[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 19 (Friday, January 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4598-4600]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01710]



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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(``PRA''), the Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') is 
seeking public comment on its proposal to extend for an additional 
three years the Office of Management and Budget clearance for 
information collection requirements in its regulation ``Duties of 
Furnishers of Information to Consumer Reporting Agencies'' 
(``Information Furnishers Rule''), which applies to certain motor 
vehicle dealers, and its shared enforcement with the Bureau of Consumer 
Financial Protection (``CFPB'') of the furnisher provisions (subpart E) 
of the CFPB's Regulation V regarding other entities. The current 
clearance expires on July 31, 2022.

DATES: Comments must be filed by March 29, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Information Furnishers 
Rule, PRA Comment, P135407,'' on your comment and file your comment 
online at https://www.regulations.gov/, by following the instructions 
on the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, 
mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, 
Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite CC-5610 
(Annex J), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the 
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW, 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex 
J), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gorana Neskovic, Attorney, Division of 
Privacy and Identity Protection, Bureau of Consumer Protection, (202) 
326-2322, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, CC-8232, Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Duties of Furnishers of Information to Consumer Reporting 
Agencies.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0144.
    Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved 
collection.
    Affected Public: Private Sector: Businesses and other for-profit 
entities.
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 17,483 hours.
    Estimated Annual Labor Costs: $966,143.
    Abstract: The Dodd-Frank Act \1\ transferred most of the FTC's 
rulemaking authority for the furnisher provisions of the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act (``FCRA'') \2\ to the CFPB. The FTC, however, retains 
rulemaking authority for motor vehicle dealers that are predominantly 
engaged in the sale and servicing of motor vehicles, the leasing and 
servicing of motor vehicles, or both.\3\ In addition, the FTC retains 
its authority to enforce the furnisher provisions of the FCRA and rules 
issued under those provisions. Accordingly, the FTC and CFPB have 
overlapping enforcement authority for many entities subject to CFPB's 
Regulation V (subpart E) and the FTC has sole enforcement authority for 
the motor vehicle dealers subject to the FTC rule.
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    \1\ Public Law 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010).
    \2\ 15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.
    \3\ See Dodd-Frank Act, Sec.  1029(a), (c).
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    Under section 660.3 of the FTC's Information Furnishers Rule \4\ 
and section 1022.42 of the CFPB Rule,\5\ furnishers must establish and 
implement reasonable written policies and procedures regarding the 
accuracy and integrity of the information relating to consumers that 
they furnish to a consumer reporting agency (``CRA'') for inclusion in 
a consumer report.\6\ Section 660.4 of the FTC Rule and section 1022.43 
of the CFPB Rule require that entities which furnish information about 
consumers to a CRA respond to direct disputes from consumers. These 
provisions also require that a furnisher notify consumers by mail or 
other means (if authorized by the consumer) within five business days 
after making a determination that a dispute is frivolous or irrelevant 
(``F/I dispute'').
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    \4\ 16 CFR part 660.
    \5\ 12 CFR part 1022.
    \6\ The rule also provides that an entity is not a furnisher 
when it: Provides information to a CRA solely to obtain a consumer 
report for a permissible purpose under the FCRA; is acting as a CRA 
as defined in section 603(f) of the FCRA; is an individual consumer 
to whom the furnished information pertains; or is a neighbor, 
friend, or associate of the consumer, or another individual with 
whom the consumer is acquainted or who may have knowledge about the 
consumer's character, general reputation, personal characteristics, 
or mode of living in response to a specific request from a CRA.
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Burden Statement

