WASHINGTON–The Federal Trade Commission has approved final revisions that would bring several rules that implement parts of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) in line with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
In separate notices, which will be published in the Federal Register shortly, the FTC said it approved the largely technical changes to clarify that five FCRA rules enforced by the FTC apply only to motor vehicle dealers.
The Dodd-Frank Act, enacted in 2010, transferred rulemaking authority related to parts of the FCRA to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, narrowing the FTC’s FCRA rulemaking authority, the agency noted.
The Affected Rules
The final revisions do not make substantive changes to the rules, but according to the FTC, the changes affect these rules:
- Address Discrepancy Rule, which outlines the obligations of users of consumer reports when they receive a notice of address discrepancy from a nationwide consumer reporting agency (CRA)
- Affiliate Marketing Rule, which gives consumers the right to restrict a person from using certain information obtained from an affiliate to make solicitations to the consumer
- Furnisher Rule, which requires entities that furnish information to CRAs to establish and implement reasonable written policies and procedures regarding the accuracy and integrity of the information relating to consumers provided to a CRA
- Pre-screen Opt-Out Notice Rule, which outlines requirements for those who use consumer report information to make unsolicited credit or insurance offers to consumers
- Risk-Based Pricing Rule, which requires those who use information from a consumer report to offer less favorable terms to consumers to provide them with a notice about the use of such data
Additional Changes
In addition to the technical changes to the five rules, the Pre-Screen Opt-Out Rule also added the web address where consumers can opt-out of credit offers to the model notices that motor vehicle dealers can use, the agency added, while the Risk-Based Pricing Rule also was updated to include examples that reflect its narrower scope to just motor vehicle dealers.