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California Civil Code Section 1786.24

Legal Research Home > California Lawyer > Civil Code > California Civil Code Section 1786.24

(a) If the completeness or accuracy of any item of
information contained in his or her file is disputed by a consumer,
and the dispute is conveyed directly to the investigative consumer
reporting agency by the consumer, the investigative consumer
reporting agency shall, without charge, reinvestigate and record the
current status of the disputed information or delete the item from
the file in accordance with subdivision (c), before the end of the
30-day period beginning on the date on which the agency receives the
notice of the dispute from the consumer.
   (b) The agency shall notify any person who provided information in
dispute at the address and in the manner specified by that person.
The notice shall include all relevant information regarding the
dispute that the investigative consumer reporting agency has received
from the consumer.  The agency shall also promptly provide to the
person who provided the information in dispute all relevant
information regarding the dispute that is received by the agency from
the consumer during the reinvestigation.
   (c) In conducting a reinvestigation, the investigative consumer
reporting agency shall review and consider all relevant information
submitted by the consumer with respect to the disputed item of
information.
   (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), an investigative consumer
reporting agency may terminate a reinvestigation of information
disputed by a consumer if the investigative consumer reporting agency
reasonably determines that the dispute is frivolous or irrelevant,
including by reason of a failure by a consumer to provide sufficient
information to investigate the disputed information.  Upon making a
determination that a dispute is frivolous or irrelevant, the
investigative consumer reporting agency shall notify the consumer, by
mail or, if authorized by the consumer for that purpose, by any
other means available to the agency.  In this notification, the
investigative consumer reporting agency shall state the specific
reasons why it has determined that the consumer's dispute is
frivolous or irrelevant and provide a description of any information
required to investigate the disputed information, that may consist of
a standardized form describing the general nature of the required
information.
   (e) If a reinvestigation is made and, after reinvestigation, the
disputed item of information is found to be inaccurate, incomplete,
or cannot be verified by the evidence submitted, the investigative
consumer reporting agency shall promptly delete that information from
the consumer's file or modify the information, as appropriate, based
on the results of the reinvestigation, and shall notify the consumer
that the information has been deleted or modified.  The consumer
reporting agency shall also notify any and all sources from which the
disputed information was obtained and inform them in writing of the
reasons and results of the reinvestigation, and send a copy of this
notification to the consumer.  In accordance with subdivision (b) of
Section 1786.10, the copy of the notification sent to the consumer
need not reveal the identity of the source of information, unless
otherwise required by law.
   (f) No information may be reinserted in the file of a consumer
after having been deleted pursuant to this section, unless the person
who furnished the information verifies that the information is
complete and accurate.  If any information deleted from the file of a
consumer is reinserted in the file, the investigative consumer
reporting agency shall promptly notify the consumer of the
reinsertion in writing or, if authorized by the consumer for that
purpose, by any other means available to the agency.  As part of, or
in addition to, this notice, the investigative consumer reporting
agency shall provide to the consumer in writing (1) a statement that
the disputed information has been reinserted, (2) the name, address,
and telephone number of any furnisher of information contacted or
that contacted the investigative consumer reporting agency in
connection with the reinsertion, and the telephone number of the
furnisher, if reasonably available, and (3) a notice that the
consumer has the right to a reinvestigation of the information
reinserted by the investigative consumer reporting agency and to add
a statement to his or her file disputing the accuracy or completeness
of the information.
   (g) An investigative consumer reporting agency shall provide
notice to the consumer of the results of any reinvestigation under
this section by mail or, if authorized by the consumer for that
purpose, by other means available to the agency.  The notice shall
include (1) a statement that the reinvestigation is completed, (2) an
investigative consumer report that is based on the consumer's file
as that file is revised as a result of the reinvestigation, (3) a
description or indication of any changes made in the investigative
consumer report as a result of those revisions to the consumer's
file, (4) a notice that, if requested by the consumer, a description
of the procedure used to determine the accuracy and completeness of
the information shall be provided to the consumer by the
investigative consumer reporting agency, including the name, business
address, and telephone number of any furnisher of information
contacted in connection with that information, (5) a notice that the
consumer has the right to add a statement to the consumer's file
disputing the accuracy or completeness of the information, and (6) a
notice that the consumer has the right to request that the
investigative consumer reporting agency furnish notifications under
subdivision (k).
   (h) The presence of information in the consumer's file that
contradicts the contention of the consumer shall not, in and of
itself, constitute reasonable grounds for believing the dispute is
frivolous or irrelevant.
   (i) If the investigative consumer reporting agency determines that
the dispute is frivolous or irrelevant, or if the reinvestigation
does not resolve the dispute, or if the information is reinserted
into the file of a consumer pursuant to subdivision (f), the consumer
may file a brief statement setting forth the nature of the dispute.
The investigative consumer reporting agency may limit these
statements to not more than 500 words if it provides the consumer
with assistance in writing a clear summary of the dispute.
   (j) If a statement of dispute is filed, the investigative consumer
reporting agency shall, in any subsequent investigative consumer
report containing the information in question, clearly note that the
information is disputed by the consumer and shall include in the
report either the statement of the consumer or a clear and accurate
summary thereof.
   (k) Following the deletion of information from the file of a
consumer pursuant to this section, or following the filing of a
dispute pursuant to subdivision (i), the investigative consumer
reporting agency shall, at the request of the consumer, furnish
notification that the item of information has been deleted or that
the item of information is disputed.  In the case of disputed
information, the notification shall include the statement or summary
of the dispute filed pursuant to subdivision (i).  This notification
shall be furnished to any person who has, within two years prior to
the deletion or the filing of the dispute, received an investigative
consumer report concerning the consumer for employment purposes, or
who has, within one year of the deletion or the filing of the
dispute, received an investigative consumer report concerning the
consumer for any other purpose, if these investigative consumer
reports contained the deleted or disputed information, unless the
consumer specifically requests in writing that this notification not
be given to all persons or to any specified persons.  The
investigative consumer reporting agency shall clearly and
conspicuously disclose to the consumer his or her rights to make a
request that this notification not be made.
   (l) An investigative consumer reporting agency shall maintain
reasonable procedures designed to prevent the reappearance in the
file of a consumer and in investigative consumer reports information
that has been deleted pursuant to this section and not reinserted
pursuant to subdivision (f).
   (m) If the dispute of a consumer is resolved by deletion of the
disputed information within three business days, beginning with the
day the investigative consumer reporting agency receives notice of
the dispute in accordance with subdivision (a), the investigative
consumer reporting agency is exempt from requirements for further
action under subdivisions (g), (i), and (j), if the agency:  (1)
provides prompt notice of the deletion to the consumer by telephone,
(2) provides written confirmation of the deletion and a copy of an
investigative consumer report of the consumer that is based on the
file of a consumer after the deletion, and (3) includes, in the
telephone notice or in a written notice that accompanies the
confirmation and report, a statement of the consumer's right to
request under subdivision (k) that the agency not furnish
notifications under that subdivision.
   (n) Any investigative consumer reporting agency that compiles and
maintains files on consumers on a nationwide basis, as defined in the
federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, as amended (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681
et seq.), shall implement an automated system through which
furnishers of information to that agency may report the results of a
reinvestigation that finds incomplete or inaccurate information in
the file of a consumer to other investigative consumer reporting
agencies.
   (o) All actions to be taken by an investigative consumer reporting
agency under this section are governed by the applicable time
periods specified in Section 611 of the federal Fair Credit Reporting
Act, as amended (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681i).

Last modified: January 12, 2009