    FTC staff estimates that approximately 6,385 information furnishers 
are subject to the FTC's Information Furnishers Rule and its 
enforcement authority.\7\
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    \7\ The CFPB estimates that there are 16,000 furnishers, 
excluding motor vehicle dealers that are subject to the FTC's 
jurisdiction, with an allocation to that agency of 63% of the burden 
or 10,080 respondents. See CFPB Supporting Statement Part A, Fair 
Credit Reporting Act (Regulation V) 12 CFR 1022 (OMB Control Number: 
3170-0002) (https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewDocument?ref_nbr=202008-3170-001). Allocating the remaining 
37% of the burden to the FTC yields 5,920 respondents, excluding 
motor vehicle dealers that are subject to the FTC's jurisdiction. 
FTC staff estimate that there are approximately 46,525 motor vehicle 
dealers in the U.S. See U.S. Census Bureau, All Sectors: County 
Business Patterns, including ZIP Code Business Patterns, by Legal 
Form of Organization and Employment Size Class for the U.S., States, 
and Selected Geographies: 2019, available at https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=CBP2019.CB1900CBP&n=44111%3A44112&;tid=CBP2019.CB1900CBP&hide
Preview=true&nkd=EMPSZES~001,LFO~001 (listing 21,427 establishments 
for ``new car dealers,'' NAICS code 44111, and 25,098 establishments 
for ``used car dealers,'' NAICS code 44112). It is difficult to 
determine precisely the number of motor vehicle dealers that are 
subject to the FTC's jurisdiction and that are furnishers. Given the 
restrictions in section 1029(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act that motor 
vehicle dealers subject to the FTC's jurisdiction are those that 
routinely assign consumer contracts governing retail credit to an 
unaffiliated third-party finance source, Commission staff believes 
the number is de minimis. Accordingly, the FTC estimates that 1% of 
motor vehicle dealers subject to the FTC's jurisdiction are 
furnishers of information to CRAs or 465 respondents. Thus, 465 
motor vehicle dealers + 5,920 other entities = 6,385 respondents for 
the FTC's burden calculations.
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Section 660.3 of FTC Rule/Section 1022.42 of CFPB Rule

A. Burden Hours

    Section 660.3 of the FTC's Furnisher Rule and section 1022.42 of 
Regulation V (subpart E) require furnishers to establish written 
policies and procedures regarding the accuracy and integrity of 
information relating to consumers that they furnish to a CRA. 
Furnishers must also review these policies and procedures periodically 
and update them as necessary to ensure their continued effectiveness. 
FTC staff estimate a yearly recurring burden of 2 hours for training to 
help ensure continued compliance regarding written policies and 
procedures for the accuracy and integrity of the information furnished 
to a CRA about consumers.\8\ This yields an annual hours burden of 
12,770 hours (6,385 respondents x 2 hours for training).
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    \8\ 74 FR 31484, 31505 (July 1, 2009 FTC and Federal financial 
agencies' final rules).
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B. Labor Costs

    Labor costs are derived by applying appropriate estimated hourly 
cost figures to the burden hours described above. The FTC assumes that 
respondents will use managerial and/or professional technical personnel 
to train

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company employees on continued compliance with the information 
furnisher requirements under the FTC and CFPB Rules. This yields 
estimated annual labor costs of $773,096 (12,770 hours x $60.54 \9\).
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    \9\ http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.nr0.htm: 
``Occupational Employment and Wages--May 2017,'' Bureau of Labor 
Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, released March 30, 2018, Table 
1 (``National employment and wage data from the Occupational 
Employment Statistics survey by occupation, May 2017) (hereinafter, 
``BLS Table 1''). See mean hourly wage for ``Training and 
Development Managers.''
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Section 660.4 of FTC Rule/Section 1022.43 of CFPB Rule

    Section 660.4 of the FTC's Information Furnishers Rule and section 
1022.43 of the CFPB's Regulation V (subpart E) require furnishers to 
respond to direct disputes from consumers and notify consumers by mail 
or other means (if authorized by the consumer) within five business 
days after making a determination that a dispute is frivolous or 
irrelevant.

A. Burden Hours

    FTC staff estimate that the burden necessary to prepare and 
distribute F/I notices is approximately 14 minutes per notice.\10\ 
Based on the calculations below, this yields an annual hours burden of 
2,635 hours.
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    \10\ 74 FR at 31505.

1. 21,720 total F/I disputes \11\
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    \11\ Id. at 31506 n. 58.
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2. Motor vehicle dealer-only furnisher disputes are assumed to be 4% of 
the total: 21,720 x .04 = 869 F/I disputes \12\
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    \12\ FTC staff believes that 4% is a reasonable estimate based 
on recent data. See ``Key Dimensions and Processes in the U.S. 
Credit Reporting System: A review of how the nation's largest credit 
bureaus handle consumer data,'' December 2012, pp. 14, 29, 31, 34. 
The CFPB report noted that almost 40% of all consumer disputes at 
the nationwide CRAs, on average, can be linked to collections. It 
stated that collection trade lines generate significantly higher 
numbers of consumer disputes than other types of trade lines--
specifically, four times higher than auto-related dispute rates. 
These figures seem to suggest that almost 10% of all consumer 
disputes at the nationwide CRAs, on average, can be linked to auto-
related disputes. When the FTC issued its final Rule, FTC staff 
estimated that 40% of direct disputes would result in the sending of 
F/I dispute notices. See 74 FR 31506 n.58. The FTC's estimate of 4% 
is based on taking forty percent of the 10% of all consumer disputes 
at the nationwide CRAs, on average, linked to auto loans.
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3. 20,851 respondents (21,720-869 FTC only) / by 2 = 10,425 F/I 
disputes subject to FTC shared jurisdiction
4. 869 FTC only F/I disputes + 10,425 additional F/I disputes = 11,294 
F/I dispute notices for the FTC's jurisdiction
5. 11,294 F/I disputes x 14 minutes each = 2,635 hours

