Government Change May Make It Easier To Fight Credit Card Company Errors

Wednesday August 1, 2012 4:15 PM
UPDATED: Wednesday August 1, 2012 7:28 PM

The nation's largest credit reporting agencies are now being supervised by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Belinda Wooden has spent the better part of a decade trying to clean up the same errors on her credit reports.

"I could be on a phone call for hours, on hold, being transferred from one person to another person, from another person to another person," Wooden said.

In one case, she said that a credit bureau inaccurately showed a car loan that she paid off early as having been charged off by the bank. In another case, a fake debt collector convinced the credit bureaus she owed them $1,200.

Wooden said she paid $800 and then discovered it was a scam. It is still on her credit report as a bad debt.

"As a person that's trying to maintain their credit and everything - it's, it's, it's frustrating," Wooden said. "Very frustrating."

Transunion, Experien, and Equifax are among the credit bureaus that will now be regulated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

CFPB's Richard Cordray said that what happened to Wooden is not unusual, which is why credit reporting agencies need oversight.

"They keep credit files and compile credit reports on every American consumer," Cordray said. "You, me, and everybody we know. And those reports are becoming more and more influential in our lives."

Credit reports can affect loan approvals, interest rates - whether you get approved to rent an apartment or hired for a job.

The CFPB will focus on whether data given to reporting agencies by lenders and others is correct, whether the data is being processed accurately, and whether the dispute resolution process is effective.

Wooden said that it is an overdue move. The new plan will go into effect on Sept. 30.

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