Pressley Unveils Bill to Address Credit Issues Faced by Trans, Nonbinary Folks Following Legal Name Changes

Press Release

Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, along with Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45), applauded the committee passage of the Credit Reporting Accuracy After a Legal Name Change Act, their brand-new legislation to make our credit reporting system more inclusive and address credit issues and discrimination faced by trans and nonbinary people who legally change their names.

The legislation was passed by the House Financial Services Committee today, and Rep. Pressley delivered remarks in support of the bill at the committee markup yesterday. To view her full remarks, click here.

"In this country, your credit score is your financial reputation, for better or worse, and the credit reporting system has perpetuated inequities and pushed our most vulnerable consumers--including our trans and nonbinary siblings--further to the margins," said Rep. Pressley. "Our Credit Reporting Accuracy After a Legal Name Change Act is a legislative fix that will help prevent the financial discrimination of trans and nonbinary people and improve accuracy in consumer reporting. Passing this bill would be a meaningful step as we work towards long-overdue economic justice for the trans community. I'm grateful to Chairwoman Waters and our colleagues on the Financial Services Committee for supporting this critical bill and urge the full House to pass our bill without delay."

"No one should face long-term financial punishment for living their truth," said Rep. Porter, a longtime consumer protection advocate. "And yet, many transgender and nonbinary Americans are being saddled with a lifetime of financial harm after legally changing their name. I'm proud to join Congresswoman Pressley in leading this long overdue legislation to require credit agencies to update Americans' records."

Transgender and nonbinary people disproportionately face significant issues obtaining accurate credit reports and scores after legally changing their names. When someone changes their first name, credit bureaus continue to disclose their prior name, also known as their deadname, which exposes transgender and nonbinary people to discrimination and harassment in credit, housing, and employment.

Additionally, the credit bureaus often do not reconcile information that creditors and other information furnishers provide in the current name. As a result, when a trans or nonbinary person changes their name with a creditor or applies for credit using their current name, the credit bureaus create an entirely new credit file. Thus, their credit report fragments into two or more unconnected files and any credit actions that follow are never reflected in their report.

This fragmentation directly contributes to negative impacts in individuals' financial and personal lives, often including credit score decreases of 100 points or more, which can be a barrier to accessing banking services, mortgages, auto financing, employment, and rental housing.

The Credit Reporting Accuracy After a Legal Name Change Act would help address these adverse effects by prohibiting the nationwide credit reporting agencies from including a consumer's former name on their credit report following a legal name change.

Joining Reps. Pressley and Porter in co-sponsoring the bill are Reps. Marie Newman, Jesus "Chuy" García, and Ritchie Torres.

Source