Sec. 1681j. Charges for certain disclosures

(a) Free annual disclosure
(1) Nationwide consumer reporting agencies
(A) In general
All consumer reporting agencies described in subsections (p)
and (w) of section 1681a of this title shall make all
disclosures pursuant to section 1681g of this title once during
any 12-month period upon request of the consumer and without
charge to the consumer.
(B) Centralized source
Subparagraph (A) shall apply with respect to a consumer
reporting agency described in section 1681a(p) of this title
only if the request from the consumer is made using the
centralized source established for such purpose in accordance
with section 211(c) (!1) of the Fair and Accurate Credit
Transactions Act of 2003.
(C) Nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency
(i) In general
The Commission shall prescribe regulations applicable to
each consumer reporting agency described in section 1681a(w)
of this title to require the establishment of a streamlined
process for consumers to request consumer reports under
subparagraph (A), which shall include, at a minimum, the
establishment by each such agency of a toll-free telephone
number for such requests.
(ii) Considerations
In prescribing regulations under clause (i), the Commission
shall consider -
(I) the significant demands that may be placed on
consumer reporting agencies in providing such consumer
reports;
(II) appropriate means to ensure that consumer reporting
agencies can satisfactorily meet those demands, including
the efficacy of a system of staggering the availability to
consumers of such consumer reports; and
(III) the ease by which consumers should be able to
contact consumer reporting agencies with respect to access
to such consumer reports.
(iii) Date of issuance
The Commission shall issue the regulations required by this
subparagraph in final form not later than 6 months after
December 4, 2003.
(iv) Consideration of ability to comply
The regulations of the Commission under this subparagraph
shall establish an effective date by which each nationwide
specialty consumer reporting agency (as defined in section
1681a(w) of this title) shall be required to comply with
subsection (a) of this section, which effective date -
(I) shall be established after consideration of the
ability of each nationwide specialty consumer reporting
agency to comply with subsection (a) of this section; and
(II) shall be not later than 6 months after the date on
which such regulations are issued in final form (or such
additional period not to exceed 3 months, as the Commission
determines appropriate).
(2) Timing
A consumer reporting agency shall provide a consumer report
under paragraph (1) not later than 15 days after the date on
which the request is received under paragraph (1).
(3) Reinvestigations
Notwithstanding the time periods specified in section
1681i(a)(1) of this title, a reinvestigation under that section
by a consumer reporting agency upon a request of a consumer that
is made after receiving a consumer report under this subsection
shall be completed not later than 45 days after the date on which
the request is received.
(4) Exception for first 12 months of operation
This subsection shall not apply to a consumer reporting agency
that has not been furnishing consumer reports to third parties on
a continuing basis during the 12-month period preceding a request
under paragraph (1), with respect to consumers residing
nationwide.
(b) Free disclosure after adverse notice to consumer
Each consumer reporting agency that maintains a file on a
consumer shall make all disclosures pursuant to section 1681g of
this title without charge to the consumer if, not later than 60
days after receipt by such consumer of a notification pursuant to
section 1681m of this title, or of a notification from a debt
collection agency affiliated with that consumer reporting agency
stating that the consumer's credit rating may be or has been
adversely affected, the consumer makes a request under section
1681g of this title.
(c) Free disclosure under certain other circumstances
Upon the request of the consumer, a consumer reporting agency
shall make all disclosures pursuant to section 1681g of this title
once during any 12-month period without charge to that consumer if
the consumer certifies in writing that the consumer -
(1) is unemployed and intends to apply for employment in the
60-day period beginning on the date on which the certification is
made;
(2) is a recipient of public welfare assistance; or
(3) has reason to believe that the file on the consumer at the
agency contains inaccurate information due to fraud.
(d) Free disclosures in connection with fraud alerts
Upon the request of a consumer, a consumer reporting agency
described in section 1681a(p) of this title shall make all
disclosures pursuant to section 1681g of this title without charge
to the consumer, as provided in subsections (a)(2) and (b)(2) of
section 1681c-1 of this title, as applicable.
(e) Other charges prohibited
A consumer reporting agency shall not impose any charge on a
consumer for providing any notification required by this subchapter
or making any disclosure required by this subchapter, except as
authorized by subsection (f) of this section.
(f) Reasonable charges allowed for certain disclosures
(1) In general
In the case of a request from a consumer other than a request
that is covered by any of subsections (a) through (d) of this
section, a consumer reporting agency may impose a reasonable
charge on a consumer -
(A) for making a disclosure to the consumer pursuant to
section 1681g of this title, which charge -
(i) shall not exceed $8; and
(ii) shall be indicated to the consumer before making the
disclosure; and
(B) for furnishing, pursuant to section 1681i(d) of this
title, following a reinvestigation under section 1681i(a) of
this title, a statement, codification, or summary to a person
designated by the consumer under that section after the 30-day
period beginning on the date of notification of the consumer
under paragraph (6) or (8) of section 1681i(a) of this title
with respect to the reinvestigation, which charge -
(i) shall not exceed the charge that the agency would
impose on each designated recipient for a consumer report;
and
(ii) shall be indicated to the consumer before furnishing
such information.
(2) Modification of amount
The Federal Trade Commission shall increase the amount referred
to in paragraph (1)(A)(i) on January 1 of each year, based
proportionally on changes in the Consumer Price Index, with
fractional changes rounded to the nearest fifty cents.

AMENDMENTS
2003 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 108-159, Sec. 211(a)(2), added
subsec. (a). Former subsec. (a) redesignated (f).
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 108-159, Sec. 211(a)(4), added subsec. (d).
