Free Credit Freeze Act

“(i) Credit freeze fees

“(1) Definition—In this subsection, the term credit freeze means a restriction placed at the request of a consumer or a personal representative of the consumer, on the consumer report of the consumer, that prohibits a consumer reporting agency described in section 603(p) from releasing the consumer report for a purpose relating to the extension of credit without the express authorization of the consumer. A credit freeze shall not apply to the use of a consumer report by any of the following:

“(A) A person, or the person’s subsidiary, affiliate, agent, subcontractor, or assignee with whom the consumer has, or prior to assignment had, an account, contract, or debtor-creditor relationship for the purposes of reviewing the active account or collecting the financial obligation owed on the account, contract, or debt.

“(B) A person, or the person’s subsidiary, affiliate, agent, subcontractor, or assignee, to whom access has been granted pursuant to a request by the consumer for purposes of facilitating the extension of credit or other permissible use.

“(C) Any person acting pursuant to a court order, warrant, or subpoena.

“(D) A Federal, State, or local government, or an agent or assignee thereof.

“(E) Any person for the sole purpose of providing a credit monitoring or identity theft protection service to which the consumer has subscribed.

“(F) Any person for the purpose of providing a consumer with a copy of the consumer report, or credit score of the consumer upon the consumer's request.

“(G) Any person or entity for insurance purposes, including use in setting or adjusting a rate, adjusting a claim, or underwriting.

“(H) Any person acting pursuant to an authorization from a consumer to use their consumer report for employment purposes.

“(2) Prohibition on fees—A consumer reporting agency described in section 603(p) may not charge a consumer a fee to place, temporarily lift, or fully remove a credit freeze.”