Legislative Update
Consumer Protection/Predatory Lending
| Bills | Committee | Last action | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| HB 12 - Oder - Payday Loan Act; requires SCC to contract with one or more parties to develop, etc. database. | (H) Committee on Commerce and Labor (S) Committee on Commerce and Labor | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0849) | 04/23/08 |
| notes: Establishes a maximum annual interest rate for payday loans of 36 percent. References in the Payday Loan Act to the fee that may be charged on such loans are revised to refer to the interest that may be charged. | |||
| HB 1311 - Byron - Credit reports; authorizes consumer to freeze access thereto. | (H) Committee on Commerce and Labor (S) Committee on Commerce and Labor | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0496) | 03/14/08 |
| notes: Authorizes any consumer to freeze access to his credit report. If a consumer has placed a freeze on his credit report, a consumer reporting agency is prohibited from releasing the credit report, or any information in it, without the consumer's express authorization. The measure provides a means by which a consumer can release his report, permanently, temporarily, or to a specific third party. Certain disclosures are exempt from the freeze. A fee of up to $10 may be charged for establishing or lifting a freeze, except identity theft victims are not required to pay a fee except for a temporary lifting of the freeze within 15 minutes of receipt of certain electronic requests. A person who willfully fails to comply with the requirements is liable to a consumer for actual damages of between $100 and $1,000, punitive damages, and reasonable attorney fees. A person who negligently fails to comply with the requirements is liable to a consumer for actual damages and reasonable attorney fees. | |||
| HB 1469 - Byron - Identity theft; notice of database breach. | (H) Committee on Science and Technology (S) Committee for Courts of Justice | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0801) | 04/14/08 |
| notes: Requires an individual or entity that owns or licenses computerized data that includes personal information to disclose any breach of the security of the system following discovery or notification of the breach to any resident of the Commonwealth whose unencrypted and unredacted personal information was, or is reasonably believed to have been accessed and acquired by an unauthorized person. A breach is defined as the unauthorized access and acquisition of unencrypted and unredacted computerized data that compromises the security or confidentiality of personal information maintained by an individual or entity as part of a database of personal information regarding multiple individuals and that causes, or the individual or entity reasonably believes has caused, or will cause, identity theft or other fraud to any resident of the Commonwealth. Violations by a state-charted or licensed financial institution shall be enforceable exclusively by the financial institution's primary state regulator. All other violations shall be enforced by the Office of the Attorney General, which may obtain either actual damages or a civil penalty not to exceed $150,000 per breach or series of breaches of a similar nature that are discovered in a single investigation. | |||
| HB 1505 - Nixon - Payday Loan Act; requires SCC to contract with one or more parties to develop, etc. database. | (H) Committee on Commerce and Labor (S) Committee on Commerce and Labor | (S) Passed by for the day in Commerce and Labor | 03/03/08 |
| notes: Requires the State Corporation Commission, by January 1, 2009, to certify and contract with one or more third parties to develop, implement, and maintain an Internet-accessible database, and requires payday lenders to query the database prior to making any loan to determine whether an applicant is eligible for the loan. A fee of not more than $1 may be charged to defray the costs of using the database. The proceeds from the fees shall be used only for the payment of the expenses of the administration of the Payday Loan Act and of the performance of other functions of the Bureau of Financial Institutions. | |||
| SB 307 - Reynolds - Identity theft; notice of database breach. | (H) Committee on Science and Technology (S) Committee for Courts of Justice | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0566) | 03/17/08 |
| notes: Requires that an individual or a commercial entity that conducts business in Virginia and that owns or licenses data that includes personal information about a resident of Virginia shall, when it becomes aware of a breach of the security of the system, (i) conduct in good faith a reasonable and prompt investigation to determine the likelihood that personal information has been or will be misused and (ii) notify the Office of the Attorney General that a breach has occurred. A breach of the security of the system is defined as the unauthorized acquisition and access of unencrypted or unredacted data that compromises the security, confidentiality, or integrity of personal information maintained by an individual or a commercial entity. Types of notification meeting the requirements of this bill are listed, but not required if, after a reasonable investigation, the person or commercial entity determines that there is no reasonable likelihood of harm to affected Virginia residents. The Attorney General may bring an action in law to address violations and ensure proper compliance with this section. Nothing in this section shall limit an individual from recovering direct economic damages resulting from a violation of this section. | |||
| SB 576 - Saslaw - Credit reports; authorizes consumer to freeze access thereto. | (H) Committee on Commerce and Labor (S) Committee on Commerce and Labor | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0480) | 03/14/08 |
| notes: Authorizes any consumer to freeze access to his credit report. If a consumer has placed a freeze on his credit report, a consumer reporting agency is prohibited from releasing the credit report, or any information in it, without the consumer%92s express authorization. The measure provides a means by which a consumer can release his report, permanently, temporarily, or to a specific third party. Certain disclosures are exempt from the freeze. A fee of up to $10 may be charged for establishing or lifting a freeze, except identity theft victims are not required to pay a fee except for a temporary lifting of the freeze within 15 minutes of receipt of certain electronic requests. A person who willfully fails to comply with the requirements is liable to a consumer for actual damages of between $100 and $1,000, punitive damages, and reasonable attorney fees. A person who negligently fails to comply with the requirements is liable to a consumer for actual damages and reasonable attorney fees. | |||
| SB 588 - Puckett - Payday Loan Act; requires SCC to contract with one or more parties to develop, etc. database. | (H) Committee on Commerce and Labor (S) Committee on Commerce and Labor | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0876) | 04/23/08 |
| notes: Requires the State Corporation Commission, by July 1, 2009, to certify and contract with one or more third parties to develop, implement, and maintain an Internet-accessible database, and requires payday lenders to query the database prior to making any loan to determine whether an applicant is eligible for the loan. Fifty cents may be charged to defray the costs of using the database. A payday lender is prohibited from making a payday loan to a person who has terminated a payday loan on the loan application date, or if the loan would cause the borrower to have more than three payday loans outstanding at the same time. Payday lenders are prohibited from knowingly making loans to a member of the military service or to the spouse or dependent of such person. If a borrower obtains three or more consecutive payday loans, the borrower may enter into an extended payment plan, which allows the borrower to repay the loan in at least two equal installments over 60 days. A payday loan may not be made to a borrower in an extended payment plan. Other provisions (i) prohibit a lender from engaging in any unfair, misleading, deceptive, or fraudulent acts or practices in the making or collecting of a payday loan; (ii) require a lender, when collecting or attempting to collect a payday loan when the check given as security for such loan is dishonored, to comply with certain restrictions and prohibitions contained in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act; (iii) provide that any provision of a written loan agreement that violates the Payday Loan Act is unenforceable against the borrower; (iv) state that the provisions of the Payday Loan Act apply to Internet lenders; and (v) allow licensees to secure payday loans with the borrower% | |||
