REQUIREMENT TO DISCLOSE COMMUNICATIONS TO A CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY.

SEC. 217. REQUIREMENT TO DISCLOSE COMMUNICATIONS TO A CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY.(a) In General.—Section 623(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(a)) as amended by this Act, is amended by inserting after paragraph (6), the following new paragraph:“(7) Negative information.—“(A) Notice to consumer required.—“(i) In general.—If any financial institution that extends credit and regularly and in the ordinary course of business furnishes information to a consumer reporting agency described in section 603(p) furnishes negative information to such an agency regarding credit extended to a customer, the financial institution shall provide a notice of such furnishing of negative information, in writing, to the customer.“(ii) Notice effective for subsequent submissions.—After providing such notice, the financial institution may submit additional negative information to a consumer reporting agency described in section 603(p) with respect to the same transaction, extension of credit, account, or customer without providing additional notice to the customer.“(B) Time of notice.—“(i) In general.—The notice required under subparagraph (A) shall be provided to the customer prior to, or no later than 30 days after, furnishing 117 STAT. 1987 the negative information to a consumer reporting agency described in section 603(p).“(ii) Coordination with new account disclosures.—If the notice is provided to the customer prior to furnishing the negative information to a consumer reporting agency, the notice may not be included in the initial disclosures provided under section 127(a) of the Truth in Lending Act.“(C) Coordination with other disclosures.—The notice required under subparagraph (A)—“(i) may be included on or with any notice of default, any billing statement, or any other materials provided to the customer; and“(ii) must be clear and conspicuous.“(D) Model disclosure.—“(i) Duty of board to prepare.—The Board shall prescribe a brief model disclosure a financial institution may use to comply with subparagraph (A), which shall not exceed 30 words.“(ii) Use of model not required.—No provision of this paragraph shall be construed as requiring a financial institution to use any such model form prescribed by the Board.“(iii) Compliance using model.—A financial institution shall be deemed to be in compliance with subparagraph (A) if the financial institution uses any such model form prescribed by the Board, or the financial institution uses any such model form and rearranges its format.“(E) Use of notice without submitting negative information.—No provision of this paragraph shall be construed as requiring a financial institution that has provided a customer with a notice described in subparagraph (A) to furnish negative information about the customer to a consumer reporting agency.“(F) Safe harbor.—A financial institution shall not be liable for failure to perform the duties required by this paragraph if, at the time of the failure, the financial institution maintained reasonable policies and procedures to comply with this paragraph or the financial institution reasonably believed that the institution is prohibited, by law, from contacting the consumer.“(G) Definitions.—For purposes of this paragraph, the following definitions shall apply:“(i) Negative information.—The term ‘negative information’ means information concerning a customer’s delinquencies, late payments, insolvency, or any form of default.“(ii) Customer; financial institution.—The terms ‘customer’ and ‘financial institution’ have the same meanings as in section 509 Public Law 106–102.”.(b) Model Disclosure Form.—Before the end of the 6-month period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Board shall adopt the model disclosure required under the amendment 117 STAT. 1988 made by subsection (a) after notice duly given in the Federal Register and an opportunity for public comment in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code.