View original document

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

l l★K

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
2200 N. PEARL ST.
DALLAS, TX 75201-2272

June 22, 2004

Notice 04-33

TO: The Chief Executive Officer of each
financial institution and others concerned
in the Eleventh Federal Reserve District

SUBJECT
Revisions to Regulation V (Fair Credit Reporting Act)
DETAILS
The Board of Governors has published revisions to Regulation V, which implements
the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The revisions add model notices that financial
institutions may use to comply with the notice requirement relating to furnishing negative
information contained in section 217 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003
(FACT Act).
Section 217 of the FACT Act amends the FCRA to provide that if any financial
institution extends credit and regularly and in the ordinary course of business furnishes
information to a nationwide consumer reporting agency, and furnishes negative information to
such an agency regarding credit extended to a customer, the institution must provide a clear and
conspicuous notice about furnishing negative information, in writing, to the customer. Section
217 defines the term “financial institution” to have the same meaning as in the privacy
provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. The Board’s model notices may be used by all
financial institutions, as defined by section 217. The rule becomes effective July 16, 2004.
ATTACHMENT
A copy of the Board’s notice as it appears on pages 33281–85, Vol. 69, No. 114 of the
Federal Register dated June 15, 2004, is attached.

For additional copies, bankers and others are encouraged to use one of the following toll-free numbers in contacting the Federal
Reserve Bank of Dallas: Dallas Office (800) 333-4460; El Paso Branch Intrastate (800) 592-1631, Interstate (800) 351-1012;
Houston Branch Intrastate (800) 392-4162, Interstate (800) 221-0363; San Antonio Branch Intrastate (800) 292-5810.

-2MORE INFORMATION
For more information, please contact Eugene Coy at (214) 922-6201 or Diane van
Gelder at (214) 922-6282, Banking Supervision Department. Paper copies of this notice or
previous Federal Reserve Bank notices can be printed from our web site at www.dallasfed.org/
banking/notices/index.html.

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 114 / Tuesday, June 15, 2004 / Rules and Regulations
FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
12 CFR Part 222
[Regulation V; Docket No. R–1187]

Fair Credit Reporting Act
Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:

SUMMARY: The Board is publishing
revisions to Regulation V, which
implements the Fair Credit Reporting
Act. The revisions add model notices
that financial institutions may use to
comply with the notice requirement
relating to furnishing negative
information contained in section 217 of
the Fair and Accurate Credit
Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act).
Section 217 of the FACT Act amends
the FCRA to provide that if any
financial institution extends credit and
regularly and in the ordinary course of
business furnishes information to a
nationwide consumer reporting agency,
and furnishes negative information to
such an agency regarding credit
extended to a customer, the institution
must provide a clear and conspicuous
notice about furnishing negative
information, in writing, to the customer.
Section 217 defines the term ‘‘financial
institution’’ to have the same meaning
as in the privacy provisions of the
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. The Board’s
model notices may be used by all
financial institutions, as defined by
section 217.
DATES: The rule is effective July 16,
2004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Krista P. DeLargy, Senior Attorney, or
David A. Stein, Counsel, Division of
Consumer and Community Affairs, at
(202) 452–3667 or 452–2412; or Thomas
E. Scanlon, Counsel, Legal Division, at
(202) 452–3594; for users of
Telecommunications Device for the Deaf
(‘‘TDD’’) only, contact (202) 263–4869.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background
On December 4, 2003, the President
signed into law the FACT Act, which
amends the FCRA. Pub. L. 108–159, 117
Stat. 1952. In general, the FACT Act
enhances the ability of consumers to
combat identity theft, increases the
accuracy of consumer reports, and
allows consumers to exercise greater
control regarding the type and amount
of marketing solicitations they receive.
The FACT Act also restricts the use and
disclosure of sensitive medical
information. To bolster efforts to
improve financial literacy among

