CFPB reports on NCRA’s complaint responsiveness

Federal Issues CFPB Consumer Finance Consumer Reporting Agency Credit Furnishing FCRA

On January 5, the CFPB released a report, pursuant to Section 611(e)(5) of the FCRA, on information gathered by the Bureau on certain consumer complaints transmitted by the Bureau to the three largest nationwide consumer reporting agencies (NCRAs). According to the report, the CFPB received over 800,000 credit or consumer reporting complaints between January 2020 to September 2021, and of the complaints, over 700,000 were submitted about the same three NCRAs discussed in the report. According to the Bureau, complaints submitted about the NCRAs accounted for over 50 percent of all complaints received by the Bureau in 2020 and over 60 percent in 2021. The Bureau’s analysis revealed that consumers submitted more complaints in each complaint session and are increasingly returning to the Bureau’s complaint process, with a significant amount of complaints regarding inaccurate information on their credit and consumer reports. The CFPB found that the NCRAs reported relief in less than 2 percent of complaints, which is down from approximately 25 percent of complaints in 2019. Additionally, consumers most frequently complained that the inaccurate information belongs to other individuals, and consumers often described being victims of identity theft. The Bureau, in addition to pointing out how the NCRAs are “fail[ing] to meet [their] statutory obligations” under the FCRA, also noted that medical debts are an “unnavigable quagmire” and needs to be addressed. It reported that the NCRAs “do not take available steps to distinguish between complaints authorized by the consumer and those not authorized by the consumer.” The Bureau also mentioned issues that consumers face when attempting to dispute information on their credit reports, such as, among other things: (i) unsuccessfully disputing information in a timely manner; (ii) frequently expending resources to correct inaccuracies; and (iii) and finding themselves caught between furnishers and NCRAs when attempting to resolve disputes. Other highlights of the report include noting that the NCRA rely “heavily” on utilizing template responses to complaints, despite having 60 days to respond, and that two of the NCRAs mentioned in the report do not give “substantive responses to consumers’ complaints if they suspected that a third-party was involved in submitting a complaint.”