Full Text of SB1942 94th General Assembly
SB1942 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006 SB1942
Introduced 2/25/2005, by Sen. Carole Pankau SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Creates the Credit Report Protection Act. Provides that a consumer may place a security alert in
his or her credit report by making a request to a consumer credit reporting agency.
Provides that a consumer credit reporting agency shall notify each person
requesting consumer credit information, with respect to a consumer, of
the existence of a security alert in the credit report of that
consumer. Provides that a consumer may place a security freeze on
his or her credit report by making a request to a
consumer credit reporting agency. Provides that if a security alert or
security freeze is in place, a
consumer credit reporting agency shall not modify certain information in a consumer credit report without sending a
written confirmation of the change to the consumer within 30 days of the change being posted to the consumer's file. Provides that a consumer credit reporting agency may charge a reasonable fee to a consumer that elects to freeze, remove the freeze, or temporarily lift the freeze, except that a consumer credit reporting agency shall not charge a fee to a victim of identity theft that has submitted a valid police report. Provides that a consumer credit reporting agency shall supply
files and credit report information to a consumer during normal
business hours and on reasonable notice, subject to certain conditions. Provides certain exemptions. |
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A BILL FOR
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SB1942 |
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| AN ACT concerning business.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 |
| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 |
| Credit Report Protection Act.
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| Section 5. Definitions. In this Act: | 7 |
| "Security alert" means a notice placed in a consumer's | 8 |
| credit report, at the request of the consumer, that notifies a | 9 |
| recipient of the credit report that the consumer's identity may | 10 |
| have been used without the consumer's consent to fraudulently | 11 |
| obtain goods or services in the consumer's name. | 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 credit | 15 |
| reporting agency from releasing the consumer's credit report or | 16 |
| any information from it without the express authorization of | 17 |
| the consumer. | 18 |
| Section 10. Credit report security alert.
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| (a) A consumer may elect to place a security alert in
his | 20 |
| or her credit report by making a request in writing or by
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| telephone to a consumer credit reporting agency.
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| (b) A consumer credit reporting agency shall notify each | 23 |
| person
requesting consumer credit information, with respect to | 24 |
| a consumer, of
the existence of a security alert in the credit | 25 |
| report of that
consumer, regardless of whether a full credit | 26 |
| report, credit score,
or summary report is requested.
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| (c) A consumer credit reporting agency shall maintain a
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| toll-free telephone number to accept security alert requests | 29 |
| from
consumers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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| (d) The toll-free telephone number shall be included in any
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| written disclosure by a consumer credit reporting agency to any
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| consumer pursuant to Section 30 of this Act and shall be | 2 |
| printed in a clear
and conspicuous manner.
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| (e) A consumer credit reporting agency shall place a | 4 |
| security alert
on a consumer's credit report no later than 5 | 5 |
| business days after receiving
a request from the consumer.
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| (f) The security alert shall remain in place for at least | 7 |
| 90
days
and a consumer shall have the right to request a | 8 |
| renewal of the
security alert.
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| Section 15. Credit report security freeze.
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| (a) A consumer may elect to place a security freeze on
his | 11 |
| or her credit report by making a request in writing by | 12 |
| certified mail to a
consumer credit reporting agency. When a | 13 |
| security freeze is in
place, information from a consumer's | 14 |
| credit report may not be
released to a third party without | 15 |
| prior express authorization from
the consumer.
This subsection | 16 |
| (a) shall not prevent a consumer credit reporting agency from | 17 |
| advising a third party that a security freeze is in effect with | 18 |
| respect to the consumer's credit report.
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| (b) If a consumer requests a security freeze, the consumer | 20 |
| credit
reporting agency shall disclose the process of placing | 21 |
| and lifting a
freeze and the process for allowing access to | 22 |
| information from the
consumer's credit report for a specific | 23 |
| purpose while the freeze is
in place.
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| (c) A consumer credit reporting agency shall place a | 25 |
| security
freeze on a consumer's credit report no later than 5 | 26 |
| business days after
receiving a written request from the | 27 |
| consumer.
