California Civil Code 1785.19 – (a) In addition to any other remedy provided by law, a consumer …
(a) In addition to any other remedy provided by law, a consumer may bring an action for a civil penalty, not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), against any of the following:
(1) A person who knowingly and willfully obtains access to a file other than as provided in Section 1785.11.
Terms Used In California Civil Code 1785.19
- Consumer: means a natural individual. See California Civil Code 1785.3
- Consumer credit reporting agency: means any person who, for monetary fees, dues, or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages in whole or in part in the business of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or other information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer credit reports to third parties, but does not include any governmental agency whose records are maintained primarily for traffic safety, law enforcement, or licensing purposes. See California Civil Code 1785.3
- File: when used in connection with information on any consumer, means all of the information on that consumer recorded and retained by a consumer credit reporting agency, regardless of how the information is stored. See California Civil Code 1785.3
- Person: means any individual, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, cooperative, association, government or governmental subdivision or agency, or other entity. See California Civil Code 1785.3
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
(2) Any person who knowingly and willfully obtains data from a file other than as provided in Section 1785.11.
(3) A person who uses the data received from a file in a manner contrary to an agreement with the consumer credit reporting agency.
Such an action may also be brought by the person or entity responsible for the file accessed. This remedy is in addition to any other remedy which may exist.
(b) If a plaintiff prevails in an action under subdivision (a) he or she shall be awarded the civil penalty, costs, and reasonable attorney fees.
(Added by Stats. 1990, Ch. 842, Sec. 2.)