MBA Blasts Credit Reporting Price Hikes; Calls for Ending Tri-Merge Requirement

MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit, CMB, released the following statement on the recently announced price increases for credit reporting products:

“Once again, the national credit bureaus are abusing their government-granted oligopoly by gouging consumers – a predictable outcome in a flawed, outdated, and anticompetitive system where lenders are required to buy specific, increasingly-expensive credit reporting data from each of the three credit bureaus. MBA has long led the call to fix this broken model and shined a light on the role that regulations and the government play in these steep, unjustified price hikes that ultimately hurt housing affordability.

“We are continuing to push for more transparency and fairness in this process. Today’s news only strengthens our call to move away from the tri-merge credit report structure. Single-file reports are used safely in nearly every other consumer finance market, and extending them into the mortgage market would provide price relief for American homebuyers by injecting real competition, lowering closing costs, and streamlining the mortgage process, all without compromising sound risk management.

“MBA once again urges lawmakers and federal housing regulators, as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission, to end the government’s involvement in driving up these consumer credit transaction costs.”

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For more reaction, see Bob Broeksmit’s LinkedIn post.