Colorado and New York are not waiting for the Fair Credit Reporting Act rulemaking to eliminate creditor use of medical debt announced by the CFPB in September 2023. As we previously blogged, in the past two years, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion have made significant changes with respect to medical debt collections by removing unpaid medical collections under $500 from consumer credit reports, removing paid medical collections from credit reports, and extending the time period before unpaid medical debt appears on a credit report to one year after the first delinquency.… Continue Reading
CFPB highlights furnishers’ duty under the FCRA to investigate disputes
The CFPB recently issued a bulletin highlighting the obligations of debt buyers, debt collectors, and others who furnish information to credit reporting agencies (CRAs) under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). In particular, the CFPB is concerned that furnishers may direct the CRAs to simply delete disputed items from consumer reports without conducting a proper investigation.… Continue Reading
CFPB files amicus brief in FCRA case
The CFPB recently filed its first amicus brief in a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) case. This brief, like the amicus brief the CFPB filed in August 2013 in the Seventh Circuit in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case, was filed jointly with the FTC.
The CFPB filed the latest brief in Moran v.… Continue Reading
CFPB elaborates on stepped-up FCRA enforcement activity
Yesterday we blogged about CFPB Bulletin 2013-09, which examined the CFPB’s expectations of furnishers investigating disputes under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FCRA was also the topic of a panel sponsored by the Consumer Financial Services Committee at the American Bar Association’s Annual Meeting in San Francisco on Friday, August 9.… Continue Reading
CFPB issues warning on furnisher’s duty to investigate disputes
The CFPB has issued a bulletin to companies that furnish information to consumer reporting agencies (CRA) reminding them of their obligation under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to investigate consumer disputes forwarded by a CRA and “review all relevant information” relating to the dispute. In the bulletin, the CFPB warns that it will take appropriate supervisory and enforcement actions to address furnisher violations of the FCRA or other federal consumer financial laws, including requiring restitution to harmed consumers. … Continue Reading
CFPB joins DOJ brief defending constitutionality of FCRA
The CFPB’s participation in a memorandum brief filed by the Department of Justice in support of the constitutionality of a provision of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is the most recent example of the CFPB’s activist approach. As we reported, the CFPB previously announced that it’s committed to filing amicus briefs in cases involving federal consumer financial protection laws, and has already filed amicus briefs in at least four federal appellate court cases involving a Truth in Lending rescission issue and in two federal appellate court cases involving Fair Debt Collection Practices Act issues.… Continue Reading
How the CFPB and the FTC interact (part 1)
In this first part, we look at how the Dodd-Frank Act structured interactions between the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The FTC has consumer protection jurisdiction over just about every business in the country, but for a few significant exceptions—financial institutions regulated by federal banking regulators, insurance companies and telecommunications companies among them.… Continue Reading