In 2021 the major credit reporting agencies reported relief in response to less than 2% of covered complaints, down from 25% in 2019.

A new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau analysis sharply criticized the three major nationwide consumer reporting companies, alleging changes in complaint responses provided by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion resulted in fewer meaningful responses and less consumer relief. The report said in 2021, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion reported relief in response to less than 2% of covered complaints, down from nearly 25% of covered complaints in 2019. CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said the response “America’s credit reporting oligopoly has little incentive to treat consumers fairly when their credit reports have errors,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “Today’s report is further evidence of the serious harms stemming from their faulty financial surveillance business model.” The report said consumers submitted more than 700,000 complaints to the CFPB regarding Equifax, Experian and TransUnion from January 2020 through September 2021, which represented more than 50% of all complaints received by the agency for that period. Consumers submit more complaints about inaccurate information on their credit and consumer reports than about any other problem. Consumers most frequently assert that the inaccurate information belongs to someone else, and consumers often describe being victims of identity theft. The CFPB found the three companies often failed to provide substantive responses, especially when they alleged the complaints were sent in by third parties. The report said Equifax, Experian and TransUnion relied heavily on “template complaint responses” instead of providing meaningful and thorough responses to consumers, despite having up to 60 calendar days to respond.  Furthermore, the analysis said that, beginning in early 2020, Experian and TransUnion stopped providing substantive responses to consumers’ complaints at all if they suspected that a third-party was involved in submitting a complaint, despite regulations stating consumers can authorize third-party representatives to submit complaints on their behalf.

Source: The Mortgage Bankers Association