CREDIT REPORTING INDUSTRY TO CHANGE REPORTING METHODS

Thomas Burns

10 years ago

CREDIT REPORTING INDUSTRY TO CHANGE REPORTING METHODS.

GOOD NEWS FOR CONSUMERS: The three credit reporting companies that collect and disseminate credit information on most American will change the way they handle errors and list unpaid medical bills as part of a broad industry overhaul. The plan is part of an agreement with New York Attorney General’s Office and Equifax Information Services, Experian Information Solutions and TransUnion.

The Changes Include:

*Consumers will find more educational material at www.annualcreditreport.com, the website that allows consumers to obtain a free credit report from each of the three ratings agencies once a year.

*Consumers who obtain free annual credit reports and dispute information resulting in modification of the disputed item will be able to obtain another free annual report without waiting a year.

*Consumers who dispute items on their credit reports will receive additional information from the credit bureaus along with the results of their dispute, including a description of what they can do if they are not satisfied with the outcome of their dispute.

*The credit reporting agencies are focusing on an enhanced dispute resolution process for consumers that are proven victims of identity theft and fraud, as well as those involved in mixed file situations.

In addition, Changes have been made to improve data accuracy:

*Medical debts won’t be reported until after a 180-day “waiting period” to allow insurance payments to be applied. The CRAs will also remove from credit reports previously reported medical collections that have been or are being paid by insurance.

*Consistent standards will be reinforced by the credit bureaus to entities that submit data for inclusion in a credit report (data furnishers).

*Data furnishers will be prohibited from reporting authorized users without a date of birth and the agencies will reject data that does not comply with this requirement.

*The CRAs will eliminate the reporting of debts that did not arise from a contract or agreement by the consumer to pay, such as tickets or fines.

*A multi-company working group will be formed to regularly review and help ensure consistency and uniformity in the data submitted by data furnishers for inclusion in a consumer’s credit report.