What's A Credit Report? - CREDIT REPORT

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TODAY'S SAVING TIP It's one thing to have bad credit, but it is another to have errors on your credit report through no fault of your own. The result, however, is the same - unless you correct it. Did you know that you pay a higher interest rate on you car and ... 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.