Colo. Rev. Stat. § 5-18-103

Current through 11/5/2024 election

Section 5-18-103 - Definitions

As used in this article 18, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Adverse action" includes:

(a) The denial of, increase in any charge for, or reduction in the amount of insurance for personal, family, or household purposes;

(b) The denial of employment or any other decision for employment purposes that adversely affects a current or prospective employee; and

(c) An action or determination with respect to a consumer's application for credit under a credit arrangement that is adverse to the consumer's interests.

(2) "Consumer" means a natural person residing in the state of Colorado.

(3)

(a) "Consumer report" means any written, oral, or other communication or any information by a consumer reporting agency bearing on a consumer's credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, debts, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living, that is used or expected to be used or collected, in whole or in part, as a factor to establish a consumer's eligibility for credit or insurance to be used for personal, family, or household purposes, employment purposes, or any other purpose authorized pursuant to applicable provisions of the federal "Fair Credit Reporting Act", 15 U.S.C. secs. 1681a and 1681b, as amended.

(b) "Consumer report" does not include:

(I) Any report containing information solely as to a transaction between the consumer and the person making the report;

(II) Any authorization or approval of a specific extension of credit directly or indirectly by the issuer of a credit card or similar device;

(III) Any report in which a person who has been requested by a third party to make a specific extension of credit directly or indirectly to a consumer conveys a decision with respect to the request, if the third party advises the consumer of the name and address of the person to whom the request was made and the person makes the disclosures that must be made to the consumer pursuant to the provisions of the federal "Fair Credit Reporting Act", 15 U.S.C. sec. 1681m, as amended, in the event of adverse action.

(4) "Consumer reporting agency" means any person that, for monetary fees, dues, or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages in whole or in part in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or other information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties. "Consumer reporting agency" shall not include any business entity that provides check verification or check guarantee services only.

(5) "Credit scoring" means the practice of quantifying the credit risk a person presents using the person's history, characteristics, or attributes in a formula designed to objectively rate credit risk or insurance risk of loss.

(6) "Creditworthiness" means any entry in a consumer's credit file that impacts the ability of a consumer to obtain and retain credit, employment, business or professional licenses, investment opportunities, or insurance. Entries contained in a consumer file or in a consumer report that affect creditworthiness shall include, but not be limited to, payment information, defaults, judgments, liens, bankruptcies, collections, records of arrest and indictments, and multiple-credit inquiries.

(7) "Dwelling" means a residential structure that contains one to four units, whether or not that structure is attached to real property. The term includes any individual condominium unit, cooperative unit, mobile home, or trailer, if it is used as a residence.

(8) "Employment purposes", when used in connection with a consumer report, means a report used for the purpose of evaluating a consumer for employment, promotion, reassignment, or retention as an employee.

(9) "File" means all of the information on the consumer that is recorded and retained by a consumer reporting agency regardless of how the information is stored.

(10) "Investigative consumer report" means a consumer report or portion thereof in which information on a consumer's character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living is obtained through personal interviews with neighbors, friends, or associates of the consumer, reported on or with others with whom the consumer is acquainted or who may have knowledge concerning any of the items of information. The term does not include specific factual information on a consumer's credit record obtained directly from a creditor of the consumer or from a consumer reporting agency when the information was obtained directly from a creditor of the consumer or from the consumer.

(11) "Key factors" means all relevant elements or reasons adversely affecting a specific credit score assigned to a consumer, listed in the order of importance, based on the respective effects on the credit score.

(11.5) "Medical debt" means debt arising from health-care services, as defined in section 10-16-102 (33), or health-care goods, including products, devices, durable medical equipment, and prescription drugs. "Medical debt" does not include debt charged to a credit card unless the credit card is issued under an open-end or closed-end credit plan offered specifically for the payment of health-care services or health-care goods.

(12) "Person" means any natural person, firm, corporation, or partnership.

(13) "Proper identification" means information generally deemed sufficient to identify a person. If the consumer is unable to reasonably identify himself or herself with the information described above, a consumer reporting agency may require additional information concerning the consumer's employment and personal or family history in order to verify his or her identity.

(13.5) "Protected consumer" means a consumer who, at the time a security freeze request is made, is:

(a) Under sixteen years of age; or

(b) Represented by a representative.

(13.7) "Record" means a compilation of information that:

(a) Identifies a protected consumer;

(b) Is created by a consumer reporting agency solely for the purpose of complying with section 5-18-112.5; and

(c) Is not created or used to consider the protected consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or eligibility for other financial services.

(13.9) "Representative" means a:

(a) Parent of an individual who is under sixteen years of age; or

(b) Legal guardian who, pursuant to a testamentary or other trusteeship, power of attorney, or court appointment, is qualified to make decisions regarding the support, care, education, health, or welfare of an individual.

(14) "Reviewing the account" means activities related to account maintenance, monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades and enhancements.

(15)

(a) "Security freeze" or "freeze" means a notice placed in a consumer report or record, at the request of a consumer or a protected consumer's representative and subject to certain exemptions, that prohibits the consumer reporting agency from releasing the consumer report or record or any information from it without the express authorization of the consumer or of the protected consumer's representative.

(b) "Security freeze" includes a notice:

(I) Placed on a record created under section 5-18-112.5 for a protected consumer for whom the consumer reporting agency does not have a consumer report; and

(II) That prohibits the consumer reporting agency from releasing the protected consumer's record except as provided in section 5-18-112.5.

(16)

(a) "Sufficient proof of authority" means documentation demonstrating that a representative has authority to act on behalf of a protected consumer.

(b) "Sufficient proof of authority" includes:

(I) A court order, a copy of a valid power of attorney, a valid trust document, or another legal document that clearly establishes the authority of the representative to act on behalf of the protected consumer; or

(II) In the case of a representative who is a parent of the protected consumer, a certified or official copy of the protected consumer's birth certificate.

(17)

(a) "Sufficient proof of identification" means documentation identifying a protected consumer or a representative.

(b) "Sufficient proof of identification" includes a copy of a social security card, a certified or official copy of a birth certificate, a copy of a valid driver's license, or a copy of a government-issued photo identification document.

C.R.S. § 5-18-103

Amended by 2023 Ch. 374,§ 1, eff. 8/7/2023.

Amended by 2018 Ch. 75, §1, eff. 1/1/2019.

Renumbered from C.R.S. § 12-14.3-102 and amended by 2017 Ch. 260, §3, eff. 8/9/2017.

L. 2017: Entire article added with relocations, (HB 17-1238), ch. 260, p. 1114, § 3, effective August 9. L. 2018: (13.5), (13.7), (13.9), (16), and (17) added and (15) amended, (HB 18-1233), ch. 75, p. 650, § 1, effective 1/1/2019.

This section is similar to former § 12-14.3-102 as it existed prior to 2017.

2023 Ch. 374, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).