Florida Senate - 2006 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 656
Barcode 880236
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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3 Floor: 1/AD/3R .
04/26/2006 05:15 PM .
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11 Senator Peaden moved the following amendment:
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13 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
14 On page 2, line 19, through
15 page 9, line 28, delete those lines
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17 and insert: information contained within the consumer report
18 to a third party without the express authorization of the
19 consumer. This section does not prevent a consumer reporting
20 agency from advising a third party that a security freeze is
21 in effect with respect to the consumer report. For purposes of
22 this part, the term "consumer report" has the same meaning set
23 forth in 15 U.S.C. s. 1681a(d).
24 (2) A consumer may place a security freeze on his or
25 her consumer report by:
26 (a) Making a request in writing by certified mail to a
27 consumer reporting agency.
28 (b) Including information that properly identifies the
29 consumer.
30 (c) Paying a fee authorized under this section.
31 (3) A consumer reporting agency shall place a security
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Florida Senate - 2006 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 656
Barcode 880236
1 freeze on a consumer report no later than 5 business days
2 after receiving a request from the consumer.
3 (4) The consumer reporting agency shall send a written
4 confirmation of the security freeze to the consumer within 10
5 business days after instituting the security freeze and shall
6 provide the consumer with a unique personal identification
7 number or password to be used by the consumer when providing
8 authorization for the removal of a security freeze on his or
9 her consumer report pursuant to subsection (5) or subsection
10 (11).
11 (5) A consumer may allow his or her consumer report to
12 be accessed for a designated period of time while a security
13 freeze is in effect by contacting the consumer reporting
14 agency and requesting that the freeze be temporarily lifted.
15 The consumer must provide the following information to the
16 consumer reporting agency as part of the request:
17 (a) Proper identification as determined by the
18 consumer reporting agency.
19 (b) The unique personal identification number or
20 password provided by the consumer reporting agency pursuant to
21 subsection (4).
22 (c) Information specifying the period of time for
23 which the report shall be made available.
24 (d) Payment of a fee authorized by this section.
25 (6) A consumer reporting agency that receives a
26 request from a consumer to temporarily lift a freeze on a
27 consumer report pursuant to subsection (5) shall comply with
28 the request no later than 3 business days after receiving the
29 request.
30 (7) No later than July 1, 2007, a consumer reporting
31 agency doing business in this state shall select and develop a
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Florida Senate - 2006 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 656
Barcode 880236
1 secure electronic contact method, which may include the use of
2 telephone, fax, the Internet, or other secure electronic
3 means, by which to receive and process requests from consumers
4 to temporarily lift a freeze on a consumer report pursuant to
5 subsection (5).
6 (8) A consumer reporting agency shall temporarily lift
7 or remove a security freeze placed on a consumer report only
8 in the following instances:
9 (a) Upon consumer request, pursuant to subsection (5)
10 or subsection (11).
11 (b) If the consumer report was frozen due to a
12 material misrepresentation of fact by the consumer. If a
13 consumer reporting agency intends to remove a security freeze
14 on a consumer report pursuant to this paragraph, the consumer
15 reporting agency must notify the consumer in writing before
16 removing the security freeze.
17 (9) A third party requesting access to a consumer
18 report on which a security freeze is in effect in connection
19 with an application for credit or other permissible use may
20 treat the application as incomplete if the consumer has not
21 authorized a temporary lifting of the security freeze for the
22 period of time during which the request is made.
23 (10) If a consumer requests a security freeze, the
24 consumer reporting agency shall disclose to the consumer all
25 information relevant to the process of instituting,
26 temporarily lifting, and removing a security freeze and shall
27 include the disclosure required by subsection (17).
28 (11) A security freeze shall remain in place until the
29 consumer requests that it be removed. A consumer reporting
30 agency shall remove a security freeze within 3 business days
31 after receiving a request for removal from the consumer, who,
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Florida Senate - 2006 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 656
Barcode 880236
1 upon making the request for removal, must provide the
2 following:
3 (a) Proper identification as determined by the
4 consumer reporting agency.
