Senate Bill sb0656c2
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Florida Senate - 2006 CS for CS for SB 656
By the Committees on Banking and Insurance; Commerce and
Consumer Services; and Senators Peaden, Haridopolos, Jones,
Fasano, Baker, Crist, Lynn and Aronberg
597-2062-06
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to financial transactions;
3 creating s. 501.005, F.S.; defining the term
4 "security freeze"; authorizing a consumer to
5 place a security freeze on his or her consumer
6 report; providing procedures and requirements
7 with respect to the placement, temporary
8 suspension, and removal of a security freeze on
9 a consumer report; authorizing a consumer to
10 allow specified temporary access to his or her
11 consumer report during a security freeze;
12 providing procedures with respect to such
13 temporary access; providing for removal of a
14 security freeze when a consumer report is
15 frozen due to a material misrepresentation of
16 fact by the consumer; providing applicability;
17 prohibiting a consumer reporting agency from
18 charging a fee to a victim of identity theft
19 who requests a security freeze on a consumer
20 report; authorizing consumer reporting agencies
21 to charge a fee to place, remove, or
22 temporarily lift a security freeze and to
23 reissue a personal identification number;
24 restricting the change of specified information
25 in a consumer report when a security freeze is
26 in effect; specifying applicability with
27 respect to certain consumer reporting agencies;
28 specifying entities that are exempt from
29 placing a security freeze on a consumer report;
30 providing for a civil remedy; providing
31 requirements with respect to written disclosure
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1 by a consumer reporting agency of procedures
2 and consumer rights associated with a security
3 freeze; creating s. 655.851, F.S.; providing
4 that credit balances that result from the
5 performance of or participation in
6 check-clearing functions are not subject to
7 certain reporting requirements; providing an
8 effective date.
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10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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12 Section 1. Section 501.005, Florida Statutes, is
13 created to read:
14 501.005 Consumer report security freeze.--
15 (1) For purposes of this section, a "security freeze"
16 means a notice placed in a consumer report which prohibits a
17 consumer reporting agency, as defined in 15 U.S.C. s.
18 1681a(f), from releasing the consumer report, credit score, or
19 any information contained within the consumer report to a
20 third party without the express authorization of the consumer.
21 This section does not prevent a consumer reporting agency from
22 advising a third party that a security freeze is in effect
23 with respect to the consumer report. For purposes of this
24 part, the term "consumer report" has the same meaning set
25 forth in 15 U.S.C. s. 1681a(d).
26 (2) A consumer may place a security freeze on his or
27 her consumer report by:
28 1. Making a request in writing by certified mail to a
29 consumer reporting agency;
30 2. Including information that properly identifies the
31 consumer; and
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1 3. Paying a fee authorized under this section.
2 (3) A consumer reporting agency shall place a security
3 freeze on a consumer report no later than 5 business days
4 after receiving a request from the consumer.
5 (4) The consumer reporting agency shall send a written
6 confirmation of the security freeze to the consumer within 10
7 business days after instituting the security freeze and shall
8 provide the consumer with a unique personal identification
9 number or password to be used by the consumer when providing
10 authorization for the removal of a security freeze on his or
11 her consumer report pursuant to subsection (5) or subsection
12 (11).
13 (5) A consumer may allow his or her consumer report to
14 be accessed for a designated period of time while a security
15 freeze is in effect by contacting the consumer reporting
16 agency and requesting that the freeze be temporarily lifted.
17 The consumer must provide the following information to the
18 consumer reporting agency as part of the request:
19 (a) Proper identification as determined by the
20 consumer reporting agency.
21 (b) The unique personal identification number or
22 password provided by the consumer reporting agency pursuant to
23 subsection (4).
24 (c) Information specifying the period of time for
25 which the report shall be made available.
26 (d) Payment of a fee authorized by this section.
27 (6) A consumer reporting agency that receives a
28 request from a consumer to temporarily lift a freeze on a
29 consumer report pursuant to subsection (5) shall comply with
30 the request no later than 3 business days after receiving the
31 request.
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1 (7) No later than July 1, 2007, a consumer reporting
2 agency doing business in this state shall select and develop a
3 secure electronic contact method, which may include the use of
4 telephone, facsimile, the Internet, or other secure electronic
5 means, by which to receive and process requests from consumers
6 to temporarily lift a freeze on a consumer report pursuant to
7 subsection (5).
8 (8) A consumer reporting agency shall temporarily lift
9 or remove a security freeze placed on a consumer report only
10 in the following instances:
11 (a) Upon consumer request, pursuant to subsection (5)
12 or subsection (11).
13 (b) If the consumer report was frozen due to a
14 material misrepresentation of fact by the consumer. If a
15 consumer reporting agency intends to remove a security freeze
16 on a consumer report pursuant to this paragraph, the consumer
17 reporting agency shall notify the consumer in writing prior to
18 removing the security freeze.
19 (9) A third party requesting access to a consumer
20 report on which a security freeze is in effect in connection
21 with an application for credit or other permissible use may
22 treat the application as incomplete if the consumer has not
23 authorized a temporary lifting of the security freeze for the
24 period of time during which the request is made.
25 (10) If a consumer requests a security freeze, the
26 consumer reporting agency shall disclose to the consumer all
27 information relevant to the process of instituting,
28 temporarily lifting, and removing a security freeze and shall
29 include the disclosure required by subsection (17).
30 (11) A security freeze shall remain in place until the
31 consumer requests that it be removed. A consumer reporting
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1 agency shall remove a security freeze within 3 business days
2 after receiving a request for removal from the consumer, who,
3 upon making the request for removal, must provide the
4 following:
5 (a) Proper identification as determined by the
6 consumer reporting agency.
7 (b) The unique personal identification number or
8 password provided by the consumer reporting agency pursuant to
9 subsection (4).
10 (c) Payment of a fee authorized under this section.
11 (12) The provisions of this section do not apply to
12 the use of a consumer report by the following persons or for
13 the following reasons:
14 (a) A person to whom the consumer owes a financial
15 obligation or a subsidiary, affiliate, or agent of the person,
16 or an assignee of a financial obligation owed by the consumer
17 to the person, or a prospective assignee of a financial
18 obligation owed by the consumer to the person in conjunction
19 with the proposed purchase of the financial obligation, with
20 which the consumer has or had prior to assignment an account
21 or contract, including a deposit account, or to whom the
22 consumer issued a negotiable instrument, for the purposes of
23 reviewing the account or collecting the financial obligation
24 owed for the account, contract, or negotiable instrument. For
25 purposes of this paragraph, the term "reviewing the account"
26 includes activities related to account maintenance,
27 monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades and
28 enhancements.
29 (b) A subsidiary, affiliate, agent, assignee, or
30 prospective assignee of a person to whom access has been
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1 granted under this section for purposes of facilitating the
2 extension of credit or other permissible use.
3 (c) A state agency acting within its lawful
4 investigative or regulatory authority.
5 (d) A state or local law enforcement agency acting to
6 investigate a crime or conducting a criminal background check.
7 (e) Any person administering a credit file monitoring
8 subscription service to which the consumer has subscribed.
9 (f) Any person for the purpose of providing a consumer
10 with a copy of the consumer report upon the consumer's
11 request.
12 (g) Pursuant to a court order lawfully entered.
13 (h) The use of credit information for the purposes of
14 prescreening as provided for by the federal Fair Credit
15 Reporting Act.
16 (i) Any insurance company for use in setting or
17 adjusting a rate, adjusting a claim, or underwriting for
18 insurance purposes.
19 (13) A consumer reporting agency shall not charge any
20 fee to a victim of identity theft who has submitted, at the
21 time the security freeze is requested, a copy of a valid
22 investigative or incident report or complaint with a law
23 enforcement agency about the unlawful use of the victim's
24 identifying information by another person. A consumer
25 reporting agency may charge a reasonable fee, not to exceed
26 $10, to a consumer who elects to place, remove, or temporarily
27 lift a security freeze on his or her consumer report. A
28 consumer may be charged a reasonable fee, not to exceed $10,
29 if the consumer fails to retain the original personal
30 identification number or password provided by the consumer
31 reporting agency, and the agency must reissue the personal
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1 identification number or password or provide a new personal
2 identification number or password to the consumer.
3 (14) If a security freeze is in effect, a consumer
4 reporting agency shall not change any of the following
5 official information in a consumer report without sending a
6 written confirmation of the change to the consumer within 30
7 days after the change is posted to the consumer's file:
8 (a) Name.
9 (b) Address.
10 (c) Date of birth.
11 (d) Social security number.
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13 Written confirmation is not required for technical corrections
14 of a consumer's official information, including name and
15 street abbreviations, complete spellings, or transposition of
16 numbers or letters. In the case of an address change, the
17 written confirmation shall be sent to both the new address and
18 the former address.
19 (15) The provisions of this section do not apply to
20 the following entities:
21 (a) A check services company, which issues
22 authorizations for the purpose of approving or processing
23 negotiable instruments, electronic funds transfers, or similar
24 methods of payment.
25 (b) A deposit account information service company,
26 which issues reports regarding account closures due to fraud,
27 substantial overdrafts, automatic teller machine abuse, or
28 similar negative information regarding a consumer to inquiring
29 banks or other financial institutions for use only in
30 reviewing a consumer request for a deposit account at the
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1 inquiring bank or financial institution, as defined in s.
2 655.005(1)(g) or (h), or in federal law.
3 (c) A consumer reporting agency that acts only as a
4 reseller of credit information by assembling and merging
5 information contained in the database of another consumer
6 reporting agency or multiple consumer reporting agencies and
7 does not maintain a permanent database of credit information
8 from which new consumer reports are produced. However, a
9 consumer reporting agency shall honor any security freeze
10 placed on a consumer report by another consumer reporting
11 agency.
12 (d) A fraud prevention services company issuing
13 reports to prevent or investigate fraud.
14 (16) In addition to any other penalties or remedies
15 provided under law, a person who is aggrieved by a violation
16 of the provisions of this section may bring a civil action as
17 authorized by this subsection.
18 (a) Any person who willfully fails to comply with any
19 requirement imposed under this section with respect to any
20 consumer is liable to that consumer for actual damages
21 sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure of not
22 less than $100 and not more than $1,000, plus the cost of the
23 action together with reasonable attorney's fees.
24 (b) Any individual who obtains a consumer report under
25 false pretenses or knowingly without a permissible purpose is
26 liable to the consumer for actual damages sustained by the
27 consumer as a result of the failure or damages of not less
28 than $100 and not more than $1,000, whichever is greater. Any
29 person who obtains a consumer report from a consumer reporting
30 agency under false pretenses or knowingly without a
31 permissible purpose is liable to the consumer reporting agency
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1 for actual damages sustained by the consumer reporting agency
2 or $1,000, whichever is greater.
3 (c) Punitive damages may be assessed for willful
4 violations of this section.
5 (d) Any person who is negligent in failing to comply
6 with any requirement imposed under this section with respect
7 to any consumer is liable to that consumer for any actual
8 damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure
9 of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000.
10 (e) Upon a finding by the court that an unsuccessful
11 pleading, motion, or other paper filed in connection with an
12 action under this subsection was filed in bad faith or for
13 purposes of harassment, the court shall award to the
14 prevailing party attorney's fees that are reasonable in
15 relation to the work performed in responding to the pleading,
16 motion, or other paper.
17 (17) Any written disclosure by a consumer reporting
18 agency, pursuant to 15 U.S.C. s. 1681g, to any consumer
19 residing in this state shall include a written summary of all
20 rights the consumer has under this section, and, in the case
21 of a consumer reporting agency which compiles and maintains
22 consumer reports on a nationwide basis, a toll-free telephone
23 number that the consumer can use to communicate with the
24 consumer reporting agency. The information set forth in
25 paragraph (b) of the written summary of rights must be in at
26 least 12-point boldface type. The written summary of rights
27 required under this section is sufficient if it is
28 substantially in the following form:
29 (a) You have a right to place a "security freeze" on
30 your consumer report, which will prohibit a consumer reporting
31 agency from releasing any information in your consumer report
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1 without your express authorization. A security freeze must be
2 requested in writing by certified mail to a consumer reporting
3 agency. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit,
4 loans, and services from being approved in your name without
5 your consent.
6 (b) YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT USING A SECURITY FREEZE
7 TO CONTROL ACCESS TO THE PERSONAL AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION IN
8 YOUR CONSUMER REPORT MAY DELAY, INTERFERE WITH, OR PROHIBIT
9 THE TIMELY APPROVAL OF ANY SUBSEQUENT REQUEST OR APPLICATION
10 YOU MAKE REGARDING A NEW LOAN, CREDIT, MORTGAGE, INSURANCE,
11 GOVERNMENT SERVICES OR PAYMENTS, RENTAL HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT,
12 INVESTMENT, LICENSE, CELLULAR PHONE, UTILITIES, DIGITAL
13 SIGNATURE, INTERNET CREDIT CARD TRANSACTION, OR OTHER
14 SERVICES, INCLUDING AN EXTENSION OF CREDIT AT POINT OF SALE.
15 (c) When you place a security freeze on your consumer
16 report, you will be provided a personal identification number
17 or password to use if you choose to remove the freeze on your
18 consumer report or authorize the release of your consumer
19 report for a designated period of time after the security
20 freeze is in place. To provide that authorization, you must
21 contact the consumer reporting agency and provide all of the
22 following:
23 1. The personal identification number or password.
24 2. Proper identification to verify your identity.
25 3. Information specifying the period of time for which
26 the report shall be made available.
27 4. Payment of a fee authorized under this section.
28 (d) A consumer reporting agency must authorize the
29 release of your consumer report no later than 3 business days
30 after receiving the above information.
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1 (e) A security freeze does not apply to a person or
2 entity, or its affiliates, or collection agencies acting on
3 behalf of the person or entity, with which you have an
4 existing account, which requests information in your consumer
5 report for the purposes of reviewing or collecting the
6 account. Reviewing the account includes activities related to
7 account maintenance, monitoring, credit line increases, and
8 account upgrades and enhancements.
9 (f) You have the right to bring a civil action against
10 anyone, including a consumer reporting agency, who fails to
11 comply with the provisions of s. 501.005, Florida Statutes,
12 which governs the placing of a consumer report security freeze
13 on your consumer report.
14 Section 2. Section 655.851, Florida Statutes, is
15 created to read:
16 655.851 Unclaimed credit balances.--Credit balances of
17 suspense accounts and credit balances only and exactly held by
18 a financial institution, credit union, or participant as
19 defined by 12 U.S.C. s. 4001(19), which result from the
20 performance of or participation in check-clearing functions,
21 whether pursuant to a contractual relationship between
22 financial institutions, credit unions, or participants,
23 through a clearinghouse as defined by s. 674.104, or through a
24 clearinghouse association as defined by 12 U.S.C. s. 4001(8),
25 are not subject to s. 717.117. This section is intended to be
26 remedial in nature, is intended to clarify existing law, and
27 shall apply to credit balances held before, on, or after July
28 1, 2006.
29 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.
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1 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
2 CS/SB 656
3
4 The committee substitute makes the following changes:
5 1. No later than July 1, 2007, a consumer reporting agency
doing business in Florida to select and develop a secure
6 electronic contact, which may include the use of
telephone, fax, the Internet, or other secure methods, to
7 receive and process requests from consumers to
temporarily lift a freeze on a consumer report.
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2. The bill expands the circumstance in which an insurance
9 company may obtain information that would otherwise be
unavailable due to a credit freeze on a consumer's credit
10 report to include setting or adjusting rates and
adjusting claims. The original bill limited an insurance
11 company's access to such information for underwriting
purposes only.
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3. The font of the required written disclosure that consumer
13 reporting agencies must provide to consumers regarding
credit freezes is reduced from at least 14-point to
14 12-point boldface.
15 4. The bill also provides that credit balances held by
financial institutions that are the result of check
16 clearing functions are not subject to the unclaimed
property reporting requirements under s. 717.117, F.S.
17 This provision would apply retroactively to credit
balances held on or after July 1, 2006.
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5. The bill provides technical, clarifying changes.
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