B. Labor Costs

    Labor costs are derived by applying appropriate estimated hourly 
cost figures to the burden hours described above. The FTC assumes that 
respondents will use skilled administrative support personnel to 
provide the required F/I dispute notices to consumers. This yields 
estimated annual labor costs of $67,245 (2,635 hours x $25.52 \13\).
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    \13\ The revised figure is an average of Bureau of Labor 
Statistics mean hourly wages for potentially analogous employee 
types: First-line supervisors of office and administrative support 
workers ($29.81); bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks 
($21.10); brokerage clerks ($28.11); eligibility interviewers, 
government programs ($23.07). See BLS Table 1. This averages to 
$25.52 per hour, rounded.
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    FTC staff believes that these information collection requirements 
impose negligible capital or other non-labor costs, as the affected 
entities are already likely to have the necessary supplies and 
equipment (e.g., offices and computers) to administer the information 
collections described above.
    Request for Comments: Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, federal 
agencies must obtain approval from OMB for each collection of 
information they conduct or sponsor. ``Collection of information'' 
means agency requests or requirements that members of the public submit 
reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. 44 
U.S.C. 3502(3), 5 CFR 1320.3(c). As required by section 3506(c)(2)(A) 
of the PRA, the FTC is providing this opportunity for public comment 
before requesting that OMB extend the existing PRA clearance for the 
Information Furnishers Rule.
    Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC invites 
comments on: (1) Whether the disclosure requirements are necessary, 
including whether the information will be practically useful; (2) the 
accuracy of our burden estimates, including whether the methodology and 
assumptions used are valid; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to 
minimize the burden of providing the required information to consumers. 
All comments should be filed as prescribed in the ADDRESSES section 
above, and must be received on or before March 29, 2022.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before March 29, 2022. 
Write ``Paperwork Reduction Act: FTC File No. P072108'' on your 
comment. Your comment--including your name and your state--will be 
placed on the public record of this proceeding, including the https://www.regulations.gov website.
    Due to the public health emergency in response to the COVID-19 
outbreak and the agency's heightened security screening, postal mail 
addressed to the Commission will be subject to delay. We encourage you 
to submit your comments online through the https://www.regulations.gov 
website.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Paperwork Reduction Act: 
FTC File No. P072108'' on your comment and on the envelope, and mail 
your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office 
of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite CC-5610 (Annex J), 
Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address: 
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 
400 7th Street SW, 5th Floor, Suite 5610, Washington, DC 20024. If 
possible, please submit your paper comment to the Commission by courier 
or overnight service.
    Because your comment will become publicly available at https://www.regulations.gov, you are solely responsible for making sure that 
your comment does not include any sensitive or confidential 
information. In particular, your comment should not include any 
sensitive personal information, such as your or anyone else's Social 
Security number; date of birth; driver's license number or other state 
identification number, or foreign country equivalent; passport number; 
financial account number; or credit or debit card number. You are also 
solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include 
any sensitive health information, such as medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment 
should not include any ``trade secret or any commercial or financial 
information which . . . is privileged or confidential''--as provided by 
Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 
16 CFR 4.10(a)(2)--including in particular competitively sensitive 
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, 
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
    Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is 
requested must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled 
``Confidential,'' and must comply with FTC Rule 4.9(c). In particular, 
the written request for confidential treatment that accompanies the 
comment must include the factual and legal basis for the request, and 
must identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from 
the public record. See FTC Rule 4.9(c). Your

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comment will be kept confidential only if the General Counsel grants 
your request in accordance with the law and the public interest. Once 
your comment has been posted at www.regulations.gov, we cannot redact 
or remove your comment, unless you submit a confidentiality request 
that meets the requirements for such treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), 
and the General Counsel grants that request.
    The FTC Act and other laws that the Commission administers permit 
the collection of public comments to consider and use in this 
proceeding as appropriate. The Commission will consider all timely and 
responsive public comments that it receives on or before March 29, 
2022. For information on the Commission's privacy policy, including 
routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy.

Josephine Liu,
Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2022-01710 Filed 1-27-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P