Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2022-07: Reasonable Investigation of Consumer Reporting Disputes

Publisher lists this guidance as withdrawn/rescinded: Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2022-07: Reasonable Investigation of Consumer Reporting Disputes, 87 FR 71507 (Nov. 23, 2022); withdrawn on May 12, 2025 .

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains regulatory documents having general
applicability and legal effect, most of which
are keyed to and codified in the Code of
Federal Regulations, which is published under
50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.
The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by
the Superintendent of Documents.
Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
71507
Vol. 87, No. 225
Wednesday, November 23, 2022
1
Examples of primary sources of evidence
include but are not limited to documents submitted
by a consumer in support of a dispute such as
copies of letters from creditors, bank statements,
checks, or periodic billing statements.
2
See generally Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau, Key Dimensions and Processes in the U.S.
Credit Reporting System (2012), https://
files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201212_cfpb_credit-
reporting-white-paper.pdf.
3
S. Rep. No. 91–517, at 1 (1969).
4
84 Stat. 1114, 1132 (Oct. 26, 1970).
5
Gorman v. Wolpoff & Abramson, LLP, 584 F.3d
1147, 1153 (9th Cir. 2009).
6
See, e.g., 15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(1)(A) (Consumer
reporting agency obligation to ‘‘conduct a
reasonable reinvestigation to determine whether the
disputed information is inaccurate’’); 15 U.S.C.
1681s–2(b)(1) (furnisher obligation to ‘‘conduct an
investigation with respect to the disputed
information’’ for disputes provided by a consumer
reporting agency); 12 CFR 1022.43(e)(1) (furnisher
obligation to ‘‘conduct a reasonable investigation
with respect to the disputed information’’ for
disputes sent directly from a consumer); see also
Johnson v. MBNA America Bank, NA, 357 F.3d 426,
431 (4th Cir. 2004) (holding that furnishers
receiving indirect disputes from consumer reporting
agencies must ‘‘conduct a reasonable investigation
of their records to determine whether the disputed
information can be verified’’).
7
See Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,
Annual Report of Credit and Consumer Reporting
Continued
BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL
PROTECTION
12 CFR Chapter X
Consumer Financial Protection
Circular 2022–07: Reasonable
Investigation of Consumer Reporting
Disputes
AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial
Protection.
ACTION: Consumer financial protection
circular.
SUMMARY: The Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (Bureau or CFPB) has
issued Consumer Financial Protection
Circular 2022–07, titled, ‘‘Reasonable
Investigation of Consumer Reporting
Disputes.’’ In this circular, the Bureau
responds to the questions, ‘‘1. Are
consumer reporting agencies and the
entities that furnish information to them
(furnishers) permitted under the Fair
Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to impose
obstacles that deter submission of
disputes? ’’ and ‘‘2. Do consumer
reporting agencies need to forward to
furnishers consumer-provided
documents attached to a dispute? ’’
DATES: The Bureau released this circular
on its website on November 10, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Enforcers, and the broader
public, can provide feedback and
comments to Circulars@cfpb.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
David Wake, Senior Counsel, at (202)
435–9613. If you require this document
in an alternative electronic format,
please contact CFPB_Accessibility@
cfpb.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Questions Presented
1. Are consumer reporting agencies
and the entities that furnish information
to them (furnishers) permitted under the
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to
impose obstacles that deter submission
of disputes?
2. Do consumer reporting agencies
need to forward to furnishers consumer-
provided documents attached to a
dispute?
Responses
1. No. Consumer reporting agencies
and furnishers are liable under the
FCRA if they fail to investigate any
dispute that meets the statutory and
regulatory requirements, as described in
more detail below. Enforcers may bring
claims if consumer reporting agencies
and furnishers limit consumers’ dispute
rights by requiring any specific format
or requiring any specific attachment
such as a copy of a police report or
consumer report beyond what the
statute and regulations permit.
2. It depends. Enforcers may bring a
claim if a consumer reporting agency
fails to promptly provide to the
furnisher ‘‘all relevant information’’
regarding the dispute that the consumer
reporting agency receives from the
consumer. While there is not an
affirmative requirement to specifically
provide original copies of
documentation submitted by
consumers, it would be difficult for a
consumer reporting agency to prove
they provided all relevant information if
they fail to forward even an electronic
image of documents that constitute a
primary source of evidence.
1

