Bill Text: NY S02302 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Prohibits a consumer reporting agency or lender from using the credit scores of members of an individual's social network to determine the credit worthiness of such individual.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-11-25 - signed chap.540 [S02302 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S02302-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          2302
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 23, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced by Sens. KAVANAGH, SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered print-
          ed,  and  when  printed  to  be committed to the Committee on Consumer
          Protection
        AN ACT to amend the  general  business  law  and  the  banking  law,  in
          relation  to  prohibiting  a  consumer reporting agency or lender from
          using certain information to determine an individual's credit  worthi-
          ness
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Section 380-a of the general business  law  is  amended  by
     2  adding a new subdivision (u) to read as follows:
     3    (u) The term "members of a consumer's social network" means a group of
     4  individuals  authorized  by  a  consumer to be part of his or her social
     5  media communications and network.
     6    § 2. Section 380-j of the general business law is amended by adding  a
     7  new subdivision (h) to read as follows:
     8    (h)  No  consumer reporting agency shall collect, evaluate, report, or
     9  maintain in the file on a consumer the credit worthiness, credit  stand-
    10  ing  or  credit capacity of members of the consumer's social network for
    11  purposes of determining the credit worthiness of the consumer; the aver-
    12  age credit worthiness, credit standing or credit capacity of members  of
    13  the  consumer's  social  network;  or  any  group  score that is not the
    14  consumer's own credit worthiness, credit standing  or  credit  capacity.
    15  The provisions of this subdivision shall be enforced concurrently by the
    16  superintendent of financial services and the director of the division of
    17  consumer  protection and each shall utilize their consumer complaint and
    18  assistance hotlines to document complaints by consumers who believe that
    19  group credit ratings of their social media network  are  being  used  to
    20  deny them credit.
    21    §  3. Section 2 of the banking law is amended by adding a new subdivi-
    22  sion 31 to read as follows:
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02186-01-9
        S. 2302                             2
     1    31. Members of a borrower's social network. The  term  "members  of  a
     2  borrower's  social network" means a group of individuals authorized by a
     3  borrower to be part of  his  or  her  social  media  communications  and
     4  network.
     5    §  4.  Section 352 of the banking law is amended by adding a new sixth
     6  undesignated paragraph to read as follows:
     7    No licensee shall collect, evaluate, report or maintain in the file on
     8  a borrower the credit worthiness, credit standing or credit capacity  of
     9  members of the borrower's social network for purposes of determining the
    10  credit worthiness of the borrower; the average credit worthiness, credit
    11  standing or credit capacity of members of the borrower's social network;
    12  or  any  group  score  that is not the borrower's own credit worthiness,
    13  credit standing or credit capacity.   The provisions of  this  paragraph
    14  shall be enforced concurrently by the superintendent and the director of
    15  the division of consumer protection and each shall utilize their consum-
    16  er complaint and assistance hotlines to document complaints by borrowers
    17  who  believe that group credit ratings of their social media network are
    18  being used to deny them credit. The superintendent shall ensure that the
    19  credit scoring formulas filed with the department do not  contain  vari-
    20  ables which account for internet viewing history as part of that formula
    21  by asking the licensee to certify to that fact.
    22    § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.