[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4471 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4471
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide requirements for
landlords and consumer reporting agencies relating to housing court
records, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 6, 2020
Mr. Booker 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 requirements for
landlords and consumer reporting agencies relating to housing court
records, and for other purposes.
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 ``Tenant Protection Act''.
SEC. 2. TENANT BLACKLISTING.
(a) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the terms ``consumer'', ``consumer report'', and
``nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency'' have the
meanings given those terms in section 603 of the Fair Credit
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a); and
(2) the term ``tenant rating agency'' means a nationwide
specialty consumer reporting agency described in section
603(x)(2) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.
1681a(x)(2)).
(b) Amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act.--The Fair Credit
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 605 (15 U.S.C. 1681c), by adding at the end
the following:
``(i) Housing Court Records.--A consumer reporting agency may not
make a consumer report containing a landlord-tenant court or other
housing court record, unless--
``(1) the case to which the record pertains resulted in a
judgment of possession;
``(2) the decision of the court in the case to which the
record pertains is not being appealed; and
``(3) the record antedates the consumer report by not more
than 3 years.'';
(2) in section 611(a) (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a))--
(A) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ``or by
submitting a notice of the dispute through the
centralized source described in section 612(a)(1)(B) or
the centralized source required to be established under
section 2(c) of the Tenant Protection Act'' after
``through a reseller''; and
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) in subparagraph (A)--
(I) by striking ``or a reseller''
and inserting ``a reseller, or a
centralized source''; and
(II) by striking ``or reseller''
and inserting ``reseller, or
centralized source''; and
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``or
the reseller'' and inserting ``the reseller, or
the centralized source'';
(3) in section 615 (15 U.S.C. 1681m), by adding at the end
the following:
``(i) Additional Duty of Users Taking Adverse Actions on the Basis
of Housing Court Records Contained in Consumer Reports.--If any person
takes any adverse action with respect to a consumer that is based in
whole or in part on a landlord-tenant court or other housing record
contained in a consumer report, the person shall provide to the
consumer a free copy of the consumer report used by the person in
taking the adverse action.'';
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 630. CIVIL LIABILITY FOR CREATING REPORTS WITH INACCURATE
HOUSING COURT RECORDS.
``Any person who willfully makes a consumer report with respect to
a consumer that contains an inaccurate landlord-tenant court or other
housing record is liable to the consumer in an amount equal to the sum
of--
``(1) any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a
result of making that consumer report or damages of not less
than $500 and not more than $1,500;
``(2) such amount of punitive damages as the court may
allow; and
``(3) in the case of any successful action to enforce any
liability under this section, the costs of the action together
with reasonable attorney's fees as determined by the court.'';
and
(5) in the table of contents, by inserting after the item
relating to section 629 the following:
``630. Civil liability for creating reports with inaccurate housing
court records.''.
(c) Regulations Applicable to Clearinghouse System.--Not later than
1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Bureau of Consumer
Financial Protection shall issue regulations--
(1) applicable to tenant rating agencies to require the
establishment of--
(A) a centralized source through which consumers
may--
(i) obtain a consumer report from each such
tenant rating agency once during any 12-month
period, using a single request, and without
charge to the consumer, as provided in section
612(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15
U.S.C. 1681j(a)); and
(ii) submit a notice of a dispute of
inaccurate information, as provided in section
611(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15
U.S.C. 1681i(a)); and
(B) a standardized form for a consumer to make a
request for a consumer report under subparagraph (A)(i)
or submit a notice of dispute under subparagraph
(A)(ii) by mail or through an Internet website; and
(2) to provide that a consumer may submit a notice of
dispute of inaccurate information through the centralized
source established in accordance with section 211(c) of the
Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (15 U.S.C.
1681j note), as provided in section 611(a) of the Fair Credit
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)), using the standardized form
described in paragraph (1)(B).
(d) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall conduct a
study and submit to Congress a report on the status of tenant rating
agencies and the compliance of tenant rating agencies under the Fair
Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), including a gap analysis
of laws and resources to deter noncompliance with the intent and
purpose of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.).
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