CFPB Gives You Place To File Complaints About Credit Bureaus
Credit reporting agencies like TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax, provide reports and credit scores that effectively tell lenders what sort of human being you are. The amount of authority they have in a consumer’s life is astounding, especially when you consider the lack of oversight they’ve enjoyed. At least now the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking over their shoulder, and giving consumers a way to file complaints.
Earlier today, the CFPB launched its latest complaint portal for consumers, allowing them to quickly and easily register their grievance in a way that requires the agencies to respond.
Included among the complaint categories for this portal:
- Incorrect information on a credit report
- A consumer reporting agency’s investigation
- Improper use of a credit report
- Being unable to get a copy of a credit score or file
- Problems with credit monitoring or identify protection services
The CFPB asks that if you believe there is incorrect information on your credit report, or if you have an issue with a credit reporting company’s investigation, you should first file a dispute with the agency and see what the response is. If you are dissatisfied with the resolution, go through the complaint portal.
“When you get a credit report, you might assume that the report includes your credit score, but it doesn’t,” says Pamela Banks, senior policy counsel for Consumers Union. “You typically have to pay to get a credit score, and that score may not be the same score that businesses use to make big decisions about you and your finances. The whole process surrounding credit scores and credit reports can be incredibly confusing and misleading for consumers. We’re glad the CFPB has taken up this issue to help people with credit reports, and we’re going to keep pressing for reforms.”
The credit reporting portal joins the CFPB’s existing roster of mortgage, credit card, bank, vehicle/consumer loan, and student loan portals.
All of the agency’s portals are available from this page at consumerfinance.gov.
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