Washington · statute · Wash. Rev. Code ch. 19.182 · 27 active provisions
The legislature finds and declares that consumers have a vital interest in establishing and maintaining creditworthiness. The legislature further finds that an elaborate mechanism using credit reports has developed for investigating and evaluating a consumer's creditworthiness, credit capacity, and general reputation a…
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.(1)(a) "Adverse action" includes:(i) Denial of, increase in any charge for, or reduction in the amount of insurance for personal, family, or household purposes;(ii) Denial of employment or any other decision for…
(1) A consumer reporting agency may furnish a consumer report only under the following circumstances:(a) In response to the order of a court having jurisdiction to issue the order;(b) In accordance with the written instructions of the consumer to whom it relates; or(c) To a person that the agency has reason to believe:…
(1) A consumer reporting agency may provide a consumer report relating to a consumer under RCW 19.182.020(1)(c)(i) in connection with a credit transaction that is not initiated by the consumer only if:(a) The consumer authorized the consumer reporting agency to provide the report to such a person; or(b) The consumer ha…
(1) Except as authorized under subsection (2) of this section, no consumer reporting agency may make a consumer report containing any of the following items of information:(a) Bankruptcies that, from date of adjudication of the most recent bankruptcy, antedate the report by more than ten years;(b) Suits and judgments t…
(1) A person may not procure or cause to be prepared an investigative consumer report on a consumer unless:(a) It is clearly and accurately disclosed to the consumer that an investigative consumer report including information as to the consumer's character, general reputation, personal characteristics, and mode of livi…
(1) A consumer reporting agency shall maintain reasonable procedures designed to avoid violations of RCW 19.182.040 and to limit the furnishing of consumer reports to the purposes listed under RCW 19.182.020. These procedures must require that prospective users of the information identify themselves, certify the purpos…
A consumer reporting agency shall, upon request by the consumer, clearly and accurately disclose:(1) All information in the file on the consumer at the time of request, except that medical information may be withheld. The agency shall inform the consumer of the existence of medical information, and the consumer has the…
(1) A consumer reporting agency shall make the disclosures required under RCW 19.182.070 during normal business hours and on reasonable notice.(2) The consumer reporting agency shall make the disclosures required under RCW 19.182.070 to the consumer:(a) In person if the consumer appears in person and furnishes proper i…
(1) If the completeness or accuracy of an item of information contained in a consumer's file at a consumer reporting agency is disputed by the consumer and the consumer notifies the agency directly of the dispute, the agency shall reinvestigate without charge and record the current status of the disputed information be…
(1) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, a consumer reporting agency may charge the following fees to the consumer:(a) For making a disclosure under RCW 19.182.070 and 19.182.080, the consumer reporting agency may charge a fee not exceeding eight dollars. Beginning January 1, 1995, the eight-d…
If a person takes an adverse action with respect to a consumer that is based, in whole or in part, on information contained in a consumer report, the person shall:(1) Provide written notice of the adverse action to the consumer, except verbal notice may be given by a person in an adverse action involving a business reg…
An action to enforce a liability created under this chapter is permanently barred unless commenced within two years after the cause of action accrues, except that where a defendant has materially and willfully misrepresented information required under this chapter to be disclosed to an individual and the information so…
A person who knowingly and willfully obtains information on a consumer from a consumer reporting agency under false pretenses is subject to a fine of up to five thousand dollars or imprisonment for up to three hundred sixty-four days, or both.
An officer or employee of a consumer reporting agency who knowingly and willfully provides information concerning an individual from the agency's files to a person not authorized to receive that information is subject to a fine of up to five thousand dollars or imprisonment for up to three hundred sixty-four days, or b…
The legislature finds that the practices covered by this chapter are matters vitally affecting the public interest for the purpose of applying the consumer protection act, chapter 19.86 RCW. Violations of this chapter are not reasonable in relation to the development and preservation of business. A violation of this ch…
(1) Within thirty days of receipt of proof of the consumer's identification and a copy of a police report, filed by the consumer, evidencing the consumer's claim to be a victim of a violation of RCW 9.35.020, a consumer reporting agency shall permanently block reporting any information the consumer identifies on his or…
(1) A consumer, who is a resident of this state, may elect to place a security freeze on his or her credit report by making a request to a consumer reporting agency. "Security freeze" means a prohibition, consistent with this section, on a consumer reporting agency's furnishing of a consumer's credit report to a third…
If a security freeze is in place, a consumer reporting agency may not change any of the following official information in a consumer credit report without sending a written confirmation of the change to the consumer within thirty days of the change being posted to the consumer's file: Name, date of birth, social securi…
A consumer reporting agency is not required to place a security freeze in a consumer credit report under RCW 19.182.170 if it acts only as a reseller of credit information by assembling and merging information contained in the database of another consumer reporting agency or multiple consumer reporting agencies, and do…
The following entities are not required to place a security freeze in a consumer credit report under RCW 19.182.170:(1) A check services or fraud prevention services company, which issues reports on incidents of fraud or authorizations for the purpose of approving or processing negotiable instruments, electronic funds…
A consumer reporting agency may furnish to a governmental agency a consumer's name, address, former address, places of employment, or former places of employment.
The definitions in this section apply throughout this section and RCW 19.182.230 unless the context clearly requires otherwise.(1) "Credit report" means a consumer report, as defined in 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681a, that is used or collected to serve as a factor in establishing a consumer's eligibility for credit for personal,…
(1) A consumer reporting agency shall place a security freeze for a protected consumer if:(a) The consumer reporting agency receives a request from the protected consumer's representative for the placement of the security freeze under this section; and(b) The protected consumer's representative:(i) Submits the request…
The office of cybersecurity, the office of privacy and data protection, and the attorney's general office must work with stakeholders to evaluate the impact to consumers and the consumer reporting agencies regarding the modifications in chapter 54, Laws of 2018. The report must include trends in data breaches including…