Joint Letter: Letter to CRAs urging credit relief for federal workers impacted by government shutdown

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January 18, 2019

 

Craig Boundy

CEO

Experian North America

475 Anton Blvd

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

 

Mark Begor

Chairman and CEO

Equifax, Inc.

1550 Peachtree Street, N.W.

Atlanta, Georgia 30309

 

James M. Peck

President and CEO

TransUnion

555 West Adams Street

Chicago, Illinois 60661

 

Francis Creighton

President and CEO

Consumer Data Industry Association

1090 Vermont Ave., NW, Suite 200

Washington, D.C. 20005

 

Dear Sirs:

 

The undersigned consumer, civil rights, and advocacy groups write to urge your companies to take affirmative steps to help the credit histories of federal workers impacted by the current partial shutdown of the federal government. As you know, the shutdown has resulted in some federal workers being unable to make payments on their mortgages, student loans, car loans, credit cards and other credit obligations due to being deprived of their paychecks. This in turn is likely to result in harm to their credit reports and lowered credit scores, all due to a shutdown that they had no role or responsibility in causing.

 

We appreciate the fact that some creditors have offered to provide forbearances to federal workers affected by the shutdown. However, this is not adequate to protect the credit records of federal workers, since these forbearances are not universal amongst creditors; they require the federal worker to apply for the forbearance; and they might not be provided automatically. Without automatic application of credit reporting relief, federal workers face ongoing harm from financial events beyond their control.

 

Thus, we call upon your companies to take more affirmative steps. We urge you to proactively remove any negative information that appears during the shutdown period from consumer credit reports if the credit report indicates that the consumer’s employer is a federal agency affected by the shutdown.

 

Thank you for your consideration. If you have any questions about this letter, please contact Chi Chi Wu, National Consumer Law Center, at 617-542-8010 or cwu@nclc.org.

 

Sincerely,

 

National Groups

National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients)

Allied Progress

Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund

CAARMA Consumer Advocates Against Reverse Mortgage Abuse

Consumer Action

Consumer Federation of America

Demos

The Disaster Law Project

NAACP

National Association of Consumer Advocates

National Fair Housing Alliance

National Housing Law Project

Prosperity Now

U.S. PIRG

Woodstock Institute

 

State and Local Groups

AkPIRG (AK)

Arizona Center for Economic Progress

Arizona Coalition to End Sexual & Domestic Violence

Community Action Human Resources Agency (AZ)

Pinnacle Prevention (AZ)

WHEAT – World Hunger Education, Advocacy & Training (AZ)

Wildfire: Igniting Community Action to End Poverty in Arizona (AZ)

California Reinvestment Coalition

East Bay Community Law Center (CA)

Housing and Economic Rights Advocates (CA)

The Greenlining Institute (CA)

The Utility Reform Network (TURN) (CA)

Connecticut Fair Housing Center

Tzedek DC

Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc. (FL)

Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago (IL)

Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition

New Jersey Citizen Action

Empire Justice Center (NY)

Long Island Housing Services, Inc. (NY)

Public Utility Law Project of New York

Citizens Coalition (OH)

Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (VA)

Virginia Poverty Law Center (VA)