Fair Credit Reporting Act and Financial Privacy Update-2017

摘要

The previous two Annual Surveys reported that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") was bringing enforcement actions and issuing guidance under the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA") with respect to data accuracy and the duties of companies that furnish data to consumer reporting agencies ("CRAs"). This past year, the CFPB and the plaintiffs' bar doubled down on data accuracy and data quality issues. Discussed below are important guidance issued by the CFPB regarding the duties of data furnishers and CRAs with respect to accuracy; multiple enforcement actions brought by the CFPB against some of the largest banks for alleged data furnishing failures, resulting in millions of dollars in fines; and private actions under the FCRA and the bankruptcy laws alleging failures to furnish accurate and complete data to CRAs, and alleging failures by CRAs to produce accurate consumer reports. We also discuss new cases interpreting the meaning of "willfulness" under the FCRA.