State of New York Issues “Emergency Regulation” Regarding Consumer Protection

Posted on December 26, 2017December 26, 2017 by

Recently, the State of New York has issued an “emergency regulation” regarding consumer protection following a data breach in consumer credit reporting. Labeling new rules as an “emergency” means they may take effect immediately with no hearings or previous notice.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today directed the New York Department of State to issue new regulations holding consumer credit reporting agencies accountable to the public. The regulations, adopted on an emergency basis and effective immediately, require consumer credit reporting agencies to respond within 10 days to requests made by the Department of State’s Division of Consumer Protection on behalf of consumers.

The new regulations to protect consumers

Specifically, the regulations defines “consumer credit reporting agency” as a consumer reporting agency that regularly engages in the practice of assembling or evaluating and maintaining, for the purpose of furnishing consumer credit reports to third parties bearing on a consumer’s creditworthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity, public record information and credit account information from persons who furnish that information regularly and in the ordinary course of business.
Require consumer credit reporting agencies to identify dedicated points of contact for the Division of Consumer Protection so the Division can obtain vital information necessary to assist New York consumers;
Require a timely response—within 10 days—by consumer credit reporting agencies to information requests made on behalf of consumers by the Division of Consumer Protection;
Require consumer credit reporting agencies to file with the Division of Consumer Protection, and to plainly disclose to consumers all fees associated with the purchase or use of products and services marketed as identity theft protection products, including when those products are originally offered for “free”; and
Require consumer credit reporting agencies to file with the Division of Consumer Protection a list and description of all business affiliations and contractual relationships they have with companies marketing credit monitoring and related products.

The regulations are available online here.

The Division of Consumer Protection will also issue a demand letter to Equifax for vital information necessary to help the Division properly assess the damage and risk of identity theft to New York State consumers resulting from the data breach.

For questions on credit reports please contact Accredited Background Checks at 800-221-4291.

Feds Order 4,000+ Guns Seized Over Background Check Issues

Posted on December 12, 2017December 12, 2017 by

The largest number of Gun retrieval requests in 10 years, the FBI issued more than 4,000 requests for agents from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives to seize guns from prohibited buyers, due to invalid background checks.

The Texas mass shooting by gunman Devin Patrick Kelley revealed a shocking revelation that a flaw in the background check system allowed a very troubled man to purchase a firearm. Kelley used a rifle which he legally purchased to gun down 26 victims at a rural church in Texas.

The FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) vets millions of gun purchase transactions every year.

The FBI was overloaded with more than 200,000 background check requests for gun purchases this BlackFriday, setting a new single-day record. A background check for gun purchases must be completed within 72 hours of the sale.If the background check is not complete within the 72-hour time limit, federal law states the sale is valid.

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is a United States system for determining if prospective firearms or explosives buyers’ name and birth year match those of a person who is not eligible to buy. It was mandated by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Brady Law) of 1993 and launched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1998.

Under sections 922(g)^[16] and (n)^[17] of the GCA certain persons are prohibited from:

Shipping or transporting any firearm or ammunition in interstate or foreign commerce;
Receiving any firearm or ammunition that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.^[18]

A person prohibited from owning a gun is one who:

Has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
Is under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
Is a fugitive from justice;
Is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance;
Has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution;
Is illegally or unlawfully in the United States;
Has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions;
Having been a citizen of the United States has renounced U.S. citizenship;
Is subject to a court order that restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of such intimate partner;
Has been convicted in any court of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence”, a defined term in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(33)^[18]

Currently, federal law requires background checks (through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System) only for guns sold through licensed firearm dealers, which account for 60% of all gun sales in the United States.

It is not immediately clear how many gun seizure requests were successfully executed out of the 4000, or how many weapons were actually removed from ownership. Multiple firearms can be purchased in a single transaction meaning that the number of guns may very well be much higher than the number of seizure requests.

DOT Announces It Is Amending Its Drug-Testing Regulations

Posted on November 10, 2017May 25, 2018 by

Importance Notice!

Effective January 1, 2018, The Department of Transportation is amending its drug-testing program regulation to add hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxymorphone, and oxycodone to its drug-testing panel; add methylenedioxyamphetamine as an initial test analyte; and remove methylenedioxyethylamphetamine as a confirmatory test analyte. The revision of the drug-testing panel harmonizes DOT regulations with the revised HHS Mandatory Guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Federal drug-testing programs for urine testing. This final rule clarifies certain existing drug-testing program provisions and definitions, makes technical amendments and removes the requirement for employers and Consortium/Third Party Administrators to submit blind specimens.

On November 10th 2017, The United States Department Of Transporation (DOT) announced they will be amending the mandatory 5-panel drug screen to include expanded opiates, and expanding on CFR 49 Part 40.

Effective January 1st, 2018, the mandatory urine drug screening for all safety sensitive positions guided under CFR 49 Part 40 will include hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxymorphone, and oxycodone.

This new revision of HS Mandatory Guidelines with which the NPRM
proposed to harmonize Part 40, comes in two parts.

