Published: April 2014

SECURE Act helps consumers clear up credit reporting errors

Data that determines consumers' credit worthiness, and the agencies that handle this data, should be obligated to ensure consumers' information is accurate and their inquiries and disputes are being answered. Consumer Action and advocates urge Senate to support the Stop Errors in Credit Use and Reporting (SECURE) Act, which pushes for more credit reporting transparency and accountability industry-wide.

The personal data that credit reports contain and the scores that are generated from it are not only used to make decisions about consumers’ credit worthiness, but can also be a factor in their ability to get jobs, housing, utilities, and other necessities of life. Consumer Action joins coalition advocates in supporting the Stop Errors in Credit Use and Reporting (SECURE) Act, S. 2224.

This legislation strengthens consumers’ rights and places more obligations on credit reporting agencies and data furnishers to ensure that the data is accurate, to give appropriate consideration to consumer disputes, and to be accountable for their actions. It would also entitle consumers to request free annual credit scores, and they would have to reflect what lenders would use, rather than the “educational” scores that consumers are offered for sale and that usually bear little resemblance to the scores that lenders actually use.

Credit reporting reforms are urgently needed in order to ensure that consumers are treated fairly and that the credit reporting system that underlies so many daily transactions works as well as it should.

Lead Organization

Americans for Financial Reform (AFR)

More Information

For more information on credit reporting reform, please visit AFR's website.

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SECURE Act helps consumers clear up credit reporting errors   (Senate-Support_SECURE_Act.pdf)