Mike Litt is U.S. PIRG's Consumer Campaign Director. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own.
America's credit reporting system is broken. We saw the latest evidence of this last week, when news broke that Equifax sent lenders millions of incorrect credit scores, some of which were off by at least 25 points, for consumers applying for auto loans, mortgages and credit cards.
US consumers have long complained about mistakes on their credit reports and credit bureaus' failure to fix those errors . Far too often, people are penalized for mistakes that the credit bureaus or data furnishers made, and irrelevant information — such as a job loss or illness — that doesn't predict credit default . This can keep people from getting mortgages, good interest rates on auto loans or credit cards or even a job.
We've passed the tipping point for an overhaul, but it's clear that we can't rely on the credit bureaus to reform themselves. The latest Equifax news should push Congress and regulators to finally implement fixes that consumers and advocates have long called for. That means making credit reports and scores fairer and more accurate and transparent.
Here are some places they can start:
Identity-matching criteria