S. 1816: Freedom from Equifax Exploitation Act

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S. 1816: Freedom from Equifax Exploitation Act

115th Congress · introduced 2017-09-14 · Finance and Financial Sector · Latest: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 115-132.

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Official title

Freedom from Equifax Exploitation Act

Plain summary

Freedom from Equifax Exploitation Act This bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to revise fraud alert provisions required of consumer reporting agencies. A fraud alert must be placed in a consumer's file upon request if the consumer suspects harm from an unauthorized disclosure. The time period for fraud alerts is extended from 90 days to 1 year. The bill also revises provisions relating to 7-year renewable fraud alerts in cases of identity theft. The bill establishes a credit freeze process. A consumer reporting agency must place a free credit freeze on the consumer's file upon a consumer's request, prohibiting a consumer reporting agency from releasing any credit information without the consumer's permission. Consumer reporting agencies must provide procedures for temporarily and permanently lifting the freeze at no charge to the consumer. Consumers are allowed a free credit report when requesting a credit freeze. While the file is subject to a freeze, a consumer reporting agency is prohibited from including the consumer in lists provided to third parties for credit or insurance offers. A consumer reporting agency must provide on the Internet policies and procedures for consumers to: (1) place, temporarily lift, or fully remove a credit freeze; and (2) make required statements for fraud alerts or credit freezes. The bill requires consumer reporting agencies to issue a refund of fees to any consumer who requested a credit freeze beginning September 7, 2017, through the day before enactment of this bill.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] · 18 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Maria Cantwell (D-WA)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] reported raising $5.0 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Sources

• Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
• Congress.gov
• Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-115s1816.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/115/s>

Record fed-us-cong115-s1816 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong115 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong115