Full Text of HB4591 97th General Assembly
HB4591 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012 HB4591 Introduced 2/1/2012, by Rep. JoAnn D. Osmond SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides that a consumer reporting agency may not include in a consumer credit report any information based upon obligations incurred by a consumer during the time the consumer is a resident of a facility as defined under the Nursing Home Care Act.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning business.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business | 5 | | Practices Act is amended by changing Section 2MM as follows:
| 6 | | (815 ILCS 505/2MM)
| 7 | | Sec. 2MM. Verification of accuracy of consumer reporting | 8 | | information used to
extend consumers credit and security freeze | 9 | | on credit reports. | 10 | | (a) A credit card issuer who mails an offer or solicitation | 11 | | to apply for a
credit card and who receives a completed | 12 | | application in response to the offer
or
solicitation which | 13 | | lists an address that is not substantially the same as the
| 14 | | address on the offer or solicitation may not issue a credit | 15 | | card based on that
application until reasonable steps have been | 16 | | taken to verify the applicant's
change of address.
| 17 | | (b) Any person who uses a consumer credit report in | 18 | | connection with the
approval of credit based on the application | 19 | | for an extension of credit, and who
has received notification | 20 | | of a police report filed with a consumer reporting
agency that | 21 | | the applicant has been a victim of financial
identity theft, as | 22 | | defined in Section 16-30 or 16G-15 of the Criminal Code of | 23 | | 1961, may
not lend money or extend credit without taking |
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| 1 | | reasonable steps to verify the
consumer's identity and confirm | 2 | | that the application for an extension of
credit
is not the | 3 | | result of financial identity theft.
| 4 | | (b-5) A consumer reporting agency may not include in a | 5 | | consumer credit report any information based upon obligations | 6 | | incurred by a consumer during the time the consumer is a | 7 | | resident of a facility as defined in Section 1-113 of the | 8 | | Nursing Home Care Act. | 9 | | (c) A consumer may request that a security freeze be placed | 10 | | on his or her credit report by sending a request in writing by | 11 | | certified mail to a consumer reporting agency at an address | 12 | | designated by the consumer reporting agency to receive such | 13 | | requests. This subsection (c) does not prevent a consumer | 14 | | reporting agency from advising a third party that a security | 15 | | freeze is in effect with respect to the consumer's credit | 16 | | report.
| 17 | | (d) A consumer reporting agency shall place a security | 18 | | freeze on a consumer's credit report no later than 5 business | 19 | | days after receiving a written request from the consumer:
| 20 | | (1) a written request described in subsection (c); | 21 | | (2) proper identification; and | 22 | | (3) payment of a fee, if applicable.
| 23 | | (e) Upon placing the security freeze on the consumer's | 24 | | credit report, the consumer reporting agency shall send to the | 25 | | consumer within 10 business days a written confirmation of the | 26 | | placement of the security freeze and a unique personal |
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| 1 | | identification number or password or similar device, other than | 2 | | the consumer's Social Security number, to be used by the | 3 | | consumer when providing authorization for the release of his or | 4 | | her credit report for a specific party or period of time.
| 5 | | (f) If the consumer wishes to allow his or her credit | 6 | | report to be accessed for a specific party or period of time | 7 | | while a freeze is in place, he or she shall contact the | 8 | | consumer reporting agency using a point of contact designated | 9 | | by the consumer reporting agency, request that the freeze be | 10 | | temporarily lifted, and provide the following:
| 11 | | (1) Proper identification;
| 12 | | (2) The unique personal identification number or | 13 | | password or similar device provided by the consumer | 14 | | reporting agency;
| 15 | | (3) The proper information regarding the third party or | 16 | | time period for which the report shall be available to | 17 | | users of the credit report; and
| 18 | | (4) A fee, if applicable.
| 19 | | (g) A consumer reporting agency shall develop a contact | 20 | | method to receive and process a request from a consumer to | 21 | | temporarily lift a freeze on a credit report pursuant to | 22 | | subsection (f) in an expedited manner.
| 23 | | A contact method under this subsection shall include:
(i) a | 24 | | postal address; and (ii) an electronic contact method chosen by | 25 | | the consumer reporting agency, which may include the use of | 26 | | telephone, fax, Internet, or other electronic means.
