How "The Cares Act" Changed Credit Reporting FOREVER?

TheCreditGuyTV Podcast

The CARES Act Section 4021 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed into law on March 27, 2020, amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act The “covered period” is either period beginning on January 1, 2020, and ending on the later of (i) 120 days after the enactment of the CARES Act or (ii) 120 days after the termination of the national emergency declared on March 13, 2020. Under the new subsection, [I]f a furnisher makes an accommodation with respect to 1 or more payments on a credit obligation or account of a consumer, and the consumer makes the payments or is not required to make 1 or more payments pursuant to the accommodation, the furnisher shall— (I) report the credit obligation or account as current; or (II) if the credit obligation or account was delinquent before the accommodation— (aa) maintain the delinquent status during the period in which the accommodation is in effect; and (bb) if the consumer brings the credit obligation or account current during the period described in (aa), report the credit obligation or account as current. While the language of the CARES Act fails to specify, it would be wise for furnishers to assume that the new subsection applies retroactively and implement these changes to any account for which accommodation was made on or after January 31, 2020. Note, however, that these changes do not apply to charged-off accounts.