The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), enacted in 1970, sets standards for the collection, communication, and use of information bearing on a consumer’s creditworthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living. Historically, rulemaking authority for the FCRA has been divided among the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) transferred rulemaking authority for most provisions of the FCRA to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB), effective July 21, 2011. Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act and the FCRA, as amended, the CFPB is publishing for public comment an interim final rule establishing a new Regulation V (Fair Credit Reporting), 12 CFR Part 1022, implementing the provisions of the FCRA for which the CFPB has rulemaking authority.
The interim final rule substantially duplicates the interagency regulations promulgated under the FCRA by the Board, the FDIC, the FTC, the NCUA, the OCC, and the OTS. The interim final rule, published as the CFPB’s new Regulation V, reproduces the above regulations and associated model forms and interpretations with only certain non-substantive, technical, formatting, and stylistic changes. The rule has been edited as necessary to reflect nomenclature and other technical amendments required by the Dodd-Frank Act. However, the interim final rule does not make substantive changes to the existing regulations.
To minimize any potential confusion, the CFPB is preserving where possible the past numbering system by republishing regulations with CFPB part numbers that correspond to regulations in existence prior to the transfer of rulemaking authority or regulatory text that was used, in this case, by the Board. Thus, for example, § 222.25 of the Board’s existing Regulation V will correspond to § 1022.25 of the CFPB’s new Regulation V.
The Dodd-Frank Act did not transfer certain rulemaking authority under the FCRA. Specifically, the Act did not transfer to the CFPB the authority to promulgate rules on:
- The disposal of consumer information;
- Identity theft red flags and corresponding interagency guidelines on identity theft detection, prevention, and mitigation; and
- Rules on the duties of card issuers regarding changes of address.
These existing provisions are not included in the CFPB’s new Regulation V.
A copy of revised Regulation V is located at: https://mycomplianceresource.com/CFPB-Reg-V-Fair-Credit-Reporting.html. The Federal Register copy is available at: https://mycomplianceresource.com/CFPB-The-Inherited-Regulations.html.