Broad Coalition of Advocates Urges Support for Comprehensive Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 2016

(BOSTON, Mass.)- Today, a broad coalition of consumer, civil rights, labor, and community organizations issued a letter strongly urging members of the U.S. House of Representatives to support of H.R. 5282, the Comprehensive Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 2016, introduced today by Congresswoman Maxine Waters.

Credit reports and credit scores are the gatekeeper for affordable credit, insurance, rental housing, and sometimes even a job. The reforms addressed in the bill are urgently needed in order to ensure that the American credit reporting system is accurate and fair to consumers..

In a 2012 study, the Federal Trade Commission found that 21% of consumers had verified errors in their credit reports, 13% had errors that affected their credit scores, and 5% had errors serious enough to be denied or pay more for credit.

"We applaud Congresswoman Waters for introducing a bill that will vastly improve the credit reporting system, and with it, the economic lives of millions of Americans," said National Consumer Law Center staff attorney Chi Chi Wu. “It reforms the broken dispute process, improves the accuracy of credit reports, repairs the credit of victimized homeowners and defrauded student loan borrowers, shortens the overly long time limits for negative information, provides free annual credit scores, severely restricts employment use of credit reports, tackles medical debt, cracks down on misleading marketing of credit monitoring products, and does so much more."

The coalition letter is available at: http://www.nclc.org/images/pdf/credit_reports/letter-support-for-waters-fcra-bill-may2016.pdf

H.R. 5282: legislation, an executive summary, and an extended summary

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