100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
SB2230

 

Introduced 9/15/2017, by Sen. Daniel Biss

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
815 ILCS 505/2MM

    Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides that a consumer reporting agency may not impose a charge on a consumer for placing a freeze, removing a freeze, or temporarily lifting a freeze. Makes corresponding changes. Effective immediately.


LRB100 14488 HEP 29272 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB2230LRB100 14488 HEP 29272 b

1    AN ACT concerning business.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business
5Practices Act is amended by changing Section 2MM as follows:
 
6    (815 ILCS 505/2MM)
7    Sec. 2MM. Verification of accuracy of consumer reporting
8information used to extend consumers credit and security freeze
9on credit reports.
10    (a) A credit card issuer who mails an offer or solicitation
11to apply for a credit card and who receives a completed
12application in response to the offer or solicitation which
13lists an address that is not substantially the same as the
14address on the offer or solicitation may not issue a credit
15card based on that application until reasonable steps have been
16taken to verify the applicant's change of address.
17    (b) Any person who uses a consumer credit report in
18connection with the approval of credit based on the application
19for an extension of credit, and who has received notification
20of a police report filed with a consumer reporting agency that
21the applicant has been a victim of financial identity theft, as
22defined in Section 16-30 or 16G-15 of the Criminal Code of 1961
23or the Criminal Code of 2012, may not lend money or extend

 

 

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1credit without taking reasonable steps to verify the consumer's
2identity and confirm that the application for an extension of
3credit is not the result of financial identity theft.
4    (c) A consumer may request that a security freeze be placed
5on his or her credit report by sending a request in writing by
6certified mail to a consumer reporting agency at an address
7designated by the consumer reporting agency to receive such
8requests.
9    The following persons may request that a security freeze be
10placed on the credit report of a person with a disability:
11        (1) a guardian of the person with a disability who is
12    the subject of the request, appointed under Article XIa of
13    the Probate Act of 1975; and
14        (2) an agent of the person with a disability who is the
15    subject of the request, under a written durable power of
16    attorney that complies with the Illinois Power of Attorney
17    Act.
18    The following persons may request that a security freeze be
19placed on the credit report of a minor:
20        (1) a guardian of the minor who is the subject of the
21    request, appointed under Article XI of the Probate Act of
22    1975;
23        (2) a parent of the minor who is the subject of the
24    request; and
25        (3) a guardian appointed under the Juvenile Court Act
26    of 1987 for a minor under the age of 18 who is the subject

 

 

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1    of the request or, with a court order authorizing the
2    guardian consent power, for a youth who is the subject of
3    the request who has attained the age of 18, but who is
4    under the age of 21.
5    This subsection (c) does not prevent a consumer reporting
6agency from advising a third party that a security freeze is in
7effect with respect to the consumer's credit report.
8    (d) A consumer reporting agency shall place a security
9freeze on a consumer's credit report no later than 5 business
10days after receiving a written request from the consumer:
11        (1) a written request described in subsection (c); and
12        (2) proper identification. ; and
13        (3) payment of a fee, if applicable.
14    (e) Upon placing the security freeze on the consumer's
15credit report, the consumer reporting agency shall send to the
16consumer within 10 business days a written confirmation of the
17placement of the security freeze and a unique personal
18identification number or password or similar device, other than
19the consumer's Social Security number, to be used by the
20consumer when providing authorization for the release of his or
21her credit report for a specific party or period of time.
22    (f) If the consumer wishes to allow his or her credit
23report to be accessed for a specific party or period of time
24while a freeze is in place, he or she shall contact the
25consumer reporting agency using a point of contact designated
26by the consumer reporting agency, request that the freeze be

 

 

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1temporarily lifted, and provide the following:
2        (1) proper identification;
3        (2) the unique personal identification number or
4    password or similar device provided by the consumer
5    reporting agency; and
6        (3) the proper information regarding the third party or
7    time period for which the report shall be available to
8    users of the credit report. ; and
9        (4) A fee, if applicable.
10    A security freeze for a minor may not be temporarily
11lifted. This Section does not require a consumer reporting
12agency to provide to a minor or a parent or guardian of a minor
13on behalf of the minor a unique personal identification number,
14password, or similar device provided by the consumer reporting
15agency for the minor, or parent or guardian of the minor, to
16use to authorize the consumer reporting agency to release
17information from a minor.
18    (g) A consumer reporting agency shall develop a contact
19method to receive and process a request from a consumer to
20temporarily lift a freeze on a credit report pursuant to
21subsection (f) in an expedited manner.
22    A contact method under this subsection shall include: (i) a
23postal address; and (ii) an electronic contact method chosen by
24the consumer reporting agency, which may include the use of
25telephone, fax, Internet, or other electronic means.
26    (h) A consumer reporting agency that receives a request