Part 1

Previous to this newly added regulation, the mandatory drug screening was a 5-panel urine which consisted of testing for the 5 most common street drugs.

A 5-Panel Urine Analysis consists of :

Amphetamines (Meth)
Cocaine
Marijuana
Opiates
Phencyclidine (PCP)

As of January 1st, 2018, under the new revisions of CFR 49 Part 40, a DOT drug screening will test for four semi-synthetic opioids (i.e., hydrocodone, oxycodone, hydromorphone, oxymorphone). Some common names for these semi-synthetic opioids include OxyContin®, Percodan®, Percocet®, Vicodin®, Lortab®, Norco®, Dilaudid®, Exalgo®.

A 5-panel expanded opiates urine analysis consists of:

Amphetamines (Meth)
Cocaine
Marijuana
Opiates
Hydrocodone
Hydromorphone
Oxymorphone
Oxycodone
Phencyclidine (PCP)

What has caused this new DOT Part 40 Amendment?

Since President Donald Trumps declaration of the Opioid Crisis, America has become much more aware of the rapidly progressing problem of drug addiction.On October 26th, 2017, President Trump directed the Department of Health and Human Services to declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency, striving to take action on this salient soar effecting the lives of American citizens today.

Opioid Addiction Statistics

A governmental account of drug overdose statistics shows that from the year 2015 to 2016 the death toll due to drug overdose rose 22 percent.

This upwards trend of overdose has been on a steady incline since the year 2000 and was likely to continue until President Trump declared the opioid crisis.

Knowing the disease of addiction himself through the actions of his brother, President Trump can understand the difficulties those who suffer from addiction face, making it known and urging Americans to remember the phrase “prevention not punishment”.

Since the Opioid Crisis Americans have been made queenly aware of the consequences and statistics of drug abuse. How the opioid crisis has affected the American economy, the American workplace, and just America as a whole. Many now know that you don’t have to be an addict yourself to feel the effects of addiction.

Policy makers have quickly taken notice of these growing trends and decided to take swift action.

Saftey Sensitive Positions

A safety-sensitive position refers to a job in which the employee is responsible for his or her own or other people’s safety. It also refers to jobs that would be particularly dangerous if performed under the influence of drugs or alcohol. For this reason, Safety-sensitive positions are often the focus of drug and alcohol testing.

Generally, DOT regulations cover safety-sensitive transportation employers and employees. Each DOT agency (e.g. FRA, FMCSA, FTA, FAA, and PHMSA) and the USCG have specific drug and alcohol testing regulations that outline who is subject to their testing regulations.

DOT Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance

The Director of the DOT Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance, Patrice Kelley, has been creating government substance abuse policies for many years. Under her jurisdiction, the new amendment to CFR 49 will help serve to uphold the ODAPC mission statement.

“Ensure that the drug and alcohol testing policies and goals of the Secretary of Transportation are developed and carried out in a consistent, efficient, and effective manner within the transportation industries for the ultimate safety and protection of the traveling public. This is accomplished through program review, compliance evaluation, and the issuance of consistent guidance material for DOT Operating Administrations (OAs) and for their regulated industries.”

Part 2

HHS Mandatory Guidelines remove
methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA) as a confirmatory test analyte from the existing drug-testing panel and add methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) as an initial test analyte.

What does this mean?

An analyte is by definition a substance whose chemical constituents are being identified and measured. For example, morphine is the target analyte for codeine/morphine testing. The DOT will now focus on the MDA analyte for its testing analysis, rather than the previous MDEA. This could lead to a test confirming positive due to the difference in the initial test analyte.

Initial test analyte	Initial test cutoff concentration	Confirmatory test analyte	Confirmatory test cutoff concentration
Marijuana metabolites	50 ng/mL	THCA 1	15 ng/mL.
Cocaine metabolites	150 ng/mL	Benzoylecgonine	100 ng/mL.
Opiate metabolites
Codeine/Morphine 2	2000 ng/mL	Codeine	2000 ng/mL.
		Morphine	2000 ng/mL.
6-Acetylmorphine	10 ng/mL	6-Acetylmorphine	10 ng/mL.
Phencyclidine	25 ng/mL	Phencyclidine	25 ng/mL.
Amphetamines 3
AMP/MAMP 4	500 ng/mL	Amphetamine	250 ng/mL.
		Methamphetamine 5	250 ng/mL.
MDMA 6	500 ng/mL	MDMA	250 ng/mL.
		MDA 7	250 ng/mL.
		MDEA 8	250 ng/mL

Other recognizable CFR 49 Part 40 revisions

Creating a name change from the word opiates to opioids now expands the drug testing panel to 6 commonly abused illicit and licit drugs (Heroin); Codeine; Morphine, Hydrocodone; Hydromorphone; Oxymorphone; and Oxycodone.

The DOT added a new section reiterating that, in the DOT testing program, only urine specimens can be collected and analyzed.
The DOT added language further emphasizing the existing DOT prohibition on the use of DNA testing on DOT drug-testing specimens.
The final rule made minor modifications to certain section headings.
The final rule moved the list of Substance Abuse Professional certification organizations from the rule text to ODAPC’s website.
The final rule moved the MIS instructions from Appendix H to ODAPC’s website.
Outdated compliance dates were removed and links were updated.
Appendices B, C, D, and H were updated.