VerDate jul<14>2003

16:09 Jun 14, 2004

Jkt 203001

PO 00000

Frm 00011

Fmt 4700

Sfmt 4700

33281

consumers, the FACT Act creates a new
Financial Literacy and Education
Commission empowered to take
appropriate actions to improve the
financial literacy and education
programs, grants, and materials of the
Federal government. Lastly, the FACT
Act establishes uniform national
standards in key areas of regulation
regarding consumer report information.
Section 217 of the FACT Act requires
that if any financial institution (1)
extends credit and regularly and in the
ordinary course of business furnishes
information to a nationwide consumer
reporting agency, and (2) furnishes
negative information to such an agency
regarding credit extended to a customer,
the institution must provide a clear and
conspicuous notice about furnishing
negative information, in writing, to the
customer. Section 217 defines the term
‘‘negative information’’ to mean
information concerning a customer’s
delinquencies, late payments,
insolvency, or any form of default. The
term ‘‘credit’’ is defined under the
FACT Act to have the same meaning as
in section 702 of the Equal Credit
Opportunity Act, which defines
‘‘credit’’ to mean ‘‘the right granted by
a creditor to a debtor to defer payment
of debt or to incur debt and defer its
payment or to purchase property or
services and defer payment therefor.’’ 15
U.S.C. 1691a. The provisions in Section
217 will become effective December 1,
2004. 69 FR 6526, (February 11, 2004).
Section 217 specifies that an
institution must provide the required
notice to the customer prior to, or no
later than 30 days after, furnishing the
negative information to a nationwide
consumer reporting agency. After
providing the notice, the institution may
submit additional negative information
to a nationwide consumer reporting
agency with respect to the same
transaction, extension of credit, account,
or customer without providing
additional notice to the customer. If a
financial institution has provided a
customer with a notice prior to the
furnishing of negative information, the
institution is not required to furnish
negative information about the customer
to a nationwide consumer reporting
agency. A financial institution generally
may provide the notice about furnishing
negative information on or with any
notice of default, any billing statement,
or any other materials provided to the
customer, so long as the notice is clear
and conspicuous. Section 217
specifically provides, however, that the
notice may not be included in the initial
disclosures provided under section
127(a) of the Truth in Lending Act (15
U.S.C. 1637(a)).

E:\FR\FM\15JNR1.SGM

15JNR1

33282

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 114 / Tuesday, June 15, 2004 / Rules and Regulations

Section 217 also provides a safe
harbor for institutions concerning their
efforts to comply with the notice
requirement. Section 217 provides that
a financial institution shall not be liable
for failure to perform the duties required
by this section if, at the time of the
failure, the institution maintained
reasonable policies and procedures to
comply with the section or the
institution reasonably believed that the
institution was prohibited by law from
contacting the customer.
Under section 217, the term ‘‘financial
institution’’ is defined broadly to have
the same meaning as in section 509 of
the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB Act),
which generally defines financial
institution to mean ‘‘any institution the
business of which is engaging in
financial activities as described in
section 4(k) of the Bank Holding
Company Act of 1956,’’ whether or not
affiliated with a bank. 15 U.S.C. 6809(3).
Thus, the term ‘‘financial institution’’
includes not only institutions regulated
by the Board and other federal banking
agencies, but also includes other
financial entities, such as merchant
creditors and debt collectors that extend
credit and report negative information.
16 CFR 313.3(k), 65 FR 33646, 33655
(May 24, 2000).
Section 217 requires the Board to
publish, after notice and comment, a
concise model notice not to exceed 30
words in length that financial
institutions may, but are not required to,
use to comply with the notice
requirement. Under section 217, a
financial institution shall be deemed to
be in compliance with the notice
requirement if the institution uses the
Board’s model notice, or uses the model
notice and rearranges its format.
In April 2004, the Board issued the
following proposed model notice: ‘‘We
[may provide]/[have provided]
information to credit bureaus about an
insolvency, delinquency, late payment,
or default on your account to include in
your credit report.’’ 69 FR 19123 (April
12, 2004). The Board received
approximately 50 comment letters in
response to the proposal. Around 40
letters were submitted by financial
institutions and their representatives.
One letter was received from consumer
representatives, two letters from
government entities, and six letters from
individuals.
II. Comments Received
Comments on the Model Notice
Most commenters suggested that the
Board revise the model notice language
to enhance the readability and clarity of
the disclosure for consumers. In light of

