Sponsors (4)
Last progress June 12, 2025 (8 months ago)
Introduced on June 12, 2025 by Amy Klobuchar
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Changes the Fair Credit Reporting Act to replace the phrase “active duty military consumer” with a new defined term, “armed forces member consumer,” and defines that term to mean any consumer who is a member of the armed forces regardless of duty status. The amendment is intended to broaden and clarify who is covered by existing FCRA references to military consumers. The change becomes effective one year after enactment.
Inserts new paragraph (1) into section 605A(k) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act providing definitions: (A) defines “armed forces” by reference to section 101(a) of title 10, U.S. Code; (B) defines “armed forces member consumer” to mean a consumer who, regardless of duty status, is a member of the armed forces.
In section 605A(k), paragraph (2)(A) — replaces the phrase “active duty military consumer” with “armed forces member consumer.”
In section 625(b)(1)(K) — replaces the phrase “active duty military consumers” with “armed forces member consumers.”
Effective date: the amendments made by subsection (a) take effect 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.
Who is affected and how:
Armed forces members: The change explicitly covers all people who are members of the armed forces (active, reserve, National Guard, retired, etc.). This ensures that any FCRA protections, exceptions, or processes that previously referenced “active duty military consumers” are now tied to a broader, clearer category. Members not on active duty but still service members will be unambiguously included.
Consumers more broadly: Consumer-facing materials and rights tied to the military consumer designation may be applied to a slightly larger or clearer population, reducing disputes about eligibility based on duty status.
Financial institutions, consumer reporting agencies, creditors, debt collectors, and other regulated businesses: These entities will need to update compliance policies, automated rules, consumer notices, internal training, and data labels to use the new term and ensure consistent application of any military-linked protections.
Administrative burden: The one-year effective date provides time to update systems and processes, so costs are likely limited to administrative and compliance updates rather than substantive program changes.
Overall effect: The amendment is primarily a clarifying, definitional change intended to remove ambiguity about who qualifies as a covered military consumer under the FCRA. It is not expected to impose substantive new regulatory burdens, fiscal costs, or programmatic changes beyond standard compliance updates.