(a) A lessor shall not send any solicitation or other promotional material to a person identified by the consumer as a reference to verify the consumer’s income, assets, credit history, or residence unless all of the following occur:

(1) The lessor clearly discloses in the rental-purchase agreement or application that (A) the lessor may send solicitations or other promotional material to references provided by the consumer unless the consumer objects and (B) the consumer has the right to object without incurring any additional rental charge or fee or any loss of contractual rights.

Terms Used In California Civil Code 1812.641

  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Consumer: means a natural person or persons who rent or lease personal property from a lessor pursuant to a rental-purchase agreement or to whom a lessor offers personal property for use pursuant to a rental-purchase agreement. See California Civil Code 1812.622
  • Fee: means any payment, charge, fee, cost, or expense, however denominated, other than a rental payment. See California Civil Code 1812.622
  • Lessor: means any person or entity that provides or offers to provide personal property for use by consumers pursuant to a rental-purchase agreement. See California Civil Code 1812.622
  • Rental-purchase agreement: except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, means an agreement between a lessor and a consumer pursuant to which the lessor rents or leases, for valuable consideration, personal property for use by a consumer for personal, family, or household purposes for an initial term not exceeding four months that may be renewed or otherwise extended, if under the terms of the agreement the consumer acquires an option or other legally enforceable right to become owner of the property. See California Civil Code 1812.622

(2) A space on the rental-purchase agreement or application adjacent to the disclosure described in paragraph (1) is provided for the consumer to indicate the consumer’s approval or disapproval of the lessor’s sending solicitations or other promotional material.

(3) The consumer affirmatively indicates approval.

(4) The lessor does not vary any term required to be disclosed pursuant to Section 1812.623 depending on whether the consumer approves or disapproves of the lessor’s sending of solicitations or other promotional material to references.

(b) The first solicitation or other promotional material directed to a person whom the consumer has identified as a reference shall clearly offer the reference the opportunity, without cost, to instruct the lessor to refrain from sending further solicitations or other promotional material to the reference. If so instructed, the lessor shall not send any further solicitations or other promotional material to the reference and shall remove the reference’s name and address from the lessor’s mailing list.

(c) This section shall not apply to solicitations or other promotional material sent generally to people solely on the basis of demographic, geographic, or postal zip code criteria and without regard to whether the people have been identified as references by consumers.

(Added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 1026, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1995.)

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