"Today, inaccurate or false information on a credit report is often a stumbling block for California families when purchasing a home," said California Association of Realtors President Toby Bradley. "Homebuyers can fall out of escrow while waiting for creditors and credit collection companies to correct mistakes or can be forced to accept a more expensive loan rate because of inaccurate information on a credit report."

The Truth in Credit Act will attempt to remedy the problem by requiring creditors and credit-collection companies to stop reconfirming inaccurate information that has been disputed by a consumer.

AB 800 will change the standard for creditors who furnish information to credit-reporting agencies. Current state law prohibits creditors from reporting adverse credit data to the credit-reporting agencies if the creditor knows—or should know—that the information is inaccurate or incomplete. AB 800 increases the obligation of creditors to give only accurate information. It permits creditors to furnish information about a consumer to a credit-reporting agency only if the creditor has reason to believe that the information is accurate and complete. This means that creditors will need to check their records before sending information to the credit bureaus.

"Inaccurate information in a credit file can deprive consumers of credit, housing and even employment or can increase the price of credit. AB 800 will improve the quality of credit records by requiring creditors to be more careful in the information they submit and in the way that they handle requests to correct credit information," said Gail Hillebrand, senior attorney for the West Coast regional office of Consumers Union.

Current state law only requires the creditor to complete an investigation about disputed information and report it to the credit-reporting agency within 30 days upon receipt of the notice of dispute. AB 800, on the other hand, provides that the creditor must review the information; correct any inaccurate information; and report to the credit-reporting agency the results of the investigation and any corrected information.

The legislation also makes it a violation of law for the creditor to confirm inaccurate information after the investigation. AB 800 strengthens the ability of consumers to recover damages from creditors that violate the act. If there is a negligent or willful violation, statutory damages of not less than $2,500 would be available to the consumer.

"No homebuyer should ever lose the purchase of a family home because of an inaccurate credit report," said Kehoe. "It should not be that difficult to assure that credit reports are accurate or to correct human mistakes on a credit report."

Information provided in this column is presented by the Realtor members of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors at www.silvar.org. Send questions on any topic to jnewton@jnpr.com.