An act to amend Sections 1785.13 and 1785.20.6 of the Civil Code, relating to consumer credit.
Summary
AB 1427 would amend California’s Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act to bar consumer credit reporting agencies from including, and credit users from considering, information about the sale of a property that was located in a governor-declared state of emergency area due to a wildfire on or after January 7, 2025, if the property was damaged beyond repair or rendered uninhabitable by the disaster. The bill makes this new protected category parallel to existing protections for medical debt in consumer credit reports and credit decisions.
More specifically, the bill adds the wildfire-related property sale to the list of items that may not appear in a consumer credit report under Civil Code Section 1785.13 and also adds it to the list of adverse factors that lenders and other credit users may not rely on when making a credit decision under Section 1785.20.6. The measure is limited to properties affected by qualifying wildfire emergencies and does not create a broader ban on all disaster-related information, though the bill text was amended to refer more generally to natural disasters in places where it originally referenced wildfires.
Impact
The bill would change California consumer credit law by expanding the categories of information that credit reporting agencies must exclude from reports and that creditors may not use negatively in underwriting. It would directly amend Civil Code Sections 1785.13 and 1785.20.6, affecting credit bureaus, lenders, and other users of consumer credit reports, while providing added protections for consumers whose property sales were tied to catastrophic wildfire damage. The bill is not an appropriation measure and does not appear to create a local program.
Sentiment
The available voting history shows strong support and no recorded opposition. The bill passed the Assembly committee and floor stages unanimously in the votes provided, suggesting broad bipartisan agreement with the consumer-protection and disaster-relief purpose of the measure. No committee transcript was provided, so the record reflects support through votes rather than detailed debate.
Contention
No major contention is evident in the available materials because all recorded votes were unanimous and no committee discussion transcript is included. The main policy issue implied by the bill is whether disaster-related property sales should be treated like other protected credit-reporting items, balancing consumer relief for wildfire victims against the completeness of credit information available to lenders. The bill’s narrow eligibility criteria—limited to governor-declared wildfire emergencies and properties rendered uninhabitable or beyond repair—suggest an effort to limit the scope of the exemption and reduce concerns about overbroad credit-reporting restrictions.