All Issues

Credit Reporting & Data Fairness

NCLC led the way when the United States passed its first data fairness law, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, in 1970 and continues to fight for fair treatment by the original traffickers of Big Data – credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) – as well as tenant- and background-screening companies and new hawkers of our information. NCLC advocates for more and better protections for credit reports, and other consumer data by fighting for accuracy, fairness, privacy, and holding companies accountable when they violate the law.

Key Topics

Alternative Data & Algorithms

Working to ensure that use of alternative data and algorithms will help, not hurt, consumers.

Background Checks

Fighting inaccurate and discriminatory criminal background checks that are a bar to jobs and housing.

Consumer Protections for Renters

Protecting renters from abuses in tenant screening, rental debt collection, junk fees, and more.

Credit Repair & Credit Monitoring Products

Fighting against shady credit repair firms and pricy credit monitoring products.

Credit Reporting & Scores

Combating errors, bias, abuses, and racial inequity in the credit reporting system.

Tenant Screening

Ensuring that inaccurate and discriminatory tenant screening is not a bar to housing.

Featured

Recent Resources

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Too Damn High: How Junk Fees Add to Skyrocketing Rents

March 13, 2023

Petition for Rulemaking at CFPB Regarding Debt Collector Furnishing, Language Access, Credit Reporting Ombudsperson Office

March 3, 2023

Coalition Letter Opposing H.R. 1165, the Data Privacy Act of 2023

February 27, 2023

Consumer Advocates Blast So-Called Data Privacy Bill for Wiping Out State Consumer Protection Laws

February 27, 2023

Op-Ed in The Hill: “Why rent reporting can harm rather than help vulnerable tenants”

February 26, 2023

Comments to the CFPB’s Outline of Proposals to Implement Section 1033, Consumer Access to Financial Records, Small Biz Review

January 25, 2023

2023 Credit & Consumer Reporting Priorities to Promote Economic Stability

January 18, 2023

2023 Consumer Protection Federal Priorities

January 13, 2023

Don’t Add Further Insult to Injury: Medical Debt & Credit Reports

January 6, 2023

Comments & Letters

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Petition for Rulemaking at CFPB Regarding Debt Collector Furnishing, Language Access, Credit Reporting Ombudsperson Office

March 3, 2023

Coalition Letter Opposing H.R. 1165, the Data Privacy Act of 2023

February 27, 2023

Comments to the CFPB’s Outline of Proposals to Implement Section 1033, Consumer Access to Financial Records, Small Biz Review

January 25, 2023

Letter Urging Federal Regulators to Protect Credit Scores of Hurricane Fiona and Ian Survivors

October 26, 2022

Letter Asking for Rulemaking to Ban Medical Debt from Credit Reports

September 26, 2022

Consumer and Survivor Advocacy Groups Comments to CFPB on Proposed Rule to Protect Trafficking Survivors

May 9, 2022

Group Letter Urging Credit Bureaus to Fix Credit Reporting Problems for Transgender and Nonbinary Customers

February 24, 2022

Group Letter to HUD Regarding Removing Credit Reports and Credit Scores as a Barrier to Public and Subsidized Housing

November 3, 2021

Comments to the CFPB Regarding Financial Institutions’ Use of Artificial Intelligence, Including Machine Learning

July 1, 2021

Reports

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Too Damn High: How Junk Fees Add to Skyrocketing Rents

March 13, 2023

Don’t Add Further Insult to Injury: Medical Debt & Credit Reports

January 6, 2023

Mission Creep: a Primer on Use of Credit Reports & Scores for Non-Credit Purposes

August 3, 2022

Don’t Add Insult to Injury: Medical Debt & Credit Reports

November 4, 2019

Automated Injustice Redux: Ten Years After a Key Report, Consumers Are Still Frustrated Trying to Fix Credit Reporting Errors

