HB 0743 2004
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to consumer credit reports; providing
3	definitions; authorizing consumers to place security
4	alerts on credit reports; providing requirements and
5	procedures; providing duties of consumer credit reporting
6	agencies; authorizing consumers to place security freezes
7	on credit reports; providing criteria, requirements, and
8	procedures; providing duties of consumer credit reporting
9	agencies; providing exceptions; authorizing consumer
10	credit reporting agencies to charge a reasonable fee;
11	providing an effective date.
12
13	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15	Section 1. (1) DEFINITIONS.--For purposes of this
16	section, the term:
17	(a) "Consumer credit reporting agency" means a credit
18	reporting agency regulated under 15 U.S.C. ss. 1681 et seq.
19	(b) "Security alert" means a notice placed in a consumer's
20	credit report, at the request of the consumer, that notifies a
21	recipient of the credit report that the consumer's identity may
22	have been used without the consumer's consent to fraudulently
23	obtain goods or services in the consumer's name.
24	(c) "Security freeze" means a notice placed in a
25	consumer's credit report, at the request of the consumer and
26	subject to certain exceptions, that prohibits the consumer
27	credit reporting agency from releasing the consumer's credit
28	report or any information from it without the express
29	authorization of the consumer.
30	(2) SECURITY ALERT PLACEMENT BY CONSUMER; ACCEPTANCE OF
31	SECURITY ALERT BY CONSUMER CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY; TIME IN
32	EFFECT.--
33	(a) A consumer may elect to place a security alert in his
34	or her credit report by making a request in writing or by
35	telephone to a consumer credit reporting agency.
36	(b) A consumer credit reporting agency shall notify each
37	person requesting consumer credit information with respect to a
38	consumer of the existence of a security alert in the credit
39	report of that consumer, regardless of whether a full credit
40	report, credit score, or summary report is requested.
41	(c) Each consumer credit reporting agency in this state
42	shall maintain a toll-free telephone number to accept security
43	alert requests from consumers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
44	(d) A consumer credit reporting agency shall place a
45	security alert on a consumer's credit report no later than 5
46	business days after receiving a request from the consumer.
47	(e) The security alert shall remain in place for at least
48	90 days, and a consumer shall have the right to request a
49	renewal of the security alert.
50	(3) SECURITY FREEZE BY CONSUMER CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY;
51	TIME IN EFFECT; REASONABLE FEE; AGENCY DUTIES.--
52	(a)1. A consumer may elect to place a security freeze on
53	his or her credit report by making a request in writing by
54	certified mail to a consumer credit reporting agency. If a
55	security freeze is in place, information from a consumer's
56	credit report may not be released to a third party without prior
57	express authorization from the consumer. This subparagraph does
58	not prevent a consumer credit reporting agency from advising a
59	third party that a security freeze is in effect with respect to
60	the consumer's credit report.
61	2. A consumer credit reporting agency shall place a
62	security freeze on a consumer's credit report no later than 5
63	business days after receiving a written request from the
64	consumer.
65	3. The consumer credit reporting agency shall send a
66	written confirmation of the security freeze to the consumer
67	within 10 business days and shall provide the consumer with a
68	unique personal identification number or password to be used by
69	the consumer when providing authorization for the release of his
70	or her credit report for a specific party or period of time.
71	4. If the consumer wishes to allow his or her credit
72	report to be accessed for a specific party or period of time
73	while a freeze is in place, the consumer shall contact the
74	consumer credit reporting agency, request that the freeze be
75	temporarily lifted, and provide the following:
76	a. Proper identification sufficient to identify the
77	consumer.
78	b. The unique personal identification number or password
79	provided by the consumer credit reporting agency pursuant to
80	subparagraph 3.
81	c. Proper identification regarding the third party who is
82	to receive the credit report or the time period for which the
83	report shall be available to users of the credit report.
84	5. A consumer credit reporting agency that receives a
85	request from a consumer to temporarily lift a freeze on a credit
86	report pursuant to subparagraph 4. shall comply with the request
87	no later than 3 business days after receiving the request.
88	6. A consumer credit reporting agency may develop
89	procedures involving the use of telephone, fax, the Internet, or
90	other electronic media to receive and process a request from a
91	consumer to temporarily lift a freeze on a credit report
92	pursuant to subparagraph 4. in an expedited manner.
93	7. A consumer credit reporting agency shall remove or
94	temporarily lift a freeze placed on a consumer's credit report
95	only:
96	a. Upon a consumer’s request, pursuant to subparagraph 4.
97	or subparagraph 10.; or
98	b. If the consumer's credit report was frozen due to a
99	material misrepresentation of fact by the consumer.
