Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: Democratic lawmakers seek FTC review of consumer reporting agency marketing practices, (Dec 18, 2013)

A coalition of Democratic lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee sent a letter to FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez today, urging the agency to review the online marketing practices of nationwide consumer reporting agencies, or CRAs. Specifically of concern are the offers of purported “free” services that often put consumers at risk of inadvertently purchasing expensive products and services, such as credit monitoring or identity theft services, when they attempt to obtain their credit scores.

“We believe it is critical that information related to buying credit reports or credit scores should be presented in a clear and conspicuous manner on CRAs’ websites,” the lawmakers write. “Unfortunately, in order to gain access to credit scores or credit reports, the CRAs’ websites often require consumers to jump through hurdles, presumably in an effort to generate additional revenue, that we believe can mislead and confuse consumers.”

The representatives called on the agency to “exercise any appropriate enforcement action where practices are determined to be misleading or deceptive.”

News: ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews