California Civil Code 1785.20 – (a) If any person takes any adverse action with respect to any …
(a) If any person takes any adverse action with respect to any consumer, and the adverse action is based, in whole or in part, on any information contained in a consumer credit report, that person shall do all of the following:
(1) Provide written notice of the adverse action to the consumer.
Terms Used In California Civil Code 1785.20
- Adverse action: includes all of the following:
California Civil Code 1785.3
- Consumer: means a natural individual. See California Civil Code 1785.3
- Consumer credit report: means any written, oral, or other communication of any information by a consumer credit reporting agency bearing on a consumer's credit worthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity, which is used or is expected to be used, or collected in whole or in part, for the purpose of serving as a factor in establishing the consumer's eligibility for: (1) credit to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, or (2) employment purposes, or (3) hiring of a dwelling unit, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 1940, or (4) other purposes authorized in Section 1785. 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
- Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. Source: OCC
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
- 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
(2) Provide the consumer with the name, address, and telephone number of the consumer credit reporting agency which furnished the report to the person.
(3) Provide a statement that the credit grantor‘s decision to take adverse action was based in whole or in part upon information contained in a consumer credit report.
(4) Provide the consumer with a written notice of the following rights of the consumer:
(A) The right of the consumer to obtain within 60 days a free copy of the consumer’s consumer credit report from the consumer credit reporting agency identified pursuant to paragraph (2) and from any other consumer credit reporting agency which compiles and maintains files on consumers on a nationwide basis.
(B) The right of the consumer under Section 1785.16 to dispute the accuracy or completeness of any information in a consumer credit report furnished by the consumer credit reporting agency.
(b) Whenever credit or insurance for personal, family, or household purposes involving a consumer is denied or the charge for such credit is increased either wholly or in part because of information obtained from a person other than a consumer credit reporting agency bearing upon consumer’s credit worthiness or credit standing, the user of that information shall, within a reasonable period of time, and upon the consumer’s written request for the reasons for that adverse action received within 60 days after learning of the adverse action, disclose the nature and substance of the information to the consumer. The user of the information shall clearly and accurately disclose to the consumer his or her right to make such a written request at the time the adverse action is communicated to the consumer.
(c) No person shall be held liable for any violation of this section if he or she shows by a preponderance of the evidence that at the time of the alleged violation he or she maintained reasonable procedures to assure compliance with this section.
(d) Nothing in this chapter shall excuse compliance with the requirements of Section 1787.2.
(Amended by Stats. 1992, Ch. 1194, Sec. 9. Effective January 1, 1993. Operative July 1, 1993, by Sec. 13 of Ch. 1194.)