February 1, 2019

Paper Statements: An Important Consumer Protection

March 1, 2016

Account Screening Consumer Reporting Agencies: a Banking Access Perspective

October 1, 2015

Solving the Credit Conundrum: Helping Consumers’ Credit Records Impaired by the Foreclosure Crisis and Great Recession

December 11, 2013

Automated Injustice: How a Mechanized Dispute System Frustrates Consumers Seeking to Fix Errors in Their Credit Reports

January 14, 2009

Issue Briefs

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2023 Credit & Consumer Reporting Priorities to Promote Economic Stability

January 18, 2023

2023 Consumer Protection Federal Priorities

January 13, 2023

Even the Catch-22s Come With Catch-22s: Potential Harms & Drawbacks of Rent Reporting

October 24, 2022

Credit Monitoring: A Bad Deal for Consumers

September 12, 2022

No Silver Bullet: Using Alternative Data for Financial Inclusion and Racial Justice

June 1, 2022

2022 Consumer Protection Federal Priorities

February 18, 2022

Ramirez, Faux-Federalism, and the Futility of Consumer Disclosure Protections

August 10, 2021

2021 Credit & Consumer Reporting Priorities to Promote Economic Recovery

December 1, 2020

Salt in the Wound: How Eviction Records and Back Rent Haunt Tenant Screening Reports and Credit Scores

August 1, 2020

Testimony

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Testimony of Chi Chi Wu before the Massachusetts Legislature in Support of H.1429/S.894: An Act Regulating the Use of Credit Reporting in Housing

January 11, 2022

Testimony of Chi Chi Wu before Fintech Task Force of the US House Financial Services Committee on Preserving the Right of Consumers to Access Personal Financial Data

September 21, 2021

Testimony Regarding “A Biased, Broken System: Examining Proposals to Overhaul Credit Reporting to Achieve Equity”

June 29, 2021

Testimony of Chi Chi Wu before the Massachusetts Legislature in Support of H2019/S1153: the Fair Chance in Employment Act

June 29, 2021

Testimony on Consumer Credit Reporting: Assessing Accuracy and Compliance

May 26, 2021

Testimony Before House Financial Services Committee Regarding “Fair Credit Reporting Act: How It Functions for Consumers and the Economy”

June 4, 2003

Press Releases

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Consumer Advocates Blast So-Called Data Privacy Bill for Wiping Out State Consumer Protection Laws

February 27, 2023

CFPB Report Shows Progress in Taming Credit Bureaus’ Mistreatment of Consumers

January 3, 2023

Updated Credit Scoring Models Will Benefit Borrowers

October 24, 2022

Consumer Advocates Applaud CFPB Rule Affirming States’ Ability to Police Credit

June 28, 2022

CFPB Action Against TransUnion Shows Need for Public Credit Registry; Consumers Warned to Avoid Credit Monitoring

April 12, 2022

Consumer Advocates Cheer Removal of Most Medical Debt from Credit Reports

March 18, 2022

Advocates Applaud VA Rule to Dramatically Reduce Unfavorable Debt on Veterans’ Credit Reports

February 2, 2022

NCLC Advocates Applaud CFPB Bulletin To Prevent Unlawful Medical Debt Collection and Credit Reporting

January 13, 2022

NCLC Advocate Applauds CFPB Report Spotlighting Deficiencies in Credit Bureaus’ Complaint Handling; Calls for Fundamental Reform of Troubled Industry

January 6, 2022

Amicus Briefs

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Amicus Brief in Henderson v. the Source for Public Data

October 15, 2021

Amicus Brief: BBBB Bonding Corp. v. Caldwell

August 5, 2021

Amicus Brief in Transunion v. Ramirez in Support of the Respondent

March 15, 2021

Amicus Brief: CDIA v. Frey

January 26, 2021

Amicus Brief in Cook County v. Wolfe

January 24, 2020

Amicus Brief in State of Washington v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security

January 24, 2020

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