The Federal Trade Commission has issued a Final Rule rescinding several Model Forms and Disclosures it had promulgated under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The FTC determined these Model Forms and Disclosures were no longer necessary following the transfer of rulemaking authority associated with these forms to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (“CFPB”) under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The Rule became effective on May 22, 2019. 

The CFPB recently issued revisions to its own model forms and disclosures in September of 2018 through an interim final rulemaking. The CFPB’s revisions added language regarding a consumer’s right to a security freeze into the Summary of Consumer Identity Theft Rights and the Summary of Consumer Rights, as well as the extension of an initial fraud alert from 90 days to one year. The CFPB otherwise made no substantive changes to the forms. As a result of the CFPB’s revisions, the FTC rescinded the overlapping but now outdated forms to avoid confusion. The chart below shows the rescinded FTC Form and its corresponding CFPB Form:

          Rescinded FTC Form            (16 C.F.R. part 698) Corresponding CFPB Form in Regulation V (12 C.F.R. part 1022)
Appendix A:  Model Prescreen Opt-Out Notices Appendix D:  Model Forms for Firm Offers of Credit or Insurance
Appendix D:  Standardized Form for Requesting Annual File Disclosures Appendix L:  Standardized Form for Requesting Annual File Disclosures
Appendix E:  Summary of Identity Theft Rights Appendix I:  Summary of Consumer Identity Theft Rights
Appendix F:  General Summary of Consumer Rights Appendix K:  Summary of Consumer Rights
Appendix G:  Notice of Furnisher Responsibilities Appendix M:  Notice of Furnisher Responsibilities
Appendix H:  Notice of User Responsibilities Appendix N:  Notice of User Responsibilities

Following these rescissions, covered entities should look to the corresponding forms issued by the CFPB. Plaintiffs’ attorneys often allege technical defects in the forms and disclosures used by companies as a way to bring an FCRA claim. Given the uncapped liability under the FCRA, companies should regularly review the forms and disclosures they use. 

The FTC’s Final Rule rescinding its Model Rules and Disclosures can be found here. 

Troutman Sanders routinely assists clients in formulating and reviewing their forms and disclosures for compliance with the FCRA, and will continue to monitor and provide updates regarding relevant compliance issues.