"Her student debt had been double-counted, making it look as though she owed a quarter of a million dollars and putting home ownership out of reach. Jones disputed the items with Experian, one of the major credit reporting agencies, multiple times in writing and over the phone, but got nowhere. "They kept saying it's been verified, it's been verified...They never investigated. They never tried to remove it," Jones said in an interview."
"Eventually, Jones complained to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal watchdog created by Congress in 2010 to protect consumers in their financial dealings, helping her lawyers show a judge the lengths she'd gone to mitigate damage to her credit, according to her attorneys, legal papers and a copy of the complaint. That paper trail eventually helped Jones successfully sue Experian to correct her record. Jones closed on a house purchase in the Memphis suburb of Millington for $300,000 in January."
Bianca Jones, a 33-year-old special education teacher in Memphis, found her Experian credit report double-counted student loans, showing roughly $250,000 and blocking homeownership. She disputed the errors repeatedly in writing and by phone without resolution. After filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, lawyers used the records to sue Experian and secure correction of her credit. Jones closed on a $300,000 house in Millington in January and credited the agency with enabling the purchase. Consumers, lawyers and credit counselors warn that a CFPB shutdown would remove a critical lifeline for people disputing reporting errors and facing financial hardship.
Read at Fast Company
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