UNITED STATES OF AMERICA In the Matter of ALTMEYER HOME STORES, INC., a corporation. FILE NO. 962 3063 AGREEMENT CONTAINING The Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission having initiated an investigation of certain acts and practices of Altmeyer Home Stores, Inc., a corporation, and it now appearing that Altmeyer Home Stores, Inc., a corporation, hereinafter sometimes referred to as proposed respondent, without acknowledging the violation of any law or rule or regulation, is willing to enter into an agreement containing an order to cease and desist from the use of the acts and practices being investigated, IT IS HEREBY AGREED by and between Altmeyer Homes Stores, Inc., by its duly authorized officer, and its attorney, and counsel for the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission that: 1. Proposed respondent Altmeyer Homes Stores, Inc., is a corporation organized, existing and doing business under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Pennsylvania, with its office and principal place of business located at Central City Plaza, New Kensington, Pennsylvania. 2. Proposed respondent admits all the jurisdictional facts set forth in the draft of complaint here attached. 3. Proposed respondent waives:
4. This agreement shall not become part of the public record of the proceeding unless and until it is accepted by the Commission. If this agreement is accepted by the Commission, it, together with the draft of complaint contemplated thereby, will be placed on the public record for a period of sixty (60) days and information in respect thereto publicly released. The Commission thereafter may either withdraw its acceptance of this agreement and so notify the proposed respondent, in which event it will take such action as it may consider appropriate, or issue and serve its complaint (in such form as the circumstances may require) and decision, in disposition of the proceeding. 5. This agreement is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by proposed respondent that any law has been violated as alleged in the draft of complaint here attached. 6. This agreement contemplates that, if it is accepted by the Commission, and if such acceptance is not subsequently withdrawn by the Commission pursuant to the provisions of § 2.34 of the Commission’s Rules, the Commission may, without further notice to proposed respondent, (1) issue its complaint corresponding in form and substance with the draft of complaint here attached and its decision containing the following order to cease and desist in disposition of the proceeding and (2) make information public in respect thereto. When so entered, the order to cease and desist shall have the same force and effect and may be altered, modified, or set aside in the same manner and within the same time provided by statute for other orders. The order shall become final upon service. Delivery by the United States Postal Service of the complaint and decision containing the agreed-to order to proposed respondent’s address as stated in this agreement shall constitute service. Proposed respondent waives any right it may have to any other manner of service. The complaint may be used in construing the terms of the order, and no agreement, understanding, representation, or interpretation not contained in the order or the agreement may be used to vary or contradict the terms of the order. 7. Proposed respondent has read the proposed complaint and order contemplated hereby. It understands that once the order has been issued, it will be required to file one or more compliance reports showing that it has fully complied with the order. Proposed respondent further understands that it may be liable for civil penalties in the amount provided by law for each violation of the order after it becomes final. ORDER For the purpose of this Order, the terms “consumer,” “consumer report,” and “consumer reporting agency” shall be defined as provided in sections 603(c), 603(d), and 603(f), respectively, of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681a(c), 1681a(d), and 1681a(f). I. IT IS ORDERED that respondent Altmeyer Home Stores, Inc., a corporation, its successors and assigns, and its officers, agents, representatives, and employees, directly or through any corporation, subsidiary, division, or other device do forthwith cease and desist from failing to comply with Section 615 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, as it existed on October 1, 1995, as it has been amended, effective September 30, 1997, and as it may be amended in the future. As provided by Section 615(c) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Respondent shall not be held liable for any violation of Section 615 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act if it shows by a preponderance of the evidence that at the time of the alleged violation it maintained reasonable procedures to assure compliance with Section 615 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. II. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that respondent and its successors and assigns shall, for five (5) years from the date of issuance of this Order, maintain and upon request make available to the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission for inspection and copying, documents demonstrating compliance with the requirements of Part I of this Order, such documents to include, but not be limited to, all employment evaluation criteria relating to consumer reports, instructions given to employees regarding compliance with the provisions of this Order, all notices or a written or electronically stored notation of the description of the form of notice and date such notice was provided to applicants pursuant to any provisions of this Order, and the complete application files for all applicants for whom consumer reports were obtained for whom offers of employment are not made or have been withheld, withdrawn, or rescinded based, in whole or in part, on information contained in a consumer report. III. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that respondent and its successors and assigns shall, for five (5) years from the date of issuance of this Order, deliver a copy of this Order at least once per year to all persons responsible for the respondent’s compliance with Section 615(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. IV. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that respondent and its successors and assigns shall notify the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission at least thirty (30) days prior to any proposed change in the corporation that may affect compliance obligations arising under this Order, including, but not limited to a dissolution, assignment, sale, merger, or other action that would result in the emergence of a successor corporation; the creation or dissolution of a subsidiary, parent, or affiliate that engages in any acts or practices subject to this order; the proposed filing of a bankruptcy petition; or a change in the corporate name or address. Provided, however, that with respect to any proposed change in the corporation about which respondent learns less than thirty days prior to the date such action is to take place, respondent shall notify the Commission as soon as is practicable after obtaining such knowledge. All notices required by this Part shall be sent by certified mail to the Associate Director, Division of Â鶹´«Ã½, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission, Washington, D.C. 20580. V. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that respondent and its successors and assigns shall, within sixty (60) days of the date of service of this Order, and at such other times as the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission may require, file with the Commission a report, in writing, setting forth in detail the manner and form in which it has complied with this Order. VI. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this Order will terminate twenty (20) years from the date of its issuance, or twenty (20) years from the most recent date that the United States or the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission files a complaint (with or without an accompanying consent decree) in federal court alleging any violation of the Order, whichever comes later; provided, however, that the filing of such a complaint will not affect the duration of:
