Sen. John J. Cullerton

Filed: 2/10/2006

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2310

2     AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2310 by replacing
3 everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4     "Section 5. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business
5 Practices Act is amended by changing Section 2MM as follows:
 
6     (815 ILCS 505/2MM)
7     Sec. 2MM. Verification of accuracy of credit reporting
8 information used to extend consumers credit and security freeze
9 on credit report for identity theft victims.
10     (a) A credit card issuer who who mails an offer or
11 solicitation to apply for a credit card and who receives a
12 completed application in response to the offer or solicitation
13 which lists an address that is not substantially the same as
14 the address on the offer or solicitation may not issue a credit
15 card based on that application until reasonable steps have been
16 taken to verify the applicant's change of address.
17     (b) Any person who uses a consumer credit report in
18 connection with the approval of credit based on the application
19 for an extension of credit, and who has received notification
20 of a police report filed with a consumer reporting agency that
21 the applicant has been a victim of financial identity theft, as
22 defined in Section 16G-15 of the Criminal Code of 1961, may not
23 lend money or extend credit without taking reasonable steps to
24 verify the consumer's identity and confirm that the application

 

 

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1 for an extension of credit is not the result of financial
2 identity theft.
3     (c) A consumer who has been the victim of identity theft
4 may place a security freeze on his or her credit report by
5 making a request in writing by certified mail to a consumer
6 credit reporting agency with a valid copy of a police report,
7 investigative report, or complaint that the consumer has filed
8 with a law enforcement agency about unlawful use of his or her
9 personal information by another person. A credit reporting
10 agency shall not charge a fee for placing, removing, or
11 removing for a specific party or period of time a security
12 freeze on a credit report. A security freeze shall prohibit,
13 subject to the exceptions under subsection (i) of this Section,
14 the credit reporting agency from releasing the consumer's
15 credit report or any information from it without the express
16 authorization of the consumer. When a security freeze is in
17 place, information from a consumer's credit report shall not be
18 released to a third party without prior express authorization
19 from the consumer. This subsection does not prevent a credit
20 reporting agency from advising a third party that a security
21 freeze is in effect with respect to the consumer's credit
22 report.
23     (d) A credit reporting agency shall place a security freeze
24 on a consumer's credit report no later than 5 business days
25 after receiving a written request from the consumer.
26     (e) The credit reporting agency shall send a written
27 confirmation of the security freeze to the consumer within 10
28 business days and shall provide the consumer with a unique
29 personal identification number or password, other than the
30 consumer's Social Security number, to be used by the consumer
31 when providing authorization for the release of his or her
32 credit for a specific party or period of time.
33     (f) If the consumer wishes to allow his or her credit
34 report to be accessed for a specific party or period of time

 

 

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1 while a freeze is in place, he or she shall contact the
2 consumer credit reporting agency, request that the freeze be
3 temporarily lifted, and provide the following:
4         (1) Proper identification;
5         (2) The unique personal identification number or
6     password provided by the credit reporting agency; and
7         (3) The proper information regarding the third party or
8     time period for which the report shall be available to
9     users of the credit report.
10     (g) A credit reporting agency may develop procedures
11 involving the use of telephone, fax, the Internet, or other
12 electronic media to receive and process a request from a
13 consumer to temporarily lift a freeze on a credit report
14 pursuant to subsection (f) in an expedited manner.
15     (h) A credit reporting agency that receives a request from
16 a consumer to temporarily lift a freeze on a credit report
17 pursuant to subsection (f), shall comply with the request no
18 later than 3 business days after receiving the request.
19     (i) A credit reporting agency shall remove or temporarily
20 lift a freeze placed on a consumer's credit report only in the
21 following cases:
22         (1) upon consumer request, pursuant to subsection (f)
23     or subsection (l) of this Section; or
24         (2) if the consumer's credit report was frozen due to a
25     material misrepresentation of fact by the consumer.
26     If a consumer credit reporting agency intends to remove a
27 freeze upon a consumer's credit report pursuant to this
28 subsection, the consumer credit reporting agency shall notify
29 the consumer in writing prior to removing the freeze on the
30 consumer's credit report.
31     (j) If a third party requests access to a credit report on
32 which a security freeze is in effect, and this request is in
33 connection with an application for credit or any other use, and
34 the consumer does not allow his or her credit report to be

 

 

