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“Medical debts are a huge portion of the negative information in credit reports, making up about half of debt collection black marks appearing on these reports and affecting one in five consumers with a credit report, or 43 million Americans,” said Chi Chi Wu, attorney with the National Consumer Law Center, in a statement. “With credit reports as a gatekeeper to affordable credit, employment, housing, and insurance, these changes should help tens of millions of consumers.”
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The National Consumer Law Center, a nonprofit that works in consumer law and energy policy, recommended:
- Consumers check their credit reports on a yearly basis by going to the official source for free annual credit reports like www.annualcreditreport.com.
- After September 15, 2017, if a consumer spots a medical debt less than six months past due on her credit report, they should send a dispute to the credit reporting agency.
- If a dispute does not result in the deletion of the item, the consumer may want to send a complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or their Attorney General if they are a resident of New York or one of the 31 states that signed the multistate agreement.
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