15 U.S.C. § 1681j — Charges for certain disclosures

Page 1593 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 1681j 1 See References in Text note below. 2 So in original. Probably should be ‘‘Bureau’’. EFFECTIVE DATE 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. PROMPT INVESTIGATION OF DISPUTED CONSUMER INFORMATION Pub. L. 108–159, title III, § 313(b), Dec. 4, 2003, 117 Stat. 1994, provided that: ‘‘(1) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Board and the Commis- sion shall jointly study the extent to which, and the manner in which, consumer reporting agencies and fur- nishers of consumer information to consumer reporting agencies are complying with the procedures, time lines, and requirements under the Fair Credit Reporting Act [this subchapter] for the prompt investigation of the disputed accuracy of any consumer information, the completeness of the information provided to consumer reporting agencies, and the prompt correction or dele- tion, in accordance with such Act, of any inaccurate or incomplete information or information that cannot be verified. ‘‘(2) REPORT REQUIRED.—Before the end of the 12- month period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 4, 2003], the Board and the Commission shall jointly submit a progress report to the Congress on the results of the study required under paragraph (1). ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In preparing the report re- quired under paragraph (2), the Board and the Commis- sion shall consider information relating to complaints compiled by the Commission under section 611(e) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681i(e)], as added by this section. ‘‘(4) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The report required under paragraph (2) shall include such recommendations as the Board and the Commission jointly determine to be appropriate for legislative or administrative action, to ensure that— ‘‘(A) consumer disputes with consumer reporting agencies over the accuracy or completeness of infor- mation in a consumer’s file are promptly and fully in- vestigated and any incorrect, incomplete, or unverifi- able information is corrected or deleted immediately thereafter; ‘‘(B) furnishers of information to consumer report- ing agencies maintain full and prompt compliance with the duties and responsibilities established under section 623 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681s–2]; and ‘‘(C) consumer reporting agencies establish and maintain appropriate internal controls and manage- ment review procedures for maintaining full and con- tinuous compliance with the procedures, time lines, and requirements under the Fair Credit Reporting Act [this subchapter] for the prompt investigation of the disputed accuracy of any consumer information and the prompt correction or deletion, in accordance with such Act, of any inaccurate or incomplete infor- mation or information that cannot be verified.’’ [For definitions of terms used in section 313(b) of Pub. L. 108–159, set out above, see section 2 of Pub. L. 108–159, set out as a Definitions note under section 1681 of this title.] § 1681j. Charges for certain disclosures (a) Free annual disclosure (1) Nationwide consumer reporting agencies (A) In general All consumer reporting agencies described in subsections (p) and (w) 1 of section 1681a of this title shall make all disclosures pursuant to section 1681g of this title once during any 12-month period upon request of the con- sumer and without charge to the consumer. (B) Centralized source Subparagraph (A) shall apply with respect to a consumer reporting agency described in section 1681a(p) of this title only if the re- quest from the consumer is made using the centralized source established for such pur- pose in accordance with section 211(c) 1 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. (C) Nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency (i) In general The Commission 2 shall prescribe regula- tions applicable to each consumer report- ing agency described in section 1681a(w) 1 of this title to require the establishment of a streamlined process for consumers to request consumer reports under subpara- graph (A), which shall include, at a min- imum, the establishment by each such agency of a toll-free telephone number for such requests. (ii) Considerations In prescribing regulations under clause (i), the Bureau shall consider— (I) the significant demands that may be placed on consumer reporting agen- cies in providing such consumer reports; (II) appropriate means to ensure that consumer reporting agencies can satis- factorily meet those demands, including the efficacy of a system of staggering the availability to consumers of such consumer reports; and (III) the ease by which consumers should be able to contact consumer re- porting agencies with respect to access to such consumer reports. (iii) Date of issuance The Commission 2 shall issue the regula- tions required by this subparagraph in final form not later than 6 months after December 4, 2003. (iv) Consideration of ability to comply The regulations of the Bureau under this subparagraph shall establish an effective date by which each nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency (as defined in section 1681a(w) 1 of this title) shall be re- quired to comply with subsection (a), which effective date— (I) shall be established after consider- ation of the ability of each nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency to comply with subsection (a); and (II) shall be not later than 6 months after the date on which such regulations are issued in final form (or such addi- tional period not to exceed 3 months, as the Bureau determines appropriate). (2) Timing A consumer reporting agency shall provide a consumer report under paragraph (1) not later Page 1594 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 1681j 3 So in original. Probably should be ‘‘television’’. than 15 days after the date on which the re- quest is received under paragraph (1). (3) Reinvestigations Notwithstanding the time periods specified in section 1681i(a)(1) of this title, a reinves- tigation under that section by a consumer re- porting agency upon a request of a consumer that is made after receiving a consumer report under this subsection shall be completed not later than 45 days after the date on which the request is received. (4) Exception for first 12 months of operation This subsection shall not apply to a con- sumer reporting agency that has not been fur- nishing consumer reports to third parties on a continuing basis during the 12-month period preceding a request under paragraph (1), with respect to consumers residing nationwide. (b) Free disclosure after adverse notice to con- sumer Each consumer reporting agency that main- tains a file on a consumer shall make all disclo- sures pursuant to section 1681g of this title with- out charge to the consumer if, not later than 60 days after receipt by such consumer of a notifi- cation pursuant to section 1681m of this title, or of a notification from a debt collection agency affiliated with that consumer reporting agency stating that the consumer’s credit rating may be or has been adversely affected, the consumer makes a request under section 1681g of this title. (c) Free disclosure under certain other cir- cumstances Upon the request of the consumer, a consumer reporting agency shall make all disclosures pur- suant to section 1681g of this title once during any 12-month period without charge to that con- sumer if the consumer certifies in writing that the consumer— (1) is unemployed and intends to apply for employment in the 60-day period beginning on the date on which the certification is made; (2) is a recipient of public welfare assistance; or (3) has reason to believe that the file on the consumer at the agency contains inaccurate information due to fraud. (d) Free disclosures in connection with fraud alerts Upon the request of a consumer, a consumer reporting agency described in section 1681a(p) of this title shall make all disclosures pursuant to section 1681g of this title without charge to the consumer, as provided in subsections (a)(2) and (b)(2) of section 1681c–1 of this title, as applica- ble. (e) Other charges prohibited A consumer reporting agency shall not impose any charge on a consumer for providing any no- tification required by this subchapter or making any disclosure required by this subchapter, ex- cept as authorized by subsection (f). (f) Reasonable charges allowed for certain dis- closures (1) In general In the case of a request from a consumer other than a request that is covered by any of subsections (a) through (d), a consumer report- ing agency may impose a reasonable charge on a consumer— (A) for making a disclosure to the con- sumer pursuant to section 1681g of this title, which charge— (i) shall not exceed $8; and (ii) shall be indicated to the consumer before making the disclosure; and (B) for furnishing, pursuant to section 1681i(d) of this title, following a reinvestiga- tion under section 1681i(a) of this title, a statement, codification, or summary to a person designated by the consumer under that section after the 30-day period begin- ning on the date of notification of the con- sumer under paragraph (6) or (8) of section 1681i(a) of this title with respect to the re- investigation, which charge— (i) shall not exceed the charge that the agency would impose on each designated recipient for a consumer report; and (ii) shall be indicated to the consumer before furnishing such information. (2) Modification of amount The Bureau shall increase the amount re- ferred to in paragraph (1)(A)(i) on January 1 of each year, based proportionally on changes in the Consumer Price Index, with fractional changes rounded to the nearest fifty cents. (g) Prevention of deceptive marketing of credit reports (1) In general Subject to rulemaking pursuant to section 205(b) of the Credit CARD Act of 2009, any ad- vertisement for a free credit report in any me- dium shall prominently disclose in such adver- tisement that free credit reports are available under Federal law at: ‘‘AnnualCreditReport.com’’ (or such other source as may be authorized under Federal law). (2) Television and radio advertisement In the case of an advertisement broadcast by television, the disclosures required under paragraph (1) shall be included in the audio and visual part of such advertisement. In the case of an advertisement broadcast by televison 3 or radio, the disclosure required under paragraph (1) shall consist only of the following: ‘‘This is not the free credit report provided for by Federal law’’. (Pub. L. 90–321, title VI, § 612, as added Pub. L. 91–508, title VI, § 601, Oct. 26, 1970, 84 Stat. 1132; amended Pub. L. 104–208, div. A, title II, § 2410, Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009–442; Pub. L. 108–159, title II, § 211(a), Dec. 4, 2003, 117 Stat. 1968; Pub. L. 111–24, title II, § 205(a), May 22, 2009, 123 Stat. 1747; Pub. L. 111–203, title X, § 1088(a)(2)(A), (C), July 21, 2010, 124 Stat. 2087.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Section 1681a(w) of this title, referred to in subsec. (a)(1)(A), (C)(i), (iv), was redesignated section 1681a(x) Page 1595 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 1681j of this title by Pub. L. 111–203, title X, § 1088(a)(1), July 21, 2010, 124 Stat. 2086. Section 211(c) of the Fair and Accurate Credit Trans- actions Act of 2003, referred to in subsec. (a)(1)(B), prob- ably means section 211(d) of Pub. L. 108–159, which is set out as a note below and relates to the establishment of a centralized source. Section 211(c) of Pub. L. 108–159 amended section 1681g of this title. Section 205(b) of the Credit CARD Act of 2009, re- ferred to in subsec. (g), is section 205(b) of Pub. L. 111–24, which is set out as a note below. AMENDMENTS 2010—Subsec. (a)(1)(C). Pub. L. 111–203, § 1088(a)(2)(C), substituted ‘‘the Bureau’’ for ‘‘the Commission’’ wher- ever appearing. Subsec. (f)(2). Pub. L. 111–203, § 1088(a)(2)(A), sub- stituted ‘‘Bureau’’ for ‘‘Federal Trade Commission’’. 