(a) Scope. This section applies to a user of consumer reports (user)
that receives a notice of address discrepancy from a consumer reporting
agency, and that is a member bank of the Federal Reserve System (other
than a national bank) and its respective operating subsidiaries, a
branch or agency of a foreign bank (other than a federal branch, federal
agency, or insured state branch of a foreign bank), commercial lending
company owned or controlled by a foreign bank, and an organization
operating under section 25 or 25A of the Federal Reserve Act (12 USC
601 et seq., and 611 et seq.).
(b) Definition. For purposes of this section,
a notice of address discrepancy means a notice sent to a user
by a consumer reporting agency pursuant to 15 USC 1681c(h)(1), that
informs the user of a substantial difference between the address for
the consumer that the user provided to request the consumer report
and the address(es) in the agency’s file for the consumer.
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(c) Reasonable belief.
(1) Requirement
to form a reasonable belief. A user must develop and implement
reasonable policies and procedures designed to enable the user to
form a reasonable belief that a consumer report relates to the consumer
about whom it has requested the report, when the user receives a notice
of address discrepancy.
(2) Examples of reasonable policies and
procedures.
(i) Comparing the information in the
consumer report provided by the consumer reporting agency with information
the user—
(A) obtains and uses to verify the consumer’s
identity in accordance with the requirements of the customer information
program (CIP) rules implementing 31 USC 5318(l) (31 CFR 103.121);
(B) maintains in its own
records, such as applications, change-of-address notifications, other
customer account records, or retained CIP documentation; or
(C) obtains from third-party
sources; or
(ii) Verifying the information in the
consumer report provided by the consumer reporting agency with the
consumer.
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(d) Consumer’s address.
(1) Requirement
to furnish consumer’s address to a consumer reporting agency. A user must develop and implement reasonable policies and procedures
for furnishing an address for the consumer that the user has reasonably
confirmed is accurate to the consumer reporting agency from whom it
received the notice of address discrepancy when the user—
(i) can
form a reasonable belief that the consumer report relates to the consumer
about whom the user requested the report;
(ii) establishes a continuing relationship
with the consumer; and
(iii) regularly and in the ordinary course of business furnishes
information to the consumer reporting agency from which the notice
of address discrepancy relating to the consumer was obtained.
(2) Examples of confirmation methods. The user
may reasonably confirm an address is accurate by—
(i) verifying
the address with the consumer about whom it has requested the report;
(ii) reviewing its
own records to verify the address of the consumer;
(iii) verifying the address through
third-party sources; or
(iv) using other reasonable means.
(3) Timing. The policies and procedures developed in accordance
with paragraph (d)(1) of this section must provide that the user will
furnish the consumer’s address that the user has reasonably confirmed
is accurate to the consumer reporting agency as part of the information
it regularly furnishes for the reporting period in which it establishes
a relationship with the consumer.
