The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently released a report highlighting ongoing issues with credit report accuracy. They found that consumer reporting companies and the businesses providing them with information, called furnishers, often failed to ensure the accuracy of credit reports. These failures included not removing information related to identity theft or human trafficking and accepting unreliable data from furnishers.
Key findings from the CFPB report include:
- Consumer reporting companies did not block or remove incorrect information related to identity theft and human trafficking. They also failed to notify consumers when their requests were denied or provide summaries of rights to identity theft victims.
- These companies accepted information from furnishers that did not reliably verify consumer data, leading to continued inclusion of inaccurate information.
- Furnishers shared false information with credit reporting companies, sometimes for months or years after knowing it was incorrect.
- Some furnishers did not properly investigate disputes or indicate when information was being disputed.
In response, the CFPB is requiring these companies to take corrective actions, such as revising compliance processes and conducting lookbacks to delete fraudulent accounts.
The CFPB is also taking regulatory and enforcement actions to improve the credit reporting system. This includes rulemaking to remove certain types of medical debt from credit reports and addressing inaccurate background check reports. Recent enforcement actions include fines against Toyota Motor Credit and TransUnion for illegal practices related to credit reporting and lending.
