CFPB Orders TransUnion and Equifax to Pay for Deceiving Consumers in Marketing Credit Scores

POSTED BY: Mark F. Anderson | Credit Score, News

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today announced it has taken action against Equifax and TransUnion for deceiving consumers about the usefulness and actual cost of credit scores they sold to consumers. The companies also lured consumers into costly recurring payments for credit-related products with false promises. The CFPB said that from 2011 to March 2014, TransUnion and Equifax falsely represented that the credit scores they marketed and provided to consumers were the same scores lenders typically use to make credit decisions. In fact, the scores were not typically used by lenders. Plus, TransUnion and Equifax falsely claimed that their credit...

CONTINUE

Consumer Can Now Upload Documents to Support their Disputes

POSTED BY: Mark F. Anderson | Credit Report, News

Consumer Can Now Upload Documents to Support their Disputes The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today announced that If you’re trying to correct an error in your credit report at one of the nation’s largest credit reporting companies, there is some good news. Recently, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion added a function to their online dispute-handling systems that allow consumers to upload supporting documents such as a paid bill, letters, a police report, or proof of identity information to help explain their disputes. Millions of Americans dispute errors in their credit report. In 2011, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion together received about 8...

CONTINUE

Interesting Analysis of Consumer Complaints about Credit Reporting

POSTED BY: Mark F. Anderson | Credit Report, News

Interesting Analysis of Consumer Complaints about Credit Reporting The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had made available a consumer complaint database that tracks complaints made by consumers to the CFPB and how they are resolved. The database includes consumer complaints about credit bureaus with the aim of uncovering patterns in the problems consumers are experiencing with credit reporting. U.S. PIRG, a consumer group, analyzed the data and made this report. Since the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau began collecting complaints about credit reporting in October 2012, the CFPB has recorded more than 10,000 complaints about credit reporting. Equifax, TransUnion and Experian were...

CONTINUE

Credit Bureaus to Forward Dispute Documents to Creditors

POSTED BY: Mark F. Anderson | News

Reporter Kelly Dilworth of CreditCards.com has posted an excellent report on a new development in the credit dispute process. For the first time, beginning later this year, TransUnion, Experian and Equifax will begin scanning every document that you mail in, including the full text of your dispute letter, and electronically transmit the documents to lenders and other data furnishers. Heretofore, all the credit bureaus sent to the creditors was a two or three digit code and a few comments. For example, if a consumer states the account does not belong to him or her, the dispute would be reduced to...

CONTINUE

Experian Worst of Big 3 in Resolving Consumer Disputes

POSTED BY: Mark F. Anderson | Credit Report, News

The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a complaint database concerning credit reporting. Based on the data, the Bureau last week published a report that Experian received almost 60 percent more complaints than TransUnion and 14 percent more than Equifax. Even worse, Experian offered relief to the consumer just 1.4 percent of the time! That compares to a rate of 24 percent at TransUnion and 55 percent for Equifax.. This data is consistent with the cases I see. Experian only rarely deletes accounts that the consumer disputes, instead deferring to its customers, the banks and other creditors. The the Big...

CONTINUE