New Credit Report Deal is a Huge Victory for Home Buyers

Posted March 10, 2015

Photo credit: M.ALOMRaN / Foter / CC BY-NC

Buying a FishHawk Ranch home, buying a car, and simply borrowing money may have just gotten a little easier after an agreement by Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. These are the three largest and most powerful credit reporting agencies in the United States.

According to a deal announced on March 9, 2015, by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, there will be big changes coming to the way the credit reporting agencies report and handle credit report disputes. Chi Chi Wu, an attorney at Boston-based National Consumer Law Center believes “This is huge” and “Consumers should be able to more easily get their errors fixed.”

If you have ever tried to get errors on your credit reports fixed you know how frustrating it can be. Some people have spent years attempting to correct errors in their reports. With this new deal correcting those errors should get easier.

Changes Consumers Will See:

Educational Material – There will be more educational materials available to consumers at the Annual Credit Report Website. This website allows consumers to obtain a free credit report from each of the three rating agencies once a year. It is loaded with information on items like protecting your identity and ensuring the items on your credit report are up to date and correct.
Free Annual Credit Report – Under the new agreement, consumers who received their annual free annual credit report will be able to obtain another free report (without having to wait another year) if there are disputed items that result in a modification of the credit report for those disputed items.
Information – In order to better communicate with consumers. The credit agencies will send consumers who dispute items on their credit reports additional information regarding the dispute, results of the dispute, and what the consumer can do if they are not satisfied with the results of the dispute.
Better Resolution Process – The credit reporting agencies will be trying to speed up and make a better dispute resolution process for consumers that are proven victims of identity theft and fraud, as well as those involved in mixed file situations.

Data Improvements and Better Quality:

Waiting Period – For medical debts, there will be a 180 day waiting period before medical debts will be reported on the credit reports. This will allow time for insurance company payments to be applied to those debts. The credit reporting agencies will also remove any previously reported medical collections that have been or are being paid by insurance from the credit reports once paid.
Better Standards – The credit agencies will establish and reinforce consistent standards to data furnishing entities that submit data for inclusion on credit reports.
Removal of Some Reporting – The credit reporting agencies will eliminate the reporting of debts that did not arise from a contract or agreement by the consumer to pay. Examples of this would be tickets or fines.
Review Group – A group will be created to review and help ensure consistency and uniformity in the data submitted by data suppliers to the credit agencies.
Hiring Humans – Under the agreement, the companies will have to hire humans to review consumer complaints about possible errors, fraud, or identity theft. The additional step should make it easier for consumers to get errors fixed. Currently, this is an electronic process.

I’m sure this process won’t happen overnight and ultimately we need to count on the credit reporting agencies to live up to the agreement. I am glad that at least the changes are promised. There are too many people struggling with items on their credit reports that do not belong there and are hurting their credit reports. A one-point difference from a 640 middle credit score to a 639 middle credit score can be the difference in you buying the home of your dreams or not. This is a step in the right direction. Let’s hope it continues!

Additional Credit Related Articles

Credit Bureau Changes Will Make Fixing Errors Easier – via CNBC
How to Read Your Credit Report – via Bank of America
Understanding Your Credit Score – via myFICO

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About the author ⇒ The above article “New Credit Report Deal is a Huge Victory for Home Buyers” was written by Jeff Gould, a top-selling nationally recognized REALTOR®.

Jeff is a local FishHawk Ranch real estate expert. You will find him selling homes in Tampa Bay, Florida, and surrounding areas. Some of those areas include FishHawk, Lithia, Riverview, Valrico, Brandon, and Tampa. If you are looking to sell or buy a Tampa Bay area home, Jeff is your local and trusted professional.

If you are looking to sell or buy a Tampa Bay area home, Jeff is your local and trusted professional. He can be reached via phone/text at (813) 421-3007 or by contacting him below.