On April 8, 2024, the CFPB published an edition of Supervisory Highlights to share key findings from recent examinations about continuing accuracy problems in the credit reporting system. The CFPB found that consumer reporting companies failed to ensure the accuracy of credit reports and that furnishers failed to correct false or fraudulent information sent to consumer reporting companies.
According to the CFPB’s Supervisory Highlights, examiners found that consumer reporting companies and furnishers failed to follow a rule implemented in June 2022 to help survivors mitigate the financial consequences of human trafficking. The rule requires credit reporting companies to block, from credit reports, adverse information that resulted from human trafficking. The findings include the following:
Consumer reporting companies failed to block or remove information related to identity theft and human trafficking. Examiners discovered that companies did not honor consumer requests to block identity theft-related information due to broad reasons. They also did not notify consumers if blocks were rejected or removed, failed to give theft victims rights summaries, and did not promptly block human trafficking-related data reported by consumers.
Consumer reporting companies accepted information from unreliable furnishers. Examiners found companies accepted information from furnishers that may have been no longer providing reliable, verifiable information about consumers. For instance, credit agencies still used data from sources ignoring most disputes or giving identical responses to all disputes.
Furnishers provided information to consumer reporting companies they knew was false. Examiners discovered that companies providing auto loans kept sharing wrong or incomplete details for months or years, even when they knew the information was incorrect. In other instances, they shared information even after finding out it was fraudulent or a result of identity theft.
Furnishers did not follow requirements for dispute investigations and identity theft. Examiners found that some furnishers continued to furnish information that consumers were disputing without indicating the information was in dispute. In other instances, furnishers failed to conduct investigations into the accuracy of information consumers disputed.
CFPB examiners directed consumer reporting companies to revise their compliance processes to ensure that they process all human trafficking block requests per the law.
Read the CFPB’s press release here.
The 32nd Supervisory Highlights can be found here.
