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Updates
Every new Library page, every Register round, and every correction to already-published content, in one dated feed — also available as RSS and JSON.
2 new Library pages: payday alternative loans and the card statement minimum payment warning — October 9, 2026
Guides to the NCUA rule for credit union payday alternative loans (PALs I and II) and to the minimum payment warning and 36-month payoff figures that Regulation Z requires on credit card statements. Neither names a company or recommends an option.
Correction: pre-adverse-action notice citation on the permissible purpose page — October 8, 2026
The page cited 15 U.S.C. 1681m for the employer's pre-adverse-action notice. That notice and the copy of the report are required by 1681b(b)(3)(A); 1681m governs the final adverse-action notice. The page now says so.
Correction and update: e-OSCAR and frivolous disputes page — October 8, 2026
The page quoted a 'contradictory information' limit that comes from statute text Congress replaced in 1996, and used staffing figures and an upgrade claim we could not trace to a source. Those are removed. The page now draws on the CFPB's 2012 report (including its list of 29 dispute codes), the statute, Regulation V and the Third Circuit's Ingram opinion, and adds a table of who may decline a dispute as frivolous.
Correction and update: adverse action notices page — October 8, 2026
The page described CFPB Circular 2022-03 as current guidance; the CFPB withdrew it on 12 May 2025. The page now cites Regulation B and its official interpretation directly and adds the definition of adverse action, the exceptions to the 30-day rule, a worked example, the third-party-information rule and the Regulation V risk-based pricing exceptions.
7 new Library pages: Chapter 13, co-signers, exemptions, card rate rules and Canadian insolvency — October 7, 2026
Guides to Chapter 13 bankruptcy, co-signers and bankruptcy, the 341 meeting of creditors, bankruptcy exemptions, when a credit card issuer can raise your rate under Regulation Z, and two Canadian guides: checking a Licensed Insolvency Trustee and the insolvency counselling sessions. None names a company or recommends an option.
Correction: our credit card billing disputes page misdescribed the debit card liability tiers — October 6, 2026
An earlier version said a debit card user is liable for up to $500 if they notify the bank within 60 days of the statement. Under Regulation E (12 C.F.R. 1005.6), the $50 and $500 tiers depend on when you notify the bank after learning a card or access device was lost or stolen; the 60-day statement rule is separate. The page now describes each, fixes a sentence about who a card issuer must tell when it reports a disputed account, corrects the library card that said a debit card carries no $50 cap, clarifies that the issuer's forfeiture penalty is capped at $50 in total, and removes an unsourced Visa 120-day figure.
Correction: our judgments and tax liens page overstated what the sources support on dates and percentages — October 6, 2026
An earlier version gave a 96 percent figure for civil judgments, a per-bureau 50-60 percent range for tax liens, a specific 16 April 2018 date and a "paid or unpaid" detail, none of which we could trace to a primary source, and an "only about 4%" score statement that did not match the CFPB report. It also now says "all" civil judgments, as the CFPB does, and labels the explanation of why the bureaus dropped the data as our own reading. The CFPB's February 2018 report and December 2019 blog support only this: judgments were gone after July 2017, tax liens fell 49 percent in July 2017 and none remained by April 2018, and bankruptcies stayed. The page now says that, and describes the CFPB's score-band finding as the CFPB states it.
9 new Library pages: credit report, score, rights and bankruptcy guides — October 6, 2026
Guides to what a credit report is, what goes into a credit score, how to get your free credit reports, your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the FDCPA and Regulation F, unauthorized credit card vs. debit card charges, the Chapter 7 means test, the bankruptcy automatic stay, and the debts a Chapter 7 discharge cannot erase. None names a company or recommends an option.
Register: wording on the one named company re-checked — October 4, 2026
The Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card Record now says plainly which point is still open (its current variable APR) and which findings drew on card-review sources rather than Capital One's own pages. Its status ('Review incomplete', 5 of 6 points confirmed) and listing are unchanged.
Six companies temporarily removed from the public list — October 3, 2026
Six companies were temporarily removed from the public list on 3 October 2026 while review of every applicable point is completed. Removal is not a finding of wrongdoing and not a fail; each card now shows the points confirmed and any still open.
7 new Library pages: debt relief options, hardship plans, bank accounts, student loan plans — October 3, 2026
Guides to debt relief options side by side, the stages after a missed credit card payment, balance transfer cards, asking a card issuer for a hardship plan, bank account freezes, income-driven student loan plans, and free legal help. None names a company or recommends an option.
3 new Library pages: debt relief hub, paid collections, specialty reports — October 3, 2026
A debt relief hub, a guide to what the sources say about a paid collection account and your credit report, and a checklist for requesting specialty consumer reports. None names a company or recommends an option.
Correction: how FICO and VantageScore treat paid collections — October 3, 2026
We removed two statements from the FICO vs. VantageScore explainer that the scoring companies' own pages do not make (a 'regardless of the original balance' qualifier and a 'meaningful swing in points' claim), and tightened the matching paragraph on the charge-off vs. collection page to the wording on FICO's and VantageScore's own pages.
7 new Library pages: debt collection and credit report guides — October 3, 2026
Two hubs (debt collection; medical, auto and other consumer debt), plus guides on hard vs. soft inquiries, original creditor vs. debt buyer vs. collection agency, how long negative items stay on a report, authorized users and joint accounts, and the Military Lending Act. None names a company or recommends an option.
7 new Library pages: checklists, comparisons and rights guides — October 2, 2026
A checklist for reading FTC and CFPB enforcement actions, a credit report audit checklist, credit repair done yourself vs. hired out, whether benefits are protected from collectors, options before car repossession, how long bankruptcy stays on a report, and IRS payment plan vs. offer in compromise. None names a company or recommends an option.
Update: CFPB complaint-database page no longer describes an open inconsistency — October 2, 2026
Our 30 September 2026 correction said the CFPB's complaint page still referred to publishing a description of what happened with your consent, which sat uneasily with its 14 August 2026 announcement that it is ceasing publication of complaint narratives. The CFPB modified that complaint page again on 30 September 2026 and it no longer contains the consent sentence, so the paragraph describing an inconsistency was replaced. Structured complaint records continue to be published; the 14 August announcement is unchanged. The where-to-file complaint guide's page date was updated to match.
5 new Library pages: how to check a credit or debt company — October 2, 2026
A hub of free public checks organized by our Standard, self-check guides for debt settlement companies and credit counseling agencies, a source-grounded page on credit repair fee structures, and a debt settlement cost worksheet. None names a company.
Correction: our credit monitoring guide's references and several statements now match their sources — October 1, 2026
An earlier version gave an FTC press release the wrong title and described the FTC, CFPB, NAIC, and Federal Reserve sources more broadly than they read. It also made body statements that those sources do not support: a per-incident or annual insurance cap, what dark web monitoring scans and where it falls short, and that synthetic identity fraud is a gap in consumer monitoring. The references now state only what each source says, and two references were added. The body statements were reworded to what the sources say, or removed: the "since 2018" and "one-hour deadline" freeze details, the claim that "zero liability" policies go further than the statutory caps, the medical identity theft item, and the "mostly convenience" paragraph. The guide's overall conclusions are unchanged.
Correction: our standard page said debt consolidation loan assessments were still underway — September 30, 2026
An earlier version of the debt consolidation loan section on the standard page said assessments were underway and would be reflected in the Register's public presentation in a future update. That understated where things stand and implied a presentation we have not committed to. The Register's records show six debt consolidation loan companies already assessed, none of which is on the public passing list. The page now says so. Separately, the Register's category shortcuts for debt consolidation loans and nonprofit credit counseling now lead to a short section stating the same kind of count, instead of to a missing anchor.
Correction: our repair vs. settlement vs. consolidation comparison page wrongly said we do not vet debt consolidation companies — September 30, 2026
An earlier version said debt consolidation is the one of the three products we do not currently vet company-by-company. That was wrong: debt consolidation loans have their own published standard, and the Register counts six debt consolidation loan companies among those assessed, none of which is on the public passing list. The page now says so.
Correction: our CFPB complaint-database page overstated what the CFPB has said about complaint narratives — September 30, 2026
An earlier version stated that the CFPB removed published narratives on 14 September 2026 and ended the ability to consent to publication. Neither statement appears on any CFPB page we could find. The CFPB's 14 August 2026 press release says it is ceasing discretionary publication of narratives; its complaint page still refers to publishing a description of what happened with your consent. The page now rests only on the CFPB's own pages and states that inconsistency without resolving it.
5 new Library guides: collector contact, complaints, automatic payments, leaving debt settlement, and "verified" disputes — September 30, 2026
Who a debt collector may and may not talk to about your debt, which agency takes which credit or debt complaint, how to stop recurring debits to a credit or debt company, what the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule requires of a covered provider when you leave a debt settlement program, and what you can do after a credit dispute comes back "verified." Each guide links its sources.
4 new Library pages: robocalls, insurance scores, and two new state-law explainers — September 15, 2026
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act's written-consent rule for debt-relief robocalls (and a live 2025-2026 fight over whether it survives), how credit-based insurance scores differ from your credit score and which states restrict them, how debt settlement companies are licensed state by state (including North Carolina's brand-new 2026 law replacing a decades-old criminal ban), and the federal "rent-a-bank" rate-exportation rules behind a loan whose interest rate your own state's usury cap would otherwise forbid.
