Credit Reports Policy Analysis Archive

Credit Reports Policy Briefs, Reports & Press Releases

• Brief: 2021 Credit & Consumer Reporting Priorities to Promote Economic Recovery, Dec. 2020
• Press Release: Consumer and Faith Groups to CFPB Director: Stop Letting Industry Violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Sept. 24, 2020
• Press Release: NCLC Advocate Slams Trump Administration Credit Reporting Guidance for Giving Relief to Creditors and Credit Bureaus But Not Consumers During COVID-19 Pandemic, April 1, 2020
• Press Release: Consumer and Civil Rights Advocates Condemn Credit Bureaus for Suing Over Language Access Law, October 21, 2019
• Press Release: Legal Experts Decry Credit Bureaus’ Lawsuit to Invalidate Maine Laws Protecting Consumers from Medical Debt and Economic Abuse, Oct. 4, 2019
• Press release: Statement Regarding Credit Report/Score Requirement in DHS Public Charge Regulation, Aug. 12, 2019
• Press Statement Regarding Capital One Data Breach, July 30, 2019
• Press release: National Consumer Law Center Chi Chi Wu to Testify on July 25 before U.S. House on Use of Alternative Credit Data to Expand Access to Credit, July 24, 2019
• Statement re: Settlement with Equifax over its 2017 Data Breach, July 22, 2019
• Press release: Advocates Decry Lack of Compensation in Consumer Bureau Settlement, Dec. 7, 2018
• Press release: U.S. House Financial Services Committee Votes to Reduce Credit Bureaus Consumer Protections (H.R. 435), Dec. 13, 2017
• Press release: National Consumer Law Center Attorney Chi Chi Wu to Testify on October 25 before House Financial Services Committee on Equifax Data Breach, Oct. 24, 2017
• Press release: Statement of National Consumer Law Center Staff Attorney Chi Chi Wu on the Equifax Data Breach that Affected 143 Million Consumers, Sept. 8, 2017
• Press release: Tens of Millions of Consumers Will Benefit from New Rules for Medical Debt on Credit Reports, Sept. 7, 2017
• Press release: NCLC Attorney Wu to Testify on Sept. 7 Before House Financial Services Committee Opposing Six Anti-Consumer Bills, Sept. 6, 2017 Testimony
• Press release: Advocates Applaud CFPB for Enforcement Action against JPMorgan Chase for Deficiencies Related to Reporting to ChexSystems/Early Warning Services, Aug. 2, 2017
• Press release: New Reforms Will Improve Credit Reporting Accuracy for Millions of Consumers, June 28, 2017
• Press release: Class Actions Matter: Consumers Mislabeled as Terrorists Win Record $60 Million against TransUnion for Violating Key Consumer Protection Law, June 21, 2017
• Press release: NCLC Advocates Applaud CFPB for Enforcement Action against Experian for Deceptive Marketing of Credit Scoring Products, March 23, 2017
• Press release: NCLC Advocates Applaud CFPB for Enforcement Actions against Equifax and TransUnion for Deceptive Marketing of Credit Monitoring Products, Jan. 3, 2017
• Press release: Advocates Urge Support for Comprehensive Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 2016, May 19, 2016
• Press release: Consumer and Labor Groups Urge Experian to Offer Free Security Freezes to T-Mobile Customers to Help Prevent Id Theft, Oct. 2, 2015
• Press release: NCLC & NACA Statement re: the Consumer Reporting Fairness Act, July 15, 2015
• Full Utility Credit Reporting

• Press release: CFPB Report and Hearing Show Urgent Need to Protect Consumers from Medical Debt Collection, Dec. 11, 2014
• Policy brief: Introduction to Account Screening Consumer Reporting Agencies, October 2014
• Report: Strong Medicine Needed: What the CFPB Should Do to Protect Consumers from Unfair Collection and Reporting of Medical Debt, Sept. 10, 2014
• Statement Supporting U.S. Senate bill (Stop Errors in Credit Use and Reporting Act of 2014), April 9, 2014
• Report: Big Data, a Big Disappointment for Scoring Consumer Creditworthiness, March 2014
• Press Release: Consumers win with CFPB credit report changes, Feb. 27, 2014
• Report: Automated Injustice: How a Mechanized Dispute System Frustrates Consumers Seeking to Fix Errors in Their Credit Reports, Jan. 2009
• Solving the Credit Conundrum: Helping Consumers’ Credit Records Impaired by the Foreclosure Crisis and Great Recession, Dec. 2013
• Press Release: New FTC Study Points to Much-Needed Reforms for Credit Reporting Industry, Feb. 11, 2013
• Press Release: CFPB Report Points to Needed Reforms for Credit Reporting Industry, Dec. 13, 2012
• Press Release: Excellent CFPB study on credit scores, Sept. 25, 2012
• Press Release: CFPB to Oversee Credit Reporting Agencies, July 16, 2012
• Broken Records: How Errors by Criminal Background Checking Companies Harm Workers and Businesses, April 2012
• Using Nontraditional Credit Information: Boon or Bane? Do Alternative Credit Scores and Credit Reports Really Help Low-Income Consumers?, June 2009
• Transition Memo from Community Legal Services, NCLC, and others to FTC on Background Screening Agencies, December 2008
• Credit Scoring and Insurance: Costing Consumers Billions and Perpetuating the Economic Racial Divide, 2007
• NCLC Analysis of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, Pub. L. No. 108-159, 2003
• Consumers Union analysis of the scope and limits of the preemption provisions under the FACTA, with examples of the many types of state laws that can still be enacted and enforced.