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| (d) The consumer credit reporting agency shall send a | 29 |
| written
confirmation of the security freeze to the consumer | 30 |
| within 10 business days
after receiving the request
and shall | 31 |
| provide the consumer with a unique personal identification
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| number or password to be used by the consumer when providing
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| authorization for the release of his or her credit for a | 34 |
| specific
purpose.
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| (e) If the consumer wishes to allow his or her credit |
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| report to be
accessed for a specific party or period of time | 2 |
| while a freeze is in place, he or
she shall contact the credit | 3 |
| reporting agency, request that the freeze be temporarily | 4 |
| lifted, and provide all of the following:
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| (1) Proper identification, as defined in subsection | 6 |
| (c)
of Section 30 of this Act.
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| (2) The unique personal identification number or
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| password provided
by the credit reporting agency pursuant | 9 |
| to subsection (d) of this Section.
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| (3) The proper information regarding the third party | 11 |
| who
is to
receive the credit report or the time period for | 12 |
| which the report shall be available to users of the credit | 13 |
| report.
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| A consumer credit reporting agency that receives a request | 15 |
| from a consumer to temporarily lift a freeze on a credit report | 16 |
| pursuant to this subsection (e), shall comply with the request | 17 |
| no later than 3 business days after receiving the request. | 18 |
| A consumer credit reporting agency may develop procedures | 19 |
| involving the use of telephone, fax, the Internet, or other | 20 |
| electronic media to receive and process a request from a | 21 |
| consumer to temporarily lift a freeze on a credit report | 22 |
| pursuant to this subsection (e) in an expedited manner. | 23 |
| (f) A consumer credit reporting agency shall remove or | 24 |
| temporarily lift a security freeze placed on a consumer's | 25 |
| credit report only in the following cases:
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| (1) upon the consumer's request; or | 27 |
| (2) if the consumer's credit report was frozen due to a | 28 |
| material misrepresentation of fact by the consumer. If a | 29 |
| consumer credit reporting agency intends to remove a | 30 |
| security freeze upon a consumer's credit report pursuant to | 31 |
| this paragraph (2), the consumer credit reporting agency | 32 |
| shall notify the consumer in writing before removing the | 33 |
| security freeze on the consumer's credit report.
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| (g) A consumer credit reporting agency shall require proper
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| identification, as defined in subsection (c) of Section 30, of
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| the person making a request to place or remove a security |
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| freeze.
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| (h) If a third party requests access to a consumer credit | 3 |
| report on which a security freeze is in effect, and this | 4 |
| request is in connection with an application for credit or any | 5 |
| other use, and the consumer does not allow his or her credit | 6 |
| report to be accessed for that specific purpose, the third | 7 |
| party may treat the application as incomplete. | 8 |
| (i) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the | 9 |
| use of a
consumer report by any of the following:
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| (1) A person or entity, or a subsidiary, affiliate, or | 11 |
| agent of
that person or entity, or an assignee of a | 12 |
| financial obligation owing
by the consumer to that person | 13 |
| or entity, or a prospective assignee
of a financial | 14 |
| obligation owing by the consumer to that person or
entity | 15 |
| in conjunction with the proposed purchase of the financial
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| obligation, with which the consumer has or had prior to | 17 |
| assignment an
account or contract, including a demand | 18 |
| deposit account, or to whom
the consumer issued a | 19 |
| negotiable instrument, for the purposes of
reviewing the | 20 |
| account or collecting the financial obligation owing
for | 21 |
| the account, contract, or negotiable instrument. For | 22 |
| purposes of
this paragraph, "reviewing the account" | 23 |
| includes activities related
to account maintenance, | 24 |
| monitoring, credit line increases, and
account upgrades | 25 |
| and enhancements.
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| (2) A law enforcement agency acting pursuant to a court
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| order,
warrant, or subpoena.
