Category Archives: Credit Reporting

CFPB Director Richard Cordray’s Near-Term Goals

In a speech February 25 at the CFPB's Consumer Advisory Board meeting, CFPB Director Richard Cordray identified nine "key areas where we hope to make substantial progress over the next two years."  He also noted, however, that "these goals do not capture all of the important work we are doing." The nine goals are: First, […]

DeGirolami on Spokeo Oral Argument

My colleague, Marc DeGirolami, read through the Spokeo oral argument transcript and had the following observations. I thought they might be of interest to readers of the blog.   * Justice Kagan emphasized to counsel for Spokeo that the reporting/dissemination of false information in credit reports is itself plausibly described as a harm. So that […]

Law360’s Evan Weinberger’s Report on Spokeo Argument

Here.  An excerpt: The arguments in Spokeo Inc. v. Robins et al. took the usual pattern of the four liberal justices arguing for a broad interpretation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and standing to bring claims under Article III and the conservative justices appearing to seek to limit companies’ exposure to court proceedings. In the […]

Which Companies Are the Most Complained About to the CFPB?

CNBC has the story here.  Three of the top four are the big three credit bureaus. The Consumer Bankers Association is dismissive of the findings. Quoting now from Marketplace: “They're basically in the shaming of banks business by providing what I call a ‘David Letterman Top 10 List’ of complaints,” says Richard Hunt, president of […]

Amy Schmitz Article on Big Data and Consumer Scores

Amy Schmitz of Colorado has written Secret Consumer Scores and Segmentations: Separating Consumer 'Haves' from 'Have-Nots', Michigan State Law Review, p. 1411 (2014). Here is the abstract: “Big Data” is big business. Data brokers profit by tracking consumers’ information and behavior both on- and offline and using this collected data to assign consumers evaluative scores […]

LA Times’s David Lazarus on Credit Bureau–NY Attorney General Settlement

Here.  An excerpt: The reality is that credit-reporting firms have been required for decades to ensure the accuracy of consumers' files. They're not doing us a favor. They're just finally saying that they'll follow the law. "For years, the credit-reporting agencies have scoffed at the law," said Scott Maurer, a law professor at Santa Clara […]