GovTrack’s Bill Summary
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S. 3987 (111th): Red Flag Program Clarification Act of 2010
- Introduced:
- Nov 30, 2010 (111th Congress, 2009–2010)
- Sponsor:
- Sen. John Thune [R-SD]
- Status:
- Signed by the President
- Slip Law:
- This bill became Pub.L. 111-319.
The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. S. stands for Senate bill.
Library of Congress Summary
The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.
12/18/2010. Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act, with respect to federal agency (red flag) guidelines regarding identity theft and the users of consumer reports, to define creditor to mean one that regularly and in the ordinary course of business: (1) obtains or uses consumer reports, directly or indirectly, in connection with a credit transaction; (2) furnishes information to certain consumer reporting agencies in connection with a credit transaction; or (3) advances funds to or on behalf of a person, based on the person's obligation to repay the funds or on repayment from specific property pledged by or on the person's behalf. Includes in the definition any other type of creditor as the federal agency (banking agency, National Credit Union Administration, or the Federal Trade Commission [FTC]) having authority over that creditor may determine appropriate, if the creditor offers or maintains accounts subject to a reasonably foreseeable risk of identity theft. Excludes from the definition of creditor, however, any creditor that advances funds on behalf of a person for expenses incidental to a service the creditor provides to that person.
House Republican Conference Summary
The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/111/2/s3987.
Background
Many businesses such as doctor’s offices, law firms, and veterinary clinics were inadvertently subjected to a rule (the “Red Flag” rule) promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. This rule, if enforced, would have required a small business that extends credit incidental to the delivery of its service, such as a doctor providing medical care in exchange for future payment, to comply with identity theft prevention guidelines, resulting in a potentially unnecessary cost burden. The FTC has delayed the final rule until the end of 2010 so as to allow Congress to legislatively clarify which entities should be should be covered as “creditors.” Similar legislation, H.R. 3763, passed the House on October 20, 2009, by a vote of 400-0.
Summary
S. 3987 would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) with respect to the applicability of identity theft protection programs required of creditors. Solely for the purposes of implementing the "red flag" rules under FCRA, the bill would narrow the definition of the term “creditor” to include only entities that that use consumer reports, furnish information to consumer reporting agencies, or to others who extend credit.
Cost
There is no CBO cost estimate for this legislation as of press time.
House Democratic Caucus Summary
The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.
So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.
We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.
The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:
United States Code
The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)
- Title 15: COMMERCE AND TRADE
- Chapter 41: CONSUMER CREDIT PROTECTION
- Subchapter III: CREDIT REPORTING AGENCIES
- Section 1681m: Requirements on users of consumer reports
- Subchapter IV: EQUAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY
- Section 1691a: Definitions; rules of construction