Background
Information contained in consumer
reports has critical effects on
Americans’ daily lives. Consumer
reports are used to evaluate consumers’
eligibility for loans and the interest rates
they pay, their eligibility for insurance
and the premiums they pay, their
eligibility for rental housing, and their
eligibility for checking accounts.
Prospective employers commonly use
consumer reports in their hiring
decisions.
2
Given the importance of this
information, Congress enacted the FCRA
to ‘‘prevent consumers from being
unjustly damaged because of inaccurate
or arbitrary information in a credit
report.’’
3

A central component of the
protections against inaccurate
information is the requirement to
conduct a reasonable investigation of
consumer disputes. Since its enactment,
the FCRA has required consumer
reporting agencies to investigate
consumer disputes.
4
To further ensure
that consumer reports are accurate, in
1996 Congress amended the FCRA to
also impose ‘‘duties on the sources that
provide credit information to CRAs
[consumer reporting agencies], called
‘furnishers’ in the statute.’’
5
Thus, when
consumer reporting agencies and
furnishers are properly notified of a
dispute about information furnished in
a consumer report, both consumer
reporting agencies and furnishers must
conduct a reasonable investigation of
the dispute.
6

These responsibilities are part of the
FCRA’s overall framework for ensuring
accuracy in consumer reports.
Consumers are in a good position to
identify inaccurate information in their
consumer reports, and timely and
responsive investigations of these
identified inaccuracies is crucial to the
FCRA’s purpose of ensuring fair and
accurate consumer reporting.
Despite Congress’s repeated efforts to
promote accuracy by requiring
reasonable investigation of disputes,
consumers continue to report problems
with accuracy and dispute
investigations. Between January and
September 2021, the CFPB received
more than 500,000 complaints about
credit or consumer reporting; the most
common issue they identified was
incorrect information on a credit
report.
7
In each of the past three
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71508 Federal Register/ Vol. 87, No. 225 / Wednesday, November 23, 2022 / Rules and Regulations
Complaints (Jan. 2022), at 21, 30, https://
files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_fcra-
611-e_report_2022-01.pdf.
8
See, e.g., 12 U.S.C. 5481(12)(F), 5512(b), 5514(c),
5515(c), and also Subtitle E (12 U.S.C. 5561–5567);
15 U.S.C. 1681s(b)(1)(H), (e). Authority over 15
U.S.C. 1681m(e) and 1681w are limited to the
Federal banking agencies, the NCUA, the FTC, the
CFTC, and SEC.
9
15 U.S.C. 1681s. States can directly bring
actions under FCRA. See 12 U.S.C. 1681s(c). States
can also bring actions under the Consumer
Financial Protection Act (CFPA) against ‘‘covered
persons’’ and ‘‘service providers’’ based upon
violations of Federal consumer financial laws,
including the FCRA. See Authority of States to
Enforce the Consumer Financial Protection Act of
2010, 87 FR 31940 (May 26, 2022).
10
15 U.S.C. 1681n, 1681o.
11
See, e.g., Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau, Supervisory Highlights (Spring 2014), at 10,
https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201405_cfpb_
supervisory-highlights-spring-2014.pdf.
12
See, e.g., Complaint at 15, CFPB v. Fair
Collections & Outsourcing, Inc., D. Md. No. 19–Civ–
2817 (Filed Sept. 25, 2019).
13
With respect to furnisher direct disputes, see 74
FR 31,484, 31,500 (July 1, 2009) (‘‘Some industry
commenters also suggested that the Agencies issue
a model direct dispute complaint form, with some
advocating that consumers be required to use the
model complaint form. The Agencies decline to
adopt these suggestions because such requirements
would cause otherwise valid disputes to be rejected
as frivolous or irrelevant due solely to the
consumer’s failure to meet a technical requirement
that probably would be unknown to the
consumer.’’).
14
15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(3)(A) (identifying which
disputes the consumer reporting agency can
determine to be frivolous or irrelevant); 12 CFR
1022.43(f)(1) (identifying which disputes the
furnisher can determine to be frivolous or
irrelevant).
15
15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(3) (Consumer reporting
agency frivolous or irrelevant determination); 12
CFR 1022.43(f) (furnisher direct dispute frivolous or
irrelevant determination).
calendar years, the top two most
frequently identified issues in
complaints submitted to the CFPB were
‘‘Incorrect information on your report’’
and ‘‘Problem with a credit reporting
company’s investigation into an existing
problem.’’
Figure 1: Credit or Consumer Reporting
Complaints to the CFPB 2019–2021
The CFPB is responsible for issuing
rules and enforcing compliance with
these provisions of the FCRA.
8
The
FCRA can also be enforced by other
Federal government agencies and
States,
9
and through private actions
brought by consumers.
10
The CFPB is
issuing this Circular to emphasize that
certain practices involving the failure to
conduct a reasonable investigation of
disputes can violate the FCRA.
Analysis
Consumer reporting agencies and
furnishers cannot avoid the obligation
to conduct a reasonable investigation of
disputes by making consumers satisfy
demands other than those specified by
statute or regulation.
The CFPB is aware that consumer
reporting agencies and furnishers have
sought to evade the obligation to
investigate disputes by requiring
consumers to submit particular items of
information or documentation with a
dispute before the entity will conduct
its investigation of the dispute.
Examples of this conduct include:
•Consumer reporting agencies that
require a consumer to provide a recent
copy of the consumer’s report or file
disclosure before investigating disputes
despite the consumer providing
sufficient information to investigate the
disputed information;
11

