| Washington State House of Representatives Office of Program Research |
BILL ANALYSIS |
| Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness Committee | |
HB 1271
This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in
their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a
statement of legislative intent.
Brief Description: Concerning the filing of police incident reports for victims of identity theft.
Sponsors: Representatives Roach, Ericks, Santos, Strow, Kelley, Newhouse, McDonald, Simpson, Williams, Haler, O'Brien, Pearson, VanDeWege, McCune, P. Sullivan, Kenney, Rolfes and Morrell.
Brief Summary of Bill |
|
Hearing Date: 1/31/07
Staff: Yvonne Walker (786-7841).
Background:
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, in order for a victim to have certain information blocked on
his or her consumer report due to an identity theft crime that has occurred, the victim must
provide the consumer reporting agency with a copy of the police report. Generally, a police
incident report indicating an offense has occurred is required in order to freeze credit, to place a
long-term fraud alert on a credit report, and to obtain records of fraudulent accounts from
merchants.
Police incident reports are used for many reasons such as: recording arrests, domestic disputes,
traffic accidents, burglaries, fraud, thefts, stalkings, violence, recording injuries, crimes, and
other incidents. There is no statute that specifies when, where, or if a incident report has to be
created by a law enforcement officer during incidents where an identity theft crime has occurred.
Summary of Bill:
Anytime a victim learns or reasonably suspects that he or she has been a victim of an identity
crime, that victim may file an incident report with a law enforcement agency. The victim may
contact the law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction in the location of his or her residence,
place of business, or place where the crime occurred. The law enforcement agency must create a
police incident report of the matter, provide the complainant with a copy of that report, and may
refer the incident report to another law enforcement agency. Law enforcement agencies are not
required to investigate reports claiming identity theft and the incident reports created are not
required to be counted as an open case for purposes of compiling open case statistics.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Available.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.