FACT Act

PL 108-159 (HR 2622) 117 Stat 1952

December 4, 2003

FAIR AND ACCURATE CREDIT TRANSACTIONS ACT OF 2003

SEC. 114. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROCEDURES FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF POSSIBLE INSTANCES OF IDENTITY THEFT.

Section 615 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681m) is amended--
(1) by striking "(e)" at the end; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
"(e) RED FLAG GUIDELINES AND REGULATIONS REQUIRED.--
"(1) GUIDELINES.--The Federal banking agencies, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Commission shall jointly, with respect to the entities that are subject to their respective enforcement authority under section 621--
"(A) establish and maintain guidelines for use by each financial institution and each creditor regarding identity theft with respect to account holders at, or customers of, such entities, and update such guidelines as often as necessary;
"(B) prescribe regulations requiring each financial institution and each creditor to establish reasonable policies and procedures for implementing the guidelines established pursuant to subparagraph (A), to identify possible risks to account holders or customers or to the safety and soundness of the institution or customers; and
"(C) prescribe regulations applicable to card issuers to ensure that, if a card issuer receives notification of a change of address for an existing account, and within a short period of time (during at least the first 30 days after such notification is received) receives a request for an additional or replacement card for the same account, the card issuer may not issue the additional or replacement card, unless the card issuer, in accordance with reasonable policies and procedures--
"(i) notifies the cardholder of the request at the former address of the cardholder and provides to the cardholder a means of promptly reporting incorrect address changes;
"(ii) notifies the cardholder of the request by such other means of communication as the cardholder and the card issuer previously agreed to; or
"(iii) uses other means of assessing the validity of the change of address, in accordance with reasonable policies and procedures established by the card issuer in accordance with the regulations prescribed under subparagraph (B).
"(2) CRITERIA.--
"(A) IN GENERAL.--In developing the guidelines required by paragraph (1)(A), the agencies described in paragraph (1) shall identify patterns, practices, and specific forms of activity that indicate the possible existence of identity theft.
"(B) INACTIVE ACCOUNTS.--In developing the guidelines required by paragraph (1)(A), the agencies described in paragraph (1) shall consider including reasonable guidelines providing that when a transaction occurs with respect *1961 to a credit or deposit account that has been inactive for more than 2 years, the creditor or financial institution shall follow reasonable policies and procedures that provide for notice to be given to a consumer in a manner reasonably designed to reduce the likelihood of identity theft with respect to such account.
"(3) CONSISTENCY WITH VERIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.--Guidelines established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not be inconsistent with the policies and procedures required under section 5318(l) of title 31, United States Code.".

<< 15 USCA § 1681g >>

SEC. 315. RECONCILING ADDRESSES.

Section 605 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c), as amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following:
"(h) NOTICE OF DISCREPANCY IN ADDRESS.--
"(1) IN GENERAL.--If a person has requested a consumer report relating to a consumer from a consumer reporting agency described in section 603(p), the request includes an address for the consumer that substantially differs from the addresses in the file of the consumer, and the agency provides a consumer report in response to the request, the consumer reporting agency shall notify the requester of the existence of the discrepancy.
"(2) REGULATIONS.--
"(A) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.--The Federal banking agencies, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Commission shall jointly, with respect to the entities that are subject to their respective enforcement authority under section 621, prescribe regulations providing guidance regarding reasonable policies and procedures that a user of a consumer report should employ when such user has received a notice of discrepancy under paragraph (1).
"(B) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TO BE INCLUDED.--The regulations prescribed under subparagraph (A) shall describe reasonable policies and procedures for use by a user of a consumer report--
"(i) to form a reasonable belief that the user knows the identity of the person to whom the consumer report pertains; and
"(ii) if the user establishes a continuing relationship with the consumer, and the user regularly and in the ordinary course of business furnishes information to the consumer reporting agency from which the notice of discrepancy pertaining to the consumer was obtained, to reconcile the address of the consumer with the consumer reporting agency by furnishing such address to such consumer reporting agency as part of information regularly furnished by the user for the period in which the relationship is established.".

<< 15 USCA § 1681i >>