House Bill 538

AN ACT TO REQUIRE EACH CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY TO PROVIDE A CONSUMER WITH ONE DISCLOSURE COPY OF HIS OR HER FILE PER YEAR AT NO CHARGE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(a) "Consumer" means a natural person residing in the State of Mississippi.

(b) "Consumer report" means any written, oral, or other communication or any information by a consumer reporting agency bearing on a consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, debts, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living, which is used or expected to be used or collected, in whole or in part, as a factor to establish a consumer's eligibility for (i) credit or insurance to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, (ii) employment purposes, or (iii) any other purpose authorized under applicable provisions of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 USCS Section 1681 et seq.

(c) "Consumer reporting agency" means any person that, for monetary fees, dues, or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages in whole or in part in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or other information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties. "Consumer reporting agency" does not include any business entity that provides check verification or check guarantee services only.

(d) "Creditworthiness" means any entry in a consumer's credit file that impacts the ability of a consumer to obtain and retain credit, employment, business or professional licenses, investment opportunities, or insurance. Entries contained in a consumer file or in a consumer report that affect creditworthiness shall include, but not be limited to, payment information, defaults, judgments, liens, bankruptcies, collections, records of arrest and indictments, and multiple-credit inquiries.

(e) "Employment purposes," when used in connection with a consumer report, means a report used for the purpose of evaluating a consumer for employment, promotion, reassignment, or retention as an employee.

(f) "File" means all of the information on the consumer that is recorded and retained by a consumer reporting agency regardless of how the information is stored.

(g) "Person" means any natural person, firm, corporation or partnership.

(2) Each consumer reporting agency, upon the request of a consumer, shall provide the consumer with one (1) disclosure copy of his or her file per calendar year at no charge. If the consumer requests more than one disclosure copy of his or her file per year under this subsection, the consumer reporting agency may charge the consumer up to Eight Dollars ($8.00) for each additional disclosure copy.

(3) A consumer reporting agency, upon written or verbal request of a consumer under subsection (2) of this section and proper identification of the consumer, shall clearly, accurately, and in a manner that is understandable to the consumer, disclose to the consumer, in writing, all information in its files at the time of the request pertaining to the consumer, including, but not limited to:

(a) The names of all persons requesting credit information pertaining to the consumer during the prior twelve-month period and the date of each request; and

(b) A set of instructions, presented in a manner that is understandable to the consumer, describing how information is presented on its written disclosure of the file.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2003.