YourVoice.Now Summary
Your MoneyCivil LibertiesCorporate BenefitsCaps what you could win in court when a company breaks credit-report rules — punitive damages would end.
Your Money
Today a court can order extra money to punish a company that broke credit-report rules on purpose, with no dollar limit. The bill would remove that award entirely.
Everyone in a class action would share no more than $500,000, or 1 percent of the company's net worth if that is smaller. The cap would apply even when class members can prove larger losses.
Civil Liberties
Today a court orders a company that loses to cover a winning consumer's full legal costs and lawyer fees. The bill would cap that at $100,000 or 40 percent of the damages won, whichever is less.
Courts could not set a floor payment for each member of a class action. Today's law sets $100 to $1,000 per person when a company breaks the rules on purpose, even for someone who cannot show a dollar of loss.
Corporate Benefits
The caps would cover any company that has to follow credit-report rules, not just the credit bureaus. Lenders and employers who pull reports would be covered too.
More about this bill
If a credit bureau or lender breaks the rules on your credit report, you could win less in court. Courts could no longer order punitive damages — extra money meant to punish — when a company broke those rules on purpose. There is no dollar limit on those awards today. A court could also make the company cover only part of your legal costs. The cap would be $100,000 or 40 percent of your damages, whichever is less. Group lawsuits would change the most. Everyone in a class action would split no more than $500,000. If 1 percent of the company's net worth is smaller, that smaller number applies. Courts could not set a guaranteed minimum payment for each person in the group. Today's law sets a range of $100 to $1,000 per person in those cases. The new limits would start as soon as the bill became law.
Congressional Summary
FCRA Liability Harmonization Act This bill limits the amount of damages and costs consumer credit reporting agencies must pay for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which regulates the use of consumer information for credit reporting purposes. Under FCRA, consumer credit reporting agencies may be found civilly liable to consumers for willful or negligent noncompliance.The bill eliminates the ability of courts to award unlimited punitive damages to a consumer for a consumer credit reporting agency’s willful noncompliance with FCRA.Regarding a consumer credit reporting agency’s willful or negligent noncompliance with FCRA, the bill limits the amount that may be awarded to consumersfor court costs, andin class action lawsuits, specifically by prohibiting the court from applying a minimum amount of damages for each class member and by limiting the total recovery amount of the class.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-10-17
- Date Added
- 2026-09-04
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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