The president of a credit counselling agency says he's not surprised that TransUnion mixed up two women's information on a credit report, impacting the finances of one and breaching the privacy of the other.

"We see it a lot," said John Eisner, president of Credit Counselling Services of Atlantic Canada. "It happens on a frequent basis."

He was commenting on a CBC report about Halifax-area resident Jennifer Lowe, whose credit score was lowered after TransUnion, a consumer credit reporting agency, confused her with another woman who had the same first and last name and birth date.

Eisner called the mixup "unacceptable" and said it's unfortunate it took three weeks to resolve the issue.

Consumers can be greatly affected

"I think more needs to be done in their systems because there's so many people pulling at that database for that information it's vital that information is accurate and correct," he said, adding he's seen consumers greatly affected by the wrong information being placed on their credit report.

The executive director of the non-profit Consumers Council of Canada agrees.

"We think that as data of all kinds is being used to define people's reputation, that the accuracy of data, the ability to correct it quickly, is going to become way more important," Ken Whitehurst said.

He questioned how the mixup occurred saying, "It seems like there should be an auditable standard for how a business makes a match when they file a report to a credit agency.

Ken Whitehurst of the Consumers Council of Canada says his organization wants to hear from people who have had problems with the country's two credit reporting agencies. (Gary Morton/CBC)

"We would think that they would have a high level of interest both for their business customers and to protect consumers and to protect their reputation in pursuing vigorously a situation where someone else's identifying information has been used," Whitehurst said.

He's asking people who have had issues with the credit reporting agencies to contact the Consumers Council of Canada, so it can gauge the size and nature of complaints.

He said many people don't know how to complain about inaccurate reports and, unless large numbers of consumers pursue complaints, there is no pressure on credit reporting agencies to change.

Province needs to do more

Halifax privacy lawyer David Fraser believes credit reporting agencies need to be more tightly regulated by the provincial government, but said he doesn't have a lot of confidence it will happen.

"I don't think they're particularly proactive and I don't think there's a whole lot of services available to individuals who have concerns about consumer issues," he said.

He wants the province to ensure credit reporting agencies are following proper protocol and ensuring the algorithms that they're using are "particularly rigorous" in terms of putting the right information in the right file.

Carley Sampson, a Service Nova Scotia spokesperson, says the department "actively [addresses] any complaints … directly with the consumer reporting agency."

Eisner suggests that everyone check their credit report for errors.

Whitehurst said if someone has been financially impacted by an inaccurate credit report, they can take the credit reporting agency to small claims court. In Nova Scotia, the limit that can be claimed is $25,000 while in Ontario it's $30,000.

The two credit reporting agencies in Canada are regulated by the provinces. Service Nova Scotia says over the past five years it has received 23 complaints about TransUnion and nine about Equifax.

However, Sampson said in an email, "For the past 10 years, no consumer reporting agency has been found in violation of the Act or regulations."

A spokesperson for Consumer Protection Ontario said the department has received 65 complaints about TransUnion in the past five years while there have been 129 complaints about Equifax over the same time period.

From January 2013 to May 31, 2018, the department has issued two orders to Equifax to amend or delete information on a credit report. It has issued no orders to TransUnion.

Better Business Bureau ratings

TransUnion Canada Inc., based in Burlington, Ont., has an 'F' rating with the Better Business Bureau and 64 complaints.

The other credit reporting agency, Equifax Canada Inc., does not have a Better Business Bureau rating in Canada.

Canadian complaints are sent to the BBB in Atlanta, where the company is headquartered. That bureau is updating the file and no rating is currently available.

Last year in the U.S., both TransUnion and Equifax were fined a total of $5.5 million by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for luring customers "into costly recurring payments for credit-related products with false promises."

They were also ordered to reimburse consumers for $17.6 million they should not have been charged for services.

Read more articles from CBC Nova Scotia