Bureaus make settlement, does it matter?

Hello Red Phoenix NATION!!! The New York State Attorney General just reached a settlement with Experian, Equifax and Transunion. This is good news for all of us concerned about credit, but does it really matter? The biggest win seems to be the the reporting of medical collections. The bureaus will wait 6 months / 180 days before reporting, mostly because of insurance companies slow paying or making claims difficult. This is great, but most medical collections I see - the consumer didn't even know they had. Good news, when you're buying a home they don't care about medical collections for the most part. They do factor in the credit score and until Fannie and FHA conform to the FICO 9 algorithm, medical collections will still count against you in regards to your score. That's right, Fannie and FHA dictate which algorithm is used by the mortgage lenders which is still FICO Classic and again means your medical collections count against your score. I have a bit of an edge to me in regards to this "news" and I admit that I have not read the full settlement agreement. HOWEVER!!! I do know the game the big 3 play (Experian, Equifax and Transunion) and what the FCRA does in fact say in regards to our rights within credit reporting. No I'm not an attorney, just a nerd! Let's move on to the dispute process and the translation of letters / documentation into 3 different codes stuff. What are the bureaus suppose to be doing already? When a consumer sends in documentation the bureaus typically send it to the creditor and verify that the documentation is real. If it is, then the bureaus usually make the correction or deletion of the information. The code translation does happen within E-Oscar but mostly in simple general disputes that are easily squashed because the consumer has no idea what they are really disputing. This will continue because most disputes by consumers are frivolous and uneducated disputes and that's even with documentation. I'm not picking on the consumer but when is the last time you had a discussion about the Fair Credit Reporting Act. For me its every day, for most its never. Other part of the settlement-the bureaus have to include a link to annualcreditreport.com - yay. Who CARES?!!? Anyone who knows anything could care less about that part of the settlement and its a waste of ink. I do think its great that the New York AG got a win, but like many, they don't understand the system or what will really help consumers in regards to credit reports. Instead of a link to pull your credit, how about a link to www.ftc.gov or something about the Fair Credit Reporting Act other than a blurb that is hard to find. Ya, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), its that little law that was created in 1970 to protect our rights in regards to reporting. Or how about making bold disclaimers *** YOU ARE NOT BUYING A FICO SCORE!*** I can not tell you the amount of people I talk to on a daily basis that have no idea what FICO is or the fact that they just spent $30-40 for a three bureau report with scores that you can put in the garbage. In my opinion this settlement was a win for the bureaus, the more things change the more they stay the same. While the government officials are celebrating the bureaus are laughing at them. The dispute systems is a system of failure and one that was put in place to make the government feel they have protected the consumers. If government officials and politicians want to make a difference then get someone who knows something about the Fair Credit Reporting Act and FICO and educate our consumers! When I say someone who knows something about this topic, I mean someone other than themselves or some financial planner or realtor (no offense Agents and CFP's). They always ask the wrong people, you ever notice that? Doesn't matter what the topic, they seem to find an expert in something other than the topic itself to give input. While my little blog isn't intended to be super technical, I am considering it but at this time - I will save you from me and leave you be. Love me, hate me I still like to hear from you! If you need anything, I'm always around! john@redphoenixco.com www.redphoenixco.com