BILL NUMBER: AB 1531 CHAPTERED 02/19/02 CHAPTER 9 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE FEBRUARY 19, 2002 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR FEBRUARY 19, 2002 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY FEBRUARY 4, 2002 PASSED THE SENATE JANUARY 30, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 14, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 31, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 9, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 30, 2001 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Kehoe FEBRUARY 23, 2001 An act to amend, repeal, and add Section 1785.10 of the Civil Code, relating to consumer credit, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1531, Kehoe. Consumer credit. Existing law requires a consumer credit reporting agency, upon consumer request, to allow consumer inspection of its files regarding that consumer. Existing law requires those files to include the telephone numbers of a source of information included in the report, of a recipient of a consumer credit report of the consumer, and of others making certain inquiries of the credit report of the consumer, if provided. This bill instead would suspend those requirements regarding the disclosure of those telephone numbers until January 1, 2003. The will would make other conforming changes. The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 1785.10 of the Civil Code is amended to read: 1785.10. (a) Every consumer credit reporting agency shall, upon request and proper identification of any consumer, allow the consumer to visually inspect all files maintained regarding that consumer at the time of the request. (b) Every consumer reporting agency, upon contact by a consumer by telephone, mail, or in person regarding information which may be contained in the agency files regarding that consumer, shall promptly advise the consumer of his or her rights under Sections 1785.11.8, 1785.19, and 1785.19.5, and of the obligation of the agency to provide disclosure of the files in person, by mail, or by telephone pursuant to Section 1785.15, including the obligation of the agency to provide a decoded written version of the file or a written copy of the file with an explanation of any code, including any credit score used, and the key factors, as defined in Section 1785.15.1, if the consumer so requests that copy. The disclosure shall be provided in the manner selected by the consumer, chosen from among any reasonable means available to the consumer credit reporting agency. The agency shall determine the applicability of subdivision (1) of Section 1785.17 and, where applicable, the agency shall inform the consumer of the rights under that section. (c) All information on a consumer in the files of a consumer credit reporting agency at the time of a request for inspection under subdivision (a), shall be available for inspection, including the names and addresses of the sources of information. (d) (1) The consumer credit reporting agency shall also disclose the recipients of any consumer credit report on the consumer which the consumer credit reporting agency has furnished: (A) For employment purposes within the two-year period preceding the request. (B) For any other purpose within the 12-month period preceding the request. (2) Disclosure of recipients of consumer credit reports for purposes of this subdivision shall include the name of the recipient or, if applicable, the fictitious business name under which the recipient does business disclosed in full. If requested by the consumer, the identification shall also include the address of the recipient. (e) The consumer credit reporting agency shall also disclose a record of all inquiries received by the agency in the 12-month period preceding the request that identified the consumer in connection with a credit transaction which is not initiated by the consumer. This record of inquiries shall include the name of each recipient making an inquiry. (f) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2003, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2003, deletes or extends that date. SEC. 2. Section 1785.10 is added to the Civil Code, to read: 1785.10. (a) Every consumer credit reporting agency shall, upon request and proper identification of any consumer, allow the consumer to visually inspect all files maintained regarding that consumer at the time of the request. (b) Every consumer reporting agency, upon contact by a consumer by telephone, mail, or in person regarding information which may be contained in the agency files regarding that consumer, shall promptly advise the consumer of his or her rights under Sections 1785.11.8, 1785.19, and 1785.19.5, and of the obligation of the agency to provide disclosure of the files in person, by mail, or by telephone pursuant to Section 1785.15, including the obligation of the agency to provide a decoded written version of the file or a written copy of the file with an explanation of any code, including any credit score used, and the key factors, as defined in Section 1785.15.1, if the consumer so requests that copy. The disclosure shall be provided in the manner selected by the consumer, chosen from among any reasonable means available to the consumer credit reporting agency. The agency shall determine the applicability of subdivision (1) of Section 1785.17 and, where applicable, the agency shall inform the consumer of the rights under that section. (c) All information on a consumer in the files of a consumer credit reporting agency at the time of a request for inspection under subdivision (a), shall be available for inspection, including the names, addresses and, if provided by the sources of information, the telephone numbers identified for customer service for the sources of information. (d) (1) The consumer credit reporting agency shall also disclose the recipients of any consumer credit report on the consumer which the consumer credit reporting agency has furnished: (A) For employment purposes within the two-year period preceding the request. (B) For any other purpose within the 12-month period preceding the request. (2) Disclosure of recipients of consumer credit reports for purposes of this subdivision shall include the name of the recipient or, if applicable, the fictitious business name under which the recipient does business disclosed in full. The identification shall also include the address and, if provided by the recipient, the telephone number identified for customer service for the recipient. (e) The consumer credit reporting agency shall also disclose a record of all inquiries received by the agency in the 12-month period preceding the request that identified the consumer in connection with a credit transaction which is not initiated by the consumer. This record of inquiries shall include the name, address and, if provided by the recipient, the telephone number identified for customer service for each recipient making an inquiry. (f) Any consumer credit reporting agency when it is subject to the provisions of Section 1785.22 is exempted from the requirements of subdivisions (c), (d), and (e), only with regard to the provision of the address and telephone number. (g) Any consumer credit reporting agency, that provides a consumer credit report to another consumer credit reporting agency that procures the consumer credit report for the purpose of resale and is subject to Section 1785.22, is exempted from the requirements of subdivisions (d) and (e), only with regard to the provision of the address and telephone number regarding each prospective user to which the consumer credit report was sold. (h) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2003. SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: In order to preserve and clarify the delayed operative date of January 1, 2003, set forth in Section 3 of Chapter 236 of the Statutes of 2001 with respect to the amendments to Section 1785.10 of the Civil Code made by Section 1.5 of Chapter 354 of the Statutes of 2001, which incorporate the changes to that section made by Chapter 236 of the Statutes of 2001, and to coordinate those changes with the other changes to the Civil Code made by Chapter 236 of the Statutes of 2001 which will become operative on January 1, 2003, it is necessary that this bill take effect immediately.