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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 127 / Wednesday, July 7, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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an eviction filing.42 Concerns about lack of access to rental housing are further heightened during the continuing pandemic. For example, a basis for the CDCs eviction moratorium is the concern that individuals moving into close quarters in congregate or shared living settings, such as homeless shelters, puts individuals at higher risk of contracting COVID19.43 CRAs and debt collectors and landlords that furnish information for inclusion in consumer reports have important obligations under the FCRA and Regulation V relating to the accuracy of information included in consumer reports,44 and the Bureau urges CRAs and furnishers to ensure they are complying with these obligations.
Concerns about the accuracy of information included in consumer reports are long-standing,45 and the Bureau is especially concerned about the effects of these accuracy problems in light of the economic and public health impacts of COVID19. The Bureau has received consumer complaints alleging that inaccuracies in tenant-screening reports have caused landlords to deny some consumers rental housing and charge others higher security deposits than they would have otherwise.46 The Bureau is particularly concerned that the procedures that some tenant42 See, e.g., CFPB Complaint Bulletin, supra note 3 noting that, in their complaints to the Bureau, consumers have expressed concerns that an eviction would have detrimental effects on their ability to secure future housing and have reported facing homelessness because an eviction had negatively affected their credit, making it more difficult to secure housing; Kaveh Waddell, How Tenant Screening Reports Make It Hard for People to Bounce Back from Tough Times, Consumer Reports Mar. 11, 2021, https www.consumer reports.org/algorithmic-bias/tenant-screeningreports-make-it-hard-to-bounce-back-from-toughtimes/.
43 86 FR 16731, 1673334 Mar. 31, 2021. See also 86 FR 34010, 34013 June 28, 2021 noting that evicted renters must move, which leads to multiple outcomes that increase the risk of COVID
19 spread.
44 See, e.g., 15 U.S.C. 1681eb, 1681i, 1681s2; 12
CFR pt. 1022.
45 See, e.g., Fed. Trade Commn, Report to Congress Under Section 319 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 Dec.
2012, https www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/
documents/reports/section-319-fair-and-accuratecredit-transactions-act-2003-fifth-interim-federaltrade-commission/130211factareport.pdf finding that one in five consumers had an error on at least one of their three nationwide credit reports. More recently, the Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission hosted a full-day public workshop to discuss issues affecting the accuracy of both traditional credit reports and employment and tenant background screening reports. Fed. Trade Commn, Accuracy in Consumer Reporting Workshop Dec. 10, 2019, https www.ftc.gov/
news-events/events-calendar/accuracy-consumerreporting-workshop.
46 See, e.g., CFPB Complaint Bulletin, supra note 3.

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screening companies use to match public records and other rental information to specific consumers may create a high risk that inaccurate data will be included in tenant-screening reports,47 a risk that may be further heightened by increased volumes of negative rental information resulting from the pandemic. The risk of mismatching may be greater among Hispanic, Black, and Asian individuals because there is less surname diversity than among the white population.48
In addition, the Bureau is concerned that tenant-screening companies may report information, such as information about an eviction filing, in a consumer report without having reasonable procedures to report information about the disposition of the eviction filing or to prevent the inclusion of multiple entries for the same eviction action in the same consumer report.49 The Bureau is also concerned that tenant-screening companies may lack reasonable procedures to exclude from consumer reports eviction information that has been sealed or expunged.50
CRAs frequently include rental information, such as eviction records, 47 See, e.g., Lauren Kirchner & Matthew Goldstein, How Automated Background Checks Freeze Out Renters, N.Y. Times May 28, 2020, https www.nytimes.com/2020/05/28/business/
renters-background-checks.html; Complaint, United States v. Appfolio, Inc., No. 1:20cv03563 D.D.C.
Dec. 8, 2020, https www.ftc.gov/system/files/
documents/cases/ecf_1_-_us_v_appfolio_
complaint.pdf alleging failure to follow reasonable procedures relating to the use of identifiers to match criminal and eviction records to consumers for purposes of preparing tenant-screening reports;
Complaint, FTC v. RealPage, Inc., No. 3:18cv 02737N N.D. Tex. Oct. 16, 2018, https
www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/152_
3059_realpage_inc_complaint_10-16-18.pdf alleging failure to follow reasonable procedures relating to the matching criteria used to match criminal records to consumers for purposes of preparing tenant-screening reports.
48 Joshua Comenetz, U.S. Census Bureau, Hispanic Surnames Rise in Popularity Aug. 9, 2017, https www.census.gov/library/stories/2017/
08/what-is-in-a-name.html Twenty-six surnames cover a quarter of the Hispanic population and 16
percent of Hispanic people reported one of the top 10 Hispanic names. The pattern is similar for Asians and blacks..
49 See, e.g., Complaint, United States v. Appfolio, Inc., supra note 47 alleging failure to follow reasonable procedures to assure that the eviction and criminal record information included in tenantscreening reports accurately reflected the disposition, offense name, and offense type and to prevent the inclusion of multiple entries for the same criminal or eviction action in the same report.
50 See, e.g., Consent Order, In re Gen. Info. Servs., Inc., 2015CFPB0028 Oct. 29, 2015, https
files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201510_cfpb_consentorder_general-information-service-inc.pdf alleging that an employment background screening company violated FCRA section 607b by, among other things, failing to use reasonable procedures to prevent the inclusion of expunged criminal records in consumer reports.

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that comes from public records;
landlords and debt collectors also furnish information about rental housing payments and debts to CRAs.
The FCRA and Regulation V set forth important requirements for furnishers concerning both the accuracy of information furnished and the handling of consumer disputes related to the accuracy of information included in consumer reports.51 The Bureau is concerned that existing accuracy problems related to the furnishing of rental information may be exacerbated by the anticipated increase in the amount of negative rental information furnished.
For example, furnishers may fail to account for COVID19-related aid or protections when reporting overdue rent amounts. In addition to providing a temporary moratorium on eviction filings for tenants in certain rental properties with Federal assistance or federally related financing, the CARES
Act prohibited landlords of these rental properties from charging fees, penalties, or other charges related to the nonpayment of rent during the Acts eviction moratorium.52 State and local laws may also in some cases prohibit landlords from charging certain late fees or penalties to renters. The Bureau is concerned that furnishers may include prohibited penalties or fees when reporting rental arrearages. In addition, under many rental assistance programs, funds to make rental payments may be provided to landlords to pay the rent of specific tenants who are eligible for the program. If furnishers providing rental information do not appropriately account for funds received pursuant to these programs and fail to offset overdue rent amounts, this could lead to inaccuracies in consumer reports.
Finally, the dispute-resolution obligations the FCRA and Regulation V
impose on CRAs and furnishers are also critical to ensuring that consumer reports are accurate. CRAs and furnishers must conduct reasonable and timely investigations of consumer disputes to verify the accuracy of the information furnished.53 An increase in the amount of negative rental information in public records and furnished to CRAs is likely to lead to a corresponding increase in dispute volumes. A reasonable and timely investigation of a consumer dispute is critical to mitigating the harmful impact that inaccurate negative information in a consumer report may have on the 51 See,
e.g., 15 U.S.C. 1681s2; 12 CFR 1022.40

.43.
52 CARES
53 15

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Act section 4024, 134 Stat. 49294.
U.S.C. 1681i, 1681s2; 12 CFR 1022.43.

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