[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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