102779.
(a) The department shall negotiate with any consumer reporting agency that wishes to receive notices of death from the department. If the department and the consumer reporting agency reach a mutually acceptable agreement pursuant to which the agency will receive updates from the department, then the department shall provide notification, as described in subdivision (b), within 14 days of a death registration with the electronic death registration system implemented pursuant to Section 102778.(b) The department shall provide notice of an individual’s death to credit reporting agencies that have agreed to accept this information for the purpose of placing a warning in the decedent’s credit report and cautioning a user of the credit report against issuing credit in the decedent’s name. The department shall furnish the necessary information in its possession to properly identify the individual. The department may provide the notification in the manner it deems most economical and efficient, including electronically.
(c) For purposes of this section, “consumer reporting agency” means one that compiles and maintains files on consumers on a nationwide basis and meets the definition in Section 603(p) of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681a(p)).