15 U.S. Code § 1681m - Requirements on users of consumer reports

the name, address, and telephone number of the consumer reporting agency (including a toll-free telephone number established by the agency if the agency compiles and maintains files on consumers on a nationwide basis) that furnished the report to the person; and

a statement that the consumer reporting agency did not make the decision to take the (4) provide to the consumer an oral, written, or electronic notice of the consumer’s right—

Whenever credit for personal, family, or household purposes involving a consumer is denied or the charge for such person other than a consumer reporting agency bearing upon the consumer’s consumer’s written request for the reasons for such adverse action, disclose the nature of the information to the consumer. The user of such information shall clearly and accurately disclose to the consumer.

(A) Duties, generally If a person takes an action described in subparagraph (B) with respect to a consumer, based in whole or in part on information described in subparagraph (C), the person shall—

notify the consumer of the action, including a statement that the consumer may obtain the information in accordance with clause (ii); and

upon a written request from the consumer received within 60 days after transmittal of the notice required by clause (i), disclose to the consumer the nature of the information upon which the action is based by not later than 30 days after receipt of the request.

An action referred to in subparagraph (A) is an adverse action described in section 1681a(k)(1)(A) of this title, taken in connection with a transaction initiated by the consumer, or anysection 1681a(k)(1)(B) of this title.

is furnished to the person taking the action by a person related by common ownership or affiliated by common corporate control to the person taking the action; and

bears on the credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living of the consumer; and

information solely as to transactions or experiences between the consumer and the person furnishing the information; or

No person shall be held liable for any violation of this section if he shows by a preponderance of the evidence that at the time of the alleged violation he maintained reasonable procedures to assure compliance with the provisions of this section.

(d) Duties of users making written credit or insurance solicitations on basis of information contained in consumer files

(1) In general Any person who uses a consumer report on any consumer, that is provided to that person under section 1681b(c)(1)(B) of this title, shall provide with each written solicitation made to the (A)

the consumer received the offer ofconsumer satisfied the criteria forconsumer was selected for the offer;

if applicable, the credit or insurance may not be extended if, after the consumer responds to the offer, the consumer does not meet the criteria used to select the consumer for the offer or any applicable criteria bearing on (D)

the consumer has a right to prohibit information contained in the consumer’s file with any consumer reporting agency from being used in connection with any consumer; and

the consumer may exercise the right referred to in subparagraph (D) by notifying a notification system established under section 1681b(e) of this title.

include the address and toll-free telephone number of the appropriate notification system established under section 1681b(e) of this title; and

be presented in such format and in such type size and manner as to be simple and easy to understand, as established by the Bureau, by rule, in consultation with the Federal Trade Commission , the Federal banking agencies, and the National Credit Union Administration .

A person who makes an offer ofconsumer under a file the criteria used to select the consumer to receive the offer, all criteria bearing onconsumer.

This section is not intended to affect the authority of any Federal or State agency to enforce a prohibition against unfair or deceptive acts or practices, including the making of false or misleading statements in connection with a credit or insurance transaction that is not initiated by the consumer.

(1) Guidelines The Federal banking agencies, the National Credit Union Administration , the Federal Trade Commission , the Commodity Futures Trading Commission , and the Securities and Exchange Commission shall jointly, with respect to the entities that are subject to their respective enforcement authority under section 1681s of this title—

establish and maintain guidelines for use by each financial institution and each creditor regarding identity theft with respect to account holders at, or customers of, such entities, and update such guidelines as often as necessary;

prescribe regulations requiring each financial institution and each creditor to establish reasonable policies and procedures for implementing the guidelines established pursuant to subparagraph (A), to identify possible risks to account holders or customers or to the safety and soundness of the institution or customers; and

(C) prescribe regulations applicable to card issuers to ensure that, if a card issuer receives notification of a change of address for an existing account, and within a short period of time (during at least the first 30 days after such notification is received) receives a request for an additional or replacement card for the same account, the card issuer may not issue the additional or replacement card, unless the card issuer, in accordance with reasonable policies and procedures—

notifies the cardholder of the request at the former address of the cardholder and provides to the cardholder a means of promptly reporting incorrect address changes;

notifies the cardholder of the request by such other means of communication as the cardholder and the card issuer previously agreed to; or

uses other means of assessing the validity of the change of address, in accordance with reasonable policies and procedures established by the card issuer in accordance with the regulations prescribed under subparagraph (B).

