[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 132 (Tuesday, July 12, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 41243-41246]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14823]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents
having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed
to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published
under 50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.
The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents.
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 132 / Tuesday, July 12, 2022 / Rules
and Regulations
[[Page 41243]]
BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION
12 CFR Part 1022
Fair Credit Reporting; Permissible Purposes for Furnishing,
Using, and Obtaining Consumer Reports
AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
ACTION: Advisory opinion.
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SUMMARY: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) is issuing
this advisory opinion to outline certain obligations of consumer
reporting agencies and consumer report users under section 604 of the
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This advisory opinion explains that
the permissible purposes listed in FCRA section 604(a)(3) are consumer
specific, and it affirms that a consumer reporting agency may not
provide a consumer report to a user under FCRA section 604(a)(3) unless
it has reason to believe that all of the consumer report information it
includes pertains to the consumer who is the subject of the user's
request. The Bureau notes that disclaimers will not cure a failure to
have a reason to believe that a user has a permissible purpose for a
consumer report provided pursuant to FCRA section 604(a)(3). This
advisory opinion also reminds consumer report users that FCRA section
604(f) strictly prohibits a person who uses or obtains a consumer
report from doing so without a permissible purpose.
DATES: This advisory opinion is effective on July 12, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Seth Caffrey, Pavneet Singh, Laura
Stack, or Ruth Van Veldhuizen, Senior Counsels, Office of Regulations
at (202) 435-7700 or https://reginquiries.consumerfinance.gov/. If you
require this document in an alternative electronic format, please
contact [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Bureau is issuing this advisory opinion
through the procedures for its Advisory Opinions Policy.\1\ Refer to
those procedures for more information.
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\1\ 85 FR 77987 (Dec. 3, 2020).
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I. Advisory Opinion
A. Background
Consumer reporting agencies collect and assemble or evaluate
information about, among other things, the credit, criminal,
employment, and rental histories of hundreds of millions of Americans.
They package this information into consumer reports,\2\ which are used
by creditors, insurers, landlords, employers, and others to make
eligibility and other decisions about consumers. This collection,
assembly, evaluation, dissemination, and use of vast quantities of
often highly sensitive personal and financial information about
consumers poses significant risks to consumer privacy.
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\2\ See 15 U.S.C. 1681a(d) (defining ``consumer report'').
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The FCRA regulates consumer reporting.\3\ Congress enacted the
statute ``to ensure fair and accurate credit reporting, promote
efficiency in the banking system, and protect consumer privacy.'' \4\
One of the problems with the credit reporting industry that Congress
recognized and sought to remedy with the FCRA was that ``information in
a person's credit file [was] not always kept strictly confidential.''
\5\ The statute was enacted to ``prevent an undue invasion of the
individual's right of privacy in the collection and dissemination of
credit information.'' \6\ As courts have recognized, ``[a] major
purpose of the [FCRA] is the privacy'' of consumer data.\7\
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\3\ See 15 U.S.C. 1681-1681x.
\4\ Safeco Ins. Co. of Am. v. Barr, 551 U.S. 47, 52 (2007); see
also 15 U.S.C. 1681 (recognizing ``a need to insure that consumer
reporting agencies exercise their grave responsibilities with
fairness, impartiality, and a respect for the consumer's right to
privacy'').
\5\ S. Rep. No. 91-517, at 4 (1969) (noting, as an example of
this problem, ``a reporter for a major TV network was able to obtain
10 out of 20 reports requested at random from 20 credit bureaus by
using the name of a completely fictitious company under the guise of
offering the individuals credit''). When introducing the bill that
would become the FCRA, Senator Proxmire observed that ``[w]hat is
disturbing is the lack of any public standards to ensure that the
information [collected by consumer reporting companies] is kept
confidential and used only for its intended purpose. The growing
accessibility of this information through computer- and data-
transmission techniques makes the problem of confidentiality even
more important.'' 15 Cong. Rec. 2413 (1969).
\6\ S. Rep. No. 91-517, at 1 (1969).
\7\ Trans Union Corp. v. FTC, 81 F.3d 228, 234 (D.C. Cir. 1996).
