Tagged: credit rating

Millions of consumers have an error on their credit report. In response, Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri held a hearing Tuesday on the consumer report industry.

One out of every five consumers has an error on at least one of their major credit reports, according to a study released a few months ago by the Federal Trade Commission. Those errors can cause consumers to pay more or be denied credit or housing.

McCaskill, who recently became chairman of the Senate subcommittee on consumer protection, called the system “kafkaesque.”

A failed special session that was supposed to lead to the passage of pension reform has pushed Illinois closer to a downgrade of its credit rating.

Gov. Pat Quinn ordered lawmakers back to Springfield last Friday to deal with the state's massively underfunded pension systems, but the chambers could not agree on a deal.

Illinois has been given the lowest credit rating of any state in America by Moody's Investors Service.

Moody's lowered Illinois' rating Friday by another notch, to A2. No other state has such a low rating from Moody's. Only one other state, California, even gets the next-highest rating.

A lower rating generally means the state has to pay more interest when it sells bonds. That increases costs to taxpayers.