Death: notification: consumer credit reporting agencies.

Existing law creates the State Department of Public Health and provides that the head of that department is the State Registrar of Vital Statistics. Existing law requires the state registrar to establish registration districts within the state for the purpose of registering births and deaths. Existing law requires that a death be registered with the local registrar of births and deaths in the district in which the death was officially pronounced or the body was found, within 8 calendar days after death. Existing law requires the department to implement an electronic death registration system for the creation, storage, and transfer of death registration information. Existing state and federal law define and regulate credit reporting agencies, which provide reports bearing on a consumer's creditworthiness. This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to negotiate with a credit reporting agency, as defined, that wishes to receive notices of death from the department. If the department and agency reach a mutually acceptable agreement in this regard, the bill would require the department, within 14 days of a death registration with the electronic death registration system, to provide notice of an individual's death to the credit reporting agency for the purpose of placing a warning in the decedent's credit report, as specified. The bill would require the department to furnish the necessary information in its possession to properly identify the individual. The bill would authorize the department to provide the notification in the manner it deems most economical and efficient, including electronically.