(a) A petition filed pursuant to Section 1798.201 shall be heard and determined based on declarations, affidavits, police reports, or other material, relevant, and reliable information submitted by the parties or ordered to be made part of the record by the court.

(b) If the court determines the petition is meritorious and there is no reasonable cause to believe that the victim’s personal identifying information has been used lawfully in the business entity filing, the court shall make a finding that the victim’s personal identifying information has been used unlawfully in the business entity filing and shall issue an order certifying this determination.

(c) Upon making a determination pursuant to subdivision (b), the court shall do the following:

(1) Order the name and associated personal identifying information in the business entity filing to be redacted or labeled to show that the data is impersonated and does not reflect the victim’s identity.

(2) Order the data to be removed from publicly accessible electronic indexes and databases.

(d) A determination made pursuant to subdivision (b) may be vacated at any time if the petition or any information submitted in support of the petition is found to contain any material misrepresentation or was obtained by fraud.

(e) The Judicial Council shall develop a form for issuing an order of determination pursuant to this section.

(f) An order issued pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be filed with the Secretary of State.

(Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 696, Sec. 1. (SB 1196) Effective January 1, 2019.)