Sponsors (5)
The bill reduces unfair use of credit histories in hiring and clarifies permissible uses of credit reports, at the cost of added compliance, transition and litigation burdens and limits on employers' ability to use credit information for certain roles.
Job applicants and current employees (especially low- and middle-income people) will be less likely to be screened out or fired because of credit-related consumer reports, reducing unfair hiring/termination and discrimination based on past financial setbacks.
Consumer reporting agencies, employers, and state/local governments get clearer, tightened rules about when credit information can be furnished or used, reducing legal ambiguity about permissible uses of credit reports.
Consumer reporting agencies and employers face increased litigation risk and transition costs from renumbering, tightened prohibitions, and cross-reference changes, potentially imposing costs on businesses and taxpayers.
Some employers (especially small businesses and those hiring for finance- or trust-sensitive roles) may be unable to use credit information even with consent, which could limit hiring options or slow hiring for positions where financial trustworthiness is relevant.
Employers filling national-security or legally required positions may face extra compliance burdens and administrative costs to ensure statutory exceptions are correctly applied.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bans use or procurement of consumer credit reports bearing on creditworthiness for employment decisions, with narrow national-security and legal exceptions; updates FCRA cross-references.
Prohibits employers and prospective employers from obtaining or using consumer credit reports or investigative consumer reports that include information about a consumer’s creditworthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity for hiring, firing, promotion, or other adverse employment actions, regardless of consumer consent. The bill preserves two narrow exceptions for positions requiring national security clearance or when a use is required by law and keeps existing disclosure/notification duties when an exception applies. Makes technical changes to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by renumbering several subsections of 15 U.S.C. §1681b, updating cross-references across related FCRA provisions, and tightening the language that governs furnishing of credit-related consumer reports so those reports generally cannot be furnished to employers except as allowed by the new rule.
Official title: To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit the use of consumer credit checks against prospective and current employees for the purposes of making adverse employment decisions.
Introduced September 15, 2025 by Stephen Cohen · Last progress September 15, 2025