HB 2321

Senate Engrossed
  House Bill
DCS;
  credit freeze; consumer reporting
(now:
  DCS; credit freeze; reporting; appropriation)
(now:� DCS; credit
  freeze; reporting)
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
CHAPTER 197
HOUSE BILL 2321
AN
ACT
amending title 8, chapter 4, article 4,
arizona revised statutes, by adding section 8-530.10; amending section 44-1698.02,
arizona revised statutes; relating to child welfare.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section [1.]1. Title
8, chapter 4, article 4, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section
8-530.10, to read:
START_STATUTE8-530.10. Security freeze; credit report; dependent children in department
care; parental notification; definitions
A. Within thirty days after a child is adjudicated a dependent child and placed in the care of the
department, the department shall place a security freeze
on the child's record or credit report pursuant to section 44-1698.02.
B. A security
freeze that is placed on a child's record or credit report pursuant to
subsection A of this section shall remain in effect until the CHILD reaches
sixteen years of age. When a child reaches sixteen years of age, the
child may elect to have the security freeze remain or to have the security
freeze removed.
C. The department shall notify the
parent or guardian of a child when a security freeze has been placed on the
child's record or credit report and shall notify the child's parent or guardian
that a security freeze remains on the child's record or credit report when the
child leaves the custody of the department. The notification shall
include information on the process for removing the security freeze when the
child leaves the care of the department.
D. for the purposes of this section:
1. "record" has the same
meaning prescribed in section 44-1698.02.
2. "security freeze" has
the same meaning prescribed in section 44-1698.02. END_STATUTE
Sec. [2.]2. Section
44-1698.02, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE44-1698.02. Protected persons; security freezes; credit reports; fee
prohibited; definitions
A. A consumer reporting agency shall place a
security freeze on a protected person's record or credit report if both of the
following apply:
1. The consumer reporting agency receives a request
from the protected person's representative for the placement of the security
freeze.
2. The protected person's representative does all of
the following:
(a) Submits the request to the consumer reporting
agency at the address or other point of contact and in the manner specified by
the consumer reporting agency.
(b) Provides to the consumer reporting agency
sufficient proof of identification of the protected person and the
representative.
(c) Provides to the consumer reporting agency
sufficient proof of authority to act on behalf of the protected person.
B. If a consumer reporting agency does not have a
file pertaining to a protected person when the consumer reporting agency
receives a request pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 1 of this section, the
consumer reporting agency shall create a record for the protected person.
C. Within thirty days after receiving a request
pursuant to this section, a consumer reporting agency shall place a security
freeze on the protected person's record or credit report.
D. Unless a security freeze is removed pursuant to
subsection F or I of this section, a consumer reporting agency may not release
the protected person's credit report, any information derived from the
protected person's credit report or any record created for the protected
person.
E. A security freeze that is placed on a protected
person's record or credit report under this section remains in effect until
either:
1. The protected person or the protected person's
representative requests that the consumer reporting agency remove the security
freeze pursuant to subsection F of this section.
2. The security freeze is removed pursuant to
subsection I of this section.
F. To remove a security freeze for a protected
person, the protected person or the protected person's representative shall
submit a request for the removal of the security freeze to the consumer
reporting agency at the address or other point of contact and in the manner
specified by the consumer reporting agency. In addition:
1. If the protected person requested requests the removal of the security freeze, the protected
person shall provide to the consumer reporting agency either of the following:
(a) Proof that the protected person's representative
no longer has sufficient proof of authority to act on behalf of the protected
person.
(b) Sufficient proof of identification of the
protected person.
2. If the protected person's representative requested requests the removal of the security freeze on behalf of the
protected person, the protected person's representative shall provide to the
consumer reporting agency both of the following:
(a) Sufficient proof of identification of the
protected person and the representative.
(b) Sufficient proof of authority to act on behalf
of the protected person.
G. Within thirty days after receiving a request to
remove a security freeze placed pursuant to subsection A of this section, the
consumer reporting agency shall remove the security freeze for the protected
person.
H. A consumer reporting agency may not charge a fee
for each placement or removal of a security freeze on a protected person's
record or credit report.
I. A consumer reporting agency may remove a security
freeze for a protected person or may delete a protected person's record if the
security freeze was placed or the record was created based on a material
misrepresentation of fact by the protected person or the protected person's
representative.