VerDate jul<14>2003

16:09 Jun 14, 2004

Jkt 203001

these comments and its own analysis,
the Board has revised the language of
the model notice to make the disclosure
more understandable to consumers. As
discussed in more detail below, the final
rule provides two model notices—one
that may be used by a financial
institution if the institution provides the
notice in advance of providing negative
information to a consumer reporting
agency, and one that can be used if an
institution provides the notice after
providing negative information to a
consumer reporting agency. The Board
found it more useful to craft a precise,
focused notice for each situation, rather
than providing one model notice for use
in both situations.
Several commenters also requested
additional guidance from the Board on
use of the model notices. Several
commenters asked the Board to
incorporate into the regulation the safe
harbor for use of the model notice that
is contained in section 217. The safe
harbor in section 217 essentially
provides that a financial institution
shall be deemed to be in compliance
with the notice requirement relating to
furnishing negative information if the
institution uses the model notice issued
by the Board, or uses such model notice
and rearranges its format. Several
commenters also requested guidance on
how financial institutions may rearrange
the format of the model notice without
losing the safe harbor from liability
provided by the model notice. The
Board has incorporated the safe harbor
into the text of the regulation, and has
provided additional guidance on use of
the model notices.
Comments on Other Substantive Issues
Many commenters also asked the
Board to provide guidance on a number
of substantive issues raised by section
217 that are not related to the contents
of the model notice. For example,
several commenters asked the Board to
clarify issues relating to existing
customers, such as whether the notice
should be given to existing customers,
or whether a substantially similar notice
previously given to existing customers
is sufficient to satisfy the notice
requirement. In addition, some
commenters asked the Board to clarify
the timing of the notice. Consumer
groups asked the Board to make clear
that the notice may only be sent to
consumers about whom there is
negative information that the financial
institution either intends to send to
credit bureaus or has sent to credit
bureaus. On the other hand, several
industry commenters wanted
clarification that the notice may be
delivered at any time prior to the

PO 00000

Frm 00012

Fmt 4700

Sfmt 4700

furnishing of negative information, and
may be included on credit applications,
loan closing documents, or with
periodic notices (such as a privacy
notice).
The final rule does not address
substantive issues raised by commenters
that are not related to the contents of the
model notice. Such issues are beyond
the scope of this rulemaking. Under
section 217, the Board was given
authority to issue model notices, and
certain guidance relating to the model
notices, but was not given the authority
to issue general regulations
implementing section 217. Section
621(e) of the FCRA provides the banking
agencies (the Board, the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation and the
Office of Thrift Supervision) with the
authority to prescribe joint regulations
necessary to carry out the purposes of
the FCRA, including section 217 which
amends the FCRA. 15 U.S.C. 1681s(e).
The Board will share with the other
banking agencies the comments the
Board received on substantive issues not
related to the contents of the model
notice.
III. Section by Section Analysis
Section 222.1 Purpose, Scope, and
Effective Dates
The Board proposed paragraph
222.1(b)(2) to clarify the scope of the
Board’s Regulation V, which
implements the FCRA. Generally, the
Board’s Regulation V covers the
institutions under the Board’s
jurisdiction. 15 U.S.C. 1681s(e).
Nonetheless, the Board proposed
paragraph (b)(2) to specify that the
Board’s model notice in Appendix B
relating to furnishing of negative
information may be used by all financial
institutions (as that term is defined in
section 509 of the GLB Act) to comply
with the notice requirement contained
in section 217 of the FACT Act. The
Board received no comments on the
proposed paragraph 222.1(b)(2). The
Board is adopting this provision with
several technical revisions. The Board
has revised paragraph (b)(2)(i) to reflect
more accurately the institution’s under
the Board’s jurisdiction. In addition, the
Board has revised paragraph (b)(2)(ii) to
pluralize the reference to model notices.
Appendix B—Model Notice of
Furnishing Negative Information
The Board proposed the following
model notice that financial institutions
may use to comply with the notice
requirement under section 217 of the
FACT Act: ‘‘We [may provide]/[have
provided] information to credit bureaus

E:\FR\FM\15JNR1.SGM

15JNR1

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 114 / Tuesday, June 15, 2004 / Rules and Regulations
about an insolvency, delinquency, late
payment, or default on your account to
include in your credit report.’’ 69 FR
19123 (April 12, 2004).
Model Notice Language
Most commenters suggested that the
Board revise the model notice language
to enhance the readability and clarity of
the disclosure for consumers. Many
commenters provided suggested
language on how the model notice
should be revised to achieve this goal.
In light of these comments and its own
analysis, the Board has revised the
language of the model notice to make
the disclosure more useful and more
understandable to consumers.
Appendix B provides two model
notices. Model Notice B–1 may be used
by financial institutions that give the
notice prior to furnishing negative
information to a consumer reporting
agency. This model notice reads: ‘‘We
may report information about your
account to credit bureaus. Late
payments, missed payments, or other
defaults on your account may be
reflected in your credit report.’’ This
model notice has a Flesch readability
score of 52.1, and a Flesch-Kincaid
grade level score of 9.3. (The proposed
model notice has a Flesch readability
score of 27.5, and a Flesch-Kincaid
grade level score of 12.0.) Model Notice
B–2 may be used by financial
institutions that give the notice after
furnishing negative information to a
consumer reporting agency. This model
notice reads: ‘‘We have told a credit
bureau about a late payment, missed
payment or other default on your
account. This information may be
reflected in your credit report.’’ This
model notice has a Flesch readability
score of 58.3, and a Flesch-Kincaid
grade level score of 8.4.
In commenting on the proposed
model notice, both consumer groups
and industry commenters believed that
the terms ‘‘delinquency’’ and
‘‘insolvency’’ are not readily
understandable to consumers. In
addition, several industry commenters
noted that they were not aware that
financial institutions furnished
information about ‘‘insolvency’’ of a
customer to credit bureaus. Several
industry commenters suggested that the
model notice should simply use the
terms ‘‘late payment’’ and ‘‘default’’
because they believed those terms are
understandable to consumers, and
would be sufficient to convey to the
customer the types of negative
information that the furnisher may
provide. Consumer groups suggested
including the language ‘‘late payments,
missed payments, or partial payments,

