To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit consumer reporting agencies from furnishing consumer reports containing adverse items of information about a consumer that resulted from that consumer being unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad or held hostage abroad.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill, the "Fair Credit for American Hostages Act," protects the credit scores of Americans who were held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad. Credit reporting agencies cannot include negative credit information from the period when the person was unable to manage their finances because they were being held against their will.
Who Benefits and How
- Americans who were hostages or wrongfully detained abroad can have adverse credit information from their detention period removed from their credit reports.
- Returning hostages and detainees can rebuild their lives without credit damage they could not prevent.
- Families of former hostages benefit from improved financial stability when their loved one returns.
Who Bears the Burden and How
- Credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) must implement systems to verify and process detention documentation and remove applicable adverse information.
- Creditors and lenders may not see the full credit history for former hostages, though this is intentional protection.
Key Provisions
- Prohibits consumer reporting agencies from furnishing reports with adverse information dating from the hostage/detention period
- Requires documentation to be authenticated by the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs or the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell
- Applies to U.S. nationals determined to be wrongfully detained (per Robert Levinson Act) or held hostage
- Creates a new Section 605D in the Fair Credit Reporting Act
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Prohibits credit reporting agencies from including adverse credit information in reports for American hostages and wrongfully detained individuals during the period they were held abroad.
Key Policy Areas
Consumer Protection, Finance, Foreign Affairs
Primary Purpose
Prohibits credit reporting agencies from including adverse credit information in reports for American hostages and wrongfully detained individuals during the period they were held abroad.
Policy Domains
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Coons (for himself and Mr. Tillis) introduced the following …
Impact analysis is available but no clear stakeholder effects identified. View clause-level analysis →
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "hostage_cell"
- → Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell
- "special_envoy"
- → Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs
- "consumer_reporting_agencies"
- → Credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion)
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A U.S. national unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad (per Robert Levinson Act) or taken hostage abroad (per Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell determination)
Documentation certifying covered consumer status and time period, authenticated by Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs or Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology