15 U.S.C. § 1681j: Charges for certain disclosures

All consumer reporting agencies described in subsections (p) and (w) 1 of 1 See References in Text note below. 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. 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. The Commission 2 shall prescribe regulations applicable to each consumer reporting agency described in section 1681a(w) 2 So in original. Probably should be “Bureau”. 1 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. the significant demands that may be placed on consumer reporting agencies in providing such consumer reports; 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 the ease by which consumers should be able to contact consumer reporting agencies with respect to access to such consumer reports. The Commission 2 shall issue the regulations required by this subparagraph in final form not later than 6 months after December 4, 2003 . shall be established after consideration of the ability of each nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency to comply with subsection (a); and 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 Bureau determines appropriate). 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). 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. 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. 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 . is unemployed and intends to apply for employment in the 60-day period beginning on the date on which the certification is made; is a recipient of public welfare assistance; or has reason to believe that the file on the consumer at the agency contains inaccurate information due to fraud. 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. 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). shall not exceed $8; and shall be indicated to the consumer before making the disclosure; and shall not exceed the charge that the agency would impose on each designated recipient for a consumer report; and shall be indicated to the consumer before furnishing such information. The Bureau 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. Subject to rulemaking pursuant to section 205(b) of the Credit CARD Act of 2009, any advertisement for a free credit report in any medium shall prominently disclose in such advertisement that free credit reports are available under Federal law at: “AnnualCreditReport.com” (or such other source as may be authorized under Federal law). In the case of an advertisement broadcast by television, the disclosures required under paragraph (1) shall be included in the audio and visual part of such advertisement. In the case of an advertisement broadcast by televison 3 or radio, the disclosure required under paragraph (1) shall consist only of the following: “This is not the free credit report provided for by Federal law”. 3 So in original. Probably should be “television”. Not later than 9 months after the date of enactment of this Act [ May 22, 2009 ], the Federal Trade Commission shall issue a final rule to carry out this section. shall include specific wording to be used in advertisements in accordance with this section; and for advertisements on the Internet, shall include whether the disclosure required under section 612(g)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [ 15 U.S.C. 1681j(g)(1) ] (as added by this section) shall appear on the advertisement or the website on which the free credit report is made available. If an advertisement subject to section 612(g) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [ 15 U.S.C. 1681j(g) ], as added by this section, is made public after the 9-month deadline specified in paragraph (1), but before the rule required by paragraph (1) is finalized, such advertisement shall include the disclosure: ‘Free credit reports are available under Federal law at: “AnnualCreditReport.com”.’ ” a centralized source through which consumers may obtain a consumer report from each such consumer reporting agency, using a single request, and without charge to the consumer, as provided in section 612(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [ 15 U.S.C. 1681j(a) ] (as amended by this section); and a standardized form for a consumer to make such a request for a consumer report by mail or through an Internet website. the significant demands that may be placed on consumer reporting agencies in providing such consumer reports; 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 the ease by which consumers should be able to contact consumer reporting agencies with respect to access to such consumer reports. a toll-free telephone number for such purpose; use of an Internet website for such purpose; and a process for requests by mail for such purpose. does not temporarily overwhelm such consumer reporting agencies with requests for disclosures of consumer reports beyond their capacity to deliver; and does not deny creditors, other users, and consumers access to consumer reports on a time-sensitive basis for specific purposes, such as home purchases or suspicions of identity theft, during the transition period. be issued in final form not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act [ Dec. 4, 2003 ]; and become effective not later than 6 months after the date on which they are issued in final form. The Bureau shall, by rule, determine whether to require a consumer reporting agency that compiles and maintains files on consumers on substantially a nationwide basis, other than one described in section 603(p) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [ 15 U.S.C. 1681a(p) ], to make free consumer reports available upon consumer request, and if so, whether such consumer reporting agencies should make such free reports available through the centralized source described in paragraph (1)(A). the number of requests for consumer reports to, and the number of consumer reports generated by, the consumer reporting agency, in comparison with consumer reporting agencies described in subsections (p) and (w) [now (x)] of section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [ 15 U.S.C. 1681a(p) , (w) [x]]; the overall scope of the operations of the consumer reporting agency; the needs of consumers for access to consumer reports provided by consumer reporting agencies free of charge; the costs of providing access to consumer reports by consumer reporting agencies free of charge; and the effects on the ongoing competitive viability of such consumer reporting agencies if such free access is required.”