Wells Fargo is having a hard time getting Americans to sign up for credit cards these days.

Credit card applications at Wells Fargo plunged by 55% in February, the sharpest decline since the bank’s fake account scandal erupted last September. Another sign of trouble: Wells Fargo (WFC) said Monday that consumers opened 43% fewer checking accounts than a year ago and interactions with branch bankers fell by 21% in the same month. Despite taking a series of steps to […]

Services Offer Some Benefits but Are Limited in Preventing Fraud

What GAO Found Identity theft services offer some benefits but have limitations. Credit monitoring helps detect new-account fraud (that is, the opening of new unauthorized accounts) by alerting users, but it does not prevent such fraud or address existing-account fraud, such as misuse of a stolen credit card number. Consumers have alternatives to credit monitoring, including […]

Held by Maryland’s Highest Court: Midland Funding

Held by Maryland’s Highest Court: Midland Funding waived its right to arbitration when it sued Mr. Cain in small claims court.  Because Midland was unlicensed when they sued him, the judgment against him and all other class members is VOID.  Following up on their $38 million unjust enrichment verdict in Finch v. LNVN (for the […]

CFPB Fines Experian $3 Million for Deceiving Consumers in Marketing Credit Scores

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today took action against Experian and its subsidiaries for deceiving consumers about the use of credit scores it sold to consumers. Experian claimed the credit scores it marketed and provided to consumers were used by lenders to make credit decisions. In fact, lenders did not use Experian’s scores to […]

Credit Reports to Exclude Certain Negative Information, Boosting FICO Scores

Extending Credit

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion recently decided to remove tax-lien and civil-judgment data starting around July 1, according to the Consumer Data Industry Association, a trade group that represents them. The firms will do so if those data don’t include a complete list of at least three data points: a person’s name, address and either a […]

CFPB: SUPERVISORY HIGHLIGHTS CONSUMER REPORTING SPECIAL EDITION (ISSUE 14)

Supervision’s work in the consumer reporting market is ongoing and remains a high priority. Consumer reporting companies and furnishers have an obligation to maintain the accuracy of consumer data, but experience indicates that they lack incentives and under-invest in accuracy. Indeed, these most recent supervisory findings underscore Supervision’s concern about the lack of resources […]

IF THE CFPB IS WEAKENED, WON’T THE CREDIT BUREAUS RUN AMOK (AGAIN?)

 You can also read Director Cordray’s full remarks on the report to the CFPB Consumer Advisory Board last week. “Consumer reporting, also known as credit reporting, is an important market that for many years has not been very transparent and generally is not well understood by consumers. It is also one of the markets where people […]

CFPB Oversight Uncovers And Corrects Credit Reporting Problems

Bureau Report Outlines Accuracy and Other Issues That Bureau Supervision Has Taken Action to Address WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a report detailing the problems in the credit reporting industry that the Bureau has uncovered and corrected through its oversight work. Since launching its supervision of the credit reporting […]

Employer Commits Willful Violation of Fair Credit Reporting Act By Including Waiver In Statutorily Mandated Disclosure

In Syed v. M-I, LLC, the Ninth Circuit held that including waiver of potential claims language in the same document as the statutorily required Fair Credit and Reporting Act disclosure was a violation of FCRA.  In sum, the Court ruled that the FCRA rights notice cannot be combined with any other notice or agreement.  It must […]

By Law Consumers Are Entitled To One Free Annual Credit Report.

The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act is law that gives consumers certain rights when companies include your credit report in a decision making process. Denied Credit? Under the FCRA both the credit reporting company, and the company that provided the information, are responsible for correcting inaccurate information on your credit report.” — Patrick Mansfield […]