The revision of the drug testing panel harmonizes DOT regulations with the revised HHS Mandatory Guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Federal drug-testing programs for urine testing.

For any questions regarding DOT Drug Testing or DOT compliance please visit us at www.accreditedbackgroundchecks.com or call (800)221-4291.

Texas Mass Shooter Devin Kelley Passed Background Check

Posted on November 6, 2017November 6, 2017 by

Devin Kelley, who police say murdered 26 people on Sunday, November 5th, 2017, opened fire on congregants in First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

Kelley used an AR-15 style rifle and according to CNN, a law enforcement official indicates “Kelley purchased the Ruger … rifle he used in the shooting from an Academy Sports & Outdoors store in San Antonio.”

Who is Devin Kelley?

In 2010, Devin Kelley served in logistics readiness in the US airforce at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico.

In 2012, he was the court-martialed for two counts of Article 128 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, assault on his spouse and assault on their child. He served a year in prison and received a bad conduct discharge in 2014 an Air Force rep said.

Devin Kelley Passed A Background Check

The discharge reportedly did not show up as a prohibited offense on his background check.

Kelley purchased the Ruger AR-556 last year which he used in the attack. It is unclear why or how he repeatedly passed federal background checks while purchasing firearms, including the Ruger.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday morning that Kelley had previously been denied a state license to carry. The gunman was not eligible to carry a firearm let alone purchase the assault rifle he used to gun down churchgoers. The charges Kelley faced against him are the equivalent of a military felony.

After the attack, Kelley was found dead in his car from a gunshot wound. It has not yet been determined whether the wound was self-inflicted or not.

Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt told reporters Kelley’s former in-laws had attended the church in the past, which may explain why he drove 30 miles to perpetrate this horrid crime. The gunman’s in-laws did not attend the church that day.More then half the victims of the attack were children.

Victims Of The Mass Shooting :

Texas Governor Greg Abbott stated the attack perpetrated by Devin Kelley is the largest mass shooting in Texas history.

Accredited Background Checks expresses condolences for the families and victims of this crime.

Cities And States Around The USA Are Banning Salary History Inquiries

Posted on October 30, 2017October 30, 2017 by

On January 23rd, 2017 Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed The Wage Equity Ordinance, stating that employers are no longer allowed to inquire potential employees of their salary history or view it on their background checks. This new law, which took effect in May of 2017 makes Philadelphia the first city to start this trend.

(Bill No. 160840)
AN ORDINANCE

“Amending Title 9 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled “Regulation of Businesses, Trades
and Professions,” by adding a new Chapter on wage equity prohibiting employers from
inquiring about salary history, including definitions, duties, penalties, posting
requirements, a private right of action and other related items regarding wage equity; all
under certain terms and conditions.”

The Wage Equity Ordinance

Citing a 2015 U.S. Census Bureau report, the wage equity ordinance says women on average, 79 cents for every dollar made by men, and the disparity is greater for women of color. The law, first of its kind passed by a U.S. city, is intended to close the pay gap between men and women. Some argue this wage gap starts early in women’s careers and is perpetuated when they are asked to state their salaries going forward.

The wage equity ordinance will become a part of the Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance, which is the local law that governs unlawful discrimination.

Federal Government has not provided much clarity or set guidelines in these areas of law, which leaves it to the state and local levels of government to set clear guidelines.

In 2018, a Massachusetts ban on salary history questions will take effect. New York State has recently prohibited state agencies from asking about prior pay. Many other large cities and states are following Phillidolpia’s lead, such as California.

Multistate employers should be aware that these cities have legislation in the works in regards to banning salary history questions during the pre-employment or application processes.

California has banned private and public employers from asking about a candidate’s pay history. The law will take effect in January 2018, according to HRDive.com.
Delaware banned all employers from asking candidates about their salary history. The law will take effect in December 2017, according to Duane Morris.
Massachusetts prohibited all employers from inquiring about a candidate’s pay history. This law will go into effect in July 2018, according to Mass.gov.
New Orleans banned inquiries about all city departments and employees of contractors who work for the city. The rule is already in effect, but, in this case, it only impacts individuals who are interviewing to work for the city of New Orleans, according to WDSU.
New York City has banned public and private employees from asking about a candidate’s pay history. The law goes into effect October 31, 2017, Business Insider previously reported.
Oregon has banned all employers for inquiring about a candidate’s salary history. The law goes into effect January 2019, according to Jackson Lewis.
Philadelphia banned the salary history question for all employers. The rule was supposed to take effect May 23, but a judge halted it temporarily due to a lawsuit from the Chamber of Commerce, according to NBC.
Pittsburgh banned city agencies from asking about candidates’ pay history. The rule is effective immediately, but only effects city employees, SHRM reported.
Puerto Rico banned employers from inquiring about a candidate’s pay history. The law will go into effect March 2018, according to Jackson Lewis.