In developing the guidelines required by paragraph (1)(A), the agencies described in paragraph (1) shall identify patterns, practices, and specific forms of activity that indicate the possible existence of identity theft.

In developing the guidelines required by paragraph (1)(A), the agencies described in paragraph (1) shall consider including reasonable guidelines providing that when a transaction occurs with respect to a credit or deposit account that has been inactive for more than 2 years, the creditor or financial institution shall follow reasonable policies and procedures that provide for notice to be given to a identity theft with respect to such account.

Guidelines established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not be inconsistent with the policies and procedures required under section 5318(l) of title 31.

(A) means a creditor, as defined in section 1691a of this title, that regularly and in the ordinary course of business—

furnishes information to consumer reporting agencies, as described in section 1681s–2 of this title, in connection with a (iii)

advances funds to or on behalf of a person, based on an obligation of the person to repay the funds or repayable from specific property pledged by or on behalf of the person;

does not include a creditor described in subparagraph (A)(iii) that advances funds on behalf of a person for expenses incidental to a service provided by the creditor to that person; and

includes any other type of creditor, as defined in that section 1691a of this title, as the agency described in paragraph (1) having authority over that creditor may determine appropriate by rule promulgated by that agency, based on a determination that such creditor offers or maintains accounts that are subject to a reasonably foreseeable risk of identity theft.

No person shall sell, transfer for consideration, or place for collection a debt that such person has been notified under section 1681c–2 of this title has resulted from identity theft.

The prohibitions of this subsection shall apply to all persons collecting a debt described in paragraph (1) after the date of a notification under paragraph (1).

the repurchase of a debt in any case in which the assignee of the debt requires such repurchase because the debt has resulted from identity theft;

the securitization of a debt or the pledging of a portfolio of debt as collateral in connection with a borrowing; or

the transfer of debt as a result of a merger, acquisition, purchase and assumption transaction, or transfer of substantially all of the assets of an entity.

(g) Debt collector communications concerning identity theft If a person acting as a debt collector (as that term is defined in subchapter V) on behalf of a third party that is a creditor or other user of a person is attempting to collect may be fraudulent or may be the result of identity theft, that person shall—

notify the third party that the information may be fraudulent or may be the result of identity theft; and

upon request of the consumer to whom the debt purportedly relates, provide to the consumer all information to which the consumer would otherwise be entitled if the consumer were not a victim of identity theft, but wished to dispute the debt under provisions of law applicable to that person.

Subject to rules prescribed as provided in paragraph (6), if any person uses a consumer report in connection with an application for, or a grant, extension, or other provision of, consumers from or through that person, based in whole or in part on a consumer report, the person shall provide an oral, written, or electronic notice to the (2) Timing

The notice required under paragraph (1) may be provided at the time of an application for, or a grant, extension, or other provision of, credit or the time of communication of an approval of an application for, or grant, extension, or other provision of, credit, except as provided in the regulations prescribed under paragraph (6).

the consumer applied for specific material terms and was granted those terms, unless those terms were initially specified by the person after the transaction was initiated by the consumer and after the person obtained a consumer report; or

the person has provided or will provide a notice to the consumer under subsection (a) in connection with the transaction.

