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Access and Openness in Small Business Lending Act of 2003 (Introduced in House)

HR 1748 IH

108th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 1748

To amend the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to permit the collection of demographic information in connection with small business loan applications with the applicant's consent, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 10, 2003

Mr. MCGOVERN (for himself, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. NORTON, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. OWENS, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. LEE, and Mr. GUTIERREZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

A BILL

To amend the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to permit the collection of demographic information in connection with small business loan applications with the applicant's consent, 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 `Access and Openness in Small Business Lending Act of 2003'.

SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS LOAN DATA COLLECTION.

(a) IN GENERAL- The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 704A the following new section:

`SEC. 704B. SMALL BUSINESS LOAN DATA COLLECTION.

`(a) IN GENERAL- Subject to the requirements of this section, in the case of any application to a depository institution for credit for a small business, the depository institution shall--

`(1) inquire whether the business is a women- or minority-owned business, without regard to whether such application is received in person, by mail, by telephone, by electronic mail or other form of electronic transmission, or by any other means and whether or not such application is in response to a solicitation by the depository institution; and

`(2) maintain a record of the responses to such inquiry separate from the application and accompanying information.

`(b) RIGHT TO REFUSE- Any applicant for credit may refuse to provide any information requested pursuant to subsection (a) in connection with any application for credit.

`(c) NO ACCESS BY UNDERWRITERS- No loan underwriter or other officer or employee of the depository institution, or any affiliate of the depository institution, involved in making any determination concerning an application for credit shall have access to any information provided by the applicant pursuant to a request under subsection (a) in connection with such application.

`(d) FORM AND MANNER OF INFORMATION-

`(1) IN GENERAL- Each depository institution shall compile and maintain, in accordance with regulations of the Board, a record of the information provided by any loan applicant pursuant to a request under subsection (a).

`(2) ITEMIZED- Information compiled and maintained under paragraph (1) shall also be itemized in order to clearly and conspicuously disclose the following:

`(A) The number of the application and the date the application was received.

`(B) The type and purpose of the loan or other credit being applied for.

`(C) The amount of the credit or credit limit applied for and the amount of the credit transaction or the credit limit approved for such applicant.

`(D) The type of action taken with respect to such application and the date of such action.

`(E) The census tract in which is located the principal place of business of the small business loan applicant.

`(F) The gross annual revenue of the business in the last fiscal year of the small business loan applicant preceding the date of the application.

`(3) NO PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION- In compiling and maintaining any record of information under this section, a depository institution may not include in such record the name, specific address (other than the census tract required under paragraph (1)(E)), telephone number, electronic mail address, and any other personally identifiable information concerning any individual who is, or is connected with, the small business loan applicant.

`(e) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION-

`(1) SUBMISSION TO AGENCIES- The data required to be compiled and maintained under this section by any depository institution shall be submitted annually to the agency to whom the enforcement of the requirements of this title are committed under section 704.

`(2) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION- Information compiled and maintained under this section shall be retained for not less than 3 years after the date of preparation and shall be made available to the public, upon request, in the form required under regulations prescribed by the Board.

`(f) EXEMPTION FOR SMALL INSTITUTIONS-

`(1) IN GENERAL- This section shall not apply to any depository institution the total assets of which are equal to or less than the exemption amount as of the end of the last full fiscal year of the depository institution preceding the date of the small business loan application.

`(2) EXEMPTION AMOUNT- For purposes of paragraph (1), the exemption amount is the amount determined under subsection (a) of section 309 of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 (taking into account the adjustments required under subsection (b) of such section).

`(g) DEFINITIONS- For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:

`(1) DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION- The term `depository institution'--

`(A) has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act; and

`(B) includes any credit union.

`(2) MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS- The term `minority-owned business' means a business--

`(A) more than 50 percent of the ownership or control of which is held by 1 or more minority individuals; and

`(B) more than 50 percent of the net profit or loss of which accrues to 1 or more minority individuals.

`(3) WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS- The term `women-owned business' means a business--

`(A) more than 50 percent of the ownership or control of which is held by 1 or more women; and

`(B) more than 50 percent of the net profit or loss of which accrues to 1 or more women.

`(4) MINORITY- The term `minority' has the meaning given to such term by section 1204(c)(3) of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989.

`(5) SMALL BUSINESS LOAN- The term `small business loan' includes any loan described or defined as a small business loan under any of the following provisions of title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of the enactment of the Access and Openness in Small Business Lending Act of 2003):

`(A) Section 25.12(u) of subpart A of part 25.

`(B) Section 228.12(u) of part 228.

`(C) Section 345.12(u) of part 345.

`(D) Section 563e.12(t) of part 563e.'.

(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS- Section 701(b) of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691(b)) is amended--

(1) by striking `or' after the semicolon at the end of paragraph (3);

(2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end and inserting `; or'; and

(3) by inserting after paragraph (4), the following new paragraph:

`(5) to make an inquiry under section 704B in accordance with the requirements of such section.'.

(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT- The table of sections for title VII of the Consumer Credit Protection Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 704A the following new item:

`704B. Small business loan data collection.'.

(d) EFFECTIVE DATE- This section and the amendments made by this section shall take effect at the end of the 6-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.

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