CFPB research has indicated that medical debt on credit reports is “a poor predictor” of whether a person will repay a loan, but still “contributes to thousands of denied applications on mortgages that consumers would be able to repay,” the agency said at the time the Biden-era rule was finalized.

Americans’ unpaid medical bills will remain on their credit reports after a federal judge last week annulled a Biden-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule that would have removed such debt.