Former subsec. (d) redesignated (e).
Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 108-159, Sec. 211(a)(3), (5), redesignated
subsec. (d) as (e) and substituted "subsection (f)" for "subsection
(a)".
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 108-159, Sec. 211(a)(1), (6), redesignated
subsec. (a) as (f) and substituted "In the case of a request from a
consumer other than a request that is covered by any of subsections
(a) through (d) of this section, a" for "Except as provided in
subsections (b), (c), and (d) of this section, a" in par. (1).
1996 - Pub. L. 104-208 amended section generally. Prior to
amendment, section read as follows: "A consumer reporting agency
shall make all disclosures pursuant to section 1681g of this title
and furnish all consumer reports pursuant to section 1681i(d) of
this title without charge to the consumer if, within thirty days
after receipt by such consumer of a notification pursuant to
section 1681m of this title or notification from a debt collection
agency affiliated with such consumer reporting agency stating that
the consumer's credit rating may be or has been adversely affected,
the consumer makes a request under section 1681g or 1681i(d) of
this title. Otherwise, the consumer reporting agency may impose a
reasonable charge on the consumer for making disclosure to such
consumer pursuant to section 1681g of this title, the charge for
which shall be indicated to the consumer prior to making
disclosure; and for furnishing notifications, statements,
summaries, or codifications to person designated by the consumer
pursuant to section 1681i(d) of this title, the charge for which
shall be indicated to the consumer prior to furnishing such
information and shall not exceed the charge that the consumer
reporting agency would impose on each designated recipient for a
consumer report except that no charge may be made for notifying
such persons of the deletion of information which is found to be
inaccurate or which can no longer be verified."
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2003 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 108-159 subject to joint regulations
establishing effective dates as prescribed by Federal Reserve Board
and Federal Trade Commission, except as otherwise provided, see
section 3 of Pub. L. 108-159, set out as a note under section 1681
of this title.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1996 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 104-208 effective 365 days after Sept. 30,
1996, with special rule for early compliance, see section 2420 of
Pub. L. 104-208, set out as a note under section 1681a of this
title.
REGULATIONS
Pub. L. 108-159, title II, Sec. 211(d), Dec. 4, 2003, 117 Stat.
1972, provided that:
"(1) In general. - The Commission shall prescribe regulations
applicable to consumer reporting agencies described in section
603(p) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681a(p)], to
require the establishment of -
"(A) a centralized source through which consumers may obtain a
consumer report from each such consumer reporting agency, using a
single request, and without charge to the consumer, as provided
in section 612(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 U.S.C.
1681j(a)] (as amended by this section); and
"(B) a standardized form for a consumer to make such a request
for a consumer report by mail or through an Internet website.
"(2) Considerations. - In prescribing regulations under paragraph
(1), the Commission shall consider -
"(A) the significant demands that may be placed on consumer
reporting agencies in providing such consumer reports;
"(B) appropriate means to ensure that consumer reporting
agencies can satisfactorily meet those demands, including the
efficacy of a system of staggering the availability to consumers
of such consumer reports; and
"(C) the ease by which consumers should be able to contact
consumer reporting agencies with respect to access to such
consumer reports.
"(3) Centralized source. - The centralized source for a request
for a consumer report from a consumer required by this subsection
shall provide for -
"(A) a toll-free telephone number for such purpose;
"(B) use of an Internet website for such purpose; and
"(C) a process for requests by mail for such purpose.
"(4) Transition. - The regulations of the Commission under
paragraph (1) shall provide for an orderly transition by consumer
reporting agencies described in section 603(p) of the Fair Credit
Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681a(p)] to the centralized source for
consumer report distribution required by section 612(a)(1)(B) [15
U.S.C. 1681j(a)(1)(B)], as amended by this section, in a manner
that -
"(A) does not temporarily overwhelm such consumer reporting
agencies with requests for disclosures of consumer reports beyond
their capacity to deliver; and
"(B) does not deny creditors, other users, and consumers access
to consumer reports on a time-sensitive basis for specific
purposes, such as home purchases or suspicions of identity theft,
during the transition period.
"(5) Timing. - Regulations required by this subsection shall -
"(A) be issued in final form not later than 6 months after the
date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 4, 2003]; and
"(B) become effective not later than 6 months after the date on
which they are issued in final form.
"(6) Scope of regulations. -
"(A) In general. - The Commission shall, by rule, determine
whether to require a consumer reporting agency that compiles and
maintains files on consumers on substantially a nationwide basis,
other than one described in section 603(p) of the Fair Credit
Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681a(p)], to make free consumer reports
available upon consumer request, and if so, whether such consumer
reporting agencies should make such free reports available
through the centralized source described in paragraph (1)(A).
"(B) Considerations. - Before making any determination under
subparagraph (A), the Commission shall consider -
"(i) the number of requests for consumer reports to, and the
number of consumer reports generated by, the consumer reporting
agency, in comparison with consumer reporting agencies
described in subsections (p) and (w) of section 603 of the Fair
Credit Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681a(p), (w)];
"(ii) the overall scope of the operations of the consumer
reporting agency;
"(iii) the needs of consumers for access to consumer reports
provided by consumer reporting agencies free of charge;
"(iv) the costs of providing access to consumer reports by
consumer reporting agencies free of charge; and
"(v) the effects on the ongoing competitive viability of such
consumer reporting agencies if such free access is required."
[For definitions of terms used in section 211(d) of Pub. L.
108-159, set out above, see section 2 of Pub. L. 108-159, set out
as a Definitions note under section 1681 of this title.]