Under the provisions of California's "Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act", a creditor may submit negative credit information concerning a consumer to a consumer reporting agency, only if the creditor notifies the consumer affected. Under this act, a creditor includes an agent or assignee, including collection agencies.

The notice must be in writing, and must be delivered in person or mailed first class, postage prepaid, to the party's last known address, prior to or within 30 days after the transmission of the negative credit information.

The notice is sufficient if it is in substantially the following form:

"As required by law, you are hereby notified that a negative credit report reflecting on your credit record may be submitted to a credit reporting agency if you fail to fulfill the terms of your credit obligations."

Creditors and collection agencies which report on consumer accounts should be familiar with this Section 1785.26 of the California Civil Code, which is linked here for illustration purposes.

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