ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 111
(Senators Dittmar and Snyder, original sponsors)
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[Passed April 12, 1997; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend article one, chapter forty-six-a of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
one hundred eight; and to amend and reenact section one
hundred twenty-seven, article two of said chapter, all
relating to revisions to the West Virginia consumer credit
protection act; providing methods for electronic records
retention for persons subject to the act other than banks
and credit unions; providing for the admissibility in
evidence of such reproduced or copied records; and
eliminating certain disclosure requirements for debt
collectors under the act.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article one, chapter forty-six-a of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section one hundred eight; and that section one hundred twenty-seven, article
two of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1. SHORT TITLE, DEFINITIONS AND GENERAL PROVISIONS.
§46A-1-108. Records retention methods.
(a) All persons, other than banks and credit unions, who are
subject to the provisions of this chapter and who are required to
create or maintain records or other documents in the course of
their business, may copy or reproduce those records or documents
(other than notes, bonds, mortgages and other securities and
investments) by any existing and generally accepted method of
reproduction or retention technology which conforms to the
requirements of section thirty-five, article four, chapter
thirty-one-a of this code and may substitute copies or
reproductions of the records or documents either in positive or
negative form for the originals. A copy or reproduction in the
form of a positive print is deemed to be an original counterpart
of and has the same force as the original and is admissible in
evidence in all courts and administrative agencies in this state
for all purposes. The copies or reproductions authorized by this
subsection shall be maintained pursuant to the records retention
requirements applicable to the original records or documents.
The original records or documents, once copied or reproduced, may
be destroyed or otherwise eliminated.
(b) When copies of documents are offered in evidence, all circumstances surrounding the making or issuance of the
documents, books, records, correspondence and other instruments,
papers or writings, or the photographic, photostatic or
microphotographic copies or optical disks or other permissible
reproductions represented by the copies, may be shown to affect
the weight of the documents as evidence, but not the
admissibility.
(c) Any device used to copy or reproduce documents and
records shall be one which correctly and accurately reproduces
the original document or record in all details and any disk or
film used for this purpose shall be of durable material.
(d) Banks and credit unions may reproduce and maintain
records and documents in conformity with this section as long as
the reproduction and maintenance methods used do not conflict
with any other provisions of this code applicable to banks or
credit unions or with any rule of the commissioner of banking.
ARTICLE 2. CONSUMER CREDIT PROTECTION.
§46A-2-127. Fraudulent, deceptive or misleading representations.
No debt collector shall use any fraudulent, deceptive or
misleading representation or means to collect or attempt to
collect claims or to obtain information concerning consumers.
Without limiting the general application of the foregoing, the
following conduct is deemed to violate this section:
(a) The use of any business, company or organization name
while engaged in the collection of claims, other than the true name of the debt collector's business, company or organization;
(b) Any false representation that the debt collector has in
his possession information or something of value for the consumer
that is made to solicit or discover information about the
consumer;
(c) The failure to clearly disclose the name and full
business address of the person to whom the claim has been
assigned for collection, or to whom the claim is owed, at the
time of making any demand for money;
(d) Any false representation or implication of the
character, extent or amount of a claim against a consumer, or of
its status in any legal proceeding;
(e) Any false representation or false implication that any
debt collector is vouched for, bonded by, affiliated with or an
instrumentality, agent or official of this state or any agency of
the federal, state or local government;
(f) The use or distribution or sale of any written
communication which simulates or is falsely represented to be a
document authorized, issued or approved by a court, an official
or any other legally constituted or authorized authority, or
which creates a false impression about its source, authorization
or approval;
(g) Any representation that an existing obligation of the
consumer may be increased by the addition of attorney's fees,
investigation fees, service fees or any other fees or charges when in fact such fees or charges may not legally be added to the
existing obligation; and
(h) Any false representation or false impression about the
status or true nature of or the services rendered by the debt
collector or his business.