2009—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 111–24 added subsec. (g). 2003—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 108–159, § 211(a)(2), added subsec. (a). Former subsec. (a) redesignated (f). Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 108–159, § 211(a)(4), added subsec. (d). Former subsec. (d) redesignated (e). Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 108–159, § 211(a)(3), (5), redesig- nated subsec. (d) as (e) and substituted ‘‘subsection (f)’’ for ‘‘subsection (a)’’. Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 108–159, § 211(a)(1), (6), redesig- nated subsec. (a) as (f) and substituted ‘‘In the case of a request from a consumer other than a request that is covered by any of subsections (a) through (d), a’’ for ‘‘Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), and (d), a’’ in par. (1). 1996—Pub. L. 104–208 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section read as follows: ‘‘A consumer reporting agency shall make all disclosures pursuant to section 1681g of this title and furnish all consumer re- ports pursuant to section 1681i(d) of this title without charge to the consumer if, within thirty days after re- ceipt by such consumer of a notification pursuant to section 1681m of this title or notification from a debt collection agency affiliated with such consumer report- ing agency stating that the consumer’s credit rating may be or has been adversely affected, the consumer makes a request under section 1681g or 1681i(d) of this title. Otherwise, the consumer reporting agency may impose a reasonable charge on the consumer for mak- ing disclosure to such consumer pursuant to section 1681g of this title, the charge for which shall be indi- cated to the consumer prior to making disclosure; and for furnishing notifications, statements, summaries, or codifications to person designated by the consumer pursuant to section 1681i(d) of this title, the charge for which shall be indicated to the consumer prior to fur- nishing such information and shall not exceed the charge that the consumer reporting agency would im- pose on each designated recipient for a consumer report except that no charge may be made for notifying such persons of the deletion of information which is found to be inaccurate or which can no longer be verified.’’ Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2010 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 111–203 effective on the des- ignated 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. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2009 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 111–24 effective 9 months after May 22, 2009, except as otherwise specifically provided, see section 3 of Pub. L. 111–24, set out as a note under section 1602 of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2003 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 108–159 subject to joint regu- lations 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. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1996 AMENDMENT 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. EFFECTIVE DATE 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 Pub. L. 111–24, title II, § 205(b), May 22, 2009, 123 Stat. 1747, provided that: ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 9 months after the date of enactment of this Act [May 22, 2009], the Fed- eral Trade Commission shall issue a final rule to carry out this section. ‘‘(2) CONTENT.—The rule required by this subsection— ‘‘(A) shall include specific wording to be used in ad- vertisements in accordance with this section; and ‘‘(B) for advertisements on the Internet, shall in- clude whether the disclosure required under section 612(g)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681j(g)(1)] (as added by this section) shall appear on the advertisement or the website on which the free credit report is made available. ‘‘(3) INTERIM DISCLOSURES.—If an advertisement sub- ject to section 612(g) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681j(g)], as added by this section, is made public after the 9-month deadline specified in para- graph (1), but before the rule required by paragraph (1) is finalized, such advertisement shall include the dis- closure: ‘Free credit reports are available under Fed- eral law at: ‘‘AnnualCreditReport.com’’.’ ’’ Pub. L. 108–159, title II, § 211(d), Dec. 4, 2003, 117 Stat. 1972, as amended by Pub. L. 111–203, § 1088(b)(2), July 21, 2010, 124 Stat. 2092, provided that: ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau [probably means the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection] shall pre- scribe regulations applicable to consumer reporting agencies described in section 603(p) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681a(p)], to require the estab- lishment of— ‘‘(A) a centralized source through which consumers may obtain a consumer report from each such con- sumer reporting agency, using a single request, and without charge to the consumer, as provided in sec- tion 612(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681j(a)] (as amended by this section); and ‘‘(B) a standardized form for a consumer to make such a request for a consumer report by mail or through an Internet website. ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In prescribing regulations under paragraph (1), the Bureau shall consider— ‘‘(A) the significant demands that may be placed on consumer reporting agencies in providing such con- sumer reports; ‘‘(B) appropriate means to ensure that consumer re- porting agencies can satisfactorily meet those de- mands, including the efficacy of a system of stag- gering the availability to consumers of such con- sumer reports; and ‘‘(C) the ease by which consumers should be able to contact consumer reporting agencies with respect to access to such consumer reports. ‘‘(3) CENTRALIZED SOURCE.