CFPB: Consumers Entitled to Free Reports From Wide Range of Specialty Reporting Companies

Baltimore Sun
December 3, 2012
Ambrose, Eileen

Aside from the big three credit reporting agencies — TransUnion, Experian and Equifax — there are other national specialty consumer-reporting companies that collect data and are required to provide a free report each year. These companies track everything from employment and medical payments to tenant history and insurance claims -- all of which can be used by creditors, landlords, and employers to make decisions about consumers. Recently, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) reviewed phone listings and websites of some of these companies and tried to request reports. Some companies, the agency found, do not list toll-free numbers as required or do not have a streamlined process by which consumers can request their free annual report. The CFPB says there are hundreds of these reporting companies in the United States, and has posted the names of 40 on its website. If one of these companies is not legally required to provide a free annual report, it must at least provide one for a price no more than $11.50 to consumers.
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