Credit report errors rise as federal watchdog pulls back
Oversight of the credit reporting industry has fallen off drastically under Trump
Consumers who find errors on their credit reports are finding little help correcting trhem, according to a new analysis of federal complaint data about two of the three major credit bureaus — TransUnion and Experian.
A report by ProPublica, the non-profit investigative journalism organization, says its study has found that the bureaus have sharply reduced the number of consumer disputes they resolve in customers’ favor.
The shift has left millions of Americans facing errors on their credit reports with fewer options to get them corrected.
Relief rates collapse
For years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) served as a powerful intermediary between consumers and the credit bureaus. The agency’s complaint system forwarded disputes to companies, required responses and published public data showing how companies handled complaints.
Under the Biden administration, regulators aggressively pushed companies to fix errors and take disputes seriously. As enforcement increased, the share of complaints resolved in consumers’ favor rose sharply — reaching rates about ten times higher than in 2020.
But that trend has reversed.
According to an analysis of CFPB complaint data by ProPublica, TransUnion’s rate of resolving complaints in consumers’ favor began plunging in mid-2025. By October, the company was granting relief about half as often as it had previously.
Experian’s decline was even steeper. In 2024, the company resolved nearly 20% of complaints in consumers’ favor. Last year, that number fell to less than 1%.
The third major bureau, Equifax, did not show the same decline, ProPublica said. Just days before President Donald Trump took office in 2025, the company reached a consent agreement with the CFPB over its dispute-handling practices, requiring reforms and continued oversight.
Dismantling a watchdog
Consumer advocates say the shift coincides with sweeping changes at the CFPB.
In February 2025, Russell Vought — a senior White House official overseeing broad federal spending cuts — was appointed acting director of the agency. He quickly ordered a halt to much of the bureau’s work.
Under the new leadership, the CFPB froze investigations, attempted to lay off most of its staff and dropped several enforcement actions against financial companies, including a case against TransUnion.
One of the lawyers helping lead the rollback had previously represented Experian before joining the administration.
Consumer advocates say the industry has little incentive to aggressively investigate disputes without regulatory pressure.
“The credit bureaus want to do as little as possible,” said Chi Chi Wu, director of consumer reporting at the National Consumer Law Center. “The thing that is making them do any kind of effort is a lawsuit or a regulator — and now we don’t have the regulator.”
The administration has argued that the CFPB complaint system had been overwhelmed by fraudulent or automated submissions from credit repair companies.
A CFPB spokesperson said the agency is working to address complaints submitted by bots or third-party firms so that legitimate consumers can receive help more effectively.
Millions of complaints, little relief
The stakes are high because credit reports play a central role in modern life.
Errors can make it difficult to obtain mortgages, auto loans, insurance or employment. Negative information on a credit report can also drive up interest rates and insurance premiums.
Since January 2025, more than 2.7 million credit reporting complaints submitted to the CFPB have been closed without relief, according to federal data.
In many cases, consumers say they provided documentation proving mistakes but still failed to get corrections.
One Texas consumer reported that a fraudulent account remained on their credit report even after multiple disputes. The person wrote to regulators that fixing the problem was urgent because of an important financial deal affecting “the safety and survival of my family.”
Records show that Equifax provided relief in that case, while Experian and TransUnion did not.
Industry defends practices
Credit bureaus say many complaints are not legitimate and often originate from credit repair businesses that charge consumers fees to challenge negative but accurate information.
Experian said in a statement that some credit repair companies mislead customers by claiming they can remove valid information from credit reports.
The company said it investigates “all legitimate consumer disputes,” though it declined to explain the sharp drop in relief rates.
TransUnion said it recently changed how it processes complaints submitted through third parties. Some disputes are now redirected to internal review channels if the company believes documentation is insufficient.
But consumer advocates worry that moving complaints away from the CFPB system reduces transparency.
Complaints handled directly by the credit bureaus are not publicly tracked, making it impossible to determine how many consumers ultimately receive relief.
Massive Data, Minimal Oversight
The credit reporting industry occupies a unique position in the U.S. economy.
Consumers cannot opt out of having their financial data collected, analyzed and sold by the credit bureaus. The system is governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a federal law passed in 1970 that gives consumers the right to dispute inaccurate information.
But critics say the dispute system is overwhelmed.
Credit bureaus process enormous volumes of complaints with relatively small staffs.
TransUnion disclosed that in 2021 it had 171 employees handling consumer disputes involving 38 million credit report items. The company says it has since increased staffing but declined to provide updated numbers.
Chicago consumer attorney Liam Hayden says the workload makes meaningful investigations difficult.
“These investigators have a stack of disputes like a mile high that they have to go through every day,” Hayden said. “A real, authentic investigation costs money.”
Complaints Surge
Credit reporting companies have long been among the most complained-about firms in the federal government’s consumer complaint system.
By 2015, the big three bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — were generating more complaints than any other category of financial company.
The CFPB attempted to address the issue in 2022 by issuing a report criticizing “shoddy investigation practices” and instructing companies to provide more individualized responses to consumers.
The bureau also brought numerous enforcement actions against consumer reporting companies over the past decade.
But many of those efforts have now stalled.
A planned enforcement action against TransUnion approved in 2024 was never filed after the change in administration. Settlement talks halted soon afterward.
In a securities filing, TransUnion said discussions with the agency had “paused” and it could not estimate when — or if — they might resume.
Meanwhile, a lawsuit the CFPB filed against Experian shortly before the change in administration remains active. Experian has denied the allegations and says it investigates every dispute thoroughly.