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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 215 / Wednesday, November 10, 2021 / Rules and Regulations Despite these enforcement actions, the steps taken by the nationwide consumer reporting agencies pursuant to the NCAP, and these court decisions, it appears that some consumer reporting agencies continue to use matching practices that do not satisfy the standard of reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information concerning the individual about whom the report relates, as required by FCRA section 607b. The NCLC stated in a 2019 report that some background screening companies are still relying on name-only matches.32
NCLC and other consumer and civil rights groups recently requested that the Bureau provide guidance that nameonly matching is a practice that fails to comply with the FCRA.33
The Bureau is issuing this advisory opinion to remind consumer reporting agencies that their matching practices must comply with their FCRA
obligation to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy under section 607b, and that the practice of name-only matching in particular is far from sufficient to meet that standard. Indeed, as illustrated by the foregoing discussion, multiple additional elements beyond names may often be required to meet the FCRA
standard of reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy.
B. Coverage
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This advisory opinion applies to all consumer reporting agencies as defined in FCRA section 603f.34 As used in this advisory opinion, name-only matching refers to matching information to the particular consumer who is the subject of a consumer report based solely on whether the consumers first and last names are identical or similar to the first and last names associated with the information, without verifying the match using additional identifying information for the consumer. Matching procedures refers to the broader set of practices and procedures consumer reporting agencies e.g., Lopez v. Natl Credit Reporting, Inc., 2013 WL
1999624 N.D. Cal. May 13, 2013 denying motion to dismiss in case alleging violation of FCRA
section 607b related to mixed file due to match based only on name and similar area of residence.
32 Natl Consumer Law Ctr., Broken Records Redux, supra note 2, at 18, 38.
33 Letter from American Civil Liberties Union et al. to Secretary Marcia L. Fudge, U.S. Dept of Hous.
& Urban Dev. et al. July 13, 2021, at 78
addressing technologys role in housing discrimination, https www.aclu.org/letter/
coalition-memo-re-addressing-technologys-rolehousing-discrimination.
34 15 U.S.C. 1681af.

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use to link information to a consumers consumer report.
C. Legal Analysis FCRA section 607b provides that whenever a consumer reporting agency prepares a consumer report it shall follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information concerning the individual about whom the report relates. 35 The Bureau interprets the requirement in section 607b to include as an integral component that the information in fact pertains to the consumer who is the subject of the report. Indeed, the text of section 607b refers explicitly to the individual about whom the report relates. This interpretation is consistent with the core purpose of the FCRA as described in FCRA section 602i.e., to require consumer reporting agencies to adopt reasonable procedures for meeting the needs of commerce for consumer credit, personnel, insurance, and other information in a manner that is fair and equitable to the consumer with regard to confidentiality, accuracy, and the proper use of such information.36
Other provisions of the FCRA that directly relate to section 607b also support this interpretation. For example, section 603d of the FCRA
defines consumer report to include certain communications bearing on a consumers credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living that are used or expected to be used . . .
for the purpose of . . . establishing the consumers eligibility for credit, employment, insurance, and other purposes.37 Information in a consumer report on a different consumer than the consumer report purports to relate to would not have any utility in serving as a factor in establishing the eligibility of the person the consumer report purports to relate to. Additionally, section 604 of the FCRA generally provides that a consumer reporting agency may not provide a consumer report about a particular consumer unless there is a permissible purpose, such as a legitimate business need related to a 35 15

U.S.C. 1681eb.
U.S.C. 1681a; see also Guimond, 45 F.3d at 1333. Inaccuracy based on mistaken identity was one of the reasons a first version of the FCRA was introduced. As Senator William Proxmire stated when introducing the legislation, There are many varieties of inaccurate information . . . . One is the case of mistaken identity, where two individuals with the same names are confused, and the deserving individual is denied credit because of something done by the other person. 114 Cong.
Rec. 24,902, 24,903 1968.
37 15 U.S.C. 1681ad.

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transaction initiated by the consumer.38
The FCRA expressly ties many of these permissible purposes to the specific consumer who is the subject of the report, making it clear that Congress intended that information in the consumer report would relate to that specific consumer. For instance, in FCRA section 604a3A, Congress allowed consumer reporting agencies to release a consumer report to a person if they have reason to believe the person intends to use the information in connection with a credit transaction involving the consumer on whom the information is to be furnished. 39
The steps that a consumer reporting agency takes in matching information it obtains or receives to the correct consumer in preparing consumer reports are critical in assessing whether a consumer reporting agency is following reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information concerning the individual about whom the report relates under FCRA section 607b. As detailed in part I.A. above, matching information to the consumer who is the subject of a consumer report by name alone creates significant accuracy concerns because most names are shared with other consumers and, in some cases, with thousands of other consumers. In preparing consumer reports, it is not a reasonable procedure to assure maximum possible accuracy to use insufficient identifiers to match information to the consumer who is the subject of the report. In particular, it has been the consistent view of the Bureau that name-only matching is not a procedure that assures maximum possible accuracy, and thus, consumer reporting agencies that use name-only matching violate FCRA section 607b.40
That continues to be the Bureaus position as outlined in this advisory opinion. Moreover, nothing in this analysis creates a safe harbor for the FCRA requirement of reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy with respect to matching.
Based on the high risk that name-only matching will result in the inclusion of information that does not pertain to the consumer who is the subject of the report and the relative lack of burden on a consumer reporting agency associated
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U.S.C. 1681b.
U.S.C. 1681ba3A.
40 See Consent Order at 413, In re Gen. Info.
Servs., Inc., 2015CFPB0028 Oct. 29, 2015, https files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201510_cfpb_
consent-order_general-information-service-inc.pdf;
Complaint at 511, Bureau of Consumer Fin.
Prot. v. Sterling Infosys., Inc., No. 1:19cv10824
S.D.N.Y. Nov. 22, 2019, https www.consumer finance.gov/enforcement/actions/sterlinginfosystems-inc/.
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