The Big Three credit agencies are juggling roughly 2.6 billion data entries apiece, at any given time. With over 1 billion modifications to those entries each month, “[s]peed and volume are favored over accuracy.” Aaron Klein of the Brookings Institute writes, the “costs of correcting the data outweigh benefits,” leading to millions of errors on […]
Until recently, mortgage lenders could access the lien and judgment history of potential borrowers through a borrower’s credit report. The national credit reporting agencies (NCRAs), TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian, did such a poor job of keeping reliable records on liens and judgments—Social Security numbers were missing from roughly 50% of tax lien records and 96% […]
Richard Smith, the beleaguered CEO of Equifax, has stepped down from his post. Apart from referring to Smith’s exit as a “retirement,” Equifax makes no effort to conceal the reasons for his departure. Since Equifax’s data breach was made public earlier this month, “[a]s much as one-third of Equifax’s market value [has] vanished;” the corporation […]
Clear partisan lines emerge in response to the Equifax breach. Last week, Democrats introduced the Freedom from Equifax Exploitation Act, barring credit bureaus the ability to charge a fee for freezing consumer credit. House Republicans, on the other hand, propose to undermine credit-industry regulations with new legislation. The Credit Services Protection Act, introduced by Ed […]
NY Governor, Andrew Cuomo, announces new regulations for credit reporting agencies. Referring to July’s Equifax breach as “a wake-up call,” Cuomo said that NY will hold the credit industry to the same scrutiny as banks and other financial industries who do business in the state. Credit reporting agencies will be required to register with the […]
While it may not surprise you that having good credit contributes to one’s general attractiveness, recent data suggests that relationship seekers prioritize high credit scores to a surprising degree over more traditional markers of attractiveness, such as having a nice car or holding a high-status career. Match.com’s Chief Scientific Advisor, Helen Fisher, suggests that we […]
As AI advances, the financial industry is propelled into an orbit of seemingly boundless efficiency. What used to take armies of well-compensated attorneys at JP Morgan Chase, and other financial corporations, 100,000s of hours to perform, can now be accomplished by computers in a matter of seconds. Though some remain skeptical, “machine learning” seems poised […]
In response to Equifax’s July data breach, droves of Americans rush to freeze their credit, overwhelming the “Big Three” credit bureaus’ resources. See NBC News video here
Congressman Barry Loudermilk’s proposal to weaken the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) entered the national discourse on the heels of Equifax’s potentially catastrophic data breach. Industry watchdogs highlight the sharp contrast between the need for credit-industry regulation (as evidenced by the Equifax breach) and the coziness with which some Congress members comport themselves to the […]
For nearly half a century, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) has empowered American consumers, serving as a deterrent against credit reporting and background check errors—nowadays an all-too-familiar feature of the credit reporting industry. The possibility of punitive damages (available in some matters) supplies the FCRA with a great deal of its bite. Georgia Congressman, […]