Bill Summary
This legislation, known as the "Disaster Protection for Workers' Credit Act of 2020," amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to protect consumers' credit during times of disaster. It defines covered periods for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak and major disasters, during which no person may report adverse items of information on a consumer's credit report due to financial hardship. It also establishes a database for consumer reporting agencies to check and automatically delete adverse items of information during these periods, and allows consumers to request the deletion of adverse items of information without charge or documentation. Additionally, it requires consumer reporting agencies to provide free credit reports and scores to consumers upon request during the covered periods.
Possible Impacts
1. This legislation could benefit workers who are experiencing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 outbreak or a major disaster by protecting their credit from being negatively impacted. This could provide them with some financial relief during a difficult time.
2. This legislation could also affect consumer reporting agencies, who would be required to establish a website for consumers to report economic hardship and delete any adverse items of information from their file that were a result of the disaster. This could potentially lead to increased workload and costs for these agencies.
3. This legislation could also have an impact on lenders and creditors, as they would need to be aware of the moratorium on furnishing adverse information during the covered disaster period and may need to make adjustments to their credit evaluation processes.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3508 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3508
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide for disaster
protection for workers' credit.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 17, 2020
Mr. Schatz (for himself and Mr. Brown) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing,
and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide for disaster
protection for workers' credit.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Disaster Protection for Workers'
Credit Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act, and the amendments made by this Act, is to
protect consumers' credit from negative impacts as a result of
financial hardship due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak
and future major disasters.
SEC. 3. REPORTING OF INFORMATION DURING MAJOR DISASTERS.
(a) In General.--The Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended by
inserting after section 605B the following:
``Sec. 605C. Reporting of information during major disasters
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Covered coronavirus disease (covid-19) outbreak
period.--The term `covered coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
outbreak period' means the period beginning on January 31,
2020, and ending on the later of--
``(A) 120 days after the date of enactment of this
section; or
``(B) 120 days after the date on which the public
health emergency declared by the Secretary of Health
and Human Services on January 31, 2020, under section
319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d),
terminates.
``(2) Covered major disaster period.--The term `covered
major disaster period' means the period beginning on the date
on which a major disaster is declared by the President under
section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) and ending on the
date that is 120 days after the end of the incident period
designated in such declaration.
``(3) Major disaster.--The term `major disaster' means a
major disaster declared by the President under section 401 of
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance
Act (42 U.S.C. 5170), under which assistance is authorized
under section 408 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5174).
``(b) Moratorium on Furnishing Adverse Information During Covered
Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak Period.--No person may furnish
any adverse item of information relating to a consumer that was the
result of any action or inaction that occurred during the covered
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak period.
``(c) Moratorium on Furnishing Adverse Information During Covered
Major Disaster Period.--No person may furnish any adverse item of
information relating to a consumer that was the result of any action or
inaction that occurred during a covered major disaster period if the
consumer is a resident of the affected area covered by a declaration
made by the President under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170).
``(d) Information Excluded From Consumer Reports.--In addition to
the information described in section 605(a), no consumer reporting
agency may make any consumer report containing an adverse item of
information reported relating to a consumer that was the result of any
action or inaction that occurred during the covered coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) outbreak period or a covered major disaster period, and as
applicable under subsection (f)(3), for 270 days after the expiration
of the applicable period.
``(e) Summary of Rights.--The model summary of rights under section
609(c)(1) shall include a description of the right of a consumer to--
``(1) request the deletion of adverse items of information
under subsection (f); and
``(2) request a consumer report or score, without charge to
the consumer, under subsection (g).
``(f) Deletion of Adverse Items of Information Resulting From the
Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak and Major Disasters.--
``(1) Reporting.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the
date of enactment of this subsection, the Bureau shall
create a website for consumers to report, under penalty
of perjury, economic hardship as a result of the
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak or a major
disaster for the purpose of extending credit report
protection for an additional 270 days after the end of
the covered coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak
period or covered major disaster period, as applicable.
``(B) Documentation.--The Bureau shall--
``(i) not require any documentation from a
consumer to substantiate the economic hardship;
and
``(ii) provide notice to the consumer that
a report under subparagraph (A) is under
penalty of perjury.
