[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1345 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1345

   To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to create protected credit 
  reports for minors and protect the credit of minors, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 2, 2017

 Mr. Langevin (for himself, Mr. Price of North Carolina, Ms. Clark of 
 Massachusetts, and Ms. Bass) introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to create protected credit 
  reports for minors and protect the credit of minors, 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 ``Protect Children from Theft Act of 
2017''.

SEC. 2. PROTECTIONS FOR CREDIT REPORTS OF MINORS.

    (a) In General.--The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et 
seq.) is amended by inserting after section 605B the following new 
section:

``SEC. 605C. ADDITIONAL PROTECTIONS FOR CREDIT REPORTS OF MINOR 
              CONSUMERS.

    ``(a) In General.--A consumer reporting agency described in section 
603(p) shall, upon request by a covered guardian of a minor consumer, 
create a blocked file for the minor consumer or convert a file of the 
minor consumer already in existence to a blocked file.
    ``(b) Requirements.--The Bureau, by rule, shall establish 
procedures--
            ``(1) for a consumer reporting agency described in section 
        603(p) to properly identify the covered guardian and the minor 
        consumer prior to creating, converting, or unblocking a blocked 
        file for such minor consumer;
            ``(2) for such a consumer reporting agency to create a 
        blocked file for a minor consumer or to convert a file of a 
        minor consumer already in existence to a blocked file; and
            ``(3) consistent with subsection (c), for a covered 
        guardian to unblock a file.
    ``(c) Unblocking a File.--
            ``(1) In general.--A consumer reporting agency described in 
        section 603(p) shall unblock a blocked file upon request by a 
        covered guardian or on the date of the 18th birthday of the 
        minor consumer.
            ``(2) Alert statement.--An alert statement shall be 
        included in a file unblocked pursuant to paragraph (1) if the 
        minor consumer was a victim of fraud or identity theft before 
        the date of the 18th birthday of the minor consumer as follows:
                    ``(A) For a file unblocked upon request by a 
                covered guardian, for a period of time beginning on the 
                date such file is unblocked and ending on the date that 
                is 1 year after the date of the 18th birthday of the 
                minor consumer.
                    ``(B) For a file unblocked on the date of the 18th 
                birthday of the minor consumer, for a period of 1 year 
                after such date.
            ``(3) Duty of reseller.--With respect to information 
        concerning a consumer whose file contains an alert statement, a 
        reseller shall include such alert statement when furnishing 
        such information.
    ``(d) Fees.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Bureau shall determine if a fee may 
        be charged, and the amount of the fee charged, by a consumer 
        reporting agency described in section 603(p) to create, 
        convert, or unblock a file.
            ``(2) Fees prohibited.--A consumer reporting agency 
        described in section 603(p) may not charge a fee to a minor 
        consumer who was a victim of fraud or identity theft prior to 
        the date of the minor's 18th birthday, to create, convert, or 
        unblock a file.
    ``(e) Exceptions.--No provision of this section shall be construed 
as requiring a consumer reporting agency described in section 603(p) to 
prevent a Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency from 
accessing a blocked file.
    ``(f) Definitions.--In this section the following definitions shall 
apply:
            ``(1) Alert statement.--The term `alert statement' means a 
        statement that--
                    ``(A) notifies all prospective users of a consumer 
                report relating to the consumer that the consumer may 
                be a victim of fraud, including identity theft; and
                    ``(B) is presented in a manner that facilitates a 
                clear and conspicuous view of the statement described 
                in subparagraph (A) by any person requesting such 
                consumer report.
            ``(2) Blocked file.--The term `blocked file' means a file 
        of a minor consumer in which, pursuant to this section, a 
        consumer reporting agency--
                    ``(A) maintains a file with the name, social 
                security number, date of birth, and, if applicable, any 
                credit information of the minor consumer;
                    ``(B) may not provide any person with a consumer 
                report of the minor consumer; and
                    ``(C) blocks the input of any information into the 
                file, except with permission from a covered guardian of 
                the minor consumer.
            ``(3) Covered guardian.--The term `covered guardian' 
        means--
                    ``(A) the legal guardian of a minor child;
                    ``(B) the custodian of a minor child; or
                    ``(C) in the case of a child in foster care, the 
                State agency or Indian tribe or tribal organization 
                responsible for the child's foster care.
            ``(4) Minor consumer.--The term `minor consumer' means a 
        consumer who has not attained 18 years of age.''.
    (b) Table of Contents Amendment.--The table of contents of the Fair 
Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after the item related to section 605B the following new item:

``605C. Additional protections for credit reports of minor 
                            consumers.''.
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