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The FCRA protects consumer privacy in multiple ways, including by
limiting the circumstances under which consumer reporting agencies may
disclose consumer information. For example, FCRA section 604, entitled
``Permissible purposes of consumer reports,'' identifies an exclusive
list of ``permissible purposes'' for which consumer reporting agencies
may provide consumer reports,\8\ including in accordance with the
written instructions of the consumer to whom the report relates and for
purposes relating to credit, employment, and insurance.\9\ The statute
states that a consumer reporting agency may provide consumer reports
under these circumstances ``and no other.'' In addition, FCRA section
607(a) requires that ``[e]very consumer reporting agency shall maintain
reasonable procedures designed to . . . limit the furnishing of
consumer reports to the purposes listed under section 604.'' \10\ And
FCRA section 620 imposes criminal liability on any officer or employee
of a consumer reporting agency who knowingly and willfully provides
information concerning an individual from the agency's files to an
unauthorized person.\11\
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\8\ 15 U.S.C. 1681b(a) (providing that, ``[s]ubject to
subsection (c), any consumer reporting agency may furnish a consumer
report under the following circumstances and no other''). FCRA
section 604(c) defines when consumer reporting companies may furnish
consumer reports in connection with credit and insurance
transactions not initiated by the consumer. 15 U.S.C. 1681b(c).
Other sections of the FCRA identify additional limited circumstances
under which consumer reporting companies are permitted or required
to disclose certain information to government agencies. See 15
U.S.C. 1681f, 1681u, 1681v. Further, the Debt Collection Improvement
Act of 1996, Public Law 104-134, sec. 31001(m)(1), allows the head
of an executive, judicial, or legislative agency to obtain a
consumer report under certain circumstances relating to debt
collection. See 31 U.S.C. 3711(h).
\9\ 15 U.S.C. 1681b(a)(2), (a)(3)(A), (a)(3)(B), (a)(3)(C).
\10\ 15 U.S.C. 1681e(a).
\11\ 15 U.S.C. 1681r.
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In addition to imposing permissible purpose limitations on consumer
reporting agencies, the FCRA limits the circumstances under which third
parties may obtain and use consumer report information from consumer
reporting agencies. FCRA section 604(f) provides that ``a person shall
not use or obtain a
[[Page 41244]]
consumer report for any purpose unless'' the consumer report ``is
obtained for a purpose for which the consumer report is authorized to
be furnished under [FCRA section 604]'' and ``the purpose is certified
in accordance with FCRA section 607 by a prospective user of the report
through a general or specific certification.'' \12\ FCRA section 619
imposes criminal liability on any person who knowingly and willfully
obtains information on a consumer from a consumer reporting agency
under false pretenses.\13\
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\12\ 15 U.S.C. 1681b(f). FCRA section 607(a) requires that
consumer reporting companies, among other things, must require that
prospective users of consumer reports ``certify the purposes for
which the information is sought, and certify that the information
will be used for no other purpose.'' 15 U.S.C. 1681e(a).
\13\ 15 U.S.C. 1681q.
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The FCRA's permissible purpose provisions are thus central to the
statute's protection of consumer privacy. Consumers suffer harm when
consumer reporting agencies provide consumer reports to persons who are
not authorized to receive the information or when recipients of
consumer reports obtain or use such reports for purposes other than
permissible purposes. These harms include the invasion of consumers'
privacy, as well as reputational, emotional, physical, and economic
harms. The Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have
collectively brought numerous enforcement actions to address violations
of the FCRA's permissible purpose provisions.\14\ For example, in a
case that resulted in a 2006 settlement with a consumer reporting
agency, the FTC alleged that the agency violated the FCRA's permissible
purpose provisions by providing consumer reports to persons without a
permissible purpose, resulting in at least 800 cases of identity
theft.\15\ More recently, in 2020, a group of companies and individuals
settled Bureau allegations that they obtained consumer reports without
a permissible purpose when they obtained consumer reports for use in
marketing debt relief services.\16\ Also in 2020, a mortgage broker
settled FTC allegations that it used consumer reports for other than a
permissible purpose when, in response to negative reviews on a website,
it publicly posted information it had obtained from a consumer report
about the reviewer.\17\
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\14\ See, e.g., United States v. Vivint Smart Home, Inc., No.
