Public Act 094-0799
 
SB2310 Enrolled LRB094 16851 LCT 52130 b

    AN ACT concerning business.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business
Practices Act is amended by changing Section 2MM as follows:
 
    (815 ILCS 505/2MM)
    Sec. 2MM. Verification of accuracy of consumer credit
reporting information used to extend consumers credit and
security freeze on credit reports report for identity theft
victims.
    (a) A credit card issuer who mails an offer or solicitation
to apply for a credit card and who receives a completed
application in response to the offer or solicitation which
lists an address that is not substantially the same as the
address on the offer or solicitation may not issue a credit
card based on that application until reasonable steps have been
taken to verify the applicant's change of address.
    (b) Any person who uses a consumer credit report in
connection with the approval of credit based on the application
for an extension of credit, and who has received notification
of a police report filed with a consumer reporting agency that
the applicant has been a victim of financial identity theft, as
defined in Section 16G-15 of the Criminal Code of 1961, may not
lend money or extend credit without taking reasonable steps to
verify the consumer's identity and confirm that the application
for an extension of credit is not the result of financial
identity theft.
    (c) A consumer may request that a security freeze be placed
on his or her credit report by sending a request in writing by
certified mail to a consumer reporting agency at an address
designated by the consumer reporting agency to receive such
requests. This subsection (c) does not prevent a consumer
reporting agency from advising a third party that a security
freeze is in effect with respect to the consumer's credit
report. A consumer who has been the victim of identity theft
may place a security freeze on his or her credit report by
making a request in writing by certified mail to a consumer
credit reporting agency with a valid copy of a police report,
investigative report, or complaint that the consumer has filed
with a law enforcement agency about unlawful use of his or her
personal information by another person. A credit reporting
agency shall not charge a fee for placing, removing, or
removing for a specific party or period of time a security
freeze on a credit report. A security freeze shall prohibit,
subject to the exceptions under subsection (i) of this Section,
the credit reporting agency from releasing the consumer's
credit report or any information from it without the express
authorization of the consumer. When a security freeze is in
place, information from a consumer's credit report shall not be
released to a third party without prior express authorization
from the consumer. This subsection does not prevent a credit
reporting agency from advising a third party that a security
freeze is in effect with respect to the consumer's credit
report.
    (d) A consumer credit reporting agency shall place a
security freeze on a consumer's credit report no later than 5
business days after receiving a written request from the
consumer: .
        (1) a written request described in subsection (c);
        (2) proper identification; and
        (3) payment of a fee, if applicable.
    (e) Upon placing the security freeze on the consumer's
credit report, the consumer The credit reporting agency shall
send to the consumer within 10 business days a written
confirmation of the placement of the security freeze and to the
consumer within 10 business days and shall provide the consumer
with a unique personal identification number or password or
similar device, other than the consumer's Social Security
number, to be used by the consumer when providing authorization
for the release of his or her credit report for a specific
party or period of time.
    (f) If the consumer wishes to allow his or her credit
report to be accessed for a specific party or period of time
while a freeze is in place, he or she shall contact the
consumer credit reporting agency using a point of contact
designated by the consumer reporting agency, request that the
freeze be temporarily lifted, and provide the following:
        (1) Proper identification;
        (2) The unique personal identification number or
    password or similar device provided by the consumer credit
    reporting agency; and
        (3) The proper information regarding the third party or
    time period for which the report shall be available to
    users of the credit report; and .
        (4) A fee, if applicable.
    (g) A consumer credit reporting agency shall may develop a
contact method procedures involving the use of telephone, fax,
the Internet, or other electronic media to receive and process
a request from a consumer to temporarily lift a freeze on a
credit report pursuant to subsection (f) in an expedited
manner.
    A contact method under this subsection shall include: (i) a
postal address; and (ii) an electronic contact method chosen by
the consumer reporting agency, which may include the use of
telephone, fax, Internet, or other electronic means.
    (h) A consumer credit reporting agency that receives a
request from a consumer to temporarily lift a freeze on a
credit report pursuant to subsection (f), shall comply with the
request no later than 3 business days after receiving the
request.
    (i) A consumer credit reporting agency shall remove or
temporarily lift a freeze placed on a consumer's credit report
only in the following cases:
        (1) upon consumer request, pursuant to subsection (f)
    or subsection (l) of this Section; or
        (2) if the consumer's credit report was frozen due to a
    material misrepresentation of fact by the consumer.
    If a consumer credit reporting agency intends to remove a
freeze upon a consumer's credit report pursuant to this
subsection, the consumer credit reporting agency shall notify
the consumer in writing prior to removing the freeze on the
consumer's credit report.
    (j) If a third party requests access to a credit report on
which a security freeze is in effect, and this request is in
connection with an application for credit or any other use, and
the consumer does not allow his or her credit report to be
accessed for that specific party or period of time, the third
party may treat the application as incomplete.
    (k) If a consumer requests a security freeze, the credit
reporting agency shall disclose to the consumer the process of
placing and temporarily lifting a security freeze, and the
process for allowing access to information from the consumer's
credit report for a specific party or period of time while the
freeze is in place.
    (l) A security freeze shall remain in place until the
consumer requests, using a point of contact designated by the
consumer reporting agency, that the security freeze be removed.
A credit reporting agency shall remove a security freeze within
3 business days of receiving a request for removal from the
consumer, who provides both of the following:
        (1) Proper identification; and
