CFPB, Federal Agencies, State Agencies, and Attorneys General
The CFPB has issued a compliance bulletin and policy guidance on medical debt collection and consumer reporting requirements in connection with the No Surprises Act.
The No Surprises Act sets forth requirements that apply to certain individuals who receive care from an out-of-network provider that furnishes emergency services, inpatient services an in-network facility, or air…
American Banker has reported that beginning in the next few weeks, Equifax will add a business industry code for buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) transactions to allow such transactions to appear on credit reports. It also reported that TransUnion is working on its own BNPL credit reporting service.
The growth in consumer use of BNPL is leading to…
The CFPB’s new annual report of credit and consumer reporting complaints, required by Section 611(e) of the FCRA, criticizes the three largest nationwide consumer reporting agencies (NCRAs) for allegedly failing to meet their FCRA obligations to it and for engaging in practices that have led to a significant increase in the volume of consumer…
The CFPB has issued an advisory opinion that affirms that the use of “name-only matching” by consumer reporting agencies, including tenant and employment screening companies, does not satisfy the FCRA requirement for a CRA ”to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information concerning the individual about whom the [consumer] report relates.” …
The CFPB recently published a new report, “Disputes on Consumer Credit Reports.” Using data on auto loan, student loan, general purpose credit card, and retail card accounts opened between 2012 and 2019, the report looks at the demographic characteristics of disputers and the outcomes for accounts with dispute flags. The report is yet…
The CFPB, FTC, and the North Carolina Department of Justice filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit urging it to reverse a district court decision that found Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act made a consumer reporting agency immune from FCRA claims.
In Henderson v. The Source…
The National Defense Authorization Act as passed by the House and now headed to the Senate includes amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act dealing with the reporting of adverse information on servicemembers by consumer reporting agencies.
The amendments add the defined terms “uniformed consumer” and “deployed uniformed consumer” to the FCRA. A “uniformed consumer”…
We look at the practices found to be unlawful by CFPB examiners in these markets, discuss what the findings signal for future scrutiny of these markets by the “new CFPB”, and share practical takeaways for companies operating in these markets. Issues highlighted in our conversation include the CFPB’s findings regarding “unreliable furnishers,” furnisher handling of…
After reviewing the facts and holding in Ramirez, we discuss how the decision clarifies the concrete harm requirement established by SCOTUS’s Spokeo decision, Ramirez’s implications for class action and individual lawsuits alleging violations of federal consumer financial protection laws, and the potential impact on state court litigation.
Chris Willis, Co-Chair of Ballard Spahr’s Consumer…
A Florida federal district court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a borrower alleging FCRA violations by Clarity Services, Inc. (Clarity), the consumer reporting agency that provided the borrower’s consumer report to her lender. In dismissing the plaintiff’s FCRA claims, the district court rejected the plaintiff’s argument that the FCRA requires a consumer reporting agency,…
