Tell the House: Support Name Change Equity in Credit Reporting

Although credit bureaus have been able to accommodate last name changes for reasons of marriage or divorce for decades, they struggle to do so for first or full name changes. After legally changing their first or full names consumers can face a variety of challenges with their credit reports, such as:

• At times a consumer’s credit report splits (or “fragments”) into two or more credit reports in different names after their name change. These fragmented credit files contain only a portion of the person’s credit information, which can lead to a loss of positive credit history as well as a drop in the consumer’s credit score.
• Some consumers find that their credit report is completely empty after their name change and that they have no credit history at all.
• Some consumers are unable to access their credit reports entirely after their name change.
• Being deadnamed in their credit reports provided to employers, landlords, and underwriters.

We need name change equity in credit reporting!

The Credit Reporting Accuracy After a Legal Name Change Act (H.R. 8478) will fix these problems with credit reports after a legal name change that potentially affect the hundreds of thousands of trans and nonbinary consumers who have sought a legal name change.