The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it will soon begin supervising the leading credit bureaus, the companies that collect financial details of everyone’s life. Until now, credit-reporting companies have lacked a single federal overseer. Credit reports have increasing importance in consumers’ lives because they are used in many kinds of lending, by landlords in renting a property and even as a way to screen job applicants. Additionally, various reports have found that up to 25% of credit reports contain errors that could hurt consumers’ ability to borrow. CFPB Director, Richard Cordray said areas of concern for the CFPB include: the information sent to credit bureaus, the ways they assemble and hold information, and “how difficult it is to get the errors resolved” when consumers identify them. The supervision of credit reporting agencies will start Sept. 30, and the bureau will begin on-site examinations after that.
