The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is calling on the three largest consumer reporting agencies to improve the accuracy of their reports after nearly a half-million complaints were submitted to the agency from October 2021 to September 2022.
The CFPB called on TransUnion, Equifax and Experian to recognize the impact automating processes has on consumers while enabling them to have more access to the data that the companies use.
“One potential reason there are so many reported inaccuracies in consumer reporting data is that consumers are several degrees removed from their own data,” the CFPB stated. “Enabling increased consumer participation on the data side of consumer reporting has the potential to create a fairer market with added benefits for consumers, consumer reporting companies and lenders.
“TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian routinely top the list of complaints submitted by consumers,” added Director Rohit Chopra. “We will be exploring new rules to ensure that they are following the law, rather than cutting corners to fuel their profit model.”
The report came after the CFPB revealed that more than half of the complaints submitted to the agency from January 2020 through the following summer involved Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. According to the report, which was released in early 2022, most of the approximately 700,000 complaints related to inaccurate information on credit and consumer reports. The three companies reported relief in less than 2 percent of covered complaints, according to the CFPB, down from nearly 25 percent in 2019.
The companies were more responsive in the more recent report, according to the regulatory agency, providing responses to more than half of the complaints that were closed either with an explanation or relief.
“In 2022, TransUnion reported providing relief in most complaints,” the regulatory agency stated. “Experian reported providing relief in nearly half of complaints. Equifax reported that it did not provide relief, but its written complaint responses suggest that its rates of relief are comparable to the other two companies.”