—The centralized source for a request for a consumer report from a consumer re- quired by this subsection shall provide for— ‘‘(A) a toll-free 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 regulations of the Bureau under paragraph (1) shall provide for an orderly transi- tion by consumer reporting agencies described in sec- tion 603(p) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681a(p)] to the centralized source for consumer report Page 1596 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 1681k distribution required by section 612(a)(1)(B) [15 U.S.C. 1681j(a)(1)(B)], as amended by this section, in a manner that— ‘‘(A) does not temporarily overwhelm such con- sumer reporting agencies with requests for disclo- sures of consumer reports beyond their capacity to deliver; and ‘‘(B) does not deny creditors, other users, and con- sumers access to consumer reports on a time-sen- sitive basis for specific purposes, such as home pur- chases or suspicions of identity theft, during the transition period. ‘‘(5) TIMING.—Regulations required by this subsection shall— ‘‘(A) be issued in final form not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 4, 2003]; and ‘‘(B) become effective not later than 6 months after the date on which they are issued in final form. ‘‘(6) SCOPE OF REGULATIONS.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau shall, by rule, deter- mine whether to require a consumer reporting agency that compiles and maintains files on consumers on substantially a nationwide basis, other than one de- scribed in section 603(p) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681a(p)], to make free consumer re- ports available upon consumer request, and if so, whether such consumer reporting agencies should make such free reports available through the central- ized source described in paragraph (1)(A). ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—Before making any deter- mination under subparagraph (A), the Bureau shall consider— ‘‘(i) the number of requests for consumer reports to, and the number of consumer reports generated by, the consumer reporting agency, in comparison with consumer reporting agencies described in sub- sections (p) and (w) [now (x)] of section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681a(p), (w) [x]]; ‘‘(ii) the overall scope of the operations of the consumer reporting agency; ‘‘(iii) the needs of consumers for access to con- sumer reports provided by consumer reporting agencies free of charge; ‘‘(iv) the costs of providing access to consumer re- ports by consumer reporting agencies free of charge; and ‘‘(v) the effects on the ongoing competitive viabil- ity of such consumer reporting agencies if such free access is required.’’ [For definitions of terms used in section 211(d) of Pub. L. 108–159, set out above, see section 2 of Pub. L. 108–159, set out as a Definitions note under section 1681 of this title.] § 1681k. Public record information for employ- ment purposes (a) In general A consumer reporting agency which furnishes a consumer report for employment purposes and which for that purpose compiles and reports items of information on consumers which are matters of public record and are likely to have an adverse effect upon a consumer’s ability to obtain employment shall— (1) at the time such public record informa- tion is reported to the user of such consumer report, notify the consumer of the fact that public record information is being reported by the consumer reporting agency, together with the name and address of the person to whom such information is being reported; or (2) maintain strict procedures designed to insure that whenever public record informa- tion which is likely to have an adverse effect on a consumer’s ability to obtain employment is reported it is complete and up to date. For purposes of this paragraph, items of public record relating to arrests, indictments, con- victions, suits, tax liens, and outstanding judgments shall be considered up to date if the current public record status of the item at the time of the report is reported. (b) Exemption for national security investiga- tions Subsection (a) does not apply in the case of an agency or department of the United States Gov- ernment that seeks to obtain and use a con- sumer report for employment purposes, if the head of the agency or department makes a writ- ten finding as prescribed under section 1681b(b)(4)(A) of this title. (Pub. L. 90–321, title VI, § 613, as added Pub. L. 91–508, title VI, § 601, Oct. 26, 1970, 84 Stat. 1133; amended Pub. L. 105–347, § 4(b), Nov. 2, 1998, 112 Stat. 3210.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1998—Pub. L. 105–347 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and added subsec. (b). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1998 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 105–347 deemed to have same effective date as amendments made by section 2403 of Pub. L. 104–208, see section 7 of Pub. L. 105–347, set out as a note under section 1681a of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE 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. § 1681l. Restrictions on investigative consumer reports Whenever a consumer reporting agency pre- pares an investigative consumer report, no ad- verse information in the consumer report (other than information which is a matter of public record) may be included in a subsequent con- sumer report unless such adverse information has been verified in the process of making such subsequent consumer report, or the adverse in- formation was received within the three-month period preceding the date the subsequent report is furnished. (Pub. L. 90–321, title VI, § 614, as added Pub. L. 91–508, title VI, § 601, Oct. 26, 1970, 84 Stat. 1133.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE 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. § 1681m. Requirements on users of consumer re- ports (a) Duties of users taking adverse actions on basis of information contained in consumer reports If any person takes any adverse action with respect to any consumer that is based in whole