•Furnishers that require a consumer
to provide additional specific
documents even though the consumer
has already provided the supporting
documentation or other information
reasonably required to substantiate the
basis of a direct dispute;
12
and
•Consumer reporting agencies or
furnishers that require a consumer to
attach a completed proprietary form
before investigating the consumer’s
dispute.
13

Enforcers may consider bringing an
action under the FCRA when furnishers
and consumer reporting agencies
require consumers to provide
documentation or proof documents,
other than as described in the statute or
regulation, as a precondition to
investigation. For disputes received
directly from a consumer, a consumer
reporting agency or furnisher must
reasonably investigate the dispute
unless they have reasonably determined
that the dispute is frivolous or
irrelevant.
14
If such a determination is
made, the consumer reporting agency or
furnisher must notify the consumer of
such determination within five business
days of the determination and identify
the additional information needed from
the consumer to investigate the
dispute.
15
Further, furnishers are not
permitted to deem disputes as frivolous
or irrelevant if the dispute has been
provided to the furnisher from a
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71509 Federal Register/ Vol. 87, No. 225 / Wednesday, November 23, 2022 / Rules and Regulations
16
15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(b). See Brief for Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade
Commission as Amici Curiae Supporting Plaintiff-
Appellant, Ingram v. Waypoint Resource Group,
LLC, Third Circuit Court of Appeals (No. 21–2430).
17
15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(2)(A).
18
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,
Bulletin 2013–09 (Sept. 4, 2013), at 1, https://
files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201309_cfpb_bulletin_
furnishers.pdf (alerting furnishers to the fact that
consumer reporting agencies have begun forwarding
images of relevant documentation to furnishers as
part of the reasonable investigation of disputes).
19
For example, a copy of a bill supporting the
consumer’s dispute conveys information regarding
the persuasiveness of a consumer’s dispute that
data about the bill would not.
20
Federal Trade Commission, 40 Years of
Experience with the Fair Credit Reporting Act: An
FTC Staff Report with Summary of Interpretations
(July 2011), at 77, https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/
files/documents/reports/40-years-experience-fair-
credit-reporting-act-ftc-staff-report-summary-
interpretations/110720fcrareport.pdf (‘‘A CRA does
not comply with this provision if it merely
indicates the nature of the dispute, without
communicating to the furnisher the specific
relevant information received from the consumer.
For example, if the consumer claimed ‘‘never late’’
and submitted documentation (such as cancelled
checks) to support his/her dispute, a CRA does not
comply with the requirement that is provide ‘‘all
relevant information’’ if it simply notifies the
furnisher that the consumer disputes the payment
history without communicating the evidence
received.’’).
21
15 U.S.C. 1681s–2(b)(1)(B).
consumer reporting agency pursuant to
FCRA section 623(b).
16

Accordingly, consumer reporting
agencies and furnishers must reasonably
investigate disputes received directly
from consumers that are not frivolous or
irrelevant—and furnishers must
reasonably investigate all indirect
disputes received from consumer
reporting agencies—even if such
disputes do not include the entity’s
preferred format, preferred intake forms,
or preferred documentation or forms.
Consumer reporting agencies must
provide to the furnisher all relevant
information regarding the dispute that it
received from the consumer.
Enforcers may bring a claim if a
consumer reporting agency fails to
promptly provide to the furnisher ‘‘all
relevant information’’ regarding the
dispute that the consumer reporting
agency receives from the consumer.
17