2:21-cv-00267 (D. Utah 2021), https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/de2_complaint_against_vivint_smart_home.pdf
(alleging that the defendant violated FCRA section 604(f) by
obtaining consumer reports about consumers who had not applied for
credit in order to improve credit applicants' ability to satisfy the
defendant's credit criteria); In re Clarity Servs., Inc., 2015-CFPB-
0030 (Dec. 3, 2015), https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201512_cfpb_consent-order_clarity-services-inc-timothy-ranney.pdf
(alleging that the defendant violated FCRA section 604(f) by
obtaining consumer reports to create presentations to market its
analytical services to lenders and other financial service
providers); United States v. Direct Lending Source, Inc., No. 3:12-
cv-02441 (S.D. Cal. 2012), https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cases/2012/10/121010directlendingcmpt.pdf (alleging that
the defendant violated FCRA section 604(f) by obtaining consumer
reports without a permissible purpose and selling them to entities
that targeted consumers in financial distress for loan modification,
debt relief, and foreclosure relief services); In re Fajilan &
Assocs., No. C-4332 (Aug. 17, 2011), https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cases/2011/08/110819statewidecmpt.pdf
(alleging that the respondents furnished consumer reports to hackers
in violation of FCRA section 604); In re ACRAnet, Inc., No. C-4331
(Aug. 17, 2011), https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cases/2011/08/110809acranetcmpt.pdf (same); In re SettlementOne
Credit Corp., No. C-4330 (Aug. 17, 2011), https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cases/2011/08/110819settlementonecmpt.pdf
(same).
\15\ United States v. Choicepoint, Inc., No. 1:06-cv-00198-GET,
at ] 12 (N.D. Ga. 2006), https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cases/2006/01/0523069complaint.pdf.
\16\ Bureau of Consumer Fin. Prot. v. Chou Team Realty, LLC et
al., No. 8:20-cv-00043, at ]] 57-59, 69, 77-78, 89-106 (C.D. Cal.
2020), https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_chou-team-realty-monster-loans_complaint_2020-01.pdf.
\17\ United States v. Mortgage Sols. FCS, Inc., No. 4:20-cv-
00110-DMR, at ]] 11-14 (N.D. Cal. 2020), https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/mortgage_solutions_complaint.pdf. In addition
to continuing to enforce the FCRA's permissible purpose provisions
and protect the privacy of consumer reports, the Bureau's
supervisory work also has focused on ensuring compliance with the
FCRA's permissible purpose requirements by consumer reporting
companies and consumer report users. See, e.g., Bureau of Consumer
Fin. Prot., Supervisory Highlights, at 3-4 (Sept. 2020), https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_supervisory-highlights_issue-22_2020-09.pdf; Bureau of Consumer Fin. Prot.,
Supervisory Highlights Consumer Reporting Special Edition, at 16-17
(Dec. 2019), https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_supervisory-highlights_issue-20_122019.pdf.
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In light of the importance of the FCRA's permissible purpose
provisions to the protection of consumer privacy, the Bureau is issuing
this advisory opinion to affirm that consumer reporting agencies may
not provide a consumer report pursuant to FCRA section 604(a) under any
circumstance not expressly permitted by this section. In particular,
the permissible purposes identified in FCRA section 604(a)(3) are
consumer specific--that is, they apply only with respect to the
consumer who is the subject of the user's request--and a consumer
reporting company may not provide a consumer report to a user under
FCRA section 604(a)(3) unless it has reason to believe that all of the
consumer report information it includes pertains to the consumer who is
the subject of the user's request. For example, consumer reporting
agencies violate the FCRA's permissible purpose provisions if they
provide consumer reports on multiple consumers (e.g., consumers with
the same name) in response to a request where the user only has a
permissible purpose to obtain a report on a single individual because
that would inherently involve providing at least one consumer report on
an individual with respect to whom the user did not have a permissible
purpose. The Bureau notes that disclaimers will not cure a failure to
have a reason to believe that a user has a permissible purpose for a
consumer report provided pursuant to FCRA section 604(a)(3). The Bureau
also is issuing this advisory opinion to highlight that FCRA section
604(f) strictly prohibits a person who uses or obtains a consumer
report from doing so without a permissible purpose.
B. Coverage
Section C.1 of this advisory opinion applies to all ``consumer
reporting agencies,'' as that term is defined in FCRA section 603(f).
Section C.2 of this advisory opinion applies to all persons that obtain
or use, or seek to obtain or use, ``consumer reports,'' as that term is
defined in FCRA section 603(d).
