A recent press release from the House Financial Services stated that it was requesting information on alternative-data from the independent non-partisan agency, Government Accountability Office (GAO). The Committee is asking for the benefits and drawbacks of alt-data mortgage lending and the role of the federal government in overseeing the use of alternative data by credit reporting agencies (CRAs) and lenders. This is good news for us and consumers alike. People should be able to have their hard earned money work for them in a variety of ways, and when your bills are consistently paid on time whether they are a household utility, cell phone bill, or their home rental bill than their credit file should reflect that.