A group of legislators forwarded correspondence this week to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as a means of advocating credit reporting industry reform.
U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) penned a letter to CFPB Director Rohit Chopra.
The senators are encouraging the CFPB to use existing supervisory, rulemaking, and enforcement authority over the largest nationwide consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) to enhance the accuracy of credit reports, streamline the dispute resolution process and hold consumer reporting agencies accountable for addressing persistent errors.
“In an industry that affects all Americans so directly, even a small error rate means tens of millions of people can be denied jobs or housing through no fault of their own,” the legislators wrote. “As a result of simple mistakes, consumers may pay more for credit or be denied loans altogether; they might face obstacles applying for a job, getting a mortgage, or renting an apartment.”
The senators maintain the impacts could persist for years and place innocent people in positions nearly impossible to resolve.
“Accordingly, we request you take immediate action to protect consumers and introduce much-needed accountability into the credit reporting system,” the legislators concluded. “Specifically, we ask that you evaluate persistent errors in credit reporting and how CRAs consistently fail to resolve these errors, especially by failing to devote sufficient personnel and resources for dispute resolution—a shortcoming the CFPB could use its supervisory authority to remedy.”