C. Legal Analysis
1. FCRA Section 604(a)(3)
Section 604(a) of the FCRA identifies a limited set of
``permissible purposes'' for which a consumer reporting company may
provide a consumer report to a user.\18\ The Bureau is aware that some
consumer reporting agencies use insufficient identifiers in matching
procedures, such as name-only matching, which can result in the
provision of consumer reports to persons without a permissible purpose
to receive them. The permissible purposes for which consumer reports
are most commonly sought are those identified in FCRA section
604(a)(3), including for purposes related to credit, employment,
insurance, and rental housing. Under section 604(a)(3), a consumer
reporting company may provide a consumer report when it has ``reason to
believe'' that the user requesting the report has one of the
permissible purposes specified therein with respect to the consumer who
is the subject of the user's request. The Bureau interprets the
permissible purposes in FCRA section 604(a)(3) to apply only with
respect to the consumer who is the subject of the user's request.
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\18\ 15 U.S.C. 1681b(a).
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The Bureau's interpretation is based on the plain language of FCRA
section
[[Page 41245]]
604(a)(3) itself, which makes clear that whether a user has a
permissible purpose under that section is analyzed on a consumer-by-
consumer basis. For example, FCRA section 604(a)(3)(A) permits a
consumer reporting company to provide a consumer report ``to a person
which it has reason to believe . . . intends to use the information in
connection with a credit transaction involving the consumer on whom the
information is to be furnished and involving the extension of credit
to, or review or collection of an account of, the consumer.'' \19\
Similarly, FCRA section 604(a)(3)(F) permits a consumer reporting
company to provide a consumer report ``to a person which it has reason
to believe . . . has a legitimate business need for the information . .
. in connection with a business transaction that is initiated by the
consumer or to review an account to determine whether the consumer
continues to meet the terms of the account.'' \20\
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\19\ 15 U.S.C. 1681b(a)(3)(A) (emphasis added).
\20\ 15 U.S.C. 1681b(a)(3)(F) (emphasis added).
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The Bureau's interpretation also is consistent with the FCRA's
purpose and structure. As explained in part I.A, Congress enacted the
FCRA in part to address ``a need to insure that consumer reporting
agencies exercise their grave responsibilities with . . . a respect for
the consumer's right to privacy.'' \21\ The FCRA achieves this by,
among other things, narrowly limiting the circumstances under which a
consumer reporting company may provide consumer report information to
third parties. The statute is structured so that the permissible
purposes in section 604(a) function as exceptions to the general rule
that a consumer reporting company may not provide consumer reports to
third parties.\22\ Interpreting FCRA section 604(a)(3) to allow a
consumer reporting company to provide consumer report information to a
third party about a consumer with respect to whom the third party does
not have a permissible purpose would undermine the statutory scheme and
threaten consumer privacy with respect to the often highly sensitive
information collected by consumer reporting agencies.\23\
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\21\ 15 U.S.C. 1681(a)(4).
\22\ 15 U.S.C. 1681b(a) (providing that, in general, ``[s]ubject
to subsection (c), any consumer reporting agency may furnish a
consumer report under the following circumstances and no other'').
\23\ The Bureau's interpretation of FCRA section 604(a)(3) also
is consistent with the statute's purpose and structure with respect
to accuracy. See 15 U.S.C. 1681e(b). As discussed below, a consumer
reporting agency's use of poor matching procedures can lead to
violations of the FCRA's permissible purpose requirements, as well
as its accuracy requirements.
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A consumer reporting company may not provide a consumer report
under FCRA section 604(a)(3) unless it has reason to believe that the
user has a permissible purpose with respect to the consumer about whom
the report is requested. A user's request to a consumer reporting
company for a report about a consumer does not give the consumer
reporting company a reason to believe that the user has a permissible
purpose to obtain a consumer report about other consumers. Accordingly,
a consumer reporting company may not provide a consumer report under
FCRA section 604(a)(3) unless it has reason to believe that all of the
consumer report information it includes pertains to the consumer who is
the subject of the user's request.
The use of poor matching procedures, such as name-only matching,
can lead to violations of the FCRA's permissible purpose provisions. As
the Bureau has observed, some consumer reporting agencies obtain
information from sources that do not have or use identifying
information other than consumer names, and they include such
information in consumer reports without taking additional steps to
match the information to the consumer who is the subject of the
report.\24\ The Bureau has recently affirmed that, ``[i]n preparing
consumer reports, it is not a reasonable procedure to assure maximum
possible accuracy to use insufficient identifiers to match information
to the consumer who is the subject of the report.'' \25\ In addition to
running afoul of the FCRA's accuracy provisions, a consumer reporting
company that uses insufficient identifiers in its matching procedures,
such as name-only matching, cannot rely on these procedures to form a
reason to believe that all of the information it includes in a consumer
report pertains to the consumer who is the subject of the user's
request.
