(a) Free annual disclosure.
(1) (A) All consumer
reporting agencies described in subsections (p) and (w) of section
603 shall make all disclosures pursuant to section 609 once during
any 12-month period upon request of the consumer and without charge
to the consumer.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall apply with respect to a consumer reporting
agency described in section 603(p) only if the request from the consumer
is made using the centralized source established for such purpose
in accordance with section 211(c) of the Fair and Accurate Credit
Transactions Act of 2003.
(C) (i) The Bureau shall prescribe regulations
applicable to each consumer reporting agency described in section
603(w) to require the establishment of a streamlined process for consumers
to request consumer reports under subparagraph (A), which shall include,
at a minimum, the establishment by each such agency of a toll-free
telephone number for such requests.
(ii) In prescribing regulations under clause
(i), the Bureau shall consider—
(I) the significant demands that may be placed on consumer reporting
agencies in providing such consumer reports;
(II) appropriate means to ensure that consumer
reporting agencies can satisfactorily 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 reporting agencies with respect to access
to such consumer reports.
(iii) The Bureau shall issue the regulations
required by this subparagraph in final form not later than 6 months
after the date of enactment of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions
Act of 2003.
(iv) 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 603(w)) shall be required to comply with subsection
(a), which effective date—
(I) shall be established after consideration 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 additional period not to exceed 3 months,
as the Bureau determines appropriate).
6-1565.01
(2) A consumer reporting
agency shall provide a consumer report under paragraph (1) not later
than 15 days after the date on which the request is received under
paragraph (1).
(3) Notwithstanding
the time periods specified in section 611(a)(1), a reinvestigation
under that section by a consumer reporting 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) This subsection shall not apply to
a consumer reporting agency that has not been furnishing 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.
6-1565.1
(b) Free disclosure after adverse notice to consumer. Each consumer reporting agency that maintains a file on a consumer
shall make all disclosures pursuant to section 609 without charge
to the consumer if, not later than 60 days after receipt by such consumer
of a notification pursuant to section 615, 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 609.
6-1565.2
(c) Free disclosure under certain other
circumstances. Upon the request of the consumer, a consumer reporting
agency shall make all disclosures pursuant to section 609 once during
any 12-month period without charge to that consumer 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 603(p) shall make all disclosures pursuant to section 609
without charge to the consumer, as provided in subsections (a)(2)
and (b)(2) of section 605A, as applicable.
(e) Other charges prohibited. A consumer reporting
agency shall not impose any charge on a consumer for providing any
notification required by this title or making any disclosure required
by this title, except as authorized by subsection (f).
6-1565.3
(f) Reasonable charges allowed for certain
disclosures.
(1) 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 reporting agency may impose a reasonable charge on
a consumer—
(A) for making a disclosure to the consumer
pursuant to section 609, 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 611(d), following a reinvestigation under section
611(a), a statement, codification, or summary to a person designated
by the consumer under that section after the 30-day period beginning
on the date of notification of the consumer under paragraph (6) or
(8) of section 611(a) with respect to the reinvestigation, 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) The Bureau shall increase
the amount referred 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 advertisement
for a free credit report in any medium shall prominently disclose
in such advertisement 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 television 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.”
[15 USC 1681j.
As amended by acts of Sept. 30, 1996 (110 Stat. 3009-442); Dec. 4,
2003 (117 Stat. 1968); May 22, 2009 (123 Stat. 1747); and July 21,
2010 (124 Stat. 2087).]
