Nationwide credit bureaus would check Indiana residents’ Social Security numbers

A nationwide credit bureau would verify a resident’s number with the Social Security Administration and search its files. This covers Indiana residents who request the search alongside information in their own file and whose bureau keeps a file on them. Residents must provide their Social Security number, name, date of birth, and signed consent for the bureau to verify the number. An electronic signature counts. Bureaus would have to fulfill qualifying search requests made after December 31, 2026.

A nationwide credit bureau would report whether the search found other files linked to the resident’s number. The bureau would give these results to an Indiana resident who makes a qualifying search request. If other files appear, the bureau must give their count and identify people who obtained a credit report from each one. The list would cover reports obtained during the year immediately before the resident submitted the request.

A nationwide credit bureau could not add a search fee or raise a related file request fee because of the search. This covers Indiana residents who submit a Social Security number search request with a request for their credit file information. A resident entitled to free file information under federal law could not be charged because the request includes this search. The proposed chapter would take effect July 1, 2026, if enacted.