Accused of stonewalling complaints, major credit agencies promise reform in pact with New York AG
Following claims that credit reporting agencies stonewall consumer complaints about inaccuracies, New York’s attorney general demanded reform and has now announced a settlement.
Among other changes, the three major credit reporting agencies have promised to have trained employees review the specifics of complaints about alleged errors and will wait six months, so that insurance companies can get a jump on the situation, before reporting past-due medical bills, according to the New York Times (reg. req.), Reuters and the Albany Times Union.
“Credit reports touch every part of our lives. They affect whether we can obtain a credit card, take out a college loan, rent an apartment, or buy a car–and sometimes even whether we can get jobs,” said AG Eric Schneiderman in a written statement about the settlement announced Monday.
“The nation’s largest reporting agencies have a responsibility to investigate and correct errors on consumers’ credit reports. This agreement will reform the entire industry and provide vital protections for millions of consumers across the country. I thank the three agencies for working with us to help consumers.”
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “State AG sues Experian, says credit-report Goliath stonewalls consumers about known errors”
ABAJournal.com: “Jury awards woman $18.6M over Equifax credit report errors”
