There are actually very few regulations regarding the credit score "system" -- if it can even be called that -- and it shows. The system is grossly abused by everyone involved, and typically the only people experiencing the effects of that abuse are already in the most vulnerable positions. It's quite reprehensible what humans are willing to do to each other over an unpaid bill, almost universally representing a completely non-relevant amount of revenue for the companies. How many lives have been disrupted or ruined over sending $15 to collections?