To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit certain adverse information related to late or missed payments during a Government shutdown by a furloughed or unpaid Government employee from being included in consumer reports, and for other purposes.

Mark Alford

Republican · MO · Representative

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

No cosponsors on record. Bills can pass without cosponsors — this often means the sponsor introduced the bill alone, either because it's a messaging bill, a chairman's mark, or simply early in the legislative cycle.

Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

2026-07-22

Source: Congress.gov

During a government shutdown, federal employees who are furloughed or not paid would be protected from having late or missed payments reported to credit agencies and damaging their credit scores. This would prevent workers from facing long-term financial penalties for bills they couldn't pay through no fault of their own when the government stopped paying them. The change applies only to debts that become delinquent specifically because of a government shutdown.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 9828 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 9828 To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit certain adverse information related to late or missed payments during a Government shutdown by a furloughed or unpaid Government employee from being included in consumer reports, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 22, 2026 Mr. Alford introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit certain adverse information related to late or missed payments during a Government shutdown by a furloughed or unpaid Government employee from being included in consumer reports, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Employee Financial Protection Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF CREDIT REPORTING. (a) In General.--Section 605 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(i) Government Shutdowns.-- ``(1) In general.--A consumer reporting agency may not make any consumer report containing an adverse item of information related to a late payment or nonpayment on an account of a covered employee that occurred during a covered period. ``(2) Treatment of certain payments.--For purposes of making any consumer report, a consumer reporting agency shall treat any late payment or nonpayment described in paragraph (1) as if the consumer had made the payment. ``(3) Definitions.--In this subsection: ``(A) Covered employee.--The term `covered employee' means any employee of the Federal Government who is furloughed or required to work without pay during a lapse in appropriations. ``(B) Covered period.--The term `covered period' means any period during which there is a lapse in appropriations resulting in delayed compensation to a covered employee.''. (b) Rulemaking.--Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall issue rules to carry out the amendment made by this section. SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING PRIVATE LENDERS. It is the sense of Congress that private lenders should-- (1) provide temporary forbearance or payment flexibility to covered employees (as defined in section 605(i)(3) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act); (2) waive late fees and penalties incurred during the covered period (as defined in such section 605(i)(3)); and (3) refrain from furnishing adverse credit information related to late payments or nonpayments during the covered period. <all>

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