May 6, 2021 — Letter

The undersigned 143 organizations urge CFPB to take aggressive actions to protect the credit records of renters who have struggled financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, we urge you to prohibit debt collectors from reporting rent arrears debt to the nationwide consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), i.e., Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, if the rent debts accrued during the COVID-19 period.

This is another concrete step that the CFPB can take to protect renters that is well within its authority under both the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Section 1031 of the Dodd-Frank Act, 12 U.S.C. § 5531.