What's A Credit Report? - CREDIT REPORT
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Your credit report is used by banks, stores and finance companies to predict the risks of lending you money, based on your history of making payments. Potential landlords and employers use your credit file to evaluate how responsible you are with ... Read more |
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CREDIT REPORT: What's a credit report?
A consumer credit report is the organized presenta-
tion of information about an individual’s credit record
that a credit-reporting agency communicates to those
requesting information about the credit history of an
individual. It includes information on an individual’s
experiences with credit, leases, non-credit-related
bills, collection agency actions, monetary-related
public records, and inquiries about the individual’s
credit history. Credit reports, along with credit
history scores derived from the records of credit-
reporting agencies, have long been considered one
of the primary factors in credit evaluations and
loan pricing decisions. They are also widely used
to select individuals to contact for prescreened
credit solicitations. More recently, credit reports and
credit history scores have often been used in identi-
fying potential customers for property and casualty
insurance and in underwriting and pricing such
insurance.4The three national credit-reporting agencies—Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union—seek to collect
comprehensive information on all lending to indi-
viduals in the United States, and as a consequence,
the information that each agency maintains is vast.
Each one has records on perhaps as many as 1.5 bil-
lion credit accounts held by approximately 210 mil-
lion individuals.5Together, these agencies generatemore than 1 billion credit reports each year, provid-
ing the vast majority of the reports for creditors,
employers, and insurers. One study found that con-sumers receive only about 16 million of the credit
reports distributed each year.6Credit-reporting agencies collect information from‘‘reporters’’—creditors, governmental entities, collec-
tion agencies, and third-party intermediaries. They
generally collect data every month, and they typically
update their credit records within one to seven days
after receiving new information. According to indus-
try sources, each agency receives more than 2 bil-
lion items of information each month. To facili-
tate the collection process and to reduce reporting
costs, the agencies have implemented procedures
to have data submitted in a standard format, the
so-called Metro format.7Data may be submittedthrough various media, including CD-ROM and elec-
tronic data transfer. Reporters submit information
voluntarily: No state or federal law requires them
to report data to the agencies or to use a particular
format for their reporting. As a result, the complete-
ness and frequency of reporting can vary.ADDITIONAL CREDIT REPORT RELATED FACTS
Building Up A Good Record
Should I Use A Credit Monitoring Service?
How Often Should I Check My Credit Report And Credit Bureau?
Who Decides What Goes In Your Credit Reports?
How Long Can A CRA Report Negative Information?
Record Your Progress
Analyzing Your Credit Report
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