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\24\ Bureau of Consumer Fin. Prot., Fair Credit Reporting; Name-
Only Matching Procedures, 86 FR 62468, 62472 (Nov. 10, 2021).
\25\ Id. at 62471.
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For example, when a consumer reporting company conducts a public
records search using name-only matching and identifies one or more
individuals with the same name as the consumer who is the subject of
the user's request, it sometimes might provide the user with a report
containing a possible match or list of possible matches instead of
taking further steps to match the information to the specific consumer
who is the subject of the request.\26\ Under these circumstances, a
consumer reporting company has not formed a reason to believe that all
of the information it includes in a consumer report pertains to the
consumer who is the subject of the user's request. If the report
includes information that identifies (even if not by name) consumers
who are possible matches and information that bears on the credit
worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general
reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living of those
consumers, the consumer reporting company will have provided consumer
reports about those consumers to a user that does not have a
permissible purpose for them.\27\
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\26\ See, e.g., Erickson v. First Advantage Background Screening
Corp., 981 F.3d 1246, 1249 (11th Cir. 2020) (defendant furnished a
consumer report about plaintiff that included a record belonging to
plaintiff's father using name-only matching; defendant included with
the consumer report the statement: ``[t]his record is matched by
First Name, Last Name ONLY and may not belong to your subject. Your
further review of the State Sex Offender Registry is required in
order to determine if this is your subject.''); see also United
States v. Infotrack Info. Servs., 14-cv-02054, at ]] 16-17 (N.D.
Ill. 2014), https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/140409infotrackcmpt.pdf (defendant consumer reporting agency, using
name-only matching, identified more than one individual with a
record in the National Sex Offender registry and reported all
identified individuals as ``possible matches'' to users). Erickson
and Infotrack concerned alleged violations of the FCRA's accuracy
provisions, 15 U.S.C. 1681e(b), not its permissible purpose
provisions.
\27\ See, e.g., Erickson, 981 F.3d at 1249 (consumer report
directed the user to a public database ``to compare the `demographic
data and available photographs,' noting that the user might
`conclude that the records do not belong to''' the subject of the
user's request); Dodgson v. First Advantage Background Screening
Corp., 2018 WL 1807014, *1 (N.D. Ga. 2018) (noting that the record
belonging to plaintiff's father that was included in plaintiff's
consumer report ``contained at the very least an address that did
not match plaintiff's address''); Infotrack, 14-cv-02054, at ] 16
(``Defendants would forward reports that included names and pictures
of several different people with the same name who were convicted
sex offenders and listed in the National Sex Offender Registry.
Defendants' practice and procedure resulted in furnishing consumer
reports to employers that included National Sex Offender Registry
records of individuals who could not have been the subject of the
inquiry.'').
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The Bureau is aware that some consumer reporting agencies that use
inadequate matching procedures include disclaimers with their consumer
reports. For example, one consumer reporting company stated when
providing a consumer report: ``This record is matched by First Name,
Last Name ONLY and may not belong to your subject. Your further review
of the State Sex Offender Registry is required in order to determine if
this is your subject.'' \28\ Disclaimers will not cure a
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failure to have a reason to believe that a user has a permissible
purpose for a consumer report provided pursuant to FCRA section
604(a)(3). A disclaimer does not change the fact that the consumer
reporting company has failed to satisfy the requirements of 604(a)(3)
and has provided a consumer report about a consumer to a person lacking
a permissible purpose with respect to that consumer.
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\28\ Erickson, 981 F.3d at 1249.
