Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar today called for swift action to protect consumers from errors on their credit reports. During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Klobuchar highlighted the serious damage credit report errors can have on people’s financial well-being, and urged the Administration to put pressure on credit rating agencies to ensure accuracy. A recent report by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found that over 25% of consumers’ credit reports contain major errors, often leading to less favorable loan terms or denial of credit. Earlier this year Klobuchar called on the credit rating agencies to take immediate action to fix these errors and protect consumers.

“Too many consumers, through no fault of their own, have had their lives turned upside down because of an error on their credit report,” said Klobuchar. “I will continue to push the Administration and the credit reporting agencies to ensure they are doing everything they can to ensure people’s reports are accurate and make it is as easy as possible for consumers to fix errors when they occur.”

Klobuchar has been fighting to ensure that consumers’ credit reports are up to date and accurate. She recently held a roundtable discussion on her efforts to protect consumers from errors on credit reports with Minnesotans who have been negatively impacted by errors on their credit reports, as well as experts on the issue. Klobuchar also set a letter to the three major credit rating agencies, urging them to take immediate steps to fix reporting errors and ensure accurate credit reports.

A recent report by the FTC found that 26% of consumers’ credit reports contain major, material errors. The FTC also found that 5% of consumer credit reports include errors that could result in less favorable loan terms or lead to an outright denial of credit. The report is the result of an eight-year study examining close to 3,000 credit reports. The study suggests that up to 40 million consumers have errors on their credit reports.

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