Credit

Companies using only a person’s name and not other identifiers to screen job and tenant applications can produce inaccurate information, according to the bureau. The agency's advisory opinion said such practices violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

A report by the agency found that consumers in majority Black neighborhoods were more than twice as likely as those in white neighborhoods to lodge complaints with the credit bureaus over information in their files. Meanwhile, disputes were less common among older borrowers.

Those leaving forbearance or other relief plans generally had higher credit utilization rates, were more likely to have mortgages, and experienced lower levels of bank card delinquencies, according to TransUnion.

Ratings jumped largely because white-collar workers have raced to take advantage of the lowest mortgage rates in history.

Despite “color blind” underwriting algorithms, loan denial rates on mortgages that were not backed by the Federal Housing Administration and the VA skewed heavily toward minority groups, according to a study by The Markup.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated income inequality in America, and that has implications for banks and other lenders. Among those suffering most: renters, front-line workers and minority small-business owners.

The expanded credit access in its automated mortgage decisioning goes into effect in mid September.

Democrats are pushing for a public-sector alternative to the three main credit bureaus, but Republicans argue that the government is ill-equipped to safely handle consumer data and produce accurate reports.

Only 0.9% of mortgage borrowers are currently at least 90 days delinquent. That figure could rise as high as 3.8% once pandemic-related deferrals lapse — still well below the 6% mark reached after the Great Recession, according to research by the New York Fed.

Some say Equifax, Experian and TransUnion are too slow to investigate grievances, prompting more complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But the big three say other forces are at work.