Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax issued a memo in March to all data furnishers providing notification of upcoming changes and new initiatives to certain furnishing requirements. These new furnishing requirements were first announced by the consumer reporting agencies and the Consumer Data Industry Association in 2015.
Two of these mandatory data reporting requirements affecting collection agencies and debt buyers will go into effect on June 15, 2016:
- Report the name of the Original Creditor and Creditor Classification Code according to the Metro 2® format (all fields are required for each item or account reported.)
- Do not report debt that did not arise from a contract or agreement to pay, including but not limited to things like traffic tickets, certain fines, library fees, court fees, etc.
It is strongly advised that all furnishers begin implementing these initiatives on or before this date. They are also advised to review the list of initiatives and the details that follow to understand the changes, and to monitor data on an ongoing basis to ensure that all requirements are met.
Other process requirement and furnisher reporting changes will take effect later this year and in late 2017. For more information on these initiatives, you can contact Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax via the email addresses below.
Experian: DataReporting@experian.com
TransUnion: TUDAS@TransUnion.com