Credit Reporting & Data Fairness

Credit Reporting & Scores

Credit reports and scores are critical to the economic health of over 200 million Americans. They are a consumer’s financial report card, used by employers, landlords, insurers, and lenders. Yet inaccuracies plague credit reports, and the FCRA-mandated dispute system to fix problems is broken and biased in favor of creditors and debt collectors. Credit scores also display serious racial disparities and perpetuate this nation’s legacy of economic discrimination. NCLC works to improve the credit reporting system.

Featured

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2023 Credit & Consumer Reporting Priorities to Promote Economic Stability

January 18, 2023

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

August 3, 2022

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

June 28, 2022

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

February 1, 2019

Past Imperfect: How Credit Scores and Other Analytics “Bake In” and Perpetuate Past Discrimination

May 3, 2016

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

June 1, 2022

Testimony on Consumer Credit Reporting: Assessing Accuracy and Compliance

May 26, 2021

Comments to the FTC-CFPB Tenant Screening Request for Information Submitted with the Center for Survivor Agency and Justice

May 30, 2023

NCLC Comments to FHFA Regarding Representative Credit Scores for Bi-Merge Reports and Credit Invisibles

May 12, 2023

Comments & Letters

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Comments to the FTC-CFPB Tenant Screening Request for Information Submitted with the Center for Survivor Agency and Justice

May 30, 2023

NCLC Comments to FHFA Regarding Representative Credit Scores for Bi-Merge Reports and Credit Invisibles

May 12, 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

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

Letter to CFPB Regarding Rental Debt Survey of Legal Aid and Non-Profit Attorneys

December 14, 2021

Reports

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Mismatched and Mistaken: How the Use of an Inaccurate Private Database Results in SSI Recipients Unjustly Losing Benefits

April 14, 2021

Report: Broken Records Redux

December 10, 2019

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

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

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

December 11, 2013

Full Utility Credit Reporting: Risks to Low Income Consumers

December 8, 2009

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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Zombie Records: How Sealed or Expunged Court Records in Tenant & Employment Screening Reports May Illegally Cost People Jobs & Housing

June 29, 2022

What States Can Do About Credit Repair Abuses

January 3, 2022

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

June 1, 2022

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

August 10, 2021

Fact Sheet Supporting Mass Fair Chance in Housing Act re Credit Scores in Housing

Fact Sheet Supporting Mass Fair Chance in Employment Act Regarding Credit Checks by Employers

Why We Need the Fair Chance in Housing Act (FCHA) to Keep Credit Reports Out of Housing Decisions Now

March 15, 2023

2023 Credit & Consumer Reporting Priorities to Promote Economic Stability

January 18, 2023

Assisting Consumers with Rental Debt During COVID-19: Legal Aid and Non-Profit Attorneys Share Their Experiences

December 14, 2021

Testimony

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Testimony of NCLC Staff Attorney Ariel Nelson Supporting CT HB 6528

March 4, 2021

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

June 29, 2021

Chi Chi Wu’s testimony in support of  Excluding Medical Debt Information from Consumer Reports (Colorado)

February 22, 2023

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 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 of Chi Chi Wu to U.S. House Financial Services: “Who’s Keeping Score? Holding Credit Bureaus Accountable and Repairing a Broken System

February 26, 2019

Testimony before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee regarding Consumer Protections and Equifax Data Breach

October 25, 2017

Testimony of Chi Chi Wu Before the U.S. House Regarding Examining the Equifax Data Breach

October 25, 2017

Press Releases

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

June 28, 2022

Advocates Applaud CFPB Report Highlighting the Toll of Inaccurate Medical Billing on Consumers

April 20, 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

Advocates Urge CFPB to Prevent Rental Debt From Becoming a Barrier to Housing

December 14, 2021

NCLC Advocates Applaud CFPB’s Action to Protect Consumers from False Identification by Background Screening Companies

November 4, 2021

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

Resources for Consumers

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Essentials About Credit Reporting

September 6, 2018

Your Credit Card Rights

August 9, 2016

Consumer Concerns: Information for Advocates Representing Older Adults

December 17, 2014

Disputing Errors in a Credit Report

September 2, 2014

What You Should Know About Your Credit Report

October 25, 2011

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

February 1, 2019

Ten years ago, the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) issued Automated Injustice: How a Mechanized Dispute System Frustrates Consumers Seeking to Fix Errors in their Credit Reports, the landmark report on the serious dysfunctions in the American credit reporting system. Since then, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) began exercising supervision authority over the Big…

Read More about: Automated Injustice Redux: Ten Years After a Key Report, Consumers Are Still Frustrated Trying to Fix Credit Reporting Errors
August 3, 2022
January 27, 2020

From the NCLC Digital Library

Fair Credit Reporting

The premier treatise on credit bureaus, tenant screening, background checks, and other reports, plus the latest U.S. Supreme Court rulings, CFPB interpretations, federal and state legislative changes, government enforcement actions, caselaw developments, and changes to industry practices.

Read Chapter One

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