Protection of credit ratings of members of the reserve components deployed in support of contingency operations

(a)

In general

Title II of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 521 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

208.

Protection of credit ratings of members of reserve components deployed in support of contingency operations

(a)

Request for military service deployment explanation

At any time during or after serving on active duty in support of a contingency operation, an eligible servicemember may request that a consumer reporting agency include a military service deployment explanation with respect to a qualifying account in the file of that servicemember at the consumer reporting agency. (b)

Responsibilities of consumer reporting agencies

Upon receiving a request from an eligible servicemember under subsection (a), a consumer reporting agency shall— (1)include a military service deployment explanation with respect to a qualifying account in the file of that servicemember and provide the military service deployment explanation to each person who requests the credit score or consumer report of the servicemember; (2)develop and maintain procedures for the referral to other such agencies of any military service deployment explanation received by the agency; and (3)notify the servicemember in writing that the inclusion of any explanation or notation in the file of the servicemember could potentially negatively affect the credit rating of the servicemember and may not mitigate a low credit score. (c)

Duty of reseller to reconvey military service deployment explanation

A reseller shall include in any report of the reseller on a servicemember any military service deployment explanation placed in the file of that servicemember by another consumer reporting agency pursuant to this section. (d)

Acknowledgment of military service deployment explanation

Any prospective user of a consumer credit report containing a military service deployment explanation shall acknowledge such military service deployment explanation. (e)

Definitions

For the purposes of this section: (1)The term eligible servicemember means a member of a reserve component who serves on active duty outside the continental United States in support of a contingency operation under a call or order specifying a period of such service of not less than 180 days (or who enters such service under a call or order specifying a period of 180 days or less and who, without a break in service, receives orders extending the period of such service to a period of not less than 180 days). (2)The term military service deployment explanation means a code generated by a consumer reporting agency that is delivered in conjunction with a consumer report or credit score to a user of the consumer report or credit score to indicate that the consumer report or credit score of the consumer was adversely affected during a period in which the consumer was a servicemember serving on active duty outside the continental United States in support of a contingency operation. (3)The term contingency operation has the meaning given that term under section 101(a)(13) of title 10, United States Code. (4)The term active duty has the meaning given that term under section 101(d)(1) of title 10, United States Code. (5)The term consumer reporting agency has the meaning given that term under section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. (6)The term reseller has the meaning given that term under section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. (7)The term qualifying account means an account that was opened by a servicemember before the date on which the servicemember was deployed outside the continental United States in support of a contingency operation, but only with respect to obligations incurred before such date.

(b)

Clerical amendment

The table of contents in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 207 the following new item:

Sec. 208. Protection of credit ratings of certain servicemembers.

(c)

Military service deployment explanation not to affect certain future transactions

Section 108 of such Act (50 U.S.C. App. 518) is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting after liability of that servicemember the following: , or the inclusion of a military service deployment explanation in a file of the servicemember at a consumer reporting agency pursuant to section 208,.