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2. FCRA Section 604(f)
FCRA section 604(f) prohibits a person from using or obtaining a
consumer report ``unless . . . the consumer report is obtained for a
purpose for which the consumer report is authorized to be furnished
under [FCRA section 604]'' and ``the purpose is certified in accordance
with FCRA section 607 by a prospective user of the report through a
general or specific certification.'' \29\ Congress amended the FCRA to
include section 604(f) in September 1996.\30\ Before the 1996
amendments, FCRA section 604 did not impose limitations on users of
consumer reports, only on consumer reporting agencies. The Bureau
interprets FCRA section 604(f) to provide that consumer report users
are strictly prohibited from using or obtaining consumer reports
without a permissible purpose. Although some courts have applied a
``reason to believe'' standard for persons using or obtaining a
consumer report, as at least one court has noted, the opinion most
commonly cited in support of this standard was decided before the 1996
amendments.\31\ Based on its plain language, the 1996 addition of FCRA
section 604(f) clearly imposes a strict prohibition on using or
obtaining a consumer report without a permissible purpose.\32\
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\29\ 15 U.S.C. 1681b(f). As noted above, FCRA section 607(a)
requires that a consumer reporting agency must, among other things,
require that prospective users of consumer reports ``certify the
purposes for which the information is sought, and certify that the
information will be used for no other purpose.'' 15 U.S.C. 1681e(a).
\30\ Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 1996, Public Law
104-208, Div. A, tit. II, sec. 2404.
\31\ See, e.g., Blumenfeld v. Regions Bank, No. 4:16-CV-01652-
ACA, 2018 WL 4216369, at *5 (N.D. Ala. 2018) (holding that ``[FCRA
section 604(f)] does not incorporate the `reason to believe'
language from [FCRA section 604(a)],'' and noting that the opinion
in Korotki v. Att'y Servs. Corp. Inc., 931 F. Supp. 1269, 1276 (D.
Md. 1996) (applying section 604(a)(3)'s ``reason to believe''
standard to users), was decided prior to the 1996 amendments to the
FCRA that added section 604(f)).
\32\ Pursuant to FCRA sections 616 and 617, a person is civilly
liable to a consumer for violations of section 604(f) if they have
negligently or willfully failed to comply with the requirement. 15
U.S.C. 1681n, 1681o.
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Users of consumer reports must ensure that they do not violate
consumer privacy by obtaining consumer reports when they lack a
permissible purpose for doing so. For example, in 2018 a company
settled Bureau allegations that it violated FCRA section 604(f) when
its agents obtained consumer reports for consumers who were not seeking
an extension of credit from the company and the company had no other
permissible purpose for the consumer reports it obtained.\33\ In some
instances, for example, the company's agents initiated credit
applications for the wrong consumer by incorrectly inputting consumer
information into the company's application system or by selecting the
wrong consumer from a list of possible consumers identified in the
system. When these applications were initiated in error, the company
obtained a consumer report for a consumer with respect to which it had
no permissible purpose, violating the FCRA's permissible purpose
provisions and the privacy of the consumers that were the subject of
those reports, and also generating an inquiry on the consumers' credit
reports.\34\
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\33\ In re State Farm Bank, FSB, 2018-CFPB-0009, at ]] 17-19
(Dec. 6, 2018), https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/bcfp_state-farm-bank_consent-order.pdf.
\34\ Id.
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II. Regulatory Matters
This advisory opinion is an interpretive rule issued under the
Bureau's authority to interpret the FCRA, including under section
1022(b)(1) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection
Act,\35\ which authorizes guidance as may be necessary or appropriate
to enable the Bureau to administer and carry out the purposes and
objectives of Federal consumer financial laws.\36\
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\35\ Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,
Public Law 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010).
\36\ 12 U.S.C. 5512(b)(1).
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As an interpretive rule, this advisory opinion is exempt from the
notice-and-comment rulemaking requirements of the Administrative
Procedure Act.\37\ Because no notice of proposed rulemaking is
required, the Regulatory Flexibility Act does not require an initial or
final regulatory flexibility analysis.\38\ The Bureau has also
determined that this advisory opinion does not impose any new or revise
any existing recordkeeping, reporting, or disclosure requirements on
covered entities or members of the public that would be collections of
information requiring approval by the Office of Management and Budget
under the Paperwork Reduction Act.\39\
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\37\ 5 U.S.C. 553(b).
\38\ 5 U.S.C. 603(a), 604(a).
\39\ 4 U.S.C. 3501-3521.
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Pursuant to the Congressional Review Act,\40\ the Bureau will
submit a report containing this interpretive rule and other required
information to the United States Senate, the United States House of
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior
to the rule's published effective date. The Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs has designated this interpretive rule as not a
``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
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\40\ 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.
Rohit Chopra,
Director, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2022-14823 Filed 7-11-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P