VerDate jul<14>2003

16:09 Jun 14, 2004

Jkt 203001

other default or bankruptcy’’ as specific
examples of the negative information
furnished by financial institutions.
Model Notices B–1 and B–2 use the
terms ‘‘late payment(s),’’ ‘‘missed
payment(s),’’ and ‘‘other default(s).’’ The
Board believes that these terms are
understandable to consumers, and
adequately convey to customers the
types of negative information that
furnishers may provide to consumer
reporting agencies.
Several industry commenters also
believed that the proposed language
may imply to customers that a financial
institution only provides information
about an ‘‘insolvency, delinquency, late
payment, or default’’ to a consumer
reporting agency. These commenters
pointed out that many financial
institutions report more than these four
types of information to consumer
reporting agencies; many institutions
furnish both positive and negative
information on accounts. These
commenters suggested that the Board
adopt model notice language that more
accurately reflects the nature of a
financial institution’s likely behavior
with respect to furnishing information
to consumer reporting agencies. As
revised, the Board believes that the
language of Model Notice B–1 no longer
suggests that a financial institution only
provides information about ‘‘insolvency,
delinquency, late payment, or default’’
to a consumer reporting agency.
Several industry commenters
suggested that the Board delete the last
clause—‘‘to include in your credit
report’’—from the proposed model
notice because the furnisher of negative
information is not responsible for
deciding whether such information is,
in fact, included in the relevant credit
reports. The Board has revised the
language of Model Notices B–1 and B–
2 so the model notices no longer imply
that negative information will be
included in the credit report.
Nonetheless, these model notices still
include a reference to a customer’s
credit report—indicating that negative
information may be reflected in the
customer’s credit report. The Board
believes that it is important to alert
customers to the possible consequences
of negative information being furnished
to credit bureaus.
Several industry commenters asked
the Board to provide multiple model
notices that would give financial
institutions options from which to
choose when providing the required
disclosures to customers. The Board
believes that the two model notices
given in Appendix B are sufficient. The
Board notes that financial institutions
may, but are not required to, use the

PO 00000

Frm 00013

Fmt 4700

Sfmt 4700

33283

model notices issued by the Board to
meet the notice requirement contained
in section 217.
Consumer groups requested that the
Board require financial institutions to
take certain steps to the make the
disclosure readily noticeable. These
groups suggested that the Board require
the disclosure to be on the front page of
the notice or billing statement, and
require it to be in bold face type and in
larger print than the information that
accompanies it. The Board notes that
section 217 requires financial
institutions to provide the notice of
furnishing negative information in a
clear and conspicuous manner. The
Board does not believe it is necessary to
place additional format requirements on
financial institutions that decide to use
the model notices to meet the notice
requirements.
Safe Harbor and Additional Guidance
on Use of Model Notices
Several commenters requested
additional guidance from the Board on
use of the model notices. Several
commenters asked the Board to
incorporate into the regulation the safe
harbor relating to use of the model
notice contained in the statute. In
particular, section 217 provides that a
financial institution may, but is not
required to, use the model notice issued
by the Board. Section 217 also provides
that a financial institution shall be
deemed to be in compliance with the
notice requirement relating to
furnishing negative information
contained in section 217 if the
institution uses the model notice issued
by the Board, or uses such model notice
and rearrange its format. Several
commenters believed it would be
helpful to include this safe harbor in the
text of the regulation, because many
examiners and financial institutions use
the regulation as a point of reference.
Some commenters also requested
guidance on how financial institutions
may rearrange the format of the model
notices without losing the safe harbor
from liability provided by the model
notices. In particular, these commenters
requested clarification that the critical
elements of the model notice’s reference
to late payment, default, and reporting
to a credit bureau may be rearranged or
combined with other language and still
come within the safe harbor of the
model notice, provided that the
meaning of the model notice is retained.
In light of these comments and its
own analysis, the Board has revised
Appendix B to incorporate the safe
harbor contained in section 217, and to
provide additional guidance on the use
of the model notices. In particular,

