House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (NC-10) issued a statement today in response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) notice of proposed rulemaking, which aims to exclude medical debt from credit reports.
“Director Chopra is once again acting as a political arm of the White House, rather than as an independent regulator,” said Chairman McHenry. “This proposed rule will severely impair the accuracy and completeness of credit reports—raising the cost and reducing the availability of credit for all Americans. The CFPB pursuing a full prohibition of medical debt on credit reports will have a negative impact on our credit and health care systems. It is badly misguided to remove consequences for consumers who do not pay a debt by wiping out an entire category of debt from credit reports. The CFPB’s regulatory overreach will harm the very consumers the agency was created to protect.”
Chairman McHenry’s remarks reflect significant concerns about potential ramifications for both credit reporting accuracy and consumer access to affordable credit if medical debts are excluded from consideration.