Provided further, that if such complaint is dismissed or a federal court rules that the respondent did not violate any provision of the Order, and the dismissal or ruling is either not appealed or upheld on appeal, then the Order will terminate according to this paragraph as though the complaint was never filed, except that the Order will not terminate between the date such complaint is filed and the later of the deadline for appealing such dismissal or ruling and the date such dismissal or ruling is upheld on appeal. Signed this day of ______________, 199 . ALTMEYER HOME STORES, INC., a corporation By: _________________________________________ By: __________________________________________ FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION By: _________________________________________ APPROVED: _________________________________ CONCUR: _________________________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA In the Matter of ALTMEYER HOME STORES, INC., a corporation DOCKET NO. COMPLAINT Pursuant to the provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq., and the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. § 41 et seq., and by virtue of the authority vested in it by said Acts, the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission, having reason to believe that Altmeyer Home Stores, Inc., a corporation, hereinafter referred to as respondent, has violated the provisions of said Acts, and it appearing to the Commission that a proceeding by it in respect thereof would be in the public interest, hereby issues its complaint, stating its charges in that respect as follows: DEFINITIONS For the purposes of this Complaint, the following definitions are applicable. The terms “consumer,” “consumer report,” and “consumer reporting agency” shall be defined as provided in sections 603(c), 603(d), and 603(f), respectively, of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681a(c), 1681a(d) and 1681a(f). PARAGRAPH ONE: Respondent Altmeyer Home Stores, Inc. is a corporation organized, existing and doing business under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Pennsylvania, with its office and principal place of business located at Central City Plaza, New Kensington, Pennsylvania. PARAGRAPH TWO: Respondent, in the ordinary course and conduct of its business, uses information in consumer reports obtained from consumer reporting agencies in the consideration, acceptance, and denial of applicants for employment with respondent. PARAGRAPH THREE: The acts and practices of respondent alleged in this complaint have been in or affecting commerce, as “commerce” is defined in the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission Act. PARAGRAPH FOUR: Respondent, in the ordinary course and conduct of its business, has denied applications or rescinded offers for employment with respondent based in whole or in part on information supplied by a consumer reporting agency, but has failed to advise consumers that the information so supplied contributed to the adverse action taken on their applications or offers for employment, and has failed to advise consumers of the name and address of the consumer reporting agency that supplied the information. PARAGRAPH FIVE: By and through the practices described in Paragraph Four, respondent has violated the provisions of Section 615(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a). PARAGRAPH SIX: By its aforesaid failure to comply with Section 615(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and pursuant to Section 621(a) thereof, respondent has engaged in unfair and deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce in violation of Section 5(a)(1) of the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission Act. WHEREFORE, THE PREMISES CONSIDERED, the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission on this _____________ day of ________, 1998, issues this complaint against respondent. By the Commission. Donald S. Clark SEAL Analysis
of Proposed Consent Order The Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission has accepted an agreement, subject to final approval, to a proposed consent order from respondent Altmeyer Home Stores, Inc. ("Altmeyer") The proposed consent order has been placed on the public record for sixty (60) days for reception of comments by interested persons. Comments received during this period will become part of the public record. After sixty (60) days, the Commission will again review the agreement and the comments received and will decide whether it should withdraw from the agreement and take other appropriate action or make final the agreement's proposed order. This matter concerns notification requirements under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681. That statute required at the time of the alleged violations, among other things, that employment applicants who are denied employment, either in whole or in part, because of information in consumer reports obtained from consumer reporting agencies, be provided with the name and address of the agency making the consumer report. The failure to provide the notice required by the statute lessens consumers’ access to information that may have led to the denial of employment. Proper notice assists consumers in discovering inaccurate or obsolete information in consumer reports that the consumers can subsequently dispute and correct. The use of consumer reports to assist in evaluating employment applications has become increasingly popular in recent years and, consequently, the significance of this notification requirement has heightened. The Commission’s complaint alleges that Altmeyer has denied employment applications based, in whole or in part, on information contained in consumer reports, failed to advise such job applicants that the denial was based in whole or in part on information contained in a consumer report, and failed to supply such applicants with the name and address of the agency making the report, as required by Section 615(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a), prior to the amendments effective September 30, 1997. The complaint also alleges that the failure to advise these job applicants constitutes a violation of Section 615(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a). The complaint further alleges that, pursuant to Section 621(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681s, a violation of Section 615(a) constitutes an unfair or deceptive act or practice in violation of Section 5(a)(1) of the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a)(1). The proposed consent order contains provisions designed to remedy the violations charged and to prevent the respondents from engaging in similar acts and practices in the future. Part I of the consent agreement prohibits violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act as it existed during the time of the investigation (i.e., October 1, 1995), and prospectively requires compliance with Section 615, pursuant to amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act effective September 30, 1997, and as the Fair Credit Reporting Act may be amended in the future. Pursuant to Section 615(c) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Part I provides that Altmeyer will not be held liable for violations of Section 615 if it shows by a preponderance of the evidence that it maintained reasonable procedures for complying with Section 615. Part II is a five year record keeping provision. Part III requires that Altmeyer distribute copies of the order for five years. Part IV requires notice to the Commission of changes in corporate structure for the duration of the consent agreement. Part V provides for compliance reports. Finally, Part VI terminates the consent agreement after twenty years. The Fair Credit Reporting Act was extensively amended effective September 30, 1997 and now contains significant additional requirements for employers using consumer reports. The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the proposed consent order. It is not intended to constitute an official interpretation of the agreement and proposed order or to modify in any way their terms. |