Through its supervision, the CFPB has
found that consumer reporting agencies
tend to ingest dispute information from
consumers using automated protocols,
and they also share dispute information
with furnishers electronically.
18
The use
of these technologies has reduced the
cost and time to transmit relevant
information.
When transmitting information about
a dispute, a consumer reporting agency
may be able to demonstrate that it has
transmitted ‘‘all relevant information’’
even if it does not provide original
documents in paper form. However,
given that primary sources of evidence
provided by consumers can be
dispositive in determining whether
there has been a furnishing error, and
given that the character of a primary
source of evidence is probative and thus
relevant to the investigation,
19
it will be
difficult for a consumer reporting
agency to prove that it complied with
the FCRA if it does not provide
electronic images of primary evidence
for evaluation by the furnisher.
20

The consumer reporting agency’s
failure to provide the furnisher with all
relevant information limits the
furnisher’s ability to reasonably
investigate the dispute. A furnisher
must ‘‘review all relevant information’’
provided by the consumer reporting
agency.
21
Accordingly, consumer
reporting agency compliance with the
obligation to provide all relevant
information is crucial to the consumer’s
right to have their dispute reasonably
investigated.
About Consumer Financial Protection
Circulars
Consumer Financial Protection
Circulars are issued to all parties with
authority to enforce Federal consumer
financial law. The CFPB is the principal
Federal regulator responsible for
administering Federal consumer
financial law, see 12 U.S.C. 5511,
including the Consumer Financial
Protection Act’s prohibition on unfair,
deceptive, and abusive acts or practices,
12 U.S.C. 5536(a)(1)(B), and 18 other
‘‘enumerated consumer laws,’’ 12 U.S.C.
5481(12). However, these laws are also
enforced by State attorneys general and
State regulators, 12 U.S.C. 5552, and
prudential regulators including the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,
the Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency, the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System, and the
National Credit Union Administration.
See, e.g., 12 U.S.C. 5516(d), 5581(c)(2)
(exclusive enforcement authority for
banks and credit unions with $10
billion or less in assets). Some Federal
consumer financial laws are also
enforceable by other Federal agencies,
including the Department of Justice and
the Federal Trade Commission, the
Farm Credit Administration, the
Department of Transportation, and the
Department of Agriculture. In addition,
some of these laws provide for private
enforcement.
Consumer Financial Protection
Circulars are intended to promote
consistency in approach across the
various enforcement agencies and
parties, pursuant to the CFPB’s statutory
objective to ensure Federal consumer
financial law is enforced consistently.
12 U.S.C. 5511(b)(4).
Consumer Financial Protection
Circulars are also intended to provide
transparency to partner agencies
regarding the CFPB’s intended approach
when cooperating in enforcement
actions. See, e.g., 12 U.S.C. 5552(b)
(consultation with CFPB by State
attorneys general and regulators); 12
U.S.C. 5562(a) (joint investigatory work
between CFPB and other agencies).
Consumer Financial Protection
Circulars are general statements of
policy under the Administrative
Procedure Act. 5 U.S.C. 553(b). They
provide background information about
applicable law, articulate considerations
relevant to the Bureau’s exercise of its
authorities, and, in the interest of
maintaining consistency, advise other
parties with authority to enforce Federal
consumer financial law. They do not
restrict the Bureau’s exercise of its
authorities, impose any legal
requirements on external parties, or
create or confer any rights on external
parties that could be enforceable in any
administrative or civil proceeding. The
CFPB Director is instructing CFPB staff
as described herein, and the CFPB will
then make final decisions on individual
matters based on an assessment of the
factual record, applicable law, and
factors relevant to prosecutorial
discretion.
Rohit Chopra,
Director, Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2022–25138 Filed 11–22–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810–AM–P
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
16 CFR Part 314
RIN 3084–AB35
Standards for Safeguarding Customer
Information
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.
ACTION: Final rule; delay of
effectiveness.
SUMMARY: The Federal Trade
Commission is delaying the effective
date of portions of the amended
Safeguards Rule as published on
December 9, 2021.
DATES:
Effective date: This final rule is
effective November 23, 2022.
Applicability date: The applicability
of the provisions set forth in § 314.5 is
delayed from December 9, 2022 until
June 9, 2023.
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