§1681s–2 Responsibilities of Furnishers of Information to Consumer Reporting Agencies

Summary

Must give accurate consumer information to credit bureaus. If a company knows or has good reason to think something it reports about a person is wrong, it must not send that wrong information. If a consumer tells the company at the address the company gave that a specific item is wrong, and that item really is wrong, the company must not report it. "Good reason to think" means having facts (not just the consumer’s claim) that would make a reasonable person doubt the accuracy. A consumer with a private education loan can ask a lender to remove a reported default if the lender offers a loan rehabilitation program, the consumer meets the program’s payment rules, and the lender decides the loan is rehabilitated. That can be done only once per loan. If the lender is supervised by a federal banking agency, the lender must get written approval of the program terms and the agency must give feedback within 120 days of the request. During the COVID–19 covered period (starting January 31, 2020 and ending on the later of 120 days after March 27, 2020 or 120 days after the national emergency declared March 13, 2020 ends), if a furnisher makes an accommodation (like deferring, forbearance, partial payment, or a loan modification) and the consumer makes the agreed payments or is not required to pay, the furnisher must report the account as current, or if it was delinquent keep it delinquent until the consumer brings it current. This does not apply to accounts that have been charged off. If a furnisher finds information it gave a credit bureau is incomplete or wrong, it must quickly tell the bureau and send corrections or extra facts so the record is complete. If a consumer disputes information directly to the furnisher, the consumer must say exactly what is wrong, explain why, and include any paperwork the furnisher asks for. The furnisher must investigate, review the consumer’s material, finish its investigation, and tell the consumer the results before the time limit that a credit bureau would have to finish its own investigation. If the furnisher finds the info was wrong, it must tell all credit bureaus it used and provide corrections. The furnisher may treat a dispute as frivolous if the consumer gives not enough information or repeats the same dispute already handled; the furnisher must tell the consumer within 5 business days why it thinks the dispute is frivolous and what information is needed. Furnishers must mark disputed items when they report to credit bureaus. They must tell bureaus when a consumer voluntarily closes an account. If they place a delinquent account for collection or charge it off, they must report the month and year the delinquency began no later than 90 days after reporting that action and must try to get the correct delinquency date from the original creditor if needed. If a consumer reports identity theft, furnishers must have procedures to stop re-reporting the blocked items and may not refile the allegedly stolen information unless the consumer later confirms it is correct. Medical service providers who report must tell the bureau they are medical information furnishers. Banks that regularly send negative credit information to certain agencies must give a written notice to the customer before or within 30 days after reporting the negative information. The consumer bureau will make a short model notice of no more than 30 words that banks can use, but they do not have to use that exact form. A bank is not required to report negative information just because it gave the notice. Enforcement and lawsuits are limited in some parts of these rules; federal and state agencies handle many enforcement duties. The consumer bureau must create and keep updated guidelines on how furnishers can make sure the information they send is accurate. The bureau must also make rules that require furnishers to have reasonable policies and procedures to follow those guidelines.