380-e. Methods and conditions of disclosure to consumers. (a) A consumer reporting agency shall make the disclosures required under section three hundred eighty-d of this article during normal business hours and on reasonable notice.
(b) The disclosure required under section three hundred eighty-d of this article shall be made to the consumer by one or more of the following methods:
(1) in person if he appears in person and furnishes proper identification, in which case the consumer shall be permitted a personal visual inspection of his file and, if he so requests, shall be furnished a copy of his entire file or any part thereof,
(2) by telephone if he has made a written request, with proper identification, for telephone disclosure and the toll charge, if any, for the telephone call is prepaid by or charged directly to the consumer, and at the time of the disclosure by telephone the consumer shall be advised of the right to receive a complete written disclosure of the information pertaining to him, or
(3) by mailing a copy or transcription of all information in the consumer's file to him, if he has made a written request with proper identification.
(c) Every consumer reporting agency shall provide trained personnel to explain to the consumer any information furnished to him either by personal interview or telephone communication, and information furnished by mail must be accompanied by an explanation of such information if provided in code or trade terminology.
(d) The consumer who seeks disclosure by means of a personal interview pursuant to paragraph one of subdivision (b) of this section shall be permitted to be accompanied by one other person of his choosing, who shall furnish reasonable identification. A consumer reporting agency may require the consumer to furnish a written statement granting permission to the consumer reporting agency to discuss the consumer's file in such other person's presence.
(e) (1) A consumer reporting agency shall make all disclosures authorized under section three hundred eighty-d of this article without charge to any person who receives a notification of adverse action pursuant to section three hundred eighty-i of this article, or receives notification from a debt collection agency affiliated with such consumer reporting agency stating the consumer's credit rating may be or has been adversely affected if, within thirty days of receipt of such notification, the consumer makes a request for such disclosure. A written statement by a consumer indicating that he has been denied credit in the past thirty days or has been contacted by a debt collection agency as described in this paragraph is sufficient to require the disclosure without charge.
(2) In all other cases where such disclosure is requested, the consumer reporting agency may impose a reasonable charge for such disclosure, provided that such charges are indicated to the consumer prior to making disclosure.
(3) Notwithstanding any provision of paragraph two of this subdivision, the charge imposed for the furnishing of information shall not exceed the charge the consumer reporting agency would impose for providing such information to its regular customers.
(4) No charge may be made for notifying any person of the deletion of information which is found to be in error or which can no longer be verified.
(f) In addition to the disclosure provided by this section and any disclosures received by the consumer, the consumer shall be advised of the right to request and receive a decoded written version of the file or a written copy of the file, with an explanation of any code used, without charge as subject to subdivision (e) of this section.
Last modified: February 3, 2019