#credit-reporting

#credit-reporting

The MBA's concerns, which were expressed in a letter to Pulte on Dec. 12, 2025, include information from members who reported an increase in credit reporting costs for 2026. The hikes amounted to 40% to 50% on average and included dramatic price increases for the government-sponsored enterprises' mandated tri-merge credit product. The three major bureaus Equifax, Experian and TransUnion collect financial and personal data to create consumer credit files.

It can be nearly impossible to escape a history of bad credit. Credit is the amount of money you have borrowed and not yet repaid to make large purchases like medical bills, homes, property, school tuition loans, and other types of loans. A credit score is a number that represents your history of loan repayment so future creditors can determine if they will or will not loan you more money.

Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion dominate credit reporting, but government policies requiring tri-merge credit reports hinder competition and inflate mortgage closing costs for buyers.

H.R. 2808 aims to ban the use of trigger leads, impacting credit reporting agencies that profit from selling leads after credit pulls.

The letter stresses that the burden is on the consumer to opt out of trigger leads, allowing CRAs to sell individual information without consumer approval.