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| (3) A child support agency acting pursuant to the
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| Illinois Public Aid
Code or Title IV-D of the Social | 30 |
| Security Act (42 U.S.C. et
seq.).
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| (4) The Department of Public Aid or its agents or | 32 |
| assigns acting to investigate Medicaid fraud. | 33 |
| (5) The Department of Revenue or the Internal Revenue
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| Service, or
their agents or assigns, acting to investigate | 35 |
| or collect
delinquent
taxes.
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| (6) The use of credit information for the purposes of
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| prescreening
as provided for by the federal Fair Credit | 2 |
| Reporting Act.
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| Section 20. Modification of information; notice. If a | 4 |
| security alert or
security freeze is in place, a
consumer | 5 |
| credit reporting agency shall not modify any of the
following | 6 |
| information in a consumer credit report without sending a
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| written confirmation of the change to the consumer within 30 | 8 |
| days of the change being posted to the consumer's file: name, | 9 |
| date
of birth, age, Social Security number, and address.
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| Written confirmation is not required for technical | 11 |
| modifications of a consumer's official information, including | 12 |
| name and street abbreviations, complete spellings, or | 13 |
| transposition of numbers or letters.
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| In the case of an address change, the written confirmation | 15 |
| shall be
sent to both the new address and to the former | 16 |
| address.
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| Section 25. Fees; copy of credit report. | 18 |
| (a) Nothing in this Act shall prevent a consumer credit | 19 |
| reporting agency from charging a reasonable fee to a consumer | 20 |
| that elects to freeze, remove the freeze, or temporarily lift | 21 |
| the freeze regarding access to a consumer credit report, except | 22 |
| that a consumer credit reporting agency shall not charge a fee | 23 |
| to a victim of identity theft that has submitted a valid police | 24 |
| report. | 25 |
| (b) If a consumer has placed a security alert on his or her | 26 |
| credit report, a consumer credit reporting agency shall provide | 27 |
| the consumer, upon request, with a free copy of his or her | 28 |
| credit report at the time the 90-day security alert period | 29 |
| expires. | 30 |
| Section 30. Disclosure of credit information.
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| (a) A consumer credit reporting agency shall supply
files | 32 |
| and credit report information during normal
business hours and | 33 |
| on reasonable notice. A consumer has the right to
request and |
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| receive all of the following:
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| (1) Either a decoded written version of the file or a
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| written copy
of the file, including all information in the | 4 |
| file at the time
of
the request, with an explanation of any | 5 |
| code used.
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| (2) A credit score for the consumer, the key factors,
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| and the
related information.
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| (3) A record of all inquiries, by recipient, which
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| result in the
provision of information concerning the | 10 |
| consumer in connection
with a
credit transaction that is | 11 |
| not initiated by the consumer and
which
were received by | 12 |
| the consumer credit reporting agency in the 12-month
period | 13 |
| immediately preceding the request for disclosure under
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| this
Section.
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| (4) The recipients, including end users,
of any | 16 |
| consumer credit report on the consumer which the
consumer | 17 |
| credit reporting agency has furnished:
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| (A) for employment purposes within the 2-year
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| period preceding
the request; or
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| (B) for any other purpose within the 12-month
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| period preceding the
request.
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| Identification for purposes of this subsection (a) shall | 23 |
| include the
name of the recipient or, if applicable, the | 24 |
| fictitious business name
under which the recipient does | 25 |
| business disclosed in full. If
requested by the consumer, the | 26 |
| identification shall also include the
address of the recipient.
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| (b) Files maintained on a consumer shall be disclosed | 28 |
| promptly as
follows:
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| (1) In person, at the location where the consumer | 30 |
| credit
reporting
agency maintains the trained personnel | 31 |
| required by subsection (d) of this Section,
if he or she | 32 |
| appears in person and furnishes proper identification.
