WASHINGTON—In a letter to the House that cites numerous concerns over increased lawsuits and cybersecurity risks, CUNA has expressed its opposition Protecting Your Credit Score Act of 2019 (H.R. 5332).
The bill would revise certain provisions related to consumer credit reports and credit reporting agencies.
“While the legislation may be well-intentioned, we oppose H.R. 5332 because the expansion of private rights of action and allowing courts to award injunctive relief could increase the frequency of meritless lawsuits under the Federal Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). When entities are subject to frivolous litigation, resources are distracted from providing services, increasing the cost of service to all consumers,” the letter reads. “In the case of credit unions, frivolous litigation means that access to safe and affordable financial services becomes more expensive and potentially less available for credit union members.
“We also have concerns that the online portal mandated under this legislation would pose significant cybersecurity risks for consumers, financial institutions, and companies,” the letter adds. “The portal created would have no direct owner and require its own authentication and security, leading to the possibility of consumers either being rejected from the portal or a nefarious actor abusing the system.”
Protections Already Exist
CUNA said it also questions the need for such legislation, as under the FCRA consumers can dispute the accurateness of information on their credit reports. They can either raise the dispute directly with the credit reporting agency or with their creditor.
“The FCRA requires these disputes to be resolved in a timely manner and, if the disputed information is incorrect, the information in question is eliminated from the report,” the letter reads. “As such, consumers already have significant tools to dispute information and correct errors in their credit reports.”