NAFCU warns of unintended consequences of credit reporting changes

NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler yesterday sent a letter to House leadership to share the association’s concerns with the Protecting Your Credit Score Act (H.R. 5332), which would alter credit unions’ process for reporting consumers’ credit information. The House is expected to vote on the legislation as soon as today.

“NAFCU believes an accurate credit report is imperative to consumers and the financial industry as a whole,” wrote Thaler. “While NAFCU is supportive of the legislation’s intent to promote accuracy and increase transparency on credit reports, we believe provisions of H.R. 5332 may lead to unintended consequences and must oppose it in its current form.”

Section 4, Thaler noted, requires furnishers of information – such as credit unions – to review and consider new or additional information each time a consumer disputes the accuracy of information in their credit report. Thaler said this could result in predatory credit repair companies continually disputing accurate information, at a great cost to financial institutions and consumers.

Thaler also flagged that allowing courts injunctive relief could lead to situations where courts may interpret the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) in a different way than the CFPB, which could lead to confusion amongst financial institutions on how to properly comply with the FCRA.

 

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