Interpretation

1  (1)  For the purposes of the Act and these regulations:

"agent" means any person who is not paid on a salary basis, but who provides information to a reporting agency for remuneration or other benefit;

"consent" means any consent given in accordance with the provisions of the Act or these regulations, and shall be deemed to be a continuing consent during the whole course of the dealings in respect to which the consent was given, and where the person to whom the consent was given obtains a consumer report at any point in the course of his dealings with the consumer, and subsequently denies any benefit in whole or in part, or increases the cost of a benefit to the consumer, he shall comply with the provisions of section 13 of the Act;

"employment" means the evaluation of a person for employment, promotion, reassignment or retention as an employee;

"spouse" includes a man or woman who, not being married to each other, have lived together as husband and wife for a period of not less than 2 years and who, at the time a report is furnished, are living together as husband and wife;

"user of information" means any person who obtains or receives a report from a reporting agency.

(2)  For the purposes of section 12 (1) (b) of the Act, "promptly" means that the notification shall be personally delivered or posted to the last known address of the consumer not later than 3 days after the report was requested.

(3)  For the purposes of section 13 (1) of the Act, "promptly" means that the letter of denial shall be personally delivered or posted to the last known address of the consumer not later than 3 days after the decision has been made.

(4)  For the purposes of section 13 (2) of the Act, the "nature of information obtained elsewhere" shall be sufficiently specific to permit the consumer to verify its accuracy.

(5)  For the purposes of section 14 (1) of the Act, "normal business hours" means any reasonable period of time between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on any day, Monday to Friday, during which the reporting agency makes known publicly that it will be open to disclose to the consumer the information set out in section 14 of the Act.

[am. B.C. Reg. 488/75, s. 2.]

 Repealed

2-5  Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 216/2001, s. (b).]

 Consumer reports

6  (1)  In addition to the provisions of section 11 of the Act, no reporting agency shall include in a report

(a) credit, personal or medical information concerning any member of the consumer's family other than the spouse as provided for in the Act,

(b) information obtained from his agents or information other than credit information obtained from another reporting agency, unless he has been provided with the sources of the information, or

(c) any references to a criminal charge where the consumer has been granted an absolute or conditional discharge.

(2)  Any report containing information respecting a conviction arising from criminal or summary conviction charges shall, if sentence was suspended, refer to such suspension.

[am. B.C. Reg. 488/75, s. 3.]

 Sources

7  (1)  Sources of specific information shall be cited within the text of any report.

(2)  Every file shall contain a list of the sources with reference to the specific item of information derived therefrom sufficient for the consumer to identify the source of any item of information.

(3)  An agent shall, in any report to a reporting agency, reveal the sources of his information.

 Consent and notification

8  For the purposes of section 12 of the Act,

(a) the consent may be signed separately or may form part of the application or may be set out on a separate page and may be in Form D to these regulations or to like effect but shall not purport to seek the consent of the consumer beyond what is required for the particular benefit for which the consumer is applying,

(b) notification to a consumer that a report has been requested from a reporting agency shall be in Form E to these regulations, and

(c) for the purpose only of obtaining a report relating to credit information, any consent by or notification to a consumer shall be deemed to be consent by a notification to the spouse.

[am. B.C. Reg. 488/75, s. 4.]

 Letter of denial

9  For the purposes of section 13 of the Act, the notice to the consumer shall contain the information required by that section in the manner set out in Form F to these regulations.

[am. B.C. Reg. 488/75, s. 5.]

 Letter to physician

10  A request to the consumer's own physician shall be in Form G to these regulations.

 Information furnished to director

11  A reporting agency shall, on request, furnish any information regarding the business of the agency to the director or to a person designated by the director.

[am. B.C. Reg. 216/2001, s. (b)].

 General

12  (1)  Compliance by a creditor or prospective creditor with the requirements of the Act and these regulations shall be deemed to be compliance by any subsequent assignee of rights in respect of the debt.

(2)  Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 216/2001, s. (b).]

(3)  Where a copy of a report is furnished to the consumer pursuant to section 14 (1) (b) of the Act, the reporting agency may note on each page of the report the date on which it was provided to the consumer, and the warning that it may be inaccurate at a later date, that information originally contained in it could have been changed or deleted, and that it is not to be relied upon for the purposes of credit granting.

(4)  The reporting agency may charge a fee of 25¢ per page for a copy of any written report.

(5)  Where the use of a form is prescribed by this Act or these regulations, the director may approve a form which exhibits substantial compliance.

[am. B.C. Regs. 488/75, s. 6; 216/2001, s. (b).]

 Repealed

13  Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 216/2001, s. (b).]

(a) the name and address of the reporting agency if the information was furnished by a reporting agency;

(b) the source and nature of information obtained elsewhere than from a reporting agency.