NCLC has testified many times before Congress, including before this Committee, on the need for reform of the credit reporting system to address issues such as:
- unacceptable error rates and the myriad types of systemic inaccuracies in credit reports; – the travesty of the automated dispute system used by the credit bureaus;
- the absurdity that credit reports and scores treats consumers who have fallen on hard times as irresponsible deadbeats;
- systemic racial disparities in credit scoring;
- the unfair impact of medical debt on credit reports; and
- the problems with use of credit reports for employment purposes.
These are all topics we once again discuss, because none of them have been adequately addressed despite decades of efforts by federal and state regulators, state legislatures, and consumer advocates. Moreover, we added a new problem to address in 2017, the deficiencies in data security that led to the massive Equifax data breach, which also has not yet been adequately addressed.