 

 

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1from a consumer to temporarily lift a freeze on a credit report
2pursuant to subsection (f), shall comply with the request no
3later than 3 business days after receiving the request.
4    (i) A consumer reporting agency shall remove or temporarily
5lift a freeze placed on a consumer's credit report only in the
6following cases:
7        (1) upon consumer request, pursuant to subsection (f)
8    or subsection (l) of this Section; or
9        (2) if the consumer's credit report was frozen due to a
10    material misrepresentation of fact by the consumer.
11    If a consumer reporting agency intends to remove a freeze
12upon a consumer's credit report pursuant to this subsection,
13the consumer reporting agency shall notify the consumer in
14writing prior to removing the freeze on the consumer's credit
15report.
16    (j) If a third party requests access to a credit report on
17which a security freeze is in effect, and this request is in
18connection with an application for credit or any other use, and
19the consumer does not allow his or her credit report to be
20accessed for that specific party or period of time, the third
21party may treat the application as incomplete.
22    (k) If a consumer requests a security freeze, the credit
23reporting agency shall disclose to the consumer the process of
24placing and temporarily lifting a security freeze, and the
25process for allowing access to information from the consumer's
26credit report for a specific party or period of time while the

 

 

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1freeze is in place.
2    (l) A security freeze shall remain in place until the
3consumer or person authorized under subsection (c) to act on
4behalf of the minor or person with a disability who is the
5subject of the security freeze requests, using a point of
6contact designated by the consumer reporting agency, that the
7security freeze be removed. A credit reporting agency shall
8remove a security freeze within 3 business days of receiving a
9request for removal from the consumer, who provides:
10        (1) proper identification; and
11        (2) the unique personal identification number or
12    password or similar device provided by the consumer
13    reporting agency. ; and
14        (3) A fee, if applicable.
15    (m) A consumer reporting agency shall require proper
16identification of the person making a request to place or
17remove a security freeze and may require proper identification
18and proper authority from the person making the request to
19place or remove a freeze on behalf of the person with a
20disability or minor.
21    (n) The provisions of subsections (c) through (m) of this
22Section do not apply to the use of a consumer credit report by
23any of the following:
24        (1) A person or entity, or a subsidiary, affiliate, or
25    agent of that person or entity, or an assignee of a
26    financial obligation owing by the consumer to that person

 

 

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1    or entity, or a prospective assignee of a financial
2    obligation owing by the consumer to that person or entity
3    in conjunction with the proposed purchase of the financial
4    obligation, with which the consumer has or had prior to
5    assignment an account or contract, including a demand
6    deposit account, or to whom the consumer issued a
7    negotiable instrument, for the purposes of reviewing the
8    account or collecting the financial obligation owing for
9    the account, contract, or negotiable instrument. For
10    purposes of this subsection, "reviewing the account"
11    includes activities related to account maintenance,
12    monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades
13    and enhancements.
14        (2) A subsidiary, affiliate, agent, assignee, or
15    prospective assignee of a person to whom access has been
16    granted under subsection (f) of this Section for purposes
17    of facilitating the extension of credit or other
18    permissible use.
19        (3) Any state or local agency, law enforcement agency,
20    trial court, or private collection agency acting pursuant
21    to a court order, warrant, or subpoena.
22        (4) A child support agency acting pursuant to Title
23    IV-D of the Social Security Act.
24        (5) The State or its agents or assigns acting to
25    investigate fraud.
26        (6) The Department of Revenue or its agents or assigns

 

 

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1    acting to investigate or collect delinquent taxes or unpaid
2    court orders or to fulfill any of its other statutory
3    responsibilities.
4        (7) The use of credit information for the purposes of
5    prescreening as provided for by the federal Fair Credit
6    Reporting Act.
7        (8) Any person or entity administering a credit file
8    monitoring subscription or similar service to which the
9    consumer has subscribed.
10        (9) Any person or entity for the purpose of providing a
11    consumer with a copy of his or her credit report or score
12    upon the consumer's request.
13        (10) Any person using the information in connection
14    with the underwriting of insurance.
15    (n-5) A consumer reporting agency may not impose a charge
16on a consumer for placing a freeze, removing a freeze, or
17temporarily lifting a freeze. This Section does not prevent a
18consumer reporting agency from charging a fee of no more than
19$10 to a consumer for each freeze, removal, or temporary lift
20of the freeze, regarding access to a consumer credit report,
21except that a consumer reporting agency may not charge a fee
22to: (i) a consumer 65 years of age or over for placement and
23removal of a freeze; (ii) a victim of identity theft who has
24submitted to the consumer reporting agency a valid copy of a
25police report, investigative report, or complaint that the
26consumer has filed with a law enforcement agency about unlawful