``(C) Reporting period.--A consumer may report
economic hardship under subparagraph (A) during the
covered coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak period
or a covered major disaster period, as applicable, and
for 60 days thereafter.
``(2) Database.--The Bureau shall establish and maintain a
secure database that--
``(A) is accessible to each consumer reporting
agency described in section 603(p) and nationwide
specialty consumer reporting agency for purposes of
fulfilling their duties under paragraph (3) to check
and automatically delete any adverse item of
information reported that occurred during the covered
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak period or a
covered major disaster period with respect to a
consumer; and
``(B) contains the information reported under
paragraph (1).
``(3) Deletion of adverse items of information by
nationwide consumer reporting and nationwide specialty consumer
reporting agencies.--
``(A) In general.--Each consumer reporting agency
described in section 603(p) and each nationwide
specialty consumer reporting agency shall, using the
information contained in the database established under
paragraph (2), delete from the file of each consumer
named in the database each adverse item of information
that was a result of an action or inaction that
occurred during the covered coronavirus disease (COVID-
19) outbreak period or a covered major disaster period
up to 270 days following the end of the such period.
``(B) Timeline.--Each consumer reporting agency
described in section 603(p) and each nationwide
specialty consumer reporting agency shall check the
database at least weekly and delete adverse items of
information as soon as practicable after information
that is reported under paragraph (1) appears in the
database established under paragraph (2).
``(4) Request for deletion of adverse items of
information.--
``(A) In general.--A consumer who has filed a
report of economic hardship with the Bureau may submit
a request, without charge to the consumer, to a
consumer reporting agency to delete from the consumer's
file an adverse item of information that was a result
of an action or inaction that occurred during the
covered coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak period
or a covered major disaster period up to 270 days
following the end of the such period.
``(B) Timing.--A consumer may submit a request
under subparagraph (A), not later than 270-day period
described in that subparagraph.
``(C) Removal and notification.--Upon receiving a
request under this paragraph to delete an adverse item
of information, a consumer reporting agency shall--
``(i) delete the adverse item of
information from the consumer's file; and
``(ii) notify the consumer and the
furnisher of the adverse item of information of
the deletion.
``(g) Free Credit Report and Scores.--
``(1) In general.--During the covered coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) outbreak period or a covered major disaster period
and ending 12 months after the expiration of the covered
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak period or covered major
disaster period, as applicable, each consumer reporting agency
as described under 603(p) and nationwide specialty consumer
reporting agency shall make all disclosures described under
section 609 upon request by a consumer, by mail or online,
without charge to the consumer and without limitation as to the
number of requests. A consumer reporting agency shall also
supply a consumer, upon request and without charge, with a
credit score that--
``(A) is derived from a credit scoring model that
is widely distributed to users by the consumer
reporting agency for the purpose of any extension of
credit or other transaction designated by the consumer
who is requesting the credit score; or
``(B) is widely distributed to lenders of common
consumer loan products and predicts the future credit
behavior of the consumer.
``(2) Timing.--A file disclosure or credit score under
paragraph (1) shall be provided to the consumer not later
than--
``(A) 7 days after the date on which the request is
received if the request is made by mail; and
``(B) not later than 15 minutes if the request is
made online.
``(3) Additional reports.--A file disclosure provided under
paragraph (1) shall be in addition to any disclosure requested
by the consumer under section 612(a).
``(4) Prohibition.--A consumer reporting agency that
receives a request under paragraph (1) may not request or
require any documentation from the consumer that demonstrates
that the consumer was impacted by the coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) outbreak or a major disaster (except to verify that
the consumer resides in an area covered by the major disaster)
as a condition of receiving the file disclosure or score.
``(h) Posting of Rights.--Not later than 30 days after the date of
enactment of this section, each consumer reporting agency shall
prominently post and maintain a direct link on the homepage of the
public website of the consumer reporting agency information relating to
the right of consumers to--
``(1) request the deletion of adverse items of information
under subsection (f); and
``(2) request consumer file disclosures and scores, without
charge to the consumer, under subsection (g).''.
(b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents for
the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 605B the following:
``605C. Reporting of information during major disasters.''.
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