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($615 continued)

*(d) Except for information described in subsections (c), (d) and (e)

of section 609, a consumer reporting agency may not by contract or otherwise prohibit a user of any consumer report from disclosing the contents of a consumer report to the consumer to whom it relates."

(e)TM) No person shall be held hable for any violation of this section if be shows by a preponderance of the evidence that at the time of the alleged violation be maintained reasonable procedures to assure comphoner with the provisions of subsections (2), and (b) and (c)

"(f) Compliance with Section 6 (Notice of Adverse Credit Decision) and Section 7 (Consumer Access to Credit Information) of the Fair Credit Information Practices Act shall be deemed compliance with the requirements of this Section for any creditor subject to those provisions of the Fair Credit Information Practices Act.

"(g) Compliance with Section 8 (Adverse Underwriting Decision)

of the Fair Insurance Information Practices Act shall be deemed compliance with the requirements of this Section for insurance institutions subject to that provision of the Fair Insurance Information Practices Act."

"Section 616. Pretext interviews

"A consumer reporting agency may not use or authorize the use of interviews to obtain information about a consumer in which the interviewer (a) represents directly or by implication that he is someone he is not, (b) represents directly or by implication that he represents a person he is not in fact representing, (c) misrepresents the true purpose of the interview, or (d) upon request, refuses to identify or incorrectly or incompletely identifies himself, his employer, or the person requesting the report."

417

or any

other

person

"§646. Civil liability for willful noncompliance
(a)Any consumer reporting agency for weer of information which will-
fully fails to comply with any requirement imposed under this title
equal to the sum of –
with respect to any consumer is liable to that consunier in an amount

of the failure;
“(1) any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result

and

“(2) such amount of punitive damages as the court may allow;

"(3) in the case of any successful action to enforce any liability
under this section, the costs of the action together with reason-
able attorney's fees as determined by the court.

"(b) Any person which willfully obtains information on a consumer

from a consumer reporting agency for a purpose other than
those permitted by section 604 is liable to that consumer in
an amount equal to the sum of --

"(1) any actual damages sustained by the consumer, but not
less than $1,000 nor more than 10,000;

"(2) such amount of punitive damages as the court may allow;

and

"(3) in the case of any successful action to enforce any liability
under this section, the costs of the action together reasonable
attorney's fees as determined by the court."

618

"§67. Civil liability for uegligent noncompliance

or any other person

sformation which is

"Any consumer reporting agency -
negligent in failing to comply with any requirement imposed under
amount equal to the sum of-
this title with respect to any consumer is liable to that consumer in an

of the failure;
"(1) any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result

"(2) in the case of any successful action to enforce any liability
under this section, the costs of the action together with reason-
able attorney's fees as determined by the court.

619

"§. Jurisdiction of courts; limitation of actions

“An action to enforce any liability created under this title may be
brought in any appropriate United States district court without regard
to the amount in controversy, or in any other court of competent
jurisdiction, within two years from the date on which the liability
arises, except that where a defendant has materially and willfully mis-
represented any information required under this title to be disclosed to
an individual and the information so misrepresented is material to the
establishment of the defendant's hability to that individual under this
title, the action may be brought at any time within two years after
discovery by the individual of the misrepresentation.

or independent authorization service}

620

"§69. Obtaining information under false pretenses

or by deception or
false or fraudulent
(representation

"Any person who knowingly willbeedles obtains information on a
consumer from a consumer reporting agency under false pretenses shall
or both.
$10,000
be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than one year,

"Section 621. Alteration of consumer reports

"Any person who knowingly alters, forges, or counterfeits a
consumer report or a file on a consumer at a consumer reporting
agency or independent authorization service with the intent
to misrepresent the accuracy of a consumer report shall be
fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than
one year, or both; provided, however, that nothing in this section
shall prohibit a subscriber from changing information that it
originally submitted."

622

Ҥ620. Unauthorized disclosures by officers or employees

"Any officer or employee of a consumer reporting agency who
knowingly lásally provides information concerning an individual
from the agency's files to a person not authorized to receive that
more than one year or both.
information shall fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not

810,000

-or independent
authorization
service

service's

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"Section 623. Federal Reserve Board authority

"The Federal Reserve Board shall prepare a model summary of consumers'
rights under this Title, as required in sections 606(b)(4) and 610(e).
This summary shall include the consumer's right to a visual inspection
and a copy of his file, the consumer's right to a reinvestigation of
inaccurate information including the right to file a dispute statement,
and the remedies provided by this Title. Any person that provides
this summary of consumers' rights prepared by the Board shall be
deemed to be in compliance with sections 606(b)(4) and 610(e)."

