N.Y. General Business Law § 380-e: Methods and conditions of disclosure to consumers

§ 380-e. Methods and conditions of disclosure to consumers. (a) A

consumer reporting agency shall make the disclosures required under

section three hundred eighty-d of this article during normal business

hours and on reasonable notice.

(b) The disclosure required under section three hundred eighty-d of

this article shall be made to the consumer by one or more of the

following methods:

(1) in person if he appears in person and furnishes proper

identification, in which case the consumer shall be permitted a personal

visual inspection of his file and, if he so requests, shall be furnished

a copy of his entire file or any part thereof,

(2) by telephone if he has made a written request, with proper

identification, for telephone disclosure and the toll charge, if any,

for the telephone call is prepaid by or charged directly to the

consumer, and at the time of the disclosure by telephone the consumer

shall be advised of the right to receive a complete written disclosure

of the information pertaining to him, or

(3) by mailing a copy or transcription of all information in the

consumer's file to him, if he has made a written request with proper

identification.

(c) Every consumer reporting agency shall provide trained personnel to

explain to the consumer any information furnished to him either by

personal interview or telephone communication, and information furnished

by mail must be accompanied by an explanation of such information if

provided in code or trade terminology.

(d) The consumer who seeks disclosure by means of a personal interview

pursuant to paragraph one of subdivision (b) of this section shall be

permitted to be accompanied by one other person of his choosing, who

shall furnish reasonable identification. A consumer reporting agency may

require the consumer to furnish a written statement granting permission

to the consumer reporting agency to discuss the consumer's file in such

other person's presence.

(e) (1) A consumer reporting agency shall make all disclosures

authorized under section three hundred eighty-d of this article without

charge to any person who receives a notification of adverse action

pursuant to section three hundred eighty-i of this article, or receives

notification from a debt collection agency affiliated with such consumer

reporting agency stating the consumer's credit rating may be or has been

adversely affected if, within thirty days of receipt of such

notification, the consumer makes a request for such disclosure. A

written statement by a consumer indicating that he has been denied

credit in the past thirty days or has been contacted by a debt

collection agency as described in this paragraph is sufficient to

require the disclosure without charge.

(2) In all other cases where such disclosure is requested, the

consumer reporting agency may impose a reasonable charge for such

disclosure, provided that such charges are indicated to the consumer

prior to making disclosure.

(3) Notwithstanding any provision of paragraph two of this

subdivision, the charge imposed for the furnishing of information shall

not exceed the charge the consumer reporting agency would impose for

providing such information to its regular customers.

(4) No charge may be made for notifying any person of the deletion of

information which is found to be in error or which can no longer be

verified.

(f) In addition to the disclosure provided by this section and any

disclosures received by the consumer, the consumer shall be advised of

the right to request and receive a decoded written version of the file

or a written copy of the file, with an explanation of any code used,

without charge as subject to subdivision (e) of this section.