Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 6, 1992 TAG: 9203060128
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Consumers and job-seekers have complained that inaccurate information in credit agency files is preventing them from getting loans, jobs and other services based on good credit.
Too often credit has been denied because of mistakes such as the mixing of credit records between people with similar names, witnesses before Congress have said.
The measure approved by the Banking subcommittee on consumer affairs and coinage would go a long way to stiffen rules of credit reporting, but consumer advocacy groups are hoping it will be strengthened as it proceeds through Congress.
The measure says:
A prospective employer can get credit records only if the consumer authorizes it.
A current employer must provide written notification if he or she is obtaining credit records.
Credit card companies that send out unsolicited applications must give a person the card if he or she wants it.
A consumer could withhold his or her name from the lists used by banks and others to solicit credit cards.
A reporting agency that sends a person a copy of credit records also must provide an explanation of legal rights relating to the records.
A denial of credit must include an explanation of a person's rights, including the right to a free copy of one's credit records and how to dispute them.
Credit agencies could charge no more than $8 to consumers who request their records.
Credit bureaus must settle any dispute about records within 30 days.
A person could sue, to a limited degree, banks or others who provide information about one's credit history the person feels is wrong.
Credit agencies must have toll-free numbers for consumers.
Consumer groups, attorneys general and privacy groups said the bill also should allow a person to get a free printout of his or her credit report once a year upon request.
"Studies have shown that up to 33 percent of all reports contain serious errors," said Edmund Mierzwinski, of U.S. Public Interest Research Group. "I don't think consumers should have to pay the agencies to fix their own reports. If anything, the agencies ought to pay consumers to help fix the reports."
The groups also object to a provision in the bill that would make the federal law pre-empt all state laws, some of which are stronger than the bill.
Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, criticized the bill as "a far cry from the reform that is needed."
by CNB