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| 1 | | (h) A consumer reporting agency that receives a request | 2 | | from a consumer to temporarily lift a freeze on a credit report | 3 | | pursuant to subsection (f), shall comply with the request no | 4 | | later than 3 business days after receiving the request.
| 5 | | (i) A consumer reporting agency shall remove or temporarily | 6 | | lift a freeze placed on a consumer's credit report only in the | 7 | | following cases:
| 8 | | (1) upon consumer request, pursuant to subsection (f) | 9 | | or subsection (l) of this Section; or
| 10 | | (2) if the consumer's credit report was frozen due to a | 11 | | material misrepresentation of fact by the consumer.
| 12 | | If a consumer reporting agency intends to remove a freeze | 13 | | upon a consumer's credit report pursuant to this subsection, | 14 | | the consumer reporting agency shall notify the consumer in | 15 | | writing prior to removing the freeze on the consumer's credit | 16 | | report.
| 17 | | (j) If a third party requests access to a credit report on | 18 | | which a security freeze is in effect, and this request is in | 19 | | connection with an application for credit or any other use, and | 20 | | the consumer does not allow his or her credit report to be | 21 | | accessed for that specific party or period of time, the third | 22 | | party may treat the application as incomplete.
| 23 | | (k) If a consumer requests a security freeze, the credit | 24 | | reporting agency shall disclose to the consumer the process of | 25 | | placing and temporarily lifting a security freeze, and the | 26 | | process for allowing access to information from the consumer's |
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| 1 | | credit report for a specific party or period of time while the | 2 | | freeze is in place.
| 3 | | (l) A security freeze shall remain in place until the | 4 | | consumer requests, using a point of contact designated by the | 5 | | consumer reporting agency, that the security freeze be removed. | 6 | | A credit reporting agency shall remove a security freeze within | 7 | | 3 business days of receiving a request for removal from the | 8 | | consumer, who provides:
| 9 | | (1) Proper identification;
| 10 | | (2) The unique personal identification number or | 11 | | password or similar device provided by the consumer | 12 | | reporting agency; and
| 13 | | (3) A fee, if applicable.
| 14 | | (m) A consumer reporting agency shall require proper | 15 | | identification of the person making a request to place or | 16 | | remove a security freeze.
| 17 | | (n) The provisions of subsections (c) through (m) of this | 18 | | Section do not apply to the use of a consumer credit report by | 19 | | any of the following:
| 20 | | (1) A person or entity, or a subsidiary, affiliate, or | 21 | | agent of that person or entity, or an assignee of a | 22 | | financial obligation owing by the consumer to that person | 23 | | or entity, or a prospective assignee of a financial | 24 | | obligation owing by the consumer to that person or entity | 25 | | in conjunction with the proposed purchase of the financial | 26 | | obligation, with which the consumer has or had prior to |
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| 1 | | assignment an account or contract, including a demand | 2 | | deposit account, or to whom the consumer issued a | 3 | | negotiable instrument, for the purposes of reviewing the | 4 | | account or collecting the financial obligation owing for | 5 | | the account, contract, or negotiable instrument. For | 6 | | purposes of this subsection, "reviewing the account" | 7 | | includes activities related to account maintenance, | 8 | | monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades | 9 | | and enhancements.
| 10 | | (2) A subsidiary, affiliate, agent, assignee, or | 11 | | prospective assignee of a person to whom access has been | 12 | | granted under subsection (f) of this Section for purposes | 13 | | of facilitating the extension of credit or other | 14 | | permissible use.
| 15 | | (3) Any state or local agency, law enforcement agency, | 16 | | trial court, or private collection agency acting pursuant | 17 | | to a court order, warrant, or subpoena.
| 18 | | (4) A child support agency acting pursuant to Title | 19 | | IV-D of the Social Security Act.
| 20 | | (5) The State or its agents or assigns acting to | 21 | | investigate fraud.
| 22 | | (6) The Department of Revenue or its agents or assigns | 23 | | acting to investigate or collect delinquent taxes or unpaid | 24 | | court orders or to fulfill any of its other statutory | 25 | | responsibilities.
| 26 | | (7) The use of credit information for the purposes of |
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| 1 | | prescreening as provided for by the federal Fair Credit | 2 | | Reporting Act.
| 3 | | (8) Any person or entity administering a credit file | 4 | | monitoring subscription or similar service to which the | 5 | | consumer has subscribed.
