Credit reports control way too much of an individuals life. A bad credit score can deny someone a job, never mind a credit card and a mortgage. The four billion dollar a year consumer credit rating industry has way too much power and almost no accountability. They would rather be sued repeatedly and lose than set up a system to actually repair inaccurate credit scores.
The FTC has a new study which shows 1 in 5 credit reports is chock full of errors. That's 20% of Americans with gross errors on their credit report with 10% of Americans having their credit score lowered as a result. While the FTC claims 10% of people succeed in getting bad information off their credit reports, CBS 60 Minutes found something different. The credit reporting bureaus won't fix the errors.
The entire system to try to repair an inaccurate credit report is a joke. It is impossible to get errors removed from your credit report. Credit report disputes are a rigged game. The credit reporting bureaus don't list a phone number and instead route people to their websites to really sell products. If one mails detailed documentation to fix the problems, those documents are not reviewed. If one does manage to find a phone number, they are routed to an offshore outsourced call center where there is no help. It is impossible to get errors removed from your credit report as detailed below.
Credit rating agencies only listen to the creditor, not the individual whose credit is being ruined. No matter how much documentation an individual has proving the error, nothing will be corrected as individuals and their mountains of documentation are ignored. This gives carte blanche to unscrupulous debt collectors. False reports of claimed debt are filed with these credit reporting agencies and if that happens there is little recourse. In other words, credit reporting agencies have simply given anyone who calls themselves a creditor, an extortion tool to force individuals to pay on debt they do not even owe. All because the individual is ignored and all power is given to creditors.
Last July, the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was supposedly investigating. the credit reporting bureaus and obviously not much has happened. In October they started accepting complaints in addition to the FTC.
Comments
Credit reporting companies are outsourced - no shock
Our data and Social Security Numbers are outsourced to India and elsewhere, so along with complete inaccuracies (or dare I say purposeful fraud a possibility - $/bribes to raise rates on Americans), we also have the fact that these companies enable ID theft through their flagrant disregard of our privacy and the security of our personal info.
So, inaccuracies, ID theft, and this causes the loss of money to Americans, being fired or losing out on jobs because of the ridiculous mandatory credit checks for working anywhere in this idiocracy, etc.? So, which CEO and outsourcing proponents in the Chamber and DC should we sue? Which politician is going to take the blame or be forced to? Which sellout is going to be personally liable? Which company will be sued into oblivion here or in Mumbai? Because only then when that happens can we expect change.
Notice all of the state attorney generals involved
The reason there are so many state attorney general offices involved is because the the credit report industry refuses to remove anything from individuals. So then one is involved in reporting the unscrupulous creditor who is falsely reporting to the credit report companies. There are three majors but over 30 minors, which means one is dealing with all of those separate companies and then dealing with the bad creditor falsely reporting.
When it is not a bad creditor, but something the credit reporting industry has done themselves, such as a wrong name, social security number, people cannot get it off their reports.
Basically way too late to the game, and too late to fix lives
These problems were preventable, so given the numbers, we're looking at tens of millions of people who have been adverseley affected. Everything from paying too much on loans, getting denied loans, losing out on jobs, and many other negative consequences. That's ignoring the ID theft that this allows, the ID theft that also affects credit ratings, and everything else these companies allow. The AGs and every politician that didn't accept $ from those with interests in credit reporting agencies, banks, loan companies, etc. could have said running credit reports for anything except high-risk/high-security jobs (e.g., military, national security, top cash handling positions, law enforcement positions) would be illegal. In addition, they could have said all credit agencies and employees must be based in the US and all inquiries and responses must be within the borders of the US, all documents must be stored in the US. Did they? No. And now after people are ruined or have been screwed long enough and hard enough, the AGs and other publicity seekers smell microphones and press conferences and easy cases to make their names in (because apparently going after the big banks, $ laundering, etc. was even too much for the one AG for NY to pursue). Congrats, easy pickings for people that get paid by us, to serve and protect us, but simply refuse to see and do what the average American understands and knows. Complete lack of faith in politicians and the govt. once again - seems to be a running theme for decades now.
credit reporting agencies don't seem that bad to me...
My own experience is quite different.
Someone was trying to get a credit card using my identity, and the made a mess of my credit report, with credit applications, false addresses, etc.
I contacted Experian and they straightened it up 100%.
So I think it may be that there are a variety of experiences that people have.
None of this significantly affected my credit scores, which have been above 800 for quite a while.
I mention that because it is possible the credit agencies treat you differently if you have good credit than if you don't.
It isn't a great accomplishment to have good credit. If you are blessed with more income than you need to survive, and pay your bills reasonably close to on time, and can avoid financial disasters like being unemployed, or having huge medical bills, your credit should be pretty good. It is more a matter of "luck" than anything.
Not Much Has Changed
It's 2017 and not a lot has changed. Equifax just lost pretty much everyone's data and there isn't much that can be done about it.