FCRA Liability Harmonization Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5775 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5775

    To amend the civil liability requirements under the Fair Credit 
 Reporting Act to include requirements relating to class actions, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 17, 2025

 Mr. Loudermilk (for himself, Mrs. Wagner, Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Meuser, 
 Mrs. Kim, and Mr. Huizenga) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the civil liability requirements under the Fair Credit 
 Reporting Act to include requirements relating to class actions, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``FCRA Liability Harmonization Act''.

SEC. 2. MAINTAINING CONSISTENCY IN CIVIL LIABILITY UNDER THE FAIR 
              CREDIT REPORTING ACT FOR CLASS ACTIONS.

    (a) Willful Noncompliance.--Section 616 of the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681n) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ``and'' after 
                the semicolon;
                    (B) by striking paragraph (2);
                    (C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph 
                (2); and
                    (D) in paragraph (2), as redesignated by 
                subparagraph (C), by striking ``as determined by the 
                court.'' and inserting ``as determined by the court, in 
                an amount that does not exceed the lesser of--
                    ``(A) $100,000; or
                    ``(B) the amount that is 40 percent of any damages 
                awarded under paragraph (1)(A).'';
            (2) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(d) Class Action Lawsuits.--With respect to a class action 
brought by a class made up of consumers against a person who willfully 
fails to comply with a requirement imposed under this title, such 
person shall be liable to such consumers in such an amount as a court 
may determine, except that--
            ``(1) the court may not apply a minimum amount of damages 
        for each member of the class;
            ``(2) the total recovery (excluding reasonable attorney's 
        fees as determined by the court) of the class may not exceed 
        the lesser of--
                    ``(A) $500,000; or
                    ``(B) 1 percent of the net worth of such person; 
                and
            ``(3) the costs of the action together with reasonable 
        attorney's fees, as determined by the court, may not exceed the 
        lesser--
                    ``(A) of $100,000;
                    ``(B) the amount that is 40 percent of any damages 
                awarded by a court under this subsection; or
                    ``(C) the sum of the costs of the action and 
                reasonable attorney's fees, as determined by the court, 
                not to exceed the lower of $100,000 or an amount equal 
                to 40 percent of actual damages.''.
    (b) Negligent Noncompliance.--Section 617 of the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681o) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``, not to exceed the lesser of--
                    ``(A) $100,000; or
                    ``(B) 40 percent of any actual damages determined 
                by the court.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) Class Action Lawsuits.--With respect to a class action 
brought by consumers against a person who negligently fails to comply 
with any requirement imposed under this title, such person is liable to 
such consumers in an amount equal to the sum of any actual damages 
sustained by the consumers as a result of the failure, except that the 
total recovery (excluding reasonable attorney's fees as determined by 
the court) of the class shall not exceed the lesser of--
            ``(1) $500,000;
            ``(2) 1 percent of the net worth of such person; or
            ``(3) the sum of the costs of the action and reasonable 
        attorney's fees, as determined by the court, not to exceed the 
        lower of $100,000 or an amount equal to 40 percent of actual 
        damages.''.
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