All Medical Debts Must be Removed from Credit Reports starting Monday!

[nitenrz]

The CFPB ruling on removing medical debts from credit reports will be official on Monday, March 17, 2025.  Let the deletions begin!!!!

[Kat58]

🍀

 

[Why Chat]

I don't know where you got this misinformation from --but it is FALSE.

 

Here is what actually occurred. (Started January 2025)

 

Yes, medical debt, including medical debt under $500, is no longer reported on credit reports, and a new federal rule bans credit agencies from including medical debt on credit reports and prohibits lenders from using medical information in lending decisions. 

[MarvBear]

Does anyone still have medical debt reporting now?

 

Our federal agencies are in flux at the moment.   Hold your celebration till you confirm for your own self with a snail mail copy of your credit file(s).

[tobias66]

Following. Unlike what was posted above, the new federal law requires all medical debt to be removed from your credit reports. The law became effective between March 17th- 20th, 2025. There is nothing reported that suggests this law has been modified or held in abeyance. I personally contacted Experian and the two individuals I spoke to, one a supervisor, had no clue as to what I was talking about.

[Why Chat]

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-finalizes-rule-to-remove-medical-bills-from-credit-reports/

 

Reading this carefully it does NOT appear to prohibit reporting medical debt-- 

 Bans medical bills on credit reports: The rule bans consumer reporting agencies from including medical debt information on credit reports and credit scores sent to lenders. 

It appears that medical debt will still be reported but will not be included in lender reports and will not be as BIG a factor in scores.

Edited April 21, 2025 by Why Chat

[tobias66]

As Chat noted, it bans the adverse notations and mentions of medical debt on credit reports. There's a distinction between the mere reporting and then the publishing of that reporting on the actual credit report. The only remaining question should focus on why the bureaus haven't complied with federal law.

[Why Chat]

How would you know if they haven't complied??They are not required to DELETE the entries-- only to not REPORT them to LENDERS. It appears to be a useless restriction as most lenders do not directly request any reports they use services that are not affected by this useless new rule.

[tobias66]

I'd agree with you but then we'd both be wrong.  The law specifically requires the adverse notations to be REMOVED from your credit reports. You attempted to waffle by opining it was a meaningless law but the removals will increase the credit scores of millions of consumers. Far from meaningless.  Lastly, many states have already sought to enforce compliance with the new federal law. How do I know they haven't complied, you ask? Because all states haven't complied and my two medical bill collections from 2021 still remain on my report.                   

[Why Chat]

Please provide the link to the law that states  adverse notations to be REMOVED from your credit reports other than on reports sent to lenders

 

 

[Why Chat]

Unfortunately, even this limited relief has been cancelled;

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking to erase a Biden-era rule that would ban the inclusion of medical debt on credit reports.

The medical debt rule, finalized in the waning days of the Biden administration, would ban medical debt on credit reports and prohibit lenders from using a person’s medical debt history to make lending decisions .Rather than defend the rule, the CFPB joined the two trade groups in a joint motion that asked U.S. District Court Judge Sean Jordan to vacate the medical debt rule 'because it exceeds the bureau’s statutory authority.'

The rule was scheduled to take effect in March, but the judge issued a 90-day stay, effectively delaying the start date to June15.

Consumer groups have sought to intervene in the case to defend the medical debt rule. In an order on April 30, Jordan said he would give the consumer groups, the trade groups and the CFPB another week to file legal paperwork before deciding on the next steps.

Consumer advocates worry the CFPB’s choice to abandon the medical debt rule could strip away an important layer of consumer protection.

'I’m disappointed for the 15million Americans who have medical bills on their credit reports and have to suffer the consequences of poor credit scores because of it,' said Patricia Kelmar, senior director of health care campaigns at public interest advocacy group the U.S. PIRG Education Fund.

Medical bills accounted for more than half of debt collection on consumers’ credit records, according to a 2022 report from the CFPB.

[chicagorich]

The CFPB is all but gone. Whatever protection you thought you had, kiss it goodbye. The structure of the CFPB will live in name only, as Congress would have to eliminate it, but it won't have a staff or operating structure to do anything.

[Why Chat]

It is always darkest before the dawn