Bill 144 — Fourth Session, 16Th Legislature, 20 Elizabeth Ii the Legislative Assembly of Alberta Bill 144 the Consumer Credit Disclosure Protection Act (Legislature 16, Session 4)

L16 S4 4975

Alberta — Bills

1971 Bill 144 Fourth Session, 16th Legislature, 20 Elizabeth II THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ALBERTA BILL 144 The Consumer Credit Disclosure Protection Act MR. WERRY First Reading Second Reading Third Reading Printed by L. S. Wall, Queen's Printer, Edmonton

BILL 144 1971 THECONS--LJMIER CREDIT DISCLOSURE. PROTECTION ACT (Assented to , 1971) HER MAJESTY, by 'and wi'bh the ladvi,ce and00nsent of the Legislative Assembly 'Of A1l1beriJa, ena,cts a.IS fOll'lows: 1. This Act may be cited as The Consumer Credit Disclosure Protection Act. 2.

In this Act, (a) "consumer" m'eans an individual; (b) "Consumer Affairs Branch" means the off,ice established under The Consumer Affairs Act; (c) "consumer report" means any written, oral or other communication of any information by a consumer-reporting agency bearing on a consum er's credit worthiness, credit stand~ng, credit capa city, character, general reputation, personal inter Viiews with neighbours, friends or associates of the consumer reported on or with others with whom he is acquainted or who may have knowl edge concerning any such items or information; (d) "consumer-reporting agency" m2ans any person who assembles or evaluates information for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties; (e) "employment record" means any application, re cord of employment, skill tests, pre-employment tests administered by third parties and any evalu ation taken or at the request of a firm; (f) "file" when used in connection with information on any consumer, m'eans all of the information on that consumer recorded and retained by a consumer-reporting agency, regardless of how the informa tion is stored. 3.

Every consumer-reporting agency shall, upon request and proper identif1ication of any consumer, and without charge, clearly and accurately disclose to the consumer: (

a) the nature and substance of all information in its file on the consumer at the time of request;

Explanatory Notes I. Short tiItle. 2.

Interpretation. 3. P,rovides fOir the lrig1hlt of a ClO!IlJsumer Ito have laoces:s to :a file oonrt;JaiIlJing infoTmla;tion 0Il1! himself ,illl the files of a 'COIl1!sumer Teportinlg ,agency.

(

b) the sources of the information; (

c) the recipients of any consumer reports on the con sumer which it has furnished within the s'ix month period preceding the request. 4. Every consumer who is rejected following an ap plication for credit, insurance or employment by reason of a consumer report shall be inform'ed by the person to whom the application was made to the name and address of the consumer-reporting agency. 5. Where the consumer 'establishes that ,information contained in his file held by a consumer-reporting agency is inaccurate, the information shall be corrected. 6.

If the comploeteness or accuracy of any item of in formation contained in his file is disputed by a consumer, and such dispute is directly conveyed to the consumer reporting agency shall within a reasonable period of time re-investigate and record the current status of that in formation unless lit has reasonable grounds to bellieve that the dispute by the consumer is frivolous or irrelevant. If after such re-investigation such information is found to be inaccurate or cannot be verrified, the consumer reporting agency shall promptly delete such information. 7.

If the re-investigation does not resolve the dispute, the consumer may refer the n1atter to the Consumer Affairs Branch for investigation and file a brief state ment setting forth the nature of the dispute which shall be placed :in his file. 8.

Whenever a staten1ent of a dispute is filed, unless there are reasonable grounds to believe that it is frivolous or irrelevant, the consun1er-reporting agency shall, in any subsequent consumer report containing the information in question, clearly note that it ,is disputed by the con sumer and provide either the consumer's statement or a clear and accurate codification or

summary thereof. 9. No application for -credit, emploYlnent, or insurance completed by a consumer may be used for any other pur pose, or transrmitted to any other person .or to a credit reporting agency without the prior wTitten permission of the consumer. 10. Information supplied by a consumer-reporting a gency to a firm on a consumer shall be confidential and used only for legitimate business purposes of that firm. 2

4. ProVtidies fo'r :the right IQf 'a corusumerr- who i,s rej ected for ored~t, in:suTl8.Jnce or employment bec'ause of a consumer report, to be informed of the name lall1daddreSts: of the c'O'll'SUmer-Teport tng agency. 5. lrr£oTml8.JtilQll1i oont 1aill1'ed in a file held by a consumer-,report ill'g lageIlJcy tlO be oOlI'TeCited when the aonsumer establishes the information ~s' maccurate. G. Incomplete land ill1la'CCUT18.Jte infO'rm8.JtiO'nconiained in a file held by la cOl11Jsumelr-reporlt[ng agency to be 're-investiglalted if disputed by a ,consumer. 7.

If there-i'Il'Vestigatioll1! does 'Dot :resolvethe dispute the con sumer may refer the matters to the Consumer Affairs Branch land aLsID fHe a brief sitatemerrt regaDdmg disputed i,nflOTmation in his file. 8. COinsumer-Tep'o~ti'l1lg >agency must :nolte tihe item of d1spute and itnclude accUil'late summ l8.Jry thereof. 9. OrecriJt, employment or lilI1'SUTla'IlJCe applioatiorn shall not be used for otiher purpose without the written consent of the per1sO'n. 10. COII1lSumer -err-edit reportsihall be keplt oo.nfldenti 1cl!l. 2

11. Adverse information regarding a consumer held on file by a consumer-reporting agency shall be deleted afteJ; five years, or, in the case of bankruptcies, ten years. 12. Information held on file by a consumer-reporting agency shall be factual and, in the case of adverse in formation obtained from newspapers, periodicals and per sonal interviews, must be verified before plalcing in a file. 13. A consum'er-reporting agency shall maintain only one file on a consumer which file must contain all in formation pertaining to the said person. 14. Any person who contravenes any of the sections of this Act is guilty of an offence and liable on

summary conviction (

a) for the f,irst offence to a fine of not more than $500.00, and not less than $100.00, and (

b) for any subsequent offence to a fine of not more than $10,000.00 and not less than $500.00 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than one year, or to both the fine and imprisonment. 15. This Act comes into force on the day upon which it ,is assented to. 3

II. InfiotrmrutilQln to be deleted after five years or in the case of bankirupltcies, !ten y'erurs. 12. 'Ln:£oiITIlation held on fille by a colllsumer-1repQlTlting ,agency shall he factual. 13. J.VLaiJntenanCie of only I{)lI1:e file an a peI1Slon by a CO'lllSumer reportilI1!g agency. 14. OffEmces :and! penJal ties. Incorporated in this Bill are a number of the recommendations of "A Report to the Alberta Legislature" of the "Special Legislative Commlilttee Ol!li LIlIVasi,OiIl of Privacy", tabled in the House Last year.

The Report of the Supervisor of Consumer Credit and the Annual Report pursuant to The Consumer Affairs Act tabled in the House this year also indicate that legislation is required in this area. Title: 1971 (16th, 4th) Bill 144, The Consumer Credit Disclosure Protection Act

Document details

Collection	Alberta — Bills
Citation	L16 S4 4975
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	L16 S4 4975
Language	en
Format	json
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	9fefadda14070b1c336dde425acfaeeb1f7543a7

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