100
101	If a consumer credit reporting agency intends to remove a freeze
102	upon a consumer's credit report pursuant to this subparagraph,
103	the consumer credit reporting agency shall notify the consumer
104	in writing prior to removing the freeze on the consumer's credit
105	report.
106	8. If a third party requests access to a consumer credit
107	report on which a security freeze is in effect, and this request
108	is in connection with an application for credit or any other
109	use, and the consumer does not allow his or her credit report to
110	be accessed for that specific party or period of time, the third
111	party may treat the application as incomplete.
112	9. If a consumer requests a security freeze, the consumer
113	credit reporting agency shall disclose the process of placing
114	and temporarily lifting a freeze and the process for allowing
115	access to information from the consumer's credit report for a
116	specific party or period of time while the freeze is in place.
117	10. A security freeze shall remain in place until the
118	consumer requests that the security freeze be removed. A
119	consumer credit reporting agency shall remove a security freeze
120	within 3 business days after receiving a request for removal
121	from the consumer, who provides:
122	a. Proper identification sufficient to identify the
123	consumer.
124	b. The unique personal identification number or password
125	provided by the consumer credit reporting agency pursuant to
126	subparagraph 3.
127	11. A consumer credit reporting agency shall require
128	proper identification sufficient to identify a person who makes
129	a request to place or remove a security freeze.
130	12. The provisions of this paragraph do not apply to the
131	use of a consumer credit report by:
132	a. A person or entity, or a subsidiary, affiliate, or
133	agent of that person or entity, or an assignee of a financial
134	obligation owing by the consumer to that person or entity, or a
135	prospective assignee of a financial obligation owing by the
136	consumer to that person or entity in conjunction with the
137	proposed purchase of the financial obligation, with which the
138	consumer has or had prior to assignment an account or contract,
139	including a demand deposit account, or to whom the consumer
140	issued a negotiable instrument, for the purposes of reviewing
141	the account or collecting the financial obligation owing for the
142	account, contract, or negotiable instrument. For purposes of
143	this sub-subparagraph, the term "reviewing the account" includes
144	activities related to account maintenance, monitoring, credit
145	line increases, and account upgrades and enhancements.
146	b. A subsidiary, affiliate, agent, assignee, or
147	prospective assignee of a person to whom access has been granted
148	under subparagraph 4. for purposes of facilitating the extension
149	of credit or other permissible use.
150	c. Any state or local agency, law enforcement agency,
151	trial court, or private collection agency acting pursuant to a
152	court order, warrant, or subpoena.
153	d. A child support agency acting pursuant to chapter 61,
154	Florida Statutes, or Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, 42
155	U.S.C. ss 651 et seq.
156	e. The Department of Health or the Department of Children
157	and Family Services or its agents or assigns acting to
158	investigate fraud.
159	f. The Department of Revenue or its agents or assigns
160	acting to investigate or collect delinquent taxes or unpaid
161	court orders or to fulfill any of its other statutory
162	responsibilities.
163	g. The use of credit information for the purposes of
164	prescreening as provided for by the federal Fair Credit
165	Reporting Act.
166	h. Any person or entity administering a credit file
167	monitoring subscription service to which the consumer has
168	subscribed.
169	i. Any person or entity for the purpose of providing a
170	consumer with a copy of the consumer’s credit report upon the
171	consumer's request.
172	13. This paragraph does not prevent a consumer credit
173	reporting agency from charging a reasonable fee to a consumer
174	who elects to freeze, remove the freeze, or temporarily lift the
175	freeze regarding access to a consumer credit report, except that
176	a consumer credit reporting agency may not charge a fee to a
177	victim of identity theft who has submitted a valid police report
178	or valid Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
179	investigative report that alleges a violation of this paragraph.
180	(b)1. If a security freeze is in place, a consumer credit
181	reporting agency shall not change the consumer’s name, date of
182	birth, social security number, or address in a consumer credit
183	report without sending a written confirmation of the change to
184	the consumer within 30 days after the change is posted to the
185	consumer's file. Written confirmation is not required for
186	technical modifications of a consumer's official information,
187	including, but not limited to, name and street abbreviations,
188	complete spellings, or transposition of numbers or letters. In
189	the case of an address change, the written confirmation shall be
190	sent to the consumer’s new address and the consumer’s former
191	address.
192	2. If a consumer has placed a security alert on his or her
193	credit report, a consumer credit reporting agency shall provide
194	the consumer, upon request, with a free copy of his or her
195	credit report at the time the 90-day security alert period
196	expires.
197	Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.