H.R.4173 - Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009
U.S. House bill calls for consumers to get same credit scores that lenders get
12/18/2009
The U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R.4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009, on December 11, 2009. Included is an amendment, a summary of which states, "Further, the amendment... Would consider as 'unfair' for a credit bureau to make available for purchase by lenders any type of credit score for a consumer that is not also available for purchase by that same consumer."
In a press release that singles out out consumer reporting agency Experian, amendment author Representative Niki Tsongas of Massachusetts said, regarding her proposal, “If a bureau chooses to sell a type of score to a lender, it must also make that type of score available to the consumer.â€
That simple logic answers the credit bureaus' ridiculous question, "Again, what scores?" used a decade ago to address creditscoring.com's question #14.
The FDIC calls FICO scores the most commonly known and used credit bureau scores. The FHA uses them as a statistical reference standard. But despite the FICO's obvious and overwhelming prominence, Experian still tries to float its Thousand Scores silliness.
Earlier this year, consumers lost access to their Experian FICO score while Experian continued to sell the score to lenders.
Meanwhile, Experian sells something called VantageScore, and sings about its PLUS Score it sells through FreeCreditReport.com. A senator doesn't seem to think that's funny. Neither does the FTC, who even produced viral video spoof spots: