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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 215 / Wednesday, November 10, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
E-Government Act Compliance The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is committed to compliance with the E-Government Act to promote the use of the internet and other information technologies, to provide increased opportunities for citizen access to Government information and services, and for other purposes. For information pertinent to E-Government Act compliance related to this action, please contact Mr. Joseph Moxey, APHIS Paperwork Reduction Act Specialist, at 301 8512483.
Congressional Review Act Pursuant to the Congressional Review Act 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs designated this rule as not a major rule, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 8042.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1633, 77017772, and 77817786; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 CFR
2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.
Done in Washington, DC, this 4th day of November 2021.
Mark Davidson, Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
FR Doc. 202124490 Filed 11921; 8:45 am BILLING CODE 341034P

BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL
PROTECTION
12 CFR Part 1022
Fair Credit Reporting; Name-Only Matching Procedures Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
ACTION: Advisory opinion.
AGENCY:

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is issuing this advisory opinion to highlight that a consumer reporting agency that uses inadequate matching procedures to match information to consumers, including name-only matching i.e., matching information to the particular consumer who is the subject of a consumer report based solely on whether the consumers first and last names are identical or similar to the names associated with the information, in preparing consumer reports is not using reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy under section 607b of the Fair Credit Reporting Act FCRA.
DATES: This advisory opinion is effective on November 10, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Brandy Hood, Courtney Jean, Kristin McPartland, Amanda Quester, or
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES

SUMMARY:

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Pavneet Singh, Senior Counsels, Office of Regulations, at 202 4357700 or https reginquiries.consumer finance.gov/. If you require this document in an alternative electronic format, please contact CFPB_
Accessibility@cfpb.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Bureau is issuing this advisory opinion through the procedures for its Advisory Opinions Policy.1 Refer to those procedures for more information.
I. Advisory Opinion A. Background Accuracy in consumer reports is of vital importance to the consumer reporting system, particularly as consumer reports play an increasingly important role in the lives of American consumers. Consumer reporting agencies assemble and evaluate credit, public record, and other consumer information into consumer reports. The information in these reports is used by many different types of businesses, from creditors and insurers to landlords and employers, to make eligibility and other decisions about consumers. Creditors, for example, use information in consumer reports to determine whether, and on what terms, to extend credit to a particular consumer. The majority of landlords and employers use background screening reports to screen prospective tenants and employees.2
Inaccurate information in consumer reports can have significant adverse impacts on consumers. These impacts are particularly concerning for prospective renters and job seekers struggling to recover from the impacts of the COVID19 pandemic. Consumers with inaccurate information in their consumer reports may, for example, be denied credit or housing they would have otherwise received, or may be offered less attractive terms than they would have been offered if their information had been accurate. For example, an applicant whose tenant screening report shows past litigation or a poor rental payment history may find it difficult or more expensive to rent 1 85

FR 77987 Dec. 3, 2020.
Natl Consumer Law Ctr., Broken Records Redux: How Errors by Criminal Background Check Companies Continue to Harm Consumers Seeking Jobs and Housing 3 Dec. 2019, https
www.nclc.org/images/pdf/criminal-justice/reportbroken-records-redux.pdf; Bureau of Consumer Fin.
Prot., Market Snapshot: Background Screening Reports: Criminal background checks in employment 34 Oct. 2019, https files.consumer finance.gov/f/documents/201909_cfpb_marketsnapshot-background-screening_report.pdf CFPB
Background Screening Report; Sharon Dietrich, Preventing Background Screeners from Reporting Expunged Criminal Cases, Sargent Shriver Natl Ctr.
on Poverty L. Apr. 2015.
2 See
PO 00000

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property.3 Job-seekers with inaccurate information in their consumer reports may also be denied employment opportunities.4 Inaccurate information in consumer reports can also harm the businesses that use such reports by leading them to incorrect decisions.
Consumer report accuracy relies on the various parties to the consumer reporting system: the three nationwide consumer reporting agenciesEquifax, Experian, and TransUnion; other consumer reporting agencies, such as background screening companies;
entities such as creditors who furnish information to consumer reporting agencies i.e., furnishers; public record repositories; users of credit reports; and consumers.
The FCRA, enacted in 1970, regulates consumer reporting. The statute was designed to ensure that consumer reporting agencies adopt reasonable procedures for meeting the needs of commerce for consumer credit, personnel, insurance, and other information in a manner which is fair and equitable to the consumer, with regard to the confidentiality, accuracy, relevancy, and proper utilization of such information. 5 The FCRA was enacted to protect consumers from the transmission of inaccurate information about them and to establish credit reporting practices that utilize accurate, relevant, and current information in a confidential and responsible manner. 6
Because of the importance of consumer report accuracy to businesses and consumers, the structure of the FCRA
creates interrelated legal standards and requirements to support the policy goal of accurate credit reporting. Among these is the requirement that, when preparing a consumer report, consumer 3 See, e.g., Bureau of Consumer Fin. Prot., Complaint Bulletin: COVID19 issues described in consumer complaints 15 July 2021, https
files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_covid19-issues-described-consumer-complaints_
complaint-bulletin_2021-07.pdf CFPB Complaint Bulletin noting that, in their complaints to the Bureau, some consumers have reported being denied applications for housing because information in their tenant screening reports was inaccurate, and other consumers 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.consumerreports.org/
algorithmic-bias/tenant-screening-reports-make-ithard-to-bounce-back-from-tough-times/; 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.
4 CFPB Background Screening Report, supra note 2, at 1314.
5 15 U.S.C. 1681b.
6 Guimond v. Trans Union Credit Info., 45 F.3d 1329, 1333 9th Cir.1995 citations omitted.

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