New: our methodology, and a stronger commercial-independence statement on the Register — September 15, 2026
A new methodology page spells out exactly which primary sources back every Register point, how often each entry is re-verified, and the structural rules keeping grading blind to any commercial relationship — including the future affiliate-link direction already disclosed in our editorial policy. The Register page itself now states this plainly too, and the CFPB complaint-database explainer got a direct link to the live search tool and a step-by-step for pulling aggregate complaint data yourself.
2 more Register assessments logged — September 15, 2026
2 more companies checked against the 9-point standard — both passed every point we could independently confirm, but each has a verification gap (state bonding status, exact cancellation-rights wording) that holds it off the public directory for now, bringing the Register to 41 total credit-repair/debt-settlement assessments (18 passed, 7 named on the public directory). Update, 3 October 2026: the "passed every point" wording here is superseded. Six of these companies are temporarily off the public list while review of every applicable point is completed; removal is not a finding of wrongdoing and not a fail.
2 more Register assessments logged — September 14, 2026
Two more companies checked against the 9-point standard and found to fail on active federal enforcement grounds, bringing the Register to 25 total assessments (11 passed, 7 named on the public directory).
3 more Register assessments logged — September 14, 2026
Three more credit-repair and debt-settlement companies checked against the 9-point standard, bringing the Register to 23 total assessments (11 passed, 7 named on the public directory).
2 more Register assessments logged — September 13, 2026
Two more debt-settlement and credit-repair companies checked against the 9-point standard, bringing the Register to 20 total assessments (10 passed, 7 named on the public directory).
2 new Library pages: FICO vs. VantageScore, and debt validation letters — September 13, 2026
How the two credit scoring models actually differ in practice (minimum history, paid-collection treatment, trended data) and where mortgage lending stands as of September 2026, plus what a debt validation letter under the FDCPA actually forces a collector to do.
2 new Library pages: furnisher disputes, secured cards & credit-builder loans — September 13, 2026
The lesser-known right to dispute directly with the company that reported an item, plus how secured cards and credit-builder loans actually work as a legitimate build-forward alternative to paying a credit repair company.
2 more Register assessments logged — September 13, 2026
2 more companies checked against the standard — one failed, one passed but was held back pending direct verification of its guarantee wording — bringing the Register to 18 total assessments.
Companies that pass, by name: a new public directory — September 13, 2026
The Register now names the 7 companies that have passed every point on our standard, grouped by category, with a direct link to each. The anonymous-only policy for failing companies is unchanged and permanent — a passing verdict is a positive, checkable claim, not an accusation. Update, 3 October 2026: the "passed every point" wording here is superseded. Six of these companies are temporarily off the public list while review of every applicable point is completed; removal is not a finding of wrongdoing and not a fail.
New: state-by-state credit-repair bonding and registration, explained — September 13, 2026
CROA doesn't require any state to register or bond a credit repair company. Most states added that layer themselves, one bans the industry outright, and some have nothing at all.
3 more Register assessments logged — September 13, 2026
Century Support Services and 2 more companies checked against the standard, bringing the Register to 16 total assessments.
Correction: an FTC disclosure-requirement date was off by a month — September 13, 2026
The FTC's debt-relief disclosure requirements took effect 27 September 2010, not 27 October 2010 (that date is actually the separate advance-fee ban, which took effect a month later). Corrected on the debt-settlement explainer and retroactively on the already-published advance-fee-rule page.
New: what to actually expect from debt settlement — September 13, 2026
The dedicated account, the credit damage it requires before it can work, the tax bill many people don't see coming, the lawsuit risk, and how many people actually finish.
3 more Register assessments logged — September 13, 2026
CreditFirm.net and 2 more companies checked against the standard, bringing the Register to 13 total assessments.
New: nonprofit credit counseling and debt management plans, explained — September 13, 2026
What real NFCC/FCAA accreditation requires, what a DMP actually costs, what it does to your credit, and how to spot a fake "nonprofit."
2 more Register assessments logged — September 13, 2026
The Credit People and Pacific Debt Relief checked against the standard, bringing the Register to 10 total assessments.
First 8 companies checked against the standard — September 13, 2026
5 credit repair and 3 debt settlement companies assessed against the 9-point standard for the first time — 3 passed. Per our anonymous-only policy, findings were reported in aggregate only at this stage.
5 new Library pages: the foundation — September 13, 2026
What credit repair actually is, the advance-fee rule that governs it, how credit repair compares to debt settlement and nonprofit consolidation, why "CPN" credit-profile-number schemes are a federal crime rather than a loophole, and ten warning signs to watch for before signing anything.
The Credit Record launches — September 13, 2026
A 9-point standard tied to federal law (the Credit Repair Organizations Act's advance-fee ban, the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule Advance Fee Rule), a public Register that reports findings honestly, and a Library of plain-English explainers — no paid placements, no affiliate links, no proprietary ranking algorithm.