Credit reporting

The credit score firm partnered with Plaid to bring additional cash-flow data into its previously released UltraFICO score.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., has filed a Congressional Review Act resolution to repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rule barring medical debt from credit reports.

Fifteen million Americans who owe a combined $49 billion in medical debt would benefit from a proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to scrub medical debts from credit reports and ban their use in underwriting decisions.

At an industry conference, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said he was open to suggestions on how to increase choice and competition to benefit mortgage lenders and borrowers.

Industry executives coming off a tough year are wondering what the transition will cost and how many borrowers it'll bring in.

Credit bureaus should know better than to include "impossible" data, such as someone defaulting on a loan before they were born, says Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra.

In a letter to the agency’s new director, top Senate Democrats recommended policy steps intended to limit mistakes in consumers’ credit files that they said “can ruin lives.”

Kikoff, whose investors include Golden State Warriors' star Stephen Curry, provides applicants with a no-fee $500 revolving line of credit they can use to purchase personal finance books and courses from its online store. The company then reports this payment activity to some credit bureaus.

Democrats are pushing for a public-sector alternative to the three main credit bureaus, but Republicans argue that the government is ill-equipped to safely handle consumer data and produce accurate reports.

Some say Equifax, Experian and TransUnion are too slow to investigate grievances, prompting more complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But the big three say other forces are at work.

Complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau jumped 54% to 542,300 in 2020. Concerns about credit reports have long outnumbered those in other categories and jumped significantly as a share of the total from 2019.

Loans with coronavirus-related forbearance have to be reported as current to the credit bureaus but there’s a ripple effect from them that has implications for credit reports and underwriting.

If Capitol Hill plans another round of stimulus, Democrats could have more leverage to demand steps such as suspending overdraft fees or placing a temporary cap on consumer lending rates.

The agency said lenders should avoid reporting delinquent payments to credit bureaus for consumers who have sought payment relief due to the pandemic.

The six bills championed by Democrats aim to reduce consumer burdens and provide opportunities for borrowers to rehabilitate their credit, but the legislation has garnered no Republican support.

Financial regulators’ statement cautiously encouraging lenders to go beyond traditional underwriting in their lending decisions is a big step forward for the use of alternative data and artificial intelligence, bankers say.

Casting aside recession fears, the credit bureau predicts credit cards, mortgages, auto loans and unsecured personal loans should all perform well — including those extended by online lenders.

Regulators have long warned the credit bureaus about deceptive marketing that causes consumers to sign up unwittingly for paid monitoring services. But the practice has persisted, according to complaint data.

A year after the major credit bureaus agreed to strip tax liens and civil judgments from consumers' credit files, a new study says it is hampering lenders' credit decisions. But proponents of the move insist it was the right call.

Though the use of alternative data in lending is seen by some as untested, several fintechs say they couldn't function without it.