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1 accessed for that specific party or period of time, the third
2 party may treat the application as incomplete.
3     (k) If a consumer requests a security freeze, the credit
4 reporting agency shall disclose to the consumer the process of
5 placing and temporarily lifting a security freeze, and the
6 process for allowing access to information from the consumer's
7 credit report for a specific party or period of time while the
8 freeze is in place.
9     (l) A security freeze shall remain in place until the
10 consumer requests that the security freeze be removed. A credit
11 reporting agency shall remove a security freeze within 3
12 business days of receiving a request for removal from the
13 consumer, who provides both of the following:
14         (1) Proper identification; and
15         (2) The unique personal identification number or
16     password provided by the credit reporting agency.
17     (m) A consumer credit reporting agency shall require proper
18 identification of the person making a request to place or
19 remove a security freeze.
20     (n) The provisions of subsections (c) through (m) of this
21 Section do not apply to the use of a consumer credit report by
22 any of the following:
23         (1) A person or entity, or a subsidiary, affiliate, or
24     agent of that person or entity, or an assignee of a
25     financial obligation owing by the consumer to that person
26     or entity, or a prospective assignee of a financial
27     obligation owing by the consumer to that person or entity
28     in conjunction with the proposed purchase of the financial
29     obligation, with which the consumer has or had prior to
30     assignment an account or contract, including a demand
31     deposit account, or to whom the consumer issued a
32     negotiable instrument, for the purposes of reviewing the
33     account or collecting the financial obligation owing for
34     the account, contract, or negotiable instrument. For

 

 

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1     purposes of this subsection, "reviewing the account"
2     includes activities related to account maintenance,
3     monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades
4     and enhancements.
5         (2) A subsidiary, affiliate, agent, assignee, or
6     prospective assignee of a person to whom access has been
7     granted under subsection (f) of this Section for purposes
8     of facilitating the extension of credit or other
9     permissible use.
10         (3) Any state or local agency, law enforcement agency,
11     trial court, or private collection agency acting pursuant
12     to a court order, warrant, or subpoena.
13         (4) A child support agency acting pursuant to Title
14     IV-D of the Social Security Act.
15         (5) The relevant state agency or its agents or assigns
16     acting to investigate Medicaid fraud.
17         (6) The Department of Revenue or its agents or assigns
18     acting to investigate or collect delinquent taxes or unpaid
19     court orders or to fulfill any of its other statutory
20     responsibilities.
21         (7) The use of credit information for the purposes of
22     prescreening as provided for by the federal Fair Credit
23     Reporting Act.
24         (8) Any person or entity administering a credit file
25     monitoring subscription service to which the consumer has
26     subscribed.
27         (9) Any person or entity for the purpose of providing a
28     consumer with a copy of his or her credit report upon the
29     consumer's request.
30     (o) If a security freeze is in place, a credit reporting
31 agency shall not change any of the following official
32 information in a credit report without sending a written
33 confirmation of the change to the consumer within 30 days of
34 the change being posted to the consumer's file: (i) name, (ii)

 

 

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1 date of birth, (iii) Social Security number, and (iv) address.
2 Written confirmation is not required for technical
3 modifications of a consumer's official information, including
4 name and street abbreviations, complete spellings, or
5 transposition of numbers or letters. In the case of an address
6 change, the written confirmation shall be sent to both the new
7 address and to the former address.
8     (p) The following entities are not required to place a
9 security freeze in a credit report, provided, however, that any
10 person that is not required to place a security freeze on a
11 credit report under paragraph (3) of this subsection, shall be
12 subject to any security freeze placed on a credit report by
13 another credit reporting agency from which it obtains
14 information:
15         (1) A check services or fraud prevention services
16     company, which issues reports on incidents of fraud or
17     authorizations for the purpose of approving or processing
18     negotiable instruments, electronic funds transfers, or
19     similar methods of payment.
20         (2) A deposit account information service company,
21     which issues reports regarding account closures due to
22     fraud, substantial overdrafts, ATM abuse, or similar
23     negative information regarding a consumer to inquiring
24     banks or other financial institutions for use only in
25     reviewing a consumer request for a deposit account at the
26     inquiring bank or financial institution.
27         (3) A credit reporting agency that:
28             (A) acts only to resell credit information by
29         assembling and merging information contained in a
30         database of one or more credit reporting agencies; and
31             (B) does not maintain a permanent database of
32         credit information from which new credit reports are
33         produced.
34     (q) For purposes of this Section:

 

 

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1      "Extension of credit" does not include an increase in an
2 existing open-end credit plan, as defined in Regulation Z of
3 the Federal Reserve System (12 C.F.R. 226.2), or any change to
4 or review of an existing credit account.
5     "Proper identification" means information generally deemed
6 sufficient to identify a person. Only if the consumer is unable
7 to reasonably identify himself or herself with the information
8 described above, may a consumer credit reporting agency require
9 additional information concerning the consumer's employment
10 and personal or family history in order to verify his or her
11 identity.
12     (r) Any person who violates this Section commits an
13 unlawful practice within the meaning of this Act.
14 (Source: P.A. 93-195, eff. 1-1-04; 94-74, eff. 1-1-06.)".