CUNA Regulatory Comment Call

May 27, 2009

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act contains provisions that are designed to enhance the accuracy of credit reports. These provisions require the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the other Federal financial institution regulators, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to establish and maintain guidelines for use by those who furnish information to credit bureaus that address the accuracy and integrity of the information. These provisions also require the regulators to issue rules to require furnishers to develop policies and procedures to ensure the accuracy and integrity of information provided to credit bureaus, and to consider the guidelines, as appropriate.
• The regulators must also issue rules identifying the circumstances in which a furnisher, based on a direct request from a consumer, must investigate disputes about the accuracy of information in a credit report.
• NCUA and the other regulators have recently issued a final rule to implement these provisions of the FACT Act. Click here for CUNA's Final Rule Analysis for more information.
• The rules and guidelines issued by NCUA will apply to federally-chartered credit unions, and the rules and guidelines issued by the FTC will apply to state-chartered credit unions, although these rules are essentially the same.
• In a related matter, NCUA and the other regulators issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) with regard to the guidelines that were included in the FACT Act final rule. Specifically, the ANPR requests comment as to whether furnishers should provide to credit bureaus the date that an account is opened in order to promote the integrity of the information since this may indicate a long-standing credit history, which may result in a higher credit score for the consumer. The ANPR also requests whether other information should be provided as a means to ensure the integrity of the credit information. After receiving comments in response to the ANPR, the agencies may then issue a specific proposal with regard to these changes.
• Comments in response to the ANPR will be due by August 31, 2009. Please submit your comments to CUNA by August 11, 2009..

Please feel free to fax your responses to CUNA at 202-638-7052; e-mail them to Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Mary Dunn at mdunn@cuna.com and to Senior Assistant General Counsel Jeff Bloch at jbloch@cuna.com; or mail them to Mary and Jeff in c/o CUNA's Regulatory Advocacy Department, 601 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, South Building, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004-2601. You may also contact us at 800-356-9655, ext. 6732, if you have questions or would like a copy of the ANPR. You may also access a copy of the proposed rule here.

• To what extent and under what circumstances do furnishers provide account opening dates to credit bureaus? What factors determine whether that information is provided?
  
  

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• Would the absence of an account opening date or any other specific item in the information a furnisher provides to a credit bureau likely be materially misleading in evaluating a consumer's creditworthiness?
  
  

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• Does the omission of an account opening date or other items of information compromise the integrity of the information?
  
  

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• Should certain types of credit products or services be exempt from a guideline for furnishing the account opening date or other information? Should there be an exemption for accounts in which both positive and negative activity has been furnished for a certain period of time? What should that period of time be?
  
  

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• How should "account opening" or other terms used to identify other items of information be defined, if at all? Are there credit products or services that do not have an account opening date? What would those be and why do they not have such dates?
  
  

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• What would be the cost and benefits for consumers, furnishers, and users of credit reports if furnishers were required to provide an account opening date or other information to credit bureaus? What would be the effect on consumers and the credit reporting system?
  
  

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• What would be the impact on small institutions if furnishers were to provide more information, such as the account opening date? Should there be an alternative approach for small institutions?
  
  

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• Other comments?
  
  

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Copyright © 2009 - Credit Union National Association, Inc.