§ 380-J — Prohibited information

§ 380-j. Prohibited information. (a) No consumer reporting agency\nshall report or maintain in the file on a consumer, information:\n (1) relative to an arrest or a criminal charge unless there has been a\ncriminal conviction for such offense, or unless such charges are still\npending,\n (2) relative to a consumer's race, religion, color, ancestry or ethnic\norigin,\n (3) relative to a medical debt as defined in this statute; or\n (4) which it has reason to know is inaccurate.\n (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph one of subdivision (a)\nof this section, a consumer reporting agency may collect, evaluate,\nprepare, use or report information relative to a detention of an\nindividual by a retail mercantile establishment, provided that:\n (1) the individual has executed an uncoerced admission of wrongdoing;\n (2) with respect to a detention made on or after the effective date of\nthis article the retail mercantile establishment has, prior to\ntransmitting to a consumer reporting agency information concerning such\ndetention, delivered to the individual a written notice containing:\n (i) a statement that the information may be furnished to a consumer\nreporting agency, and that such information may be reported to a retail\nmercantile establishment for employment purposes,\n (ii) a statement that the individual may request disclosure by the\nconsumer reporting agency of information in the agency's file on such\nindividual, and that the completeness or accuracy of such information\nmay be disputed by the individual, and\n (iii) the name and address of such consumer reporting agency; and\n (3) the user of such information certifies to the consumer reporting\nagency that such information will be used only in connection with\nemployment purposes.\n (c) In the event that a criminal charge is filed subsequent to the\ndetention described in subdivision (b) of this section, the disposition\nof such charge shall be recorded by the consumer reporting agency in the\nfile on such individual upon the request of such individual and upon his\nfurnishing proof of such disposition.\n (d) No consumer reporting agency shall issue a consumer report which\nlists a person as having been denied credit if the sole reason for such\ndenial is lack of sufficient information to grant credit, unless the\nreport states that the denial was for such reason.\n (e) Consumer reporting agencies shall maintain reasonable procedures\ndesigned to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information\nconcerning the individual about whom the report relates.\n (f) (1) Except as authorized under paragraph two of this subdivision,\nno consumer reporting agency may make any consumer report containing any\nof the following items of information.\n (i) bankruptcies which, from date of adjudication of the most recent\nbankruptcy, antedate the report by more than fourteen years;\n (ii) judgements which, from date of entry, antedate the report by more\nthan seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has\nexpired, whichever is the longer period; or judgments which, from date\nof entry, having been satisfied within a five year period from such\nentry date, shall be removed from the report five years after such entry\ndate;\n (iii) paid tax liens which, from date of payment, antedate the report\nby more than seven years or, a paid, satisfied or vacated tax lien\ninvolving a purchaser, transferee or assignee in a bulk sale transaction\nwho has been deemed liable by the state tax commission for sales taxes\ndue from a seller, transferrer or assignor under subdivision (c) of\nsection eleven hundred forty-one of the tax law, where the receipt by a\ncredit reporting agency from such purchaser, transferee or assignee of a\nnotice, or true copy thereof, from the state tax commission to such\npurchaser, transferee or assignee that his liability has been wholly\npaid or satisfied or no longer exists, antedates the report by more than\nthirty days;\n (iv) accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss\nwhich antedate the report by more than seven years; or accounts placed\nfor collection or charged to profit and loss, which have been paid and\nwhich antedate the report by more than five years;\n (v) records of conviction of crime which, from date of disposition,\nrelease, or parole, antedate the report by more than seven years;\n (vi) information regarding drug or alcoholic addiction where the last\nreported incident relating to such addiction antedates the consumer\nreport or investigative consumer report by more than seven years;\n (vii) information relating to past confinement in a mental institution\nwhere the date of last confinement antedates the report by more than\nseven years;\n (viii) information relating to a medical debt regardless of the date\nit was incurred; or\n (ix) any other adverse information which antedates the report by more\nthan seven years.\n (2) The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to:\n (i) a credit transaction involving, or which may reasonably be\nexpected to involve, a principal amount of fifty thousand dollars or\nmore;\n (ii) the underwriting of life insurance involving, or which may\nreasonably be expected to involve, a face amount of fifty thousand\ndollars or more; or\n (iii) the employment of any individual at an annual salary which\nequals, or which may reasonably be expected to equal twenty-five\nthousand dollars, or more.\n (g) No consumer reporting agency shall collect, evaluate, report, or\nmaintain in the file on a consumer any results, opinions, analyses,\ntranscripts or information of any nature concerning, related to, or\nderived from a polygraph examination, an examination by any device or\ninstrument of any type used to test or question individuals for the\npurpose of detecting deception, verifying truthfulness, or measuring\ndeceptive tendencies, or the questioning or interviewing of an\nindividual by the examiner prior to or after such an examination.\n (h) No consumer reporting agency shall collect, evaluate, report, or\nmaintain in the file on a consumer the credit worthiness, credit\nstanding or credit capacity of members of the consumer's social network\nfor purposes of determining the credit worthiness of the consumer; the\naverage credit worthiness, credit standing or credit capacity of members\nof the consumer's social network; or any group score that is not the\nconsumer's own credit worthiness, credit standing or credit capacity.\nThe provisions of this subdivision shall be enforced concurrently by the\nsuperintendent of financial services and the director of the division of\nconsumer protection and each shall utilize their consumer complaint and\nassistance hotlines to document complaints by consumers who believe that\ngroup credit ratings of their social media network are being used to\ndeny them credit.\n