Restrictions on the reporting or consideration of certain debt prevents lenders from seeing borrowers’ complete debt circumstances and clouds lenders’ ability to fairly assess borrowers’ creditworthiness, CUNA wrote to a House Financial Services Subcommittee Tuesday for its hearing on consumer credit reporting.

“We strongly believe that an accurate credit reporting system benefits borrowers and lenders alike. Lenders rely on an accurate and complete record of a borrower’s credit situation to make underwriting decisions,” the letter reads. “Attempts to remove or modify certain types of debt from the credit reporting system will do long-term damage to lending and the ability of borrowers to get the loans they need to buy a home, start a small business, or achieve a higher education.”

CUNA previously outlined concerns with a debt collection bill that would prohibit credit scoring models from treating certain medical debt information as a negative factor on a credit report.

Tuesday’s letter reiterates concerns about the precedent removing medical debt could create.

“An incomplete view of borrowers’ credit history reduces lender confidence in credit reports and scores, impacting pricing decisions and credit availability,” it reads. “The borrowers most impacted by the consequences of inaccurate credit reports will be low- and moderate-income borrowers whose financial well-being could benefit the most from access to affordable credit from a credit union.”