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Reports

We study how consumers interact with financial products and services to help identify potential problems in the marketplace and achieve better outcomes for all. Review our reports and analyses to help inform your decisions, policies, and practices. And, see reports that we periodically prepare about the CFPB.

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Category: Data point | Category: Office of Research Publication |
Published

Consumer Credit and the Removal of Medical Collections from Credit Reports

The three nationwide consumer reporting companies removed medical collections under $500 from credit reports in April 2023. We study removals of medical collections from credit reports that occurred between 2012-2020 to shed light on the potential effects of this reporting change. We find associated increases in credit score and credit availability.

Category: Industry and markets |
Published

Market Snapshot: Trends in Third-Party Debt Collections Tradelines Reporting

This report provides an overview of the trends in third-party debt collections tradelines on consumer credit reports from 2018 to 2022. A collections tradeline is an item on a consumer’s credit report. It includes information about an individual’s allegedly unpaid bills. Collections tradelines, which are considered negative, generally may appear on a consumer report for up to seven years.

Category: Office of Research Publication |
Published

Consumer Credit Trends Report: Paid and Low-Balance Medical Collections on Consumer Credit Reports

This is part of a series of reports of consumer credit trends produced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau using a longitudinal sample of approximately five million de-identified credit records from one of the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies.

Category: Industry and markets |
Published

Medical debt burden in the United States

This report summarizes key areas of concern in medical debt collections and reporting. The report begins with a section describing the medical debt landscape. It then discusses the negative consequences of medical debt for consumers. Next, it outlines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical debt. The report concludes with a brief discussion of federal and state regulatory developments.

Category: Consumer education and empowerment |
Published

Justice-Involved Individuals and the Consumer Financial Marketplace

This report outlines challenges faced by justice-involved people and their families in navigating their finances at each stage of the criminal justice system.

Category: Office of Research Publication |
Published

The early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on credit applications

This report uses the Bureau’s Consumer Credit Panel to study the early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on credit applications overall, by credit score group, and across the states.

Category: Office of Research Publication |
Published

Quarterly Consumer Credit Trends: Public records, credit scores, and credit performance

Quarterly consumer credit trends reports focus on a specific consumer financial product or issue using a longitudinal, nationally representative sample of de-identified credit records maintained by a nationwide consumer reporting agency.

Category: Supervisory Highlights |
Published

Supervisory Highlights Consumer Reporting Special Edition, Issue No. 20 (Fall 2019)

In this special issue of Supervisory Highlights, we report examination findings in the areas of consumer reporting and furnishing of information to consumer reporting companies, pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Regulation V. The report does not impose any new or different legal requirements, and all violations described in the report are based only on those specific facts and circumstances noted during those examinations. 

Category: Supervisory Highlights |
Published

Supervisory Highlights, Issue No. 19 (Summer 2019)

In this issue of Supervisory Highlights, we report examination findings in the areas of automobile loan origination, credit card account management, debt collection, furnishing, and mortgage origination that were generally completed between December 2018 and March 2019 (unless otherwise stated). The report does not impose any new or different legal requirements, and all violations described in the report are based only on those specific facts and circumstances noted during those examinations. 

Category: Consumer education and empowerment |
Published

Building a Bridge to Credit Visibility

This report on the Bureau’s September 17th, 2018 Building a Bridge to Credit Visibility Symposium summarizes the panel discussions that took place during the event and highlights the key themes that stood out from those conversations.