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.