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Who Can Access Your Credit Report

A credit bureau is an agency that compiles and distributes personal credit and other information to creditors. The three consumer reporting agencies are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. The credit bureau gathers information about an individual?s credit history on an ongoing basis. The bureaus amass this data, along with public record facts, into a file on each consumer. The credit bureaus then use this information to determine a credit rating. Once the credit bureau has your file, they sell it. Anyone who has a legitimate reason to view your credit report, can pay a fee and get a copy of your credit report.

What Your Credit Report Determines

Your credit report can determine whether or not you get a credit card, mortgage or car loan, as well as the rates and fees you will be charged. If you have bad credit, it will influence your insurance rates plus your ability to rent an apartment or land a job.

Federal law grants business a right to check your credit report before they agree to do business with you. However, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) strictly limits who can access your credit report and under what circumstances.

In addition to providing a credit report directly to you, the FCRA lists these permissible reasons for others to get a copy of your credit report:

  • in accordance with your written instructions;
  • in response to a court order or federal grand jury subpoena;
  • to manage the risk of current or potential credit or insurance accounts that were initiated by you;
  • for employment purposes, with your written permission;
  • for the purposes of a potential investor assessing the risk of a current obligation;
  • in connection with your application for a license or other benefit granted by the government, when consideration of financial responsibility is required by law;
  • in connection with a business transaction initiated by you;
  • in connection with a child support determination, under certain circumstances;
  • in connection with a credit or insurance transaction not initiated by you, when a "firm offer" of credit or insurance is extended, and certain other restrictions are met.

Any organization or individual who obtains a copy of your credit report under false pretenses can be fined and jailed for up to a year.

Inquiry Section of Credit Report

When a company requests your credit report, they are making an "inquiry" into your credit file. These inquiries are then listed in your credit report. The inquiry section of your credit report lists details about each inquiry made into your credit history, such as the name of the inquirer and the dates of inquiry. The only inquiries that count toward your credit score are those in which you apply for new credit. These are called hard inquires and negatively affect your credit score. Inquires by lenders, landlords, credit card issuers, insurance companies and service providers like phone and electric will appear on your credit report as hard inquiries. Soft inquires are the result of viewing your own report, along with any job-related requests that are made. Soft inquiries are only displayed on the consumer version of your credit report and therefore have no affect on your credit score.

It is important to monitor your credit on an ongoing basis to ensure you do not have any bad credit marks on your credit report. Under the federal The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) you are entitle to a free copy of your credit report, from each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies ? Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, once every 12 months.

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