Bill to Empower Consumers, Enhance Credit Reporting Accuracy Earns McCaskill Support

Press Release

Legislation to empower consumers by enhancing the accuracy of their credit reports and making it easier to dispute potential errors today earned the support of U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill.

In 2013, McCaskill led a Senate hearing focused on credit reporting inaccuracies affecting millions, raising concerns about online marketing schemes by companies claiming to offer free credit reports and scores that are unknowingly committing consumers to monthly charges for services, and urging federal regulators to take steps to address this consumer abuse. McCaskill highlighted the story of Brenda Campbell of Nixa, Mo. who spent years fighting to correct errors on her credit report, and was eventually forced to bring her case to trial. McCaskill used Brenda's story to illustrate the difficulty consumers often face in getting errors on credit reports fixed.

"Missouri consumers should be able to expect accurate and easy access to their own credit reports," said McCaskill, a former Missouri State Auditor and member of the Senate Commerce Committee. "Unfortunately, for too long, companies have taken advantage of consumers by making access to credit reports difficult at best, and subject to court proceedings at worst. To better ensure we're helping folks achieve the financial security they've worked for, we've got to have better access to these reports, and a better avenue for resolving disputes when they arise."

The legislation, which comes on the week of the five-year anniversary of sweeping Wall Street reform legislation that McCaskill helped pass into law, would require the credit reporting agencies to improve their standards for accuracy, improve the dispute process for consumers who find errors in their credit reports, mandate consumers be better informed about companies requesting their credit reports, make it easier for consumers to know about negative information in their credit report, allow parents to freeze credit reports for children, and provide new legal resources for consumers.

A report by the Federal Trade Commission showed that one in every five consumers had errors on at least one of their three major credit reports. Many of these errors were found to be significant enough to impact consumers' ability to access credit for housing or home loans, insurance, or even their ability to obtain a job.

The Wall Street reform bill cracked down on reckless behavior by big banks that brought about the 2008 financial crisis. The reform bill created an independent consumer protection bureau to go after "bad actors" and to require all players to play by the same set of rules. It also ended taxpayer-funded bailouts by forcing Wall Street banks to pay for their own liquidation should they fail, and eliminated loopholes that had allowed risky and abusive practices. McCaskill also helped pass into law the Credit CARD Act in 2009. The bill requires credit card statements to be mailed 21 days before a bill is due, prohibits card holders from structuring payments to maximize interest charges, and puts limitations on card issuers' ability to change interest rates. It was estimated in 2013 that the Credit CARD Act's fee reductions have saved U.S. consumers $20.8 billion per year.

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