 

 

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1use of his or her personal information by another person; or
2(iii) an active duty military service member who has submitted
3to the consumer reporting agency a copy of his or her orders
4calling the service member to military service and any orders
5further extending the service member's period of service if
6currently active.
7    (o) If a security freeze is in place, a consumer reporting
8agency shall not change any of the following official
9information in a credit report without sending a written
10confirmation of the change to the consumer within 30 days of
11the change being posted to the consumer's file: (i) name, (ii)
12date of birth, (iii) Social Security number, and (iv) address.
13Written confirmation is not required for technical
14modifications of a consumer's official information, including
15name and street abbreviations, complete spellings, or
16transposition of numbers or letters. In the case of an address
17change, the written confirmation shall be sent to both the new
18address and to the former address.
19    (p) The following entities are not required to place a
20security freeze in a consumer report, however, pursuant to
21paragraph (3) of this subsection, a consumer reporting agency
22acting as a reseller shall honor any security freeze placed on
23a consumer credit report by another consumer reporting agency:
24        (1) A check services or fraud prevention services
25    company, which issues reports on incidents of fraud or
26    authorizations for the purpose of approving or processing

 

 

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1    negotiable instruments, electronic funds transfers, or
2    similar methods of payment.
3        (2) A deposit account information service company,
4    which issues reports regarding account closures due to
5    fraud, substantial overdrafts, ATM abuse, or similar
6    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.
10        (3) A consumer reporting agency that:
11            (A) acts only to resell credit information by
12        assembling and merging information contained in a
13        database of one or more consumer reporting agencies;
14        and
15            (B) does not maintain a permanent database of
16        credit information from which new credit reports are
17        produced.
18    (q) For purposes of this Section:
19    "Credit report" has the same meaning as "consumer report",
20as ascribed to it in 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681a(d).
21    "Consumer reporting agency" has the meaning ascribed to it
22in 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681a(f).
23    "Security freeze" means a notice placed in a consumer's
24credit report, at the request of the consumer and subject to
25certain exceptions, that prohibits the consumer reporting
26agency from releasing the consumer's credit report or score

 

 

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1relating to an extension of credit, without the express
2authorization of the consumer.
3    "Extension of credit" does not include an increase in an
4existing open-end credit plan, as defined in Regulation Z of
5the Federal Reserve System (12 C.F.R. 226.2), or any change to
6or review of an existing credit account.
7    "Proper authority" means documentation that shows that a
8parent, guardian, or agent has authority to act on behalf of a
9minor or person with a disability. "Proper authority" includes
10(1) an order issued by a court of law that shows that a
11guardian has authority to act on behalf of a minor or person
12with a disability, (2) a written, notarized statement signed by
13a parent that expressly describes the authority of the parent
14to act on behalf of the minor, or (3) a durable power of
15attorney that complies with the Illinois Power of Attorney Act.
16    "Proper identification" means information generally deemed
17sufficient to identify a person. Only if the consumer is unable
18to reasonably identify himself or herself with the information
19described above, may a consumer reporting agency require
20additional information concerning the consumer's employment
21and personal or family history in order to verify his or her
22identity.
23    "Military service member" means a resident of Illinois who
24is a member of any component of the U.S. Armed Forces or the
25National Guard of any state, the District of Columbia, a
26commonwealth, or a territory of the United States who has

 

 

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1entered any full-time training or duty for which the service
2member was ordered to report by the President, the governor of
3a state, commonwealth, or territory of the United States, or
4another appropriate military authority.
5    (r) Any person who violates this Section commits an
6unlawful practice within the meaning of this Act.
7(Source: P.A. 98-486, eff. 1-1-14; 98-756, eff. 7-16-14;
899-143, eff. 7-27-15; 99-373, eff. 1-1-16; 99-642, eff.
97-28-16.)
 
10    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
11becoming law.