E:\FR\FM\15JNR1.SGM

15JNR1

33284

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 114 / Tuesday, June 15, 2004 / Rules and Regulations

Appendix B provides that although use
of the model notices is not required, a
financial institution shall be deemed to
be in compliance with the notice
requirement if the institution properly
uses the model notices in Appendix B.
In addition, Appendix B provides that
financial institutions may make certain
changes to the language or format of the
model notices without losing the safe
harbor from liability provided by the
model notices. Appendix B provides
examples of acceptable changes,
including rearranging the order of the
references to ‘‘late payment(s)’’ and
‘‘missed payment(s),’’ or pluralizing the
terms ‘‘credit bureau,’’ ‘‘credit report’’
and ‘‘account’’ as used in the model
notices. Nonetheless, Appendix B
provides that changes to the model
notices may not be so extensive as to
affect the substance, clarity, or
meaningful sequence of the language in
the model notices. Financial institutions
making such extensive revisions will
lose the safe harbor from liability that
Appendix B provides.
IV. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
In accordance with section 3(a) of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act, the Board
has certified that the final revisions to
Regulation V relating to the model
notices will not have a significant
economic impact on small entities.
Section 217 of the FACT Act amends
the FCRA to provide that if any
financial institution (1) extends credit
and regularly and in the ordinary course
of business furnishes information to a
nationwide consumer reporting agency,
and (2) furnishes negative information
to such an agency regarding credit
extended to a customer, the institution
must provide a clear and conspicuous
notice about furnishing negative
information, in writing, to the customer.
Section 217 defines the term ‘‘financial
institution’’ to have the same meaning
as in the privacy provisions of the
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. Thus, the term
‘‘financial institution’’ includes not only
institutions regulated by the Board and
other federal banking agencies, but also
includes other financial entities, such as
merchant creditors and debt collectors
that extend credit and report negative
information.
The final revisions to Regulation V
would provide financial institutions
with model notices (provided in
Appendix B) that they may use to
comply with the notice requirement
under section 217 of the FACT Act
relating to furnishing negative
information. The final revisions to
Regulation V also would provide
financial institutions with additional

VerDate jul<14>2003

16:09 Jun 14, 2004

Jkt 203001

guidance on how to use these model
notices.
The final revisions to Regulation V
relating to the model notices are not
expected to have a significant economic
impact on small entities. By providing
model notices and additional guidance
on use of the model notices, the Board
has minimized the burden imposed on
financial institutions by the notice
requirement contained in section 217 of
the FACT Act. A financial institution
that properly uses the model notices in
Appendix B will be deemed to be in
compliance with the notice requirement
of section 217. The Board also notes that
the revisions to Regulation V do not
require financial institutions to use the
model notices. Financial institutions
may, but are not required to, use the
model notices in Regulation V to meet
the notice requirement contained in
section 217.
V. Paperwork Reduction Act
In accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3506;
5 CFR 1320 Appendix A.1), the Board
reviewed the final rule under the
authority delegated to the Board by the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB). The Federal Reserve may not
conduct or sponsor, and an organization
is not required to respond to, this
information collection unless it displays
a currently valid OMB control number.
The OMB control number for this final
rule is 7100–0308.
The collection of information
involved in this rulemaking is found in
section 217 of the FACT Act, Pub. L.
108–159, 117 Stat. 1952. This
information is mandatory for financial
institutions that furnish negative
information to credit bureaus regarding
credit extended to customers. The
respondents are financial institutions as
defined in the privacy provisions of the
GLB Act. The term ‘‘financial
institution’’ includes not only
institutions regulated by the Board and
other federal banking agencies, but also
includes other financial entities, such as
merchant creditors and debt collectors
that extend credit and report negative
information.
The final revisions to Regulation V
would provide financial institutions
with model notices (provided in
Appendix B) that they may use to
comply with the notice requirement
under section 217 of the FACT Act
relating to furnishing negative
information. The final revisions to
Regulation V also would provide
additional guidance to financial
institutions on how to use these model
notices.