Credit Reports Comments and Testimony

• Group comments to the Federal Trade Commission Re: Military Credit Monitoring Rulemaking, Matter No. R811007, Jan. 7, 2019
• Comments in Response to Request for Information Regarding Consumers’ Experience with Free Access to Credit Scores, Feb. 12, 2018
• Testimony of NCLC attorney Chi Chi Wu before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee re: Consumer Protections and Equifax Data Breach, Oct. 25, 2017
• Testimony of Chi Chi Wu to U.S. House Financial Services Opposing Weakening FCRA Protections, September 7, 2017
• Testimony before the U.S. House of Representative Committee on Financial Services regarding “An Overview of the Credit Reporting System“, September 10, 2014
• Comments to the Federal Trade Commission re Big Data: A Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion?, Aug. 15, 2014
• Testimony before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee Subcommittee Re: Making Sense of Consumer Credit Reports, Dec. 19, 2012
• Testimony regarding “Examining the Uses of Consumer Credit Data“, Sept. 13, 2012
• Comments to the CFPB re: defining the “larger” debt collectors and consumer reporting agencies, April 17, 2012
• Dodd-Frank Credit Score Disclosure: Consumer and Civil Rights Group Comments, Apr. 2011
• Use of Credit Reports in Employment and Restoring Consumer Rights for Adverse Action Disclosures, Testimony regarding Use of Credit Information beyond Lending: Issues and Reform Proposals, May 12, 2010
• Prevent Deceptive Marketing of Credit Reports, Consumer Group Comments, Dec. 2009
• Comments on Proposed Guidelines and Rule re: Accuracy and Integrity of Information Furnished to Consumer Reporting Agencies under FACTA Section 312, February 12, 2008
• Comments regarding FACTA Interim Final Rule Prohibiting Circumvention, Project No. P044804, April 2004
• Testimony of Anthony Rodriquez to House Financial Services on: Fair Credit Reporting Act: How it Functions for Consumers and the Economy, June 4, 2003

Credit Reports Letters

• Letter Urging CFPB to Rescind Guidance Permitting Industry to exceed FCRA Dispute Investigation Deadlines, September 24, 2020 Response of CFPB Director Kraninger, November 9, 2020. Follow-up Letter to Acting Director Ueijio, March 25, 2021
• Letter urging credit bureaus to provide credit reporting relief to employees of federal contractors and small businesses affected by the shutdown, Jan. 25, 2019
• Letter urging credit bureaus to provide credit reporting relief to consumers affected by natural disasters, Jan. 18, 2019
• Letter urging credit bureaus to provide credit reporting relief to federal workers affected by the shutdown, Jan. 18, 2019
• Letter on credit reporting aspects of S. 2155, Apr. 30, 2018
• Consumer groups letter to CEOs of credit reporting agencies re: quarterly earnings, Nov. 17, 2017
• Letter supporting S. 1819, The Equal Employment for All Act (Warren), Sept. 19, 2017
• Letter urging IRS to make Identity Theft PINs available to all taxpayers, Sept. 2017
• Letter supporting HR 3755, The Comprehensive Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 2017 (Waters), Sept. 2017
• Letter opposing Credit Services Protection Act of 2017 (Royce) and Testimony, Sept. 6, 2017
• Letter opposing H.R. 2359 FCRA Liability Harmonization Act (Loudermilk) (eliminating FCRA punitive damages and capping class action statutory damages to $500,000), Sept. 6, 2017
• Consumer and civil rights groups letter to credit reporting agencies requesting free credit and specialty reports in multiple languages for Wells Fargo customers affected by phantom accounts, Oct. 6, 2016
• Group letter opposing H.R. 4172, Credit Access and Inclusion Act, May 18, 2016
• Group letter to the CFPB and FTC re: Experian’s T-Mobile data breach, Oct. 8, 2015
• Letter to Experian and T-Mobile re: Data Breach, Oct.2, 2015
• Letter opposing H.R. 3035, Credit Access and Inclusion Act, Sept. 8, 2015
• Letter opposing H.R. 347, the misleadingly-named “Facilitating Access to Credit Act of 2015” by consumer, civil rights and advocacy groups, April 27, 2015, plus Q&A Fact Sheet
• Letter urges FHFA to insist that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac change its policies that require the use of FICO 04, Nov. 14, 2014
• Letter urges FHFA to require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reverse policies that require manual underwriting if the applicant’s credit report contains a dispute, Nov. 14, 2014.
• Letters expressing concern about the harm to consumers and the preemptive effects of HR 6363 (Renacci), The Credit Access and Inclusion Act, which promotes full file utility credit reporting, Sept. 2012
• Group letter to the CFPB re: FHA violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act’s Anti-Retaliation Provisions, March 30, 2012
• Medical Debt Relief Act of 2009, H.R. 3421 (Kilroy), Consumer Group Letter, July 26, 2010
• Letter opposing H.R. 2885, Credit Monitoring Clarification Act, May 2008

Litigation

• Motion for Leave to file an Amicus Brief and [Proposed] Amicus brief in the Middle District of North Carolina (Brown v. Delhaize and Food Lion, Inc.), August 11, 2014
• Amicus brief of NCLC and NACA in Carvalho v. Equifax, Full text
• FCRA preemption and furnisher liability, Amicus Brief of NCLC and NACA in Gorman v. Wolpoff & Abramson case, April 2009
• White v. Experian/TransUnion/Equifax, Class action lawsuit against TransUnion LLC, Experian Information Solutions, Inc., and Equifax Information Services LLC
• Amicus Brief of NACA, NCLC and others defending statutory damages provision of FCRA against constitutional attack

Resources

• Video: Urban Institute: Next-Generation Innovations to Increase Financial Inclusion for Consumers, June 20, 2018 (NCLC Associate Director Lauren Saunders, panelist, begins at 37:06)