WASHINGTON – The Federal Trade Commission announced last week that it will begin referring consumer complaints to the three major national consumer reporting agencies. The new program will forward certain complaints from consumers about disputed inaccuracies or incomplete information in the companies' files to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The agencies will then review the complaints, make any necessary corrections, and report back to the FTC. The FTC will not make any determinations as to the validity of the complaints. The new program was implemented under updates to the Fair Credit Reporting Act by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. "Accurate and complete information is not only essential to our credit-based economy," FTC's Consumer Protection Director Howard Beales said, "but also to the fair treatment of consumers. We look forward to working with the [consumer reporting agencies] on this complaint-sharing program."