Brief ⁽¹⁾

HB 2685 amends the Kansas Fair Credit Reporting Act to more closely conform to the federal act. Major provisions of the bill include the following:

• Consumer reporting agencies are authorized to provide a consumer report for employment purposes and at the request of a child support enforcement agency.



• The reporting agency would be required to include in the report failure of the consumer to pay overdue child support reported by an enforcement or government agency.



• A consumer report could also be provided regarding any credit or insurance transaction or national security investigations. A report could not, however, be provided without the consumer's permission if it contains the consumer's medical information. If any items of the report are disputed by the consumer, the reporting agency would have to reinvestigate (at no cost to the consumer) or delete the item from the report within 30 days.



• Upon request of a consumer, a consumer reporting agency must provide the consumer a copy of the consumer's credit report once a year at no charge. Additional copies can be furnished for a charge that is set by federal provisions.



• Enforcement of the Act would be transferred from the Consumer Credit Commissioner to the Attorney General.



• Fines of at least $100, but no more than $1,000, could be imposed for negligent and willful disregard of the Act. Under the bill knowingly or willfully obtaining a report under false pretenses would be a level 7 person felony. Knowingly and willfully providing information to a person not authorized to receive the information would also be a level 7 person felony.



• Furnishing false information to a reporting agency is prohibited and would require the person upon receipt of notice of dispute to investigate the accuracy of the information and proceed according to provisions contained in the bill.

Background

The bill was introduced upon request of the 1999 Interim Special Committee on Judiciary.

Senator Stan Clark appeared in support of the bill. Also appearing in favor of the measure were conferees from the Attorney General's Office and a victim of identity theft. Partial support was expressed on behalf of the Associated Credit Bureaus, Inc., and the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Those who appeared in opposition to the bill include representatives of Trans Union and the Kansas Association of Financial Services. Partial opposition was expressed on behalf of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry regarding the notice provisions.

The fiscal note indicates no fiscal impact.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html