624

"Sr. Administrative enforcement

"(a) Compliance with the requirements imposed under this title shall be enforced under the Federal Trade Commission Act by the Federal Trade Commission with respect to consumer reporting agencies and all other persons subject thereto, except to the extent that enforcement of the requirements imposed under this title is specifically committed to some other government agency under subsection (b) hereof. For the purpose of the exercise by the Federal Trade Commission of its functions and powers under the Federal Trade Commission Act, a violation of any requirement or proibition imposed under this title shall constitute an unfair or deceptive act or practice in commerce in violation of section 5 (a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act and shall be subject to enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission under section 5 (b) thereof with respect to any consumer reporting agency or person subject to enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission pursuant to this subsection, irrespective of whether that person is engaged in commerce or meets any other juris dictional tests in the Federal Trade Commission Act. The Federal Trade Commission shall have such procedural, investigative, and enforcement powers, including the power to issue procedural rules in enforcing compliance with the requirements imposed under this title and to require the filing of reports, the production of documents, and the appearance of witnesses as though the applicable terms and conditions of the Federal Trade Commission Act were part of this title Any person violating any of the provisions of this title shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act as though the applicable terms and provisions thereof were part of this title

and under the Fair Authorization Information Practices Act

the Fair
Authorisation
Information
Practices Act

der the Fair

ation ation Practices Act

(b) Compliance with the requirements imposed under this title with respect to consumer reporting agencies and persons who use consumer reports from such agencies shall be enforced under

of:

"(1) section 8 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Vet, in the case

"(A) national banks, by the Comptroller of the Currency;
"(15) member banks of the Federal Reserve System (other than
national banks). by the Federal Reserve Board: and

(C) banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corpora
tion (other than members of the Federal Reserve System), by the
Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
(2) section 5 (d) of the Home Owners Ioan Act of 1933, section
40% of the National Housing Act and sections 6 (i) and 17 of the
Federal Home Loan Bank Act, by the Federal Home Loan Bank
Board (acting directly or through the Federal Savings and Loan
hsurance Corporation), in the case of any institution subject to any
of those provisions.

(3) the Federal Credit Union Act, by the disintent of the National Credit Union Administration with respect to any Federal Board

credit union;

(4) the Acts to regulate commerce, by the Interstate Commerce Commission with respect to any common carrier subject to those

Acts:

(5) the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, by the Civil Aeronautics Board with respect to any air carrier or foreign air carrier subject to that Act: and

(6) the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (except as provided in
section 406 of that Act), by the Secretary of Agriculture with
respect to any activities subject to that Act.

"(e) For the purpose of the exercise by any agency referred to in
subsection (h) of its powers under any Act referred to in that sub-
section, a violation of any requirement imposed under this title shall
be deemed to be a violation of a requirement imposed under that Act.
In addition to its powers under any provision of law specifically
referred to in subsection (b), each of the agencies referred to in that
subsection may exercise, for the purpose of enforcing compliance with
any requirement imposed under this title any other authority con-
ferred on it by law.

independent authorization services,

or Federallyinsured

under the Fair Authorization Information Practices Act

[graphic]

625

"§622 Relation to State laws

"This title does not anuul, alter, affect, or exempt any person
subject to the provisions of this title from complying with the laws of
any State with respect to the collection, distribution, or use of any
information on consumers, except to the extent that those laws are
extent of the inconsistency."
inconsistent with any provision of this title and then only to the

The Federal Reserve Board is authorized

to determine whether such inconsistencies exist. The Board
may not determine that any State law is inconsistent with any
provision of this title or of the Fair Authorization Information
Practices Act if such law provides greater protection to the
consumer than this title or that Act and may be complied with
without violating this title or that Act.

or the Fair Authorization Information Practices Act

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This Section clarifies and extends some of the original FCRA definitions

and adds several others required by the broadened scope of the Act.

The definition of "consumer report" is expanded to make clear that it includes information regarding the consumer's check writing experiences for check authorization purposes. It also explicitly provides that information on a consumer's health constitutes a consumer report if used for the purposes listed in the Act.

The uses which make information a "consumer report" have been amended to encompass the permissible uses contained in the original Section 604(3). This technical change is required because the original definition in the Act refers to Section 604(3) and that Section is being revised by these amendments.

-

The original definition of "consumer report" excludes information about transactions between a creditor and consumer "first-hand" experiences. The definition is amended to make clear that this exclusion does not apply to information obtained by covert physical surveillance or to the results of polygraph examinations. Also, the amendment excludes a transfer of information to joint users of a consumer report as well as to subsequent purchasers of an obligation. Information reported to a guarantor, subsequent purchaser, coinsurer, or reinsurer is also excluded by the amendment.

The amended definition provides that information collected and expected

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