The Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) recently released its fifth interim report on a national study of credit report accuracy. This was the first national study to include participation from consumers, lenders/data furnishers, FICO and the national consumer reporting agencies (the “CRAs”). The FTC found that:

• “26% of the 1,001 participants in the study identified at least one potentially material error on at least one of their three credit reports.”

• Only 21% of participants had a modification to at least one of their credit reports after the dispute process but only 13% of participants experienced a change in their credit score as a result of those modifications.

• The maximum credit score change for over half the consumers was less than 20 points.

• Finally, the FTC study found that for only “5.2% of the consumers, the resulting increase in score was such that their credit risk tier decreased and thus the consumer may be more likely to be offered a lower auto loan interest rate.”