or the Secretary of Housing 22 and Urban Development may furnish to a consumer 23 reporting agency information relating to the per- 24 formance of a consumer in making payments— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Jun 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1828.IS S1828 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1828 IS ‘‘(A) under a lease agreement with respect 1 to a dwelling, including such a lease in which 2 the Department of Housing and Urban Devel- 3 opment provides subsidized payments for occu- 4 pancy in a dwelling; or 5 ‘‘(B) pursuant to a contract for a utility or 6 telecommunications service. 7 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Information about the 8 usage by a consumer of any utility service provided 9 by a utility or telecommunication firm may be fur- 10 nished to a consumer reporting agency only to the 11 extent that the information relates to the payment 12 by the consumer for the service of the utility or tele- 13 communication service or other terms of the provi- 14 sion of the services to the consumer, including any 15 deposit, discount, or conditions for interruption or 16 termination of the service. 17 ‘‘(4) PAYMENT PLAN.—An energy utility firm 18 may not report payment information to a consumer 19 reporting agency with respect to an outstanding bal- 20 ance of a consumer as late if— 21 ‘‘(A) the energy utility firm and the con- 22 sumer have entered into a payment plan (in- 23 cluding a deferred payment agreement, an ar- 24 rearage management program, or a debt for- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:18 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1828.IS S1828 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1828 IS giveness program) with respect to such out- 1 standing balance; and 2 ‘‘(B) the consumer is meeting the obliga- 3 tions of the payment plan, as determined by the 4 energy utility firm.’’. 5 (b) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—Section 623(c) of 6 the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(c)) is 7 amended— 8 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 9 end; 10 (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para- 11 graph (4); and 12 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol- 13 lowing: 14 ‘‘(3) subsection (f) of this section, including any 15 regulations issued thereunder; or’’. 16 (c) GAO STUDY AND REPORT.—Not later than 2 17 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 18 Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to 19 Congress a report on the impact of furnishing information 20 pursuant to subsection (f) of section 623 of the Fair Cred- 21 it Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2), as added by sub- 22 section (a) of this Act, on consumers. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:18 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1828.IS S1828 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS