HOUSE AMENDED PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 251, 1886, 1959, PRINTER'S NO. 2238 2090
No. 180 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY CORMAN, WONDERLING, GREENLEAF, M. WHITE, KASUNIC, RHOADES, TARTAGLIONE, KITCHEN, MUSTO, O'PAKE, COSTA, D. WHITE, STACK, ORIE, RAFFERTY, ARMSTRONG AND VANCE, FEBRUARY 11, 2005
AS AMENDED ON THIRD CONSIDERATION, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, NOVEMBER 13, 2006
AN ACT 1 Providing for protection from identity theft, for security 2 freezes, for procedures for access after imposition and 3 removal of security freezes and for related matters. 4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 5 hereby enacts as follows: 6 Section 1. Short title. 7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Credit 8 Reporting Agency Law. 9 Section 2. Definitions. 10 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall 11 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the 12 context clearly indicates otherwise: 13 "Consumer." An individual. 14 "Consumer report." A written, oral or other communication of 15 any information by a consumer reporting agency bearing on a 16 consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing or credit capacity.
1 "Consumer reporting agency." Any person who, for monetary 2 fees, dues or on a cooperative basis, regularly engages in whole 3 or in part in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer 4 credit information or other information on consumers for the 5 purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties. 6 "Security freeze." A notice placed on a consumer report, at 7 the request of the consumer and subject to certain exceptions, 8 that prohibits a consumer reporting agency from releasing the 9 consumer report without the express authorization of the 10 consumer. 11 Section 3. Security freeze. 12 (a) Request for freeze.-- 13 (1) A consumer may elect to place a security freeze on 14 his consumer report by providing clear and proper <-- 15 identification to a consumer reporting agency. The consumer 16 may make the request DIRECTLY TO A CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY: <-- 17 (i) by certified mail USING AN ADDRESS DESIGNATED BY <-- 18 THE CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY; or 19 (ii) directly to the consumer reporting agency <-- 20 through a secure Internet connection if the connection is 21 made available by the consumer reporting agency. 22 (2) Each consumer reporting agency covered by this act 23 shall have a toll-free telephone number available to allow a 24 consumer to request an appropriate form RECEIVE INFORMATION <-- 25 ABOUT HOW to request a security freeze, which the consumer 26 must return by certified mail. 27 (3) A consumer reporting agency shall place a security 28 freeze on a consumer report no later than five business days 29 after receiving a request for the security freeze from the 30 consumer. 20050S0180B2238 - 2 -
1 (4) The following entities are not required to place a 2 security freeze in a consumer report: 3 (i) A credit reporting agency that acts only as a 4 reseller of credit information by assembling and merging 5 information contained in the database of another credit 6 reporting agency or multiple credit reporting agencies 7 and does not maintain a permanent database of credit 8 information from which new credit reports are produced, 9 however, a credit reporting agency acting as a reseller 10 shall honor any security freeze placed on a credit report 11 by another credit reporting agency. 12 (ii) A check services or fraud prevention services 13 company which issues reports on incidents of fraud or 14 authorizations for the purpose of approving or processing 15 negotiable instruments, electronic funds transfers or 16 similar methods of payments. 17 (iii) A deposit account information service company 18 which issues reports regarding account closures due to 19 fraud, substantial overdrafts, automated teller machine 20 (ATM) abuse or similar negative information regarding a 21 consumer to inquiring banks or other financial 22 institutions for use only in reviewing a consumer request 23 for a deposit account at the inquiring bank or financial 24 institution. 25 (b) Effect of security freeze.--Except as provided in 26 subsection (e), when a security freeze is in place, information 27 from a consumer report shall not be released to a third party 28 without prior express authorization from the consumer. This 29 subsection shall not prevent a consumer reporting agency from 30 advising a third party that a security freeze is in effect with 20050S0180B2238 - 3 -
1 respect to a consumer report. 2 (c) Third-party request.--If a third party requests access 3 to a consumer report on which a security freeze is in effect, 4 and the consumer does not allow his or her consumer report to be 5 accessed for that specific party or for a period of time, the 6 third party shall treat the application as incomplete. 7 (d) Duration of freeze.--A security freeze shall remain in 8 place until the consumer requests that the security freeze be <-- 9 removed under section 7. PLACE UNTIL THE EARLIER OF THE DATE THE <-- 10 CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY RECEIVES A REQUEST FROM THE CONSUMER 11 TO REMOVE THE SECURITY FREEZE OR UNTIL SEVEN YEARS FROM THE DATE 12 THAT THE SECURITY FREEZE WAS PUT IN PLACE BY THE CONSUMER 13 REPORTING AGENCY. 14 (e) Applicability of freeze.--A security freeze does not <-- 15 apply to a consumer report provided to: NOTWITHSTANDING A <-- 16 SECURITY FREEZE THE FOLLOWING ENTITIES MAY RECEIVE A CONSUMER 17 REPORT: 18 (1) A Federal, State or local government entity, 19 including a law enforcement agency or court, or their agents 20 or assigns. 21 (2) A private collection agency for the sole purpose of 22 assisting in the collection of an existing debt of the 23 consumer who is the subject of the consumer report requested. 24 (3) A person or entity or a subsidiary, affiliate or 25 agent of that person or entity, or an assignee of a financial 26 obligation owed by the consumer to that person or entity, or 27 a prospective assignee of a financial obligation owed by the 28 consumer to that person or entity in conjunction with the 29 proposed purchase of the financial obligation, with which the 30 consumer has or had prior to assignment an account or 20050S0180B2238 - 4 -
1 contract, including a demand deposit account, or to whom the 2 consumer issued a negotiable instrument, for the purposes of 3 reviewing the account or collecting the financial obligation 4 owing for the account, contract or negotiable instrument. For 5 purposes of this paragraph, "reviewing the account" includes 6 activities related to account maintenance, monitoring, credit 7 line increases and account upgrades and enhancements. 8 (4) A subsidiary, affiliate, agent, assignee or 9 prospective assignee of a person to whom access has been 10 granted under this section for the purposes of facilitating 11 the extension of credit. 12 (5) A person, for the purposes of prescreening as 13 provided by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (Public Law 91-508, 14 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.). 15 (6) A consumer reporting agency for the purposes of 16 providing a consumer with a copy of his own consumer report 17 on his request. 18 (7) A child support enforcement agency. 19 (8) A consumer reporting agency that acts only as a 20 reseller of credit information by assembling and merging 21 information contained in the database of another consumer 22 reporting agency or multiple consumer reporting agencies and 23 does not maintain a permanent database of credit information 24 from which new consumer reports are produced. However, a 25 consumer reporting agency acting as a reseller shall honor 26 any security freeze placed on a consumer report by another 27 consumer reporting agency. 28 (9) A check services or fraud prevention services 29 company which issues reports on incidents of fraud or 30 authorizations for the purpose of approving or processing 20050S0180B2238 - 5 -
1 negotiable instruments, electronic funds transfers or similar 2 methods of payments. 3 (10) A deposit account information service company which 4 issues reports regarding account closures due to fraud, 5 substantial overdrafts, automated teller machine (ATM) abuse 6 or similar negative information regarding a consumer to 7 inquiring banks or other financial institutions for use only 8 in reviewing a consumer request for a deposit account at the 9 inquiring bank or financial institution. 10 (11) Any person or entity for use in setting or 11 adjusting a rate, issuing or underwriting a policy, adjusting 12 a claim or servicing a policy for underwriting for property 13 and casualty insurance purposes. 14 (12) A person or entity administering a credit file 15 monitoring subscription service or similar service to which 16 the consumer has subscribed. 17 Section 4. Consumer reporting agency. 18 The consumer reporting agency shall, no later than ten 19 business days after the date the agency receives a request from 20 a consumer for a security freeze, send the consumer a written 21 confirmation that provides the consumer with a unique personal 22 identification number or password to be used by the consumer 23 when providing authorization for the access to his consumer 24 report for a specific period of time or for a specific third 25 party or removing the security freeze. In addition, the consumer 26 reporting agency shall simultaneously provide to the consumer in 27 writing notification of the process of removing a security 28 freeze and the process of temporarily lifting a security freeze 29 and the process for allowing access to information from the 30 consumer report for a specific party or for a specific period 20050S0180B2238 - 6 -
1 while the security freeze is in effect.
2 Section 5. Personal identification.
3 A consumer may request in writing a replacement personal
4 identification number or password. The request must comply with
5 the requirements for requesting a security freeze under section
6 3. The consumer reporting agency shall, no later than ten
7 business days after the date the agency receives the request for
8 a replacement personal identification number or password,
9 provide the consumer with a new, unique personal identification
10 number or password to be used by the consumer instead of the
11 number or password that was provided under section 4.
12 Section 6. Notification of freeze.
13 A consumer reporting agency shall notify a person who
14 requests a consumer report if a security freeze is in effect for
15 the consumer report requested.
16 Section 7. Temporary access or removal of security freeze.
17 (a) Request.--If the consumer wishes to allow his consumer
18 report to be accessed for a specific period of time or by a
19 specific third party while a security freeze is in place or to
20 remove a security freeze he shall be able to contact the
21 consumer reporting agency by certified mail or by a toll-free
22 telephone number which shall be provided by the consumer
23 reporting agency and may be able to contact the consumer
24 reporting agency through a secure Internet connection which may
25 be established by the consumer reporting agency and request that
26 the security freeze be temporarily lifted or removed and provide
27 all of the following:
28 (1) Clear and proper PROPER identification. <--
29 (2) The unique personal identification number or
30 password provided by the consumer reporting agency pursuant
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1 to this act. 2 (3) One of the following: 3 (i) The proper information regarding the time period 4 for which the consumer report shall be available to any 5 person. 6 (ii) The proper information regarding the third 7 party who is to receive the consumer report. 8 (iii) A request that the security freeze be removed. 9 (b) Agency requirement.--A consumer reporting agency that 10 receives a request from a consumer pursuant to subsection (a) 11 shall comply with the request no later than three business days 12 after receiving the request. 13 (c) Removal of security freeze.--A consumer reporting agency 14 shall temporarily lift or remove a security freeze placed on a 15 consumer report only in the following cases: 16 (1) Upon the consumer's request as provided for in this 17 section. 18 (2) If the consumer report was frozen due to a material 19 misrepresentation of fact by the consumer or other person. If 20 a consumer reporting agency intends to remove a freeze upon a 21 consumer report pursuant to this paragraph, the consumer 22 reporting agency shall notify the consumer in writing prior 23 to removing the freeze on the consumer report. 24 Section 8. Secure procedures. 25 In addition to the requirements of this act, a consumer 26 reporting agency may develop secure procedures, including, but 27 not limited to, the use of the telephone, facsimile, Internet or 28 other electronic media to receive and process a request from a 29 consumer to place a security freeze, temporarily lift a security 30 freeze or remove a security freeze on a consumer report pursuant 20050S0180B2238 - 8 -
1 to this act in an expedited manner. 2 Section 9. Fees. 3 (a) General rule.--A consumer reporting agency may impose a 4 reasonable charge on a consumer for initially placing a security 5 freeze on a consumer report. The amount of the charge may not 6 exceed $10. The charge to temporarily lift the security freeze 7 may not exceed $10 per request. At no time shall the consumer be 8 charged for removing the freeze. 9 (b) Exceptions.-- 10 (1) A consumer will not be charged by a consumer 11 reporting agency for placing a security freeze or temporarily 12 lifting a security freeze if the consumer is a victim of 13 identity theft and provides, or has provided, the consumer 14 reporting agency with a copy of a police report. 15 (2) A consumer will not be charged by a consumer 16 reporting agency for placing a security freeze if the 17 consumer is 65 years of age or older. 18 (c) Confirmation required.--If a security freeze is in 19 place, a consumer reporting agency shall not change any of the 20 following information regarding a consumer without sending a 21 written confirmation of the change to the consumer within 30 22 days of the change being posted: 23 (1) Name. 24 (2) Date of birth. 25 (3) Social Security number. 26 (4) Address. 27 Written confirmation is not required for technical modifications 28 of a consumer's official information, including name and street 29 abbreviations, complete spellings or transposition of numbers or 30 letters. In the case of an address change, the written 20050S0180B2238 - 9 -
1 confirmation shall be sent to both the new address and to the 2 former address. 3 Section 10. Civil relief. 4 A violation of this act shall be deemed to be an unfair or 5 deceptive act or practice in violation of the act of December 6 17, 1968 (P.L.1224, No.387), known as the Unfair Trade Practices 7 and Consumer Protection Law. The Office of Attorney General 8 shall have exclusive authority to bring an action under the 9 Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law for a 10 violation of this act. 11 Section 11. Effective date. 12 This act shall take effect January 1, 2007. A12L13RLE/20050S0180B2238 - 10 -