Millions of people are frustrated with the Big Three credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. In 2025, 5 million people filed complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) against these companies. Credit reports are full of errors, such as debts resulting from identity theft, information belonging to other people (known as “mixed files”), and even…
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Data brokers collect and sell a wide range of information about consumers, often without their knowledge and consent, including geolocation, health data, buying habits, political affiliation, property records, criminal history, and financial assets. The lack of transparency surrounding data brokers — combined with how artificial intelligence can supercharge their ability to exploit and weaponize the…
States, counties, and local governments can help protect immigrants, their families, and communities from financial exploitation and other consumer abuses.
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The rental housing crisis continues to squeeze working families. Contributing to these struggles is the use of tenant screening reports, which typically combine information about eviction filings, criminal records, and credit history. These reports often contain significant systemic errors and problems, such as This Policy Brief offers solutions as to what states can do to…
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State advocates seeking to remove medical debts from credit reports face a new landscape that threatens to undo their work. State laws and bills to ban medical debt credit reporting may need to be modified to protect against a now-hostile federal administration that may attempt to preempt them. This policy brief provides two suggestions to…
The housing crisis for low- and moderate-income renters continues. The new Administration’s actions, such as potential cuts to staff and programs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, will likely exacerbate it. These developments add to the existing challenges of a severe shortage of affordable, decent housing; spiking rent increases; and abuses by corporate…
Read More about 2025 Consumer Reform Priorities to Protect Tenants
CFPB Resources: Community Catalyst Resources: NCLC Resources: Other Resources:
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Identity theft is a big problem with hidden victims. Identity theft is a multi-billion dollar problem in the United States. In 2021, nearly 24 million people were victims of identity theft, and it was the single most common complaint in the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) law enforcement database. While people may assume that identity theft…
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This overview provides a list of common consumer problems coupled with state-based policy solutions.
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California was one of the first states to restrict the use of credit reports in employment decisions in 2011, leading at least 10 other states and two large cities to pass similar laws. The CA law, however, has several exceptions that weaken it. That is not unusual for an early adopter, given that state legislatures…
Read More about Tightening Consumer Protections: Don’t Let Credit Blemishes Kill Job Opportunities
NCLC will pursue common-sense regulatory and legislative reforms to ensure fairness, fight fraud, and protect consumers in 2025.
On June 11, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its landmark proposal to prohibit medical debt on credit reports. It’s a terrific development worth taking a moment to celebrate. But the CFPB needs our support for the proposed rule to get it over the finish line. At the same time, state legislation is…
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