Major Consumer Protections Announced in Response to COVID-19

CARES Act § 4021 provides less than minimal protections regarding credit reporting. From January 31, 2020 until 120 days after the end of the national state of emergency, if a creditor has made an accommodation (such as a forbearance or workout) for a consumer pursuant to the state of emergency, the creditor shall report that account with the same status as prior to the accommodation to a consumer reporting agency, i.e., if an account was current it shall continue to be reported as current, while a delinquent account shall continue be reported as delinquent. The exceptions are (1) the provision does not apply to charged-off accounts and (2) if the account was delinquent and the consumer manages to bring the account current during the period of accommodation, the account shall be reported as current.