[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1773 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1773

 To amend title 11, United States Code, to require creditors to inform 
consumer reporting agencies that certain debts have been discharged in 
                           bankruptcy cases.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 15, 2015

 Mr. Brown (for himself, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Durbin, and 
 Mr. Franken) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 11, United States Code, to require creditors to inform 
consumer reporting agencies that certain debts have been discharged in 
                           bankruptcy cases.

    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 ``Consumer Reporting Fairness Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. DISCHARGE OF DEBT IN BANKRUPTCY.

    Section 525 of title 11, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(d) If a creditor has provided or furnished to a consumer 
reporting agency, as defined in section 603 of the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a), any item of information pertaining to 
an account based on a debt discharged in a case under this title, the 
creditor shall inform the consumer reporting agency that the debt has 
been discharged in bankruptcy and has a zero balance.
    ``(e) An individual injured by any willful violation of this 
section--
            ``(1) shall recover actual damages, including costs and 
        attorneys' fees; and
            ``(2) in appropriate circumstances, may recover punitive 
        damages.
    ``(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the 
reporting of payments on a mortgage loan, whether or not the debtor has 
reaffirmed that loan.''.
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