5 (b) The unique personal identification number or
6 password provided by the consumer reporting agency pursuant to
7 subsection (4).
8 (c) Payment of a fee authorized by this section.
9 (12) This section does not apply to the use of a
10 consumer report by the following persons or for the following
11 reasons:
12 (a) A person to whom the consumer owes a financial
13 obligation or a subsidiary, affiliate, or agent of the person,
14 or an assignee of a financial obligation owed by the consumer
15 to the person, or a prospective assignee of a financial
16 obligation owed by the consumer to the person in conjunction
17 with the proposed purchase of the financial obligation, with
18 which the consumer has or had prior to assignment an account
19 or contract, including a deposit account, or to whom the
20 consumer issued a negotiable instrument, for the purposes of
21 reviewing the account or collecting the financial obligation
22 owed for the account, contract, or negotiable instrument. For
23 purposes of this paragraph, "reviewing the account" includes
24 activities related to account maintenance, monitoring, credit
25 line increases, and account upgrades and enhancements.
26 (b) A subsidiary, affiliate, agent, assignee, or
27 prospective assignee of a person to whom access has been
28 granted under this section for purposes of facilitating the
29 extension of credit or other permissible use.
30 (c) A state agency acting within its lawful
31 investigative or regulatory authority.
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Florida Senate - 2006 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 656
Barcode 880236
1 (d) A state or local law enforcement agency acting to
2 investigate a crime or conducting a criminal background check.
3 (e) Any person administering a credit file monitoring
4 subscription service to which the consumer has subscribed.
5 (f) Any person for the purpose of providing a consumer
6 with a copy of the consumer report upon the consumer's
7 request.
8 (g) Pursuant to a court order lawfully entered.
9 (h) The use of credit information for the purposes of
10 prescreening as provided for by the federal Fair Credit
11 Reporting Act.
12 (i) Any insurance company for use in setting or
13 adjusting a rate, adjusting a claim, or underwriting for
14 insurance purposes.
15 (j) A consumer reporting agency's database or file
16 which consists entirely of information concerning, and is used
17 solely for, one or more of the following:
18 1. Criminal record information.
19 2. Personal loss history information.
20 3. Fraud prevention or detection.
21 4. Tenant screening.
22 5. Employment screening.
23 (13)(a) A consumer reporting agency may charge a
24 reasonable fee, not to exceed $10, to a consumer who elects to
25 place, remove, or temporarily lift a security freeze on his or
26 her consumer report.
27 (b) A consumer reporting agency may not charge any
28 fee:
29 1. To a consumer 65 years of age or older for the
30 initial placement or removal of a security freeze; or
31 2. To a victim of identity theft who has submitted, at
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Florida Senate - 2006 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 656
Barcode 880236
1 the time the security freeze is requested, a copy of a valid
2 investigative or incident report or complaint with a law
3 enforcement agency about the unlawful use of the victim's
4 identifying information by another person.
5 (c) A consumer reporting agency may charge a
6 reasonable fee, not to exceed $10, if the consumer fails to
7 retain the original personal identification number or password
8 provided by the consumer reporting agency and the agency must
9 reissue the personal identification number or password or
10 provide a new personal identification number or password to
11 the consumer.
12 (14) If a security freeze is in effect, a consumer
13 reporting agency may not change any of the following official
14 information in a consumer report without sending a written
15 confirmation of the change to the consumer within 30 days
16 after the change is posted to the consumer's file:
17 (a) Name.
18 (b) Address.
19 (c) Date of birth.
20 (d) Social security number.
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22 Written confirmation is not required for technical corrections
23 of a consumer's official information, including name and
24 street abbreviations, complete spellings, or transposition of
25 numbers or letters. In the case of an address change, the
26 written confirmation must be sent to both the new address and
27 the former address.
28 (15) This section does not apply to the following
29 entities:
30 (a) A check services company, which issues
31 authorizations for the purpose of approving or processing
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Florida Senate - 2006 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 656
Barcode 880236
1 negotiable instruments, electronic funds transfers, or similar
2 methods of payment.
3 (b) A deposit account information service company,
4 which issues reports regarding account closures due to fraud,
5 substantial overdrafts, automatic teller machine abuse, or
6 similar negative information regarding a consumer to inquiring
7 banks or other financial institutions for use only in
8 reviewing a consumer request for a deposit account at the
9 inquiring bank or financial institution, as defined in s.
10 655.005(1)(g) or (h), or in federal law.
11 (c) A consumer reporting agency that acts only as a
12 reseller of credit information by assembling and merging
13 information contained in the database of another consumer
14 reporting agency or multiple consumer reporting agencies and
15 does not maintain a permanent database of credit information
16 from which new consumer reports are produced. However, a
17 consumer reporting agency shall honor any security freeze
18 placed, removed, or temporary lifted on a consumer report by
19 another consumer reporting agency.
20 (d) A fraud prevention services company issuing
21 reports to prevent or investigate fraud.
22 (16) In addition to any other penalties or remedies
23 provided under law, a person who is aggrieved by a violation
24 of the provisions of this section may bring a civil action as
25 authorized by this subsection.
26 (a) Any person who willfully fails to comply with any
27 requirement imposed under this section with respect to any
28 consumer is liable to that consumer for actual damages
29 sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure of not
30 less than $100 and not more than $1,000, plus the cost of the
31 action together with reasonable attorney's fees.
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Florida Senate - 2006 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 656
Barcode 880236
1 (b) Any individual who obtains a consumer report under
2 false pretenses or knowingly without a permissible purpose is
3 liable to the consumer for actual damages sustained by the
4 consumer as a result of the failure or damages of not less
5 than $100 and not more than $1,000, whichever is greater. Any
6 person who obtains a consumer report from a consumer reporting
7 agency under false pretenses or knowingly without a
8 permissible purpose is liable to the consumer reporting agency
9 for actual damages sustained by the consumer reporting agency
10 or $1,000, whichever is greater.
11 (c) Punitive damages may be assessed for willful
12 violations of this section.
13 (d) Any person who is negligent in failing to comply
14 with any requirement imposed under this section with respect
15 to any consumer is liable to that consumer for any actual
16 damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure
17 of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000.
18 (e) Upon a finding by the court that an unsuccessful
19 pleading, motion, or other paper filed in connection with an
20 action under this subsection was filed in bad faith or for
21 purposes of harassment, the court shall award to the
22 prevailing party attorney's fees that are reasonable in
23 relation to the work performed in responding to the pleading,
24 motion, or other paper.
25 (17) Any written disclosure by a consumer reporting
26 agency, pursuant to 15 U.S.C. s. 1681g, to any consumer
27 residing in this state shall include a written summary of all
28 rights the consumer has under this section, and, in the case
29 of a consumer reporting agency that compiles and maintains
30 consumer reports on a nationwide basis, a toll-free telephone
31 number that the consumer can use to communicate with the
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Florida Senate - 2006 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 656
Barcode 880236
1 consumer reporting agency. The information set forth in
2 paragraph (b) of the written summary of rights must be in at
3 least 12-point boldface type. The written summary of rights
4 required under this section is sufficient if it is
5 substantially in the following form:
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8 ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ===============
9 And the title is amended as follows:
10 On page 1, lines 17 through 23, delete those lines
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12 and insert:
13 authorizing a consumer reporting agency to
14 charge a fee to place, remove, or temporarily
15 lift a security freeze; prohibiting a consumer
16 reporting agency from charging a fee to
17 specified persons; authorizing the charging of
18 a fee for the reissuance of a personal
19 identification number;
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