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| (2) By mail, if the consumer makes a written request | 34 |
| with proper
identification for a copy of the file or a | 35 |
| decoded written version of
that file to be sent to the | 36 |
| consumer at a specified address. A
disclosure pursuant to |
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| this paragraph (2) shall be deposited in the
United States | 2 |
| mail, postage prepaid, within 5 business days after
the | 3 |
| consumer's written request for the disclosure is received | 4 |
| by the
consumer credit reporting agency. Consumer credit | 5 |
| reporting agencies
complying with requests for mailings | 6 |
| under this Section shall not be
liable for disclosures to | 7 |
| third parties caused by mishandling of
mail after the | 8 |
| mailings leave the consumer reporting agencies.
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| (3) A summary of all information contained in files on | 10 |
| a
consumer
shall be provided by telephone, if the consumer | 11 |
| has made a written
request, with proper
identification for | 12 |
| telephone disclosure.
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| (4) Information in a consumer's file required to be | 14 |
| provided in
writing under this Section may also be | 15 |
| disclosed in another form if
authorized by the consumer and | 16 |
| if available from the consumer credit
reporting agency. For | 17 |
| this purpose a consumer may request disclosure
in person, | 18 |
| by telephone upon disclosure of proper identification by | 19 |
| the
consumer, by electronic means if
available from the | 20 |
| consumer credit reporting agency, or by any other
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| reasonable means that is available from the consumer credit | 22 |
| reporting
agency.
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| (c) "Proper identification", as used in subsection (b), | 24 |
| means that
information generally deemed sufficient to identify | 25 |
| a person. Only
if the consumer is unable to reasonably identify | 26 |
| himself or herself
may a consumer credit reporting agency | 27 |
| require additional information
concerning the consumer's | 28 |
| employment and personal or family history in
order to verify | 29 |
| his or her identity.
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| (d) The consumer credit reporting agency shall provide | 31 |
| trained
personnel to explain to the consumer any information | 32 |
| furnished to him or
her.
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| (e) The consumer shall be permitted to be accompanied by | 34 |
| one other
person of his or her choosing, who shall furnish | 35 |
| reasonable
identification. A consumer credit reporting agency | 36 |
| may require the
consumer to furnish a written statement |
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| granting permission to the
consumer credit reporting agency to | 2 |
| discuss the consumer's file in
that person's presence.
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| (f) Any written disclosure by a consumer credit reporting | 4 |
| agency
to any consumer pursuant to this Section shall include a | 5 |
| written
summary of all rights the consumer has under this Act | 6 |
| and in the
case of a consumer credit reporting agency that | 7 |
| compiles and
maintains consumer credit reports on a nationwide | 8 |
| basis, a toll-free
telephone number that the consumer can use | 9 |
| to communicate with the
consumer credit reporting agency. The | 10 |
| written summary of rights
required under this Act is sufficient | 11 |
| if in substantially the
following form:
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| "You have a right to obtain a copy of your credit file from | 13 |
| a
consumer credit reporting agency. You may be charged a | 14 |
| reasonable
fee not exceeding $8. There is no fee, however, if
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| you have been turned down for credit, employment, insurance, or | 16 |
| a
rental dwelling because of information in your credit report | 17 |
| within
the preceding 60 days. The consumer credit reporting | 18 |
| agency must
provide someone to help you interpret the | 19 |
| information in your credit
file.
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| You have a right to dispute inaccurate information by | 21 |
| contacting
the consumer credit reporting agency directly. | 22 |
| However, neither you
nor any credit repair company or credit | 23 |
| service organization has the
right to have accurate, current, | 24 |
| and verifiable information removed
from your credit report. | 25 |
| Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting
Act, the consumer | 26 |
| credit reporting agency must remove accurate,
negative | 27 |
| information from your report only if it is over 7 years
old. | 28 |
| Bankruptcy information can be reported for 10 years.
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| If you have notified a credit reporting agency in writing | 30 |
| that you
dispute the accuracy of information in your file, the | 31 |
| consumer
credit reporting agency must then, within 30 business | 32 |
| days,
reinvestigate and modify or remove inaccurate | 33 |
| information. The
consumer credit reporting agency may not | 34 |
| charge a fee for this
service. Any pertinent information and | 35 |
| copies of all documents you
have concerning an error should be | 36 |
| given to the consumer credit
reporting agency.
