Jeff Horwich: Have you ever checked your credit score, and become horrified that they messed up: they missed a bill you actually paid, or they confused you for someone else? Well: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said this morning it will assume oversight of the credit reporting industry.

From Washington, here’s Marketplace’s Scott Tong.

Scott Tong: The consumer protection agency plans to visit the credit reporting bureaus, and focus on their accuracy. A small error matters, because the credit industry issues three billion credit reports every year.

Chi Chi Wu is with the National Consumer Law Center.

Chi Chi Wu: Credit reports stand as the gatekeeper to whether a consumer gets affordable credit, getting a job, or getting insurance or an apartment.

Here’s the problem: Many think the system allows Joe Schmo to get mixed up with Joel Schmo.

Evan Hendricks is author of “Credit Scores and Credit Reports.”

Evan Hendricks: You can have six of the same nine digits in a social security number and have similarities in your first name. And that can cause a mixed file.

He says it’s also hard to fix a report. Say you’ve paid a bill and tell the hospital or debt collector, they decide what to tell the credit bureau, because the credit bureau pays them.

In Washington, I’m Scott Tong for Marketplace.