| 6 | | (9) Any person or entity for the purpose of providing a | 7 | | consumer with a copy of his or her credit report or score | 8 | | upon the consumer's request.
| 9 | | (10) Any person using the information in connection | 10 | | with the underwriting of insurance.
| 11 | | (n-5) This Section does not prevent a consumer reporting | 12 | | agency from charging a fee of no more than $10 to a consumer | 13 | | for each freeze, removal, or temporary lift of the freeze, | 14 | | regarding access to a consumer credit report, except that a | 15 | | consumer reporting agency may not charge a fee to (i) a | 16 | | consumer 65 years of age or over for placement and removal of a | 17 | | freeze, or (ii) a victim of identity theft who has submitted to | 18 | | the consumer reporting agency a valid copy of a police report, | 19 | | investigative report, or complaint that the consumer has filed | 20 | | with a law enforcement agency about unlawful use of his or her | 21 | | personal information by another person.
| 22 | | (o) If a security freeze is in place, a consumer reporting | 23 | | agency shall not change any of the following official | 24 | | information in a credit report without sending a written | 25 | | confirmation of the change to the consumer within 30 days of | 26 | | the change being posted to the consumer's file: (i) name, (ii) |
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| 1 | | date of birth, (iii) Social Security number, and (iv) address. | 2 | | Written confirmation is not required for technical | 3 | | modifications of a consumer's official information, including | 4 | | name and street abbreviations, complete spellings, or | 5 | | transposition of numbers or letters. In the case of an address | 6 | | change, the written confirmation shall be sent to both the new | 7 | | address and to the former address.
| 8 | | (p) The following entities are not required to place a | 9 | | security freeze in a consumer report, however, pursuant to | 10 | | paragraph (3) of this subsection, a consumer reporting agency | 11 | | acting as a reseller shall honor any security freeze placed on | 12 | | a consumer credit report by another consumer reporting agency:
| 13 | | (1) A check services or fraud prevention services | 14 | | company, which issues reports on incidents of fraud or | 15 | | authorizations for the purpose of approving or processing | 16 | | negotiable instruments, electronic funds transfers, or | 17 | | similar methods of payment.
| 18 | | (2) A deposit account information service company, | 19 | | which issues reports regarding account closures due to | 20 | | fraud, substantial overdrafts, ATM abuse, or similar | 21 | | negative information regarding a consumer to inquiring | 22 | | banks or other financial institutions for use only in | 23 | | reviewing a consumer request for a deposit account at the | 24 | | inquiring bank or financial institution.
| 25 | | (3) A consumer reporting agency that:
| 26 | | (A) acts only to resell credit information by |
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| 1 | | assembling and merging information contained in a | 2 | | database of one or more consumer reporting agencies; | 3 | | and
| 4 | | (B) does not maintain a permanent database of | 5 | | credit information from which new credit reports are | 6 | | produced.
| 7 | | (q) For purposes of this Section: | 8 | | "Credit report" has the same meaning as "consumer report", | 9 | | as ascribed to it in 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681a(d). | 10 | | "Consumer reporting agency" has the meaning ascribed to it | 11 | | in 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681a(f). | 12 | | "Security freeze" means
a notice placed in a consumer's | 13 | | credit report, at the request of the consumer and subject to | 14 | | certain exceptions, that prohibits the consumer reporting | 15 | | agency from releasing the consumer's credit report or score | 16 | | relating to an extension of credit, without the express | 17 | | authorization of the consumer.
| 18 | | "Extension of credit" does not include
an increase in an | 19 | | existing open-end credit plan, as defined in Regulation Z of
| 20 | | the Federal Reserve System (12 C.F.R. 226.2), or any change to | 21 | | or review of an
existing credit account.
| 22 | | "Proper identification" means information generally deemed | 23 | | sufficient to identify a person. Only if the consumer is unable | 24 | | to reasonably identify himself or herself with the information | 25 | | described above, may a consumer reporting agency require | 26 | | additional information concerning the consumer's employment |
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| 1 | | and personal or family history in order to verify his or her | 2 | | identity.
| 3 | | (r) Any person who violates this Section commits an
| 4 | | unlawful practice within the meaning of this Act.
| 5 | | (Source: P.A. 97-597, eff. 1-1-12.)
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