Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement at a full Committee hybrid hearing entitled, “A Biased, Broken System: Examining Proposals to Overhaul Credit Reporting to Achieve Equity.” As the title of this hearing indicates, our current credit reporting system is broken. Good credit is a gateway to wealth. Yet, for... Read more »

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3621, the Comprehensive Credit Reporting Enhancement, Disclosure, Innovation, and Transparency Act of 2020 (“Comprehensive CREDIT Act”), legislation sponsored by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), by a vote of 221 to 189. H.R. 3621 would overhaul the credit reporting system by empowering consumers with more control of their data and requiring consumer... Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, gave the following opening statement at a full Committee markup to protect student loan borrowers, improve our broken credit reporting system, preserve and promote Minority Depository Institutions and strengthen our nation’s cybersecurity As Prepared for Delivery Today the Committee will mark up eight ... Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, delivered the following opening statement at a full committee markup: As Prepared for Delivery Good morning. Today we will mark up a set of bills on a range of issues, including credit reporting, housing, diversity and inclusion, and investor protection. I have long said that our credit reporting sy... Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, will convene a full Committee markup that will include bills introduced by Committee Democrats to make critical reforms to the broken credit reporting system. This markup follows a February hearing entitled, “Who's Keeping Score? Holding Credit Bureaus Accountable and Repairing a Broken System,” where ... Read more »

Today, at a full Committee hearing entitled, “Who's Keeping Score? Holding Credit Bureaus Accountable and Repairing a Broken System,” Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee gave the following statement. As Prepared for Delivery Today, this Committee convenes for a hearing on repairing the nation’s broken credit reporting system and holding the majo... Read more »

On Wednesday, October 25, 2017, House Financial Services Committee Democrats will lead an additional hearing to examine the massive data breach that occurred at Equifax, and to consider and discuss ideas for ensuring the integrity of our country’s consumer reporting system and safeguarding consumer data. The hearing, referred to as a “Minority Day Hearing,” is the second hearing before the Financi... Read more »

Recognizing that the American public deserves answers and a promise to safeguard their personal identifying information, Financial Services Committee Democrats, led by Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA), used an obscure parliamentary maneuver to demand a Minority Day hearing to continue to discuss the numerous issues with the current credit reporting system and to cast more light on the many nega... Read more »

Today, at a full committee hearing to discuss the massive security breach at Equifax, one of the nation’s largest credit reporting agencies, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, delivered the following opening statement: As Prepared for Delivery Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The massive breach at Equifax and the company’s subsequent failures are a l... Read more »

Today, in response to the announcement that Equifax CEO Richard Smith has retired, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, made the following statement: “The retirement of Equifax’s CEO, just days before he is scheduled to testify at congressional hearings about the breach that occurred under his watch, does not relieve the company of its duty to ... Read more »

Following the announcement that 143 million American consumers were impacted by the Equifax security breach, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, reintroduced the Comprehensive Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act, which contains landmark reforms to improve the nation’s credit reporting system. Credit reporting agencies compile and maintain fil... Read more »

Following the announcement that nearly half of U.S. population’s personal data was exposed -- including Social Security numbers, birth dates, and addresses -- due to an enormous security breach at Equifax, one of the nation’s major credit reporting agencies, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, made the following statement: “This hack into sens... Read more »

WASHINGTON -- Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, applauded the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s enforcement action against Experian, a prominent credit reporting agency, and called for comprehensive legislative improvements to consumer reporting law. “I have long advocated for an overhaul of our nation’s credit reporting system. ... Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, applauded the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for a new report detailing a range of significant issues in credit reporting and its oversight work in the area, and called for comprehensive reforms to improve the nation’s credit reporting system. “Credit reporting is an area where I have long calle... Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, introduced landmark legislation to overhaul the American credit reporting system so that it is fairer, more accurate, and less confusing for consumers. Consumer reporting agencies compile and maintain files for about 200 million adults. These reports play an important role in Americans’ lives as mo... Read more »

Credit-related mistakes can follow you link a stink you can’t wash off. Have an account go into collections, miss payments on your student loans, credit cards, mortgage, car loan, and that info can linger on your credit report for up to seven years, even if it’s just a fluke. This is particularly a problem with medical debt, where even someone with otherwise pristine credit is unable to pay a huge... Read more »

Do you think you'd have a better chance to qualify for a home mortgage if negative items in your credit files were erased in four years rather than the current seven? How about if your credit reports included information on your utility bills, rent, cable, mobile phone and other monthly payments? Wouldn't this give a nice jolt to your credit scores, assuming that you've paid these bills on time? S... Read more »

A high-ranking lawmaker is pushing for Congress to redraw the road map for how credit scores are calculated, with an eye toward giving a little more breathing room to people who have fallen on tough times financially. California representative Maxine Waters, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, is introducing legislation that would modify the Fair Credit Reportin... Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – At today’s subcommittee hearing to examine our nation’s credit reporting system, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, commented on the release of her proposal to comprehensively reform our nation’s consumer reporting system. She gave the following statement: “Chair Capito, I’d like to thank you and Chairman Hensarling for granting my r... Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Citing the countless Americans who have experienced heartbreak, frustration and devastation as a result of incomplete or erroneous information on their credit reports, today Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, released a proposal that would make sweeping reforms to our nation’s consumer reporting system. The draft proposal, entitled t... Read more »

A new bill in Congress seeks to overhaul the consumer credit-reporting system by lessening the period over which loan defaults and bankruptcies are included in credit reports. The bill’s introduction comes a month after Fair Isaac Corp. announced it would tweak its widely used FICO credit score to no longer penalize consumers for past failure to pay a bill if the bill has been paid or settled with... Read more »

The ranking democrat on the House Financial Services Committee wants to fundamentally change the rules on how lenders report consumer payments and debts to the credit bureaus, which could create a path to homeownership for millions of Americans currently shut out by mortgage lending restrictions. U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is introducing a bill that would eliminate medical debt from credit... Read more »

The top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee is proposing an overhaul of credit reporting rules that would help consumers ensure their scores are accurate. Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.) is introducing legislation on Wednesday that provides more leeway to consumers to avoid and fix problems on their credit reports created by any wrong or outdated information. “A person’s credit report i... Read more »

The top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee is proposing sweeping changes to a law that governs the way lenders report consumer payments to credit bureaus. The move could help millions of Americans get better interest rates on mortgages, auto financing and student loans. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) plans to introduce the Fair Credit Reporting Improvement Act of 2014 on Wednesday t... Read more »

Today, Congressmen Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee announced the release of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on medical credit cards and related products, including installment loans, offered by... Read more »