Credit Reports

Reproduced from www.experian.com*

What is a consumer credit report?
A consumer credit report is a factual record of an individual's credit payment history. It is provided for a purpose permitted by law, primarily to credit grantors. Its main purpose is to help a lender quickly and objectively decide whether to grant you credit.

If you are one of the 190 million people in the United States with a charge account, car loan, student loan or home mortgage, then information about you probably is stored in a consumer credit database.

Most of the information in your consumer credit report comes directly from the companies you do business with.

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What information does a consumer credit report contain?
The typical consumer credit report includes four types of information:

• Identifying information: your name, current and previous addresses, telephone number, Social Security number, date of birth, and current and previous employers. (On your copy of your credit report, but not the version provided to others, your spouse's name may appear.) This information comes from your credit applications, so its accuracy depends on your filling out the forms clearly, completely and consistently each time you apply for credit.

• Credit information: specific information about each account such as the date opened, credit limit or loan amount, balance, monthly payment and payment pattern during the past several years. The report also states whether anyone else besides you (your spouse or cosigner, for example) is responsible for paying the account. This information comes from companies that do business with you.

  For open accounts, positive credit information remains on your report indefinitely; most negative information remains up to seven years. For closed accounts, information remains seven years.

• Public record information: federal district bankruptcy records; state and county court records of tax liens and monetary judgments; and, in some states, overdue child support. This information comes from public records.

  Bankruptcy information can remain on your credit report up to 10 years; other public record information can remain up to seven years.

• Inquiries: the names of those who obtained information about your credit history.

  Inquiries that you initiated (by applying for a new credit card, for example) become a part of your credit report and may be considered by those who review your credit history. They remain on your report up to two years.

  Inquiries resulting from unsolicited offers of credit and the monitoring by credit grantors of your current credit accounts are examples of inquiries that appear only on your copy of your credit report. They remain on the report from one to two years.

  On your copy of your credit report, addresses of those who inquired are included for your information.

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What information is not in a credit report?
Your credit report does not contain - and does not collect - data about race, religious preference, medical history, personal lifestyle, political preference, friends, criminal record or any other information unrelated to credit. Nor is there information about your checking or savings accounts.

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How can I get a copy of my credit report?
To purchase a copy of your credit report call

Experian
(888)-EXPERIAN

Equifax
(800)-685-1111

Trans Union
(800)-999-4213

Please have the following information on-hand when you call. All of the information is needed to compile a complete and accurate copy of your credit report.

• Full name (including generation, such as Jr., Sr., III)
• Current and previous addresses (for a five-year period) with zip codes (if you have moved within the past six months, include two proof documents such as copies of a utility bill, credit card billing statement, or driver license.)
• Spouse's first name, if married
• Social Security number
• Date of birth

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How much does a copy of your credit report cost?
The cost varies depending on your circumstances. A credit report may be obtained:

• At no charge, whenever your request for credit, insurance, employment or rental housing is denied based on information received from a credit bureau, if you contact us within 60 days of the denial. You also may receive a free copy if "adverse action" was taken against you based on information in your credit report (e.g., your interest rate was raised or your credit limit was decreased). The name of the credit reporting agency that provided your credit report and how to contact them for a copy will be provided in writing by the company that declined your credit application or took adverse action. Some states require credit reporting agencies to provide their residents a free report each year even if they are not denied credit.
• For a fee of $8 in most states if you haven't been denied credit, employment, insurance or rental housing recently.

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*Reprinted with permission of Experian copyright 2001. For more information visit www.experian.com

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