        (2) The unique personal identification number or
    password or similar device provided by the consumer credit
    reporting agency; and .
        (3) A fee, if applicable.
    (m) A consumer credit reporting agency shall require proper
identification of the person making a request to place or
remove a security freeze.
    (n) The provisions of subsections (c) through (m) of this
Section do not apply to the use of a consumer credit report by
any of the following:
        (1) A person or entity, or a subsidiary, affiliate, or
    agent of that person or entity, or an assignee of a
    financial obligation owing by the consumer to that person
    or entity, or a prospective assignee of a financial
    obligation owing by the consumer to that person or entity
    in conjunction with the proposed purchase of the financial
    obligation, with which the consumer has or had prior to
    assignment an account or contract, including a demand
    deposit account, or to whom the consumer issued a
    negotiable instrument, for the purposes of reviewing the
    account or collecting the financial obligation owing for
    the account, contract, or negotiable instrument. For
    purposes of this subsection, "reviewing the account"
    includes activities related to account maintenance,
    monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades
    and enhancements.
        (2) A subsidiary, affiliate, agent, assignee, or
    prospective assignee of a person to whom access has been
    granted under subsection (f) of this Section for purposes
    of facilitating the extension of credit or other
    permissible use.
        (3) Any state or local agency, law enforcement agency,
    trial court, or private collection agency acting pursuant
    to a court order, warrant, or subpoena.
        (4) A child support agency acting pursuant to Title
    IV-D of the Social Security Act.
        (5) The State relevant state agency or its agents or
    assigns acting to investigate Medicaid fraud.
        (6) The Department of Revenue or its agents or assigns
    acting to investigate or collect delinquent taxes or unpaid
    court orders or to fulfill any of its other statutory
    responsibilities.
        (7) The use of credit information for the purposes of
    prescreening as provided for by the federal Fair Credit
    Reporting Act.
        (8) Any person or entity administering a credit file
    monitoring subscription or similar service to which the
    consumer has subscribed.
        (9) Any person or entity for the purpose of providing a
    consumer with a copy of his or her credit report or score
    upon the consumer's request.
        (10) Any person using the information in connection
    with the underwriting of insurance.
    (n-5) This Section does not prevent a consumer reporting
agency from charging a fee of no more than $10 to a consumer
for each freeze, removal, or temporary lift of the freeze,
regarding access to a consumer credit report, except that a
consumer reporting agency may not charge a fee to (i) a
consumer 65 years of age or over for placement and removal of a
freeze, or (ii) a victim of identity theft who has submitted to
the consumer reporting agency a valid copy of a police report,
investigative report, or complaint that the consumer has filed
with a law enforcement agency about unlawful use of his or her
personal information by another person.
    (o) If a security freeze is in place, a consumer credit
reporting agency shall not change any of the following official
information in a credit report without sending a written
confirmation of the change to the consumer within 30 days of
the change being posted to the consumer's file: (i) name, (ii)
date of birth, (iii) Social Security number, and (iv) address.
Written confirmation is not required for technical
modifications of a consumer's official information, including
name and street abbreviations, complete spellings, or
transposition of numbers or letters. In the case of an address
change, the written confirmation shall be sent to both the new
address and to the former address.
    (p) The following entities are not required to place a
security freeze in a consumer credit report, however, pursuant
to paragraph (3) of this subsection, a consumer reporting
agency acting as a reseller shall honor any security freeze
placed on a consumer credit report by another consumer
reporting agency: provided, however, that any person that is
not required to place a security freeze on a credit report
under paragraph (3) of this subsection, shall be subject to any
security freeze placed on a credit report by another credit
reporting agency from which it obtains information:
        (1) A check services or fraud prevention services
    company, which issues reports on incidents of fraud or
    authorizations for the purpose of approving or processing
    negotiable instruments, electronic funds transfers, or
    similar methods of payment.
        (2) A deposit account information service company,
    which issues reports regarding account closures due to
    fraud, substantial overdrafts, ATM abuse, or similar
    negative information regarding a consumer to inquiring
    banks or other financial institutions for use only in
    reviewing a consumer request for a deposit account at the
    inquiring bank or financial institution.
        (3) A consumer credit reporting agency that:
            (A) acts only to resell credit information by
        assembling and merging information contained in a
        database of one or more consumer credit reporting
        agencies; and
            (B) does not maintain a permanent database of
        credit information from which new credit reports are
        produced.
    (q) For purposes of this Section:
    "Credit report" has the same meaning as "consumer report",
as ascribed to it in 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681a(d).
    "Consumer reporting agency" has the meaning ascribed to it
in 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681a(f).
    "Security freeze" means a notice placed in a consumer's
credit report, at the request of the consumer and subject to
certain exceptions, that prohibits the consumer reporting
agency from releasing the consumer's credit report or score
relating to an extension of credit, without the express
authorization of the consumer.
     "Extension of credit" does not include an increase in an
existing open-end credit plan, as defined in Regulation Z of
the Federal Reserve System (12 C.F.R. 226.2), or any change to
or review of an existing credit account.
    "Proper identification" means information generally deemed
sufficient to identify a person. Only if the consumer is unable
to reasonably identify himself or herself with the information
described above, may a consumer credit reporting agency require
additional information concerning the consumer's employment
and personal or family history in order to verify his or her
identity.
    (r) Any person who violates this Section commits an
unlawful practice within the meaning of this Act.
(Source: P.A. 93-195, eff. 1-1-04; 94-74, eff. 1-1-06.)