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U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown
Fixing Errors
on Ohioans’ Credit Reports
Too many Ohioans are still feeling the effects of the 2008 financial
crisis — particularly on their credit scores.
More than 50 million consumers saw their credit scores plunge more than
20 points during the worst days of the crisis, from 2008 to 2009. Many
still haven’t fully recovered.
To make matters worse, one-in-five consumers has an error on his or her
credit report. These errors can have serious consequences. Today credit
scores are being used more than ever, and often for non-credit
purposes, like employment and rental housing. Inaccurate scores can
lead to Ohioans being given incorrect interest rates or no credit at
all.
We need to do more to build on-ramps to the middle class for
hardworking Ohioans, and our country took one important step in that
direction last week.
We know that these issues are frustrating too many Ohioans. The
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was created after the
crisis to be a voice for consumers in our financial system, and
together, debt collection and credit reporting made up the majority of
the complaints the CFPB received from consumers over the past year.
Since the CFPB opened its doors, 20,000 Ohio consumers have filed
complaints with the Bureau — and roughly 8,000 of those were about debt
collection and credit reporting.
We need to ensure that credit scores are accurate, and that errors and
old debt aren’t compounding the problem.
That’s why last week I introduced the Consumer Reporting Fairness Act.
It would require creditors to ensure that debts discharged in
bankruptcy show a zero balance on the consumer’s credit report in an
accurate and timely manner.
This will ensure that debts prior to bankruptcy aren’t, in effect,
double-counted and don’t continue to haunt Ohioans looking for jobs,
apartments, and home loans. We also know that debt collectors are too
often going after debt that is not owed, often in abusive ways. This
bill will put a stop to that harassment.
Foreclosures already wreaked havoc on consumers’ credit scores during
the crisis. We need to make it easier for Americans to get back on
their feet with commonsense reforms like this.
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