Business

How New Changes by Credit-Reporting Firms May Affect You

Published

9 years ago

March 10, 2015

In this March 5, 2012, file photo, consumer credit cards are posed in North Andover, Mass. The three largest credit reporting agencies will change the way they handle records in a major revamp long sought by consumer advocates. The changes were announced Monday, March 9, 2015, after talks between Equifax, Experian, TransUnion and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

MICHELLE CHAPMAN, AP Business Writers
ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writers

The three big credit reporting agencies are making changes that could help steer some consumers clear of the credit dog house.

Data collected by the agencies Equifax, Experian and TransUnion on hundreds of millions of people are used to create credit scores. Those scores can determine who gets a loan and how much interest is paid on it.

The move stems from months of negotiations between the companies and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, one of several state attorneys general who have placed the credit reporting industry under increased scrutiny.

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood sued Experian last June, claiming the firm has knowingly included error-riddled data in consumer credit files. In Ohio, Attorney General Mike DeWine is leading more than 30 states in an investigation into the credit firms. That suggests more changes by the industry could be coming.

So how will these latest changes affect you?

Q: WHAT’S CHANGING HERE?

A: The credit bureaus have agreed to make several changes. Two of them have the potential to affect consumers the most: changes to how people go about disputing errors in their credit files and in the type of credit data that will appear in their files.

Q: WILL IT BE EASIER TO DISPUTE ERRORS IN MY CREDIT REPORT?

A: In theory. Let’s say you’ve made a timely payment on your credit card but it mistakenly shows up in your credit file as a late payment, potentially weighing down your credit score. Right now, consumers who want to fix that error can file a dispute with the credit reporting agencies, but it falls on the consumer to get the mistake fixed with their credit card company. In addition, the credit agencies basically defer to the creditor.

To address this, the firms have agreed to hire employees tasked with reviewing consumer credit disputes independently and not merely rubber-stamping what credit card issuers and lenders say.

Q: WHAT ARE THE CHANGES TO MEDICAL DEBT?

A: In a bid to increase accuracy, medical debts won’t be reported until after a 180-day waiting period to allow time for insurance payments to be applied. The agencies agreed to remove from credit reports previously reported medical collections that have been or are being paid by insurance companies.

Medical debts often arise from insurance coverage delays or disputes. Over half of all collection items on credit reports are medical debts and those debts may not accurately reflect consumers’ creditworthiness, according to a statement from Schneiderman.

Q: WHAT ABOUT PARKING TICKETS?

A: The credit agencies have agreed that parking tickets, library late fees and similar fines won’t appear on consumers’ credit reports, sort of. The idea is to exclude debts that don’t arise from an agreement by the consumer to pay back money, as in a loan or credit card. Still, if any of those debts gets sold to a collection agency, it’s possible the unpaid debt record could end up on your credit report anyway.

Q: WHO WILL MONITOR THE CHANGES?

A: A working group will be formed under the agreement to regularly review consistency and to ensure that collected data is applied to consumers uniformly.

Q: WHEN WILL THE CHANGES TAKE PLACE?

A: The changes will start to be implemented over the next several months. Discussions with other attorneys general are ongoing and there remains the possibility for more agreements ahead.

Q: AM I ELIGIBLE FOR MORE THAN ONE FREE CREDIT REPORT A YEAR?

A: Yes. Right now, consumers are entitled to get one free credit report a year from each credit reporting agency. The Attorney General’s agreement requires that the firms provide a second free report to consumers who experience a change in their report after they dispute something in their file. This will let consumers verify that the credit agencies corrected the error. To get a free report, visit AnnualCreditReport.com.

____

Chapman reported from New York. Veiga reported from Los Angeles.

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V.P. Kamala Harris: Americans With Criminal Records Will Soon Be Eligible for SBA Loans

Speaking in Las Vegas on Jan. 27, Vice President Kamala Harris announced a forthcoming federal rule that will extend access to Small Business Administration (SBA) loans to Americans who have been convicted of felonies but have served their time. Small business owners typically apply for the SBA loans to start or sustain their businesses.

Published

2 days ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

On her daylong trip, Harris was joined by Horford, SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman, Interim Under Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Eric Morrissette, and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev).

By California Black Media

Small business owners typically apply for the SBA loans to start or sustain their businesses.

Harris thanked U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV-04), the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, for the work he has done in Washington to support small businesses and to invest in people.

“He and I spent some time this afternoon with business leaders and small business leaders here in Nevada. The work you have been doing to invest in community and to invest in the ambition and natural capacity of communities has been exceptional,” Harris said, speaking to a crowd of a few hundred people at the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Hall in East Las Vegas.

“Formerly incarcerated individuals face significant barriers to economic opportunity once they leave prison and return to the community, with an unemployment rate among the population of more than 27%,” the White House press release continued. “Today’s announcement builds on the Vice President’s work to increase access to capital. Research finds that entrepreneurship can reduce recidivism for unemployed formerly incarcerated individuals by as much as 30%.”

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G.O.P. Lawmakers: Repeal AB 5 and Resist Nationalization of “Disastrous” Contractor Law

Published

2 days ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

File Photo: Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City)

By California Black Media

Republican lawmakers gathered outside of the Employee Development Department in Sacramento on Jan. 23 to call for the repeal of AB5, the five-year old California law that reclassified gig workers and other independent contractors as W-2 employees under the state’s labor code.
Organizers said they also held the rally to push back against current efforts in Washington to pass a similar federal law.

“We are here to talk about this very important issue – a battle we have fought for many years – to stop this disastrous AB 5 policy,” said Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City).
Now, that threat has gone national as we have seen this new rule being pushed out of the Biden administration,” Gallagher continued.

On Jan. 10, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a new rule providing guidance on “on how to analyze who is an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).”
“This final rule rescinds the Independent Contractor Status Under the Fair Labor Standards Act rule (2021 IC Rule), that was published on January 7, 2021, and replaces it with an analysis for determining employee or independent contractor status that is more consistent with the FLSA as interpreted by longstanding judicial precedent,” a Department of Labor statement reads.
U.S. Congressmember Kevin Kiley (R-CA-3), who is a former California Assemblymember, spoke at the rally.

“We are here today to warn against the nationalization of one of the worst laws that has ever been passed in California, which has devastated the livelihoods of folks in over 600 professions,” said Kiley, adding that the law has led to a 10.5% decline in self-employment in California.

Kiley blamed U.S Acting Secretary of Labor, July Su, who was the former secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, for leading the effort to redefine “contract workers” at the federal level.
Kiley said two separate lawsuits have been filed against Su’s Rule – its constitutionality and the way it was enacted, respectively. He said he is also working on legislation in Congress that puts restrictions on the creation and implementation of executive branch decisions like Su’s.
Assemblymember Kate Sanchez (R-Rancho Santa Margarita) announced that she plans to introduce legislation to repeal AB 5 during the current legislative session.

“So many working moms like myself, who are also raising kids, managing households, were devastated by the effects of AB 5 because they lost access to hundreds of flexible professions,” Sanchez continued. “I’ve been told by many of these women that they have lost their livelihoods as bookkeepers, artists, family caregivers, designers, and hairstylists because of this destructive law.”