A person that is required to provide a notice under subsection (a) cannot meet that requirement by providing a notice under this subsection.

include a statement informing the consumer that the terms offered to the consumer are set based on information from a consumer report;

include a statement informing the consumer that the consumer may obtain a copy of a consumer report from that consumer reporting agency without charge;

include the contact information specified by that consumer reporting agency for obtaining such consumer reports (including a toll-free telephone number established by the agency in the case of a consumer reporting agency described in section 1681a(p) of this title); and

a numerical credit score as defined in section 1681g(f)(2)(A) of this title, used by such person in making the consumer report; and

The Bureau shall prescribe rules to carry out this subsection.

clarification of the meaning of terms used in this subsection, including what credit terms are material, and when credit terms are materially less favorable;

exceptions to the notice requirement under this subsection for classes of persons or transactions regarding which the agencies determine that notice would not significantly benefit consumers;

the timing of the notice required under paragraph (1), including the circumstances under which the notice must be provided after the terms offered to the consumer were set based on information from a consumer report.

A person shall not be liable for failure to perform the duties required by this section if, at the time of the failure, the person maintained reasonable policies and procedures to comply with this section.

Sections 1681n and 1681o of this title shall not apply to any failure by any person to comply with this section.

This section shall be enforced exclusively under section 1681s of this title by the Federal agencies and officials identified in that section.

2010—Subsec. (a)(2) to (4). Pub. L. 111–203, § 1100F(1), added par. (2), redesignated former pars. (2) and (3) as (3) and (4), respectively, and substituted “paragraph (3)” for “paragraph (2)” in par. (4).

Subsec. (d)(2)(B). Pub. L. 111–203, § 1088(a)(7), substituted “the Federal Trade Commission , the Federal banking agencies,” for “the Federal banking agencies”.

Pub. L. 111–203, § 1088(a)(2)(C), substituted “thePub. L. 111–203, § 1088(a)(8), substituted “the Federal Trade Commission , the Commodity Futures Trading Commission , and the Securities and Exchange Commission ” for “and thePub. L. 111–319 added par. (4).

Subsec. (h)(6)(A). Pub. L. 111–203, § 1088(a)(9), added subpar. (A) and struck out former subpar. (A). Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “ThePub. L. 108–159, § 213(a), amended heading and text of par. (2) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “A statement under paragraph (1) shall include the address and toll-free telephone number of the appropriate notification system established under section 1681b(e) of this title.”

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 108–159, § 811(h), repealed Pub. L. 104–208, § 2411(c). See 1996 Amendment note below.

Pub. L. 108–159, § 114, added subsec. (e) and struck out former subsec. (e) designation that had been added with no heading or text by Pub. L. 104–208, § 2411(c). See note above and 1996 Amendment note below.

1996—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–208, § 2411(a), inserted heading and amended text of subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “WheneverPub. L. 104–208, § 2411(e), inserted subsec. heading, designated existing provisions as par. (1) and inserted heading, and added par. (2).

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–208, § 2411(d), substituted “this section” for “subsections (a) and (b) of this section”.

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 104–208, § 2411(c), which added subsec. (e) containing subsec. designation, but no heading or text, was repealed by Pub. L. 108–159, § 811(h).

“The amendment made by this section [amending this section] shall become effective on the date of enactment of this Act [ Dec. 18, 2010 ].”

Amendment by Pub. L. 111–203 effective on the designated transfer date, see section 1100H of Pub. L. 111–203, set out as a note under section 552a of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

Amendment by Pub. L. 108–159 subject to joint regulations establishing effective dates as prescribed by Federal Reserve Board and Federal Trade Commission , except as otherwise provided, see section 3 of Pub. L. 108–159, set out as a note under section 1681 of this title.

Amendment by Pub. L. 104–208 effective 365 days after Sept. 30, 1996 , with special rule for early compliance, see section 2420 of Pub. L. 104–208, set out as a note under section 1681a of this title.

Section effective upon the expiration of one hundred and eighty days following Oct. 26, 1970 , see section 504(d) of Pub. L. 90–321, as added by Pub. L. 91–508, set out as a note under section 1681 of this title.

“Regulations required by section 615(d)(2) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681m(d)(2)], as amended by this section, shall be issued in final form not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act [ Dec. 4, 2003 ].”