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| If reinvestigation does not resolve the dispute to your
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| satisfaction, you may send a brief statement to the consumer | 3 |
| credit
reporting agency to keep in your file explaining why you | 4 |
| think the
record is inaccurate. The consumer credit reporting | 5 |
| agency must
include your statement about disputed information | 6 |
| in a report it
issues about you.
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| You have a right to receive a record of all inquiries | 8 |
| relating to
a credit transaction initiated in 12 months | 9 |
| preceding your request.
This record shall include the | 10 |
| recipients of any consumer credit
report.
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| You may request in writing that the information contained | 12 |
| in your
file not be provided to a third party for marketing | 13 |
| purposes.
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| You have a right to place a "security alert" in your credit
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| report, which will warn anyone who receives information in your
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| credit report that your identity may have been used without | 17 |
| your
consent and verification of identity is advised, but not | 18 |
| required, to verify your identity prior to issuing credit.
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| You have a right to place a "security freeze" on your | 20 |
| credit
report, which will prohibit a consumer credit reporting | 21 |
| agency from
releasing any information in your credit report | 22 |
| without your express
authorization. A security freeze must be | 23 |
| requested in writing by certified mail and
may delay or | 24 |
| interfere with the approval of any application you file
for a | 25 |
| new loan, credit, insurance, or service. When you place a
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| security freeze on your credit report, you will be provided a
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| personal identification number or password to use if you choose | 28 |
| to
authorize the release of your credit report for a specific | 29 |
| purpose
after the freeze is in place. To provide that | 30 |
| authorization you must
contact the consumer credit reporting | 31 |
| agency and provide all of the
following:
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| (1) The personal identification number or password.
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| (2) Proper identification to verify your identity.
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| (3) The proper information regarding the third party | 35 |
| who is to
receive the credit report or the period of time | 36 |
| for which the report shall be available.
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| A security freeze does not apply to a person or entity, or | 2 |
| its
affiliates, or collection agencies acting on behalf of the | 3 |
| person or
entity, with which you have an existing account, that | 4 |
| requests
information in your credit report for the purposes of | 5 |
| reviewing or
collecting the account. Reviewing the account | 6 |
| includes activities
related to account maintenance, | 7 |
| monitoring, credit line increases,
and account upgrades and | 8 |
| enhancements.
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| You have a right to bring civil action against anyone, | 10 |
| including a
consumer credit reporting agency that improperly | 11 |
| obtains access to a
file, knowingly or willfully misuses file | 12 |
| data, or fails to correct
inaccurate file data."
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| Section 35. Exemptions. | 14 |
| (a) This Act does not apply to a credit reporting agency | 15 |
| that acts only as a reseller of credit information by | 16 |
| assembling and merging information contained in the data base | 17 |
| of another consumer credit reporting agency or multiple | 18 |
| consumer credit reporting agencies, and does not maintain a | 19 |
| permanent data base of credit information from which new | 20 |
| consumer credit reports are produced. A consumer credit | 21 |
| reporting agency shall honor any security freeze placed on a | 22 |
| consumer credit report by another consumer credit reporting | 23 |
| agency. | 24 |
| (b) The following entities are not required to place a | 25 |
| security alert or a security freeze in a credit report: | 26 |
| (1) A check services company that issues | 27 |
| authorizations for the purpose of approving or processing | 28 |
| negotiable instruments, electronic funds transfers, or | 29 |
| similar methods of payments. | 30 |
| (2) A demand deposit account information service | 31 |
| company that issues reports regarding account closures due | 32 |
| to fraud, substantial overdrafts, ATM abuse, or similar | 33 |
| negative information regarding a consumer, to inquiring | 34 |
| banks or other financial institutions for use only in | 35 |
| reviewing a consumer request for a demand deposit account |
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| at the inquiring bank or financial institution. |
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