BCFP Updates Two FCRA Model Forms to Include Notice of Security Freeze Rights

The BCFP recently published, and requested comments on, an interim final rule updating FCRA’s Summary of Consumer Identity Theft Rights and Summary of Consumer Rights model forms to incorporate a notice of security freeze rights, as well as other changes required by a new FCRA provision.  The interim final rule took effect on September 21, 2018, and comments must be received by November 19, 2018.

The new FCRA provision was added by the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (Act), which requires nationwide consumer reporting agencies, under certain circumstances, to provide fraud alerts and national security freezes to consumers free of charge in an effort to make it harder for identity thieves to open accounts in a consumer’s name.  The Act mandates that whenever a consumer is required to receive the Summary of Consumer Identity Theft Rights model form, which explains the rights consumers have under FCRA when seeking to remedy the effects of fraud and identify theft, a notice regarding the new security freeze rights must also be included.  This mandate also applies whenever a consumer is required to receive the Summary of Consumer Rights model form, which explains a consumer’s rights to obtain and dispute information in consumer reports and to obtain credit scores.

The updated model forms, which are located in Appendices I and K, respectively, of FCRA’s implementing regulation, Regulation V, each have been amended to include the new notice of security freeze rights.  The Summary of Consumer Identity Theft Rights model form was also amended to reflect a statutory change extending the minimum duration for which a nationwide consumer reporting agency must keep an initial fraud alert in a consumer’s file from 90 days to one year, and the Summary of Consumer Rights model form was also amended to include updated contact information for certain FCRA enforcement agencies.

To help ease the compliance burden, the interim final rule provides that the BCFP will regard the use of the model forms published in Appendices I and K on November 14, 2012, to constitute compliance with the new FCRA requirements, so long as the additional updated information is provided to the consumer on a separate page in the same transmittal.

The interim final rule is available here.