15 U.S.C. § 1681j : US Code - Section 1681J: Charges for certain disclosures

Search 15 U.S.C. § 1681j : US Code - Section 1681J: Charges for certain disclosures

(a) Free annual disclosure
(1) Nationwide consumer reporting agencies
(A) In general
All consumer reporting agencies described in subsections (p)
and (w) of section 1681a of this title shall make all
disclosures pursuant to section 1681g of this title once during
any 12-month period upon request of the consumer and without
charge to the consumer.
(B) Centralized source
Subparagraph (A) shall apply with respect to a consumer
reporting agency described in section 1681a(p) of this title
only if the request from the consumer is made using the
centralized source established for such purpose in accordance
with section 211(c) (!1) of the Fair and Accurate Credit
Transactions Act of 2003.
(C) Nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency
(i) In general
The Commission shall prescribe regulations applicable to
each consumer reporting agency described in section 1681a(w)
of this title to require the establishment of a streamlined
process for consumers to request consumer reports under
subparagraph (A), which shall include, at a minimum, the
establishment by each such agency of a toll-free telephone
number for such requests.
(ii) Considerations
In prescribing regulations under clause (i), the Commission
shall consider -
(I) the significant demands that may be placed on
consumer reporting agencies in providing such consumer
reports;
(II) appropriate means to ensure that consumer reporting
agencies can satisfactorily meet those demands, including
the efficacy of a system of staggering the availability to
consumers of such consumer reports; and
(III) the ease by which consumers should be able to
contact consumer reporting agencies with respect to access
to such consumer reports.
(iii) Date of issuance
The Commission shall issue the regulations required by this
subparagraph in final form not later than 6 months after
December 4, 2003.
(iv) Consideration of ability to comply
The regulations of the Commission under this subparagraph
shall establish an effective date by which each nationwide
specialty consumer reporting agency (as defined in section
1681a(w) of this title) shall be required to comply with
subsection (a) of this section, which effective date -
(I) shall be established after consideration of the
ability of each nationwide specialty consumer reporting
agency to comply with subsection (a) of this section; and
(II) shall be not later than 6 months after the date on
which such regulations are issued in final form (or such
additional period not to exceed 3 months, as the Commission
determines appropriate).
(2) Timing
A consumer reporting agency shall provide a consumer report
under paragraph (1) not later than 15 days after the date on
which the request is received under paragraph (1).
(3) Reinvestigations
Notwithstanding the time periods specified in section
1681i(a)(1) of this title, a reinvestigation under that section
by a consumer reporting agency upon a request of a consumer that
is made after receiving a consumer report under this subsection
shall be completed not later than 45 days after the date on which
the request is received.
(4) Exception for first 12 months of operation
This subsection shall not apply to a consumer reporting agency
that has not been furnishing consumer reports to third parties on
a continuing basis during the 12-month period preceding a request
under paragraph (1), with respect to consumers residing
nationwide.
(b) Free disclosure after adverse notice to consumer
Each consumer reporting agency that maintains a file on a
consumer shall make all disclosures pursuant to section 1681g of
this title without charge to the consumer if, not later than 60
days after receipt by such consumer of a notification pursuant to
section 1681m of this title, or of a notification from a debt
collection agency affiliated with that consumer reporting agency
stating that the consumer's credit rating may be or has been
adversely affected, the consumer makes a request under section
1681g of this title.
(c) Free disclosure under certain other circumstances
Upon the request of the consumer, a consumer reporting agency
shall make all disclosures pursuant to section 1681g of this title
once during any 12-month period without charge to that consumer if
the consumer certifies in writing that the consumer -
(1) is unemployed and intends to apply for employment in the 60-
day period beginning on the date on which the certification is
made;
(2) is a recipient of public welfare assistance; or
(3) has reason to believe that the file on the consumer at the
agency contains inaccurate information due to fraud.
(d) Free disclosures in connection with fraud alerts
Upon the request of a consumer, a consumer reporting agency
described in section 1681a(p) of this title shall make all
disclosures pursuant to section 1681g of this title without charge
to the consumer, as provided in subsections (a)(2) and (b)(2) of
section 1681c-1 of this title, as applicable.
(e) Other charges prohibited
A consumer reporting agency shall not impose any charge on a
consumer for providing any notification required by this subchapter
or making any disclosure required by this subchapter, except as
authorized by subsection (f) of this section.
(f) Reasonable charges allowed for certain disclosures
(1) In general
In the case of a request from a consumer other than a request
that is covered by any of subsections (a) through (d) of this
section, a consumer reporting agency may impose a reasonable
charge on a consumer -
(A) for making a disclosure to the consumer pursuant to
section 1681g of this title, which charge -
(i) shall not exceed $8; and
(ii) shall be indicated to the consumer before making the
disclosure; and
(B) for furnishing, pursuant to section 1681i(d) of this
title, following a reinvestigation under section 1681i(a) of
this title, a statement, codification, or summary to a person
designated by the consumer under that section after the 30-day
period beginning on the date of notification of the consumer
under paragraph (6) or (8) of section 1681i(a) of this title
with respect to the reinvestigation, which charge -
(i) shall not exceed the charge that the agency would
impose on each designated recipient for a consumer report;
and
(ii) shall be indicated to the consumer before furnishing
such information.
(2) Modification of amount
The Federal Trade Commission shall increase the amount referred
to in paragraph (1)(A)(i) on January 1 of each year, based
proportionally on changes in the Consumer Price Index, with
fractional changes rounded to the nearest fifty cents.