PO 00000

Frm 00014

Fmt 4700

Sfmt 4700

The estimated annual burden for
financial institutions is approximately
240,000 hours. Financial institutions
would face a one-time burden to
reprogram and update systems to
include the new notice requirement.
With respect to financial institutions,
approximately 30,000 furnish
information to consumer reporting
agencies. The estimated time to update
systems is approximately 8 hours (one
business day). In conjunction with the
proposed revisions to Regulation V, the
Board sought comment on the burden
estimate for the proposed changes. The
Board did not receive any comments
specifically responding to the
paperwork reduction analysis published
with the proposed rule.
List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 222
Banks, banking, Holding companies,
State member banks.
■ For the reasons set forth in the
preamble, the Board amends Regulation
V, 12 CFR part 222, as set forth below:
PART 222—FAIR CREDIT REPORTING
(REGULATION V)
1. The authority citation for part 222 is
revised to read as follows:

■

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1681s; Secs. 3 and
217, Pub. L. 108–159; 117 Stat. 1953, 1986–
88.

2. Section 222.1 is amended by adding
a new paragraph (b) to read as follows:

■

Subpart A—General Provisions
§ 222.1
dates.

Purpose, scope, and effective

*

*
*
*
*
(b) Scope.
(1) [reserved] (2) Institutions covered.
(i) Except as otherwise provided in this
paragraph (b)(2), the regulations in this
part apply to banks that are members of
the Federal Reserve System (other than
national banks), branches and Agencies
of foreign banks (other than Federal
branches, Federal Agencies, and insured
State branches of foreign banks),
commercial lending companies owned
or controlled by foreign banks,
organizations operating under section
25 or 25A of the Federal Reserve Act (12
U.S.C. 601 et seq., and 611 et seq.), and
bank holding companies and affiliates of
such holding companies (other than
depository institutions and consumer
reporting agencies).
(ii) For purposes of Appendix B to
this part, financial institutions as
defined in section 509 of the GrammLeach-Bliley Act (12 U.S.C. 6809), may
use the model notices in Appendix B to
this part to comply with the notice
requirement in section 623(a)(7) of the

E:\FR\FM\15JNR1.SGM

15JNR1

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 114 / Tuesday, June 15, 2004 / Rules and Regulations
Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.
1681s–2(a)(7)).
*
*
*
*
*
3. Part 222 is amended by adding and
reserving Appendix A, and adding a new
Appendix B to read as follows:

■

Appendix A to Part 222—[Reserved]
Appendix B to Part 222—Model Notices
of Furnishing Negative Information
a. Although use of the model notices is not
required, a financial institution that is subject
to section 623(a)(7) of the FCRA shall be
deemed to be in compliance with the notice
requirement in section 623(a)(7) of the FCRA
if the institution properly uses the model
notices in this appendix (as applicable).
b. A financial institution may use Model
Notice B–1 if the institution provides the
notice prior to furnishing negative
information to a nationwide consumer
reporting agency.
c. A financial institution may use Model
Notice B–2 if the institution provides the
notice after furnishing negative information
to a nationwide consumer reporting agency.
d. Financial institutions may make certain
changes to the language or format of the
model notices without losing the safe harbor
from liability provided by the model notices.
The changes to the model notices may not be
so extensive as to affect the substance,
clarity, or meaningful sequence of the
language in the model notices. Financial
institutions making such extensive revisions
will lose the safe harbor from liability that
this appendix provides. Acceptable changes
include, for example,
1. Rearranging the order of the references
to ‘‘late payment(s),’’ or ‘‘missed payment(s)’’
2. Pluralizing the terms ‘‘credit bureau,’’
‘‘credit report,’’ and ‘‘account’’
3. Specifying the particular type of account
on which information may be furnished,
such as ‘‘credit card account’’
4. Rearranging in Model Notice B–1 the
phrases ‘‘information about your account’’
and ‘‘to credit bureaus’’ such that it would
read ‘‘We may report to credit bureaus
information about your account.’’
Model Notice B–1
We may report information about your
account to credit bureaus. Late payments,
missed payments, or other defaults on your
account may be reflected in your credit
report.
Model Notice B–2
We have told a credit bureau about a late
payment, missed payment or other default on
your account. This information may be
reflected in your credit report.
By order of the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System, June 8, 2004.
Jennifer J. Johnson,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 04–13290 Filed 6–14–04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210–01–P

33285