The big three Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion have aided in the destruction of the nation's economy by creating reporting standards that are not accurate and borderline unconstitutional. 

The general public does not understand how credit scores are calculated, their own reports, or how to gain access to them because the industry has made it too difficult to understand.  Another problem has presented itself when a consumer has an issue with their report; the industry makes it near impossible for a consumer to have it corrected or investigated either not fully investigating material being published on consumer report or by forcing the consumer to jump hurdles to correct inaccuracies.  The burden of proof needs to be on the credit reporting agencies and institutions reporting information to a consumer report. We the people are innocent until proven guilty, the credit agencies have decided otherwise.

In recent years it is apparent that the current scoring system does not work.  Consumers rated as "A" credit have received loans that they should have never received and defaulted. Others have received very high interest rates or have been denied credit due to a low number on their report.  Many reports have inaccuracies that cause the scores to drop or are calculated unfairly.  When a consumer cancels a credit account and are trying to be fiscally responsible they are penalized by it.  In another occurrence when a bank decreases the available credit on a card it can also decrease a consumer’s score.  Not to mention if a collection agency gets a hold of a file that is either paid in full or not the consumers the agencies allow it to be published without notification to the consumer or having the collection agency provide adequate proof.

Consumer reports also need to be more private, for a fee everyone’s information is accessible through these agencies for marketing purposes.  Your personal information is up for sale, your address, job, number, and credit history.  Many do not understand that this is the process that telemarketers gain access to their personal information.

It is time to make the agencies responsible.  The credit scoring system needs to be re established with simple and easy to understand terms.  All negative reports need to be immediately reported directly to the consumer by the agency before an agency can place a negative item on a report and allow the consumer to dispute the record before it is published.  All consumer reports and scores need to be free for consumers whenever they need to gain access, not just once per year without a score.  Consumers should also have the ability to opt out of having their information sold by these agencies and only used for financial purposes.