J. An act or practice in violation of this section
is an unlawful practice under section 44-1522 and is subject to
enforcement through a private action and by the attorney
general. The attorney general may investigate and take appropriate
action as prescribed by chapter 10, article 7 of this title. The
remedies provided in this section are not intended to be the exclusive remedies
available to a protected person.
K. This section does not apply to the use of a
protected person's credit report or record by any of the following:
1. A person administering a credit file monitoring
subscription service to which either:
(a) The protected person has subscribed.
(b) The protected person's representative has
subscribed on behalf of the protected person.
2. A person providing the protected person or the
protected person's representative with a copy of the protected person's credit
report on the request of the protected person or the protected person's
representative.
3. A check services or fraud prevention services
company that issues either:
(a) Reports on incidents of fraud.
(b) Authorizations for the purpose of approving or
processing negotiable instruments, electronic funds transfers or similar
payment methods.
4. A deposit account information service company
that issues reports relating to account closures due to fraud, substantial
overdrafts,  or automated
teller machine abuse or similar negative information about a protected person
to inquiring banks or other financial institutions for use only in reviewing a
protected person's request for a deposit account at the inquiring bank or
financial institution.
5. An insurance company for the purpose of
conducting its ordinary business.
6. A consumer reporting agency that both:
(a) Acts only to resell credit information by
assembling and merging information contained in a database of another consumer
reporting agency.
(b) Does not maintain a permanent database of credit
information from which new credit reports are produced.
7. A consumer reporting agency's database or file
that consists of information concerning and used for one or more of the
following, but not for credit granting, purposes:
(a) Criminal record information.
(b) Fraud prevention or detection.
(c) Personal loss history information.
(d) Employment, tenant or individual background
screening.
8. A governmental entity when carrying out its
duties.
9. A person, a subsidiary, affiliate, agent or
subcontractor of that person, an assignee of a financial obligation owed by the
protected person to that person or a prospective assignee of a financial
obligation owed by the protected person to that person in conjunction with the
proposed purchase of the financial obligation with which the protected person
has or had before assignment an account or contract, including a demand deposit
account, or to whom the protected person issued a negotiable instrument, for
the purposes of reviewing the account or collecting the financial obligation
owed for the account, contract or negotiable instrument. For the
purposes of this paragraph, "reviewing the account" includes
activities that are related to account maintenance, monitoring, credit line
increases and account upgrades and enhancements.
L. For the purposes of this section:
1. "Protected person" means
any of the following:
(a) An
individual who is under sixteen years of age at the time a request for the
placement of a security freeze is made. or
who is
(b) An
incapacitated person or a protected person for whom a guardian or conservator
has been appointed.
(c) A child who
is in the care of the department of child safety.
2. "Record" means a compilation of
information to which all of the following apply:
(a) The record identifies a protected person.
(b) The record is created by a consumer reporting
agency solely for the purpose of complying with this section.
(c) The record is not created or used to consider
the protected person's creditworthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character,
general reputation, personal characteristics or mode of living.
3. "Representative" means a person who
provides to a consumer reporting agency sufficient proof of authority to act on
behalf of a protected person.
4. "Security freeze" means:
(a) If a consumer reporting agency does not have a
file pertaining to a protected person, a restriction that is placed on the
protected person's record and that prohibits the consumer reporting agency from
releasing the protected person's record.
(b) If a consumer reporting agency has a file
pertaining to the protected person, a restriction that is placed on the
protected person's credit report and that prohibits the consumer reporting
agency from releasing the protected person's credit report or any information
derived from the protected person's credit report.
5. "Sufficient proof of authority" means
documentation that shows a representative has authority to act on behalf of a
protected person and includes:
(a) A court order.
(b) A lawfully executed and valid power of attorney.
(c) A written, notarized statement signed by a
representative that expressly describes the authority of the representative to
act on behalf of a protected person.
6. "Sufficient proof of identification"
means information or documentation that identifies a protected person or a
representative of a protected person and includes:
(a) A social security number or a social security
card issued by the social security administration.
(b) A certified or official copy of a birth
certificate issued by the department of health services.
(c) A driver license or a nonoperating
identification license issued by the department of transportation pursuant to
title 28, chapter 8 or any other government issued government-issued identification. END_STATUTE
APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR JUNE 19, 2026.
FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE JUNE 22, 2026.