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History
- Referred to energy and telecommunications
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Directs the department of state and public service commission to study and report upon disclosure by utilities to credit reporting agencies of late payments
In Assembly Committee · Ways And Means · Sponsor Robert J. Rodriguez
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to direct the department of state and the public service commission to jointly study and report upon the provision to consumer credit reporting agencies by public utility companies, cable television companies and cellular telephone service suppliers of information on late payments of or default on any fees or charges incurred by consumers; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof
Purpose or general idea of bill
The purpose of this bill is to require the Department of State and Public Service Commission to study and make recommendations regarding the practice of utility, cable, and telephone service providers reporting customer payment information to consumer reporting agencies.
Summary of specific provisions
This bill would require the Department of State and Public Service Commission to study the prevalence of utility, cable, and telephone service providers reporting customer payment information to consumer reporting agencies. The Department and Commission would be tasked with making recommendations on the regulatory and statutory provisions necessary to protect consumers in this area and issuing a report to the Governor and Legislature by December 31, 2016.
Justification
Delinquent utility bills can hurt customer credit ratings if they are reported to a credit bureau. Reporting a late payment of utility bill can be as harmful as any other late payment of mortgage or credit card bill. The credit scores are calculated in different ways, depending on the credit bureau, however, it is common among all of them that a late payment flags the customer as a high-risk. A customer who pays a late fee once does not necessarily qualify for a high risk rating or being under the universal default status.
This bill would provide the Legislature with the information necessary to determine whether the State should regulate the reporting of customer payment information by utilities and other service providers in order to protect consumers from suffering damaged credit scores. Some companies do not report to the credit bureaus customers that have been paying their bills on a timely manner, which would help them improve their credit score. However, the same companies have been reporting customers that paid their bills late and have been charged a late fee. This makes customers pay extra for their service, while their credit score is negatively affected. Under this bill, the Department of State and Public Service Commission would examine this practice and report on any regulatory or legislative recommendations necessary to protect consumers in this area.
Prior legislative history
Similar Bill: 2009-2010: A.7817 - Referred to Consumer Affairs and Protection A.2338 - 2013-2014
Fiscal implications for state and local governments
To be determined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be deemed repealed January 1, 2017.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.