The CFPB and FTC are part of a multi-pronged approach on tenant protections, including ensuring accurate rental payment information on credit reports.
01/30/2023 12:25 P.M.
2 minute read
The Biden administration and federal regulators announced a new plan to strengthen tenant protections and affordable rent for consumers, which includes over one-third of the American population—44 million households—in the rental market.
Of note for collectors and data furnishers, especially with property rental accounts, this includes plans for guidance and coordinated enforcement efforts between the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission to ensure accurate information on rental payments in the credit reporting system.
In October 2022, the CFPB issued an advisory opinion (PDF) discussing Fair Credit Reporting Act requirements related to procedures for ensuring the prevention of facially false information in credit reports, ACA International previously reported.
Additional components of the new plan, according to a White House fact sheet, include:
- The FTC and CFPB will collect information to identify actions that unfairly prevent applicants and tenants from accessing or staying in housing to inform enforcement and policy actions under each agency’s jurisdiction. The request for information will include the creation and use of tenant background checks, the use of algorithms in tenant screenings, providing negative action notices by landlords and property management companies, and how an applicant’s income source influences housing decisions.
- The Federal Housing Finance Agency will start a new public process to review proposed actions sharing renter protections and caps on egregious rent increases for future investments.
- A workshop by the U.S. Department of Justice will shape potential guidance updates around anti-competitive information sharing, including in rental markets.
- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will release a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require public housing authorities and owners of project-based rental assistance properties to provide at least 30 days’ advanced notice before ending a lease due to failure to pay rent.
The Biden administration will hold quarterly meetings with a group of tenants and tenant advocates to discuss ideas for tenant protections. It also released a Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights (PDF), which identifies top protections for renters.
For more information, the fact sheet on the plan is available here (PDF).
ACA will be engaging with the CFPB to learn more about the plan and determine the impact on members.
For more information, members can access a client alert from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck outline the national plans for rental affordability.
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