On December 4, 2003, President Bush singed the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) into law. The proposal reauthorized the Fair Credit Reporting Act and included new provisions designed to protect consumers from identity theft. H.R. 2622 would:
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Grant consumers one free credit report each year;
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Discourage the reintroduction of fraudulent information;
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Direct regulators to determine how to increase the prompt investigation and correction of disputed information;
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Require credit card companies to investigate when they receive a request for additional cards within thirty days of receiving a change of address form;
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Simplify the process by which consumers could limit unsolicited offers of credit;
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Mandate truncation of credit and debit card information and;
Streamline the process by which consumers can report that they are victims of identity theft;
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Make possession of a false identification a punishable offense and increase the maximum penalty for an identity theft offense from three to five years;
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Require the FTC, the Federal banking agencies and the NCUA to develop a model summary of the rights of consumers with respect to procedures for resolving the effects of identity theft;
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Require the credit bureaus to develop procedures for referring to each other any complaint they receive alleging identity theft;
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Extend the current statute of limitations for violations of the FCRA. Currently, consumers must file suit within two years of the violation occurring. The Senate bill would change the statute to two years from when the consumer discovered the violation, with the restriction that the complaint must still be filed within seven years of when the violation occurs;
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Require consumer reporting agencies to notify users of consumer reports when the consumer address contained in the report differs substantially from the address provided in the credit application.
