In: Root » Legal and finance » Debt and credit
A credit report contains everything reported by participating financial institutions or lending companies about the consumer’s payment experience with them. It will be broken down into three areas: who, how, and public records. ‘‘Who’’ is any identifying information about the consumer including not just his or her name but any other ways that name might have been used when applying for credit. If the client’s full name is Billy Bob Smith, Jr., it’s also likely that the legal name is in fact William Robert Smith, II. Or Jr. Or Willy Robert. Or Willy Bob. Or Willy Bob, Jr. Name variations come from the various ways the client originally applied for a credit account. If the borrower applied at Sears under William Smith and later at Target as Bill Smith, Jr., then both names will appear on the credit report. These variations are known as ‘‘AKAs’’ or ‘‘also known as.’’ The report includes the client’s Social Security number, his or her date of birth, and a list of previous addresses. The second batch of information in a credit report relates to how the client has paid his or her debts and who the client borrowed from. The report will list, typically from newest to oldest, the names of the businesses who have extended credit to your client. You will also see other information, such as what type of credit was issued (i.e., a mortgage, an automobile or other installment loan, a lease, or a revolving line of credit such as a standard credit card). The credit report will show the client’s credit limits, the maximum amount of credit each issuer granted, the current balances, and the highest balance the client ever had with that creditor. Next to that is the good part, showing how many times the client has paid late, if ever. Late payments on a credit report are listed in increments of 30 days and are commonly shown as ‘‘30_,’’ ‘‘60_,’’ ‘‘90_,’’ and ‘‘120_.’’ If a payment is more than 30 days past the due date on the statement but less than 60 days past due, then the number 1 will appear below ‘‘30_’’ showing that the client was more than 30 days late one time on that account. If there’s a ‘‘3’’ below the ‘‘90_,’’ that means the client has been more than 90 days late three times on that particular account. This special section also shows when the client made the last payment on each account. The final section of the credit report includes any public records that may legally be referenced. Legal entries include those that are financial in nature, such as a bankruptcy filing or wage-earner plan. Are there any foreclosures on the record or financial judgments? If so, they will appear in this third section. Finally, and these days less significantly, the credit report shows a list of others who have obtained the client’s credit report and the corresponding dates of the inquiries. Each time your clients apply for credit, whatever they put on the credit application is what is stored at the various credit bureaus. If your client suddenly goes by ‘‘Gene’’ instead of ‘‘Eugene,’’ then soon ‘‘Gene’’ will begin showing up on the report along with the suddenly expired ‘‘Eugene’’ moniker. Even people who have accidentally misspelled or had their names misspelled on a loan application will ultimately find that mistake in their credit reports. If a credit card offer arrives with an extra n in the client’s name (Donna instead of Dona, for instance), Dona might receive credit card offers or other solicitations with that same misspelling. ‘‘Welcome Donna! You’re approved!’’ There are several things that by law cannot appear in a credit report and still others that you thought might be included but aren’t. Ultimately, credit reports can only store information identifying who your clients are and how they pay the bills. Unless a client applies for credit with a spouse, there won’t be anything in there about whether the client is married or not. There’s also nothing in there regarding any medical history. You won’t find an age listed on a credit report, but you may find that a birth date pops up. Credit information that is more than seven years old will not be on the credit report. That includes collection accounts. It’s important to know that an account with negative credit must not have any ‘‘activity’’ for seven years. So if an old collection account gets transferred from one agency to another, that ‘‘activity’’ can extend the reporting by another seven years. Paying off that collection account can have the same effect.
|
|||||||||||||
Disclaimer
1) E-articles is not responsible for the information contained by this article as well for any and all copyright infringements by authors and writers. E-articles is a free information resource. If you suspect this article for any copyright infringement, please read the terms of service and contact us or use the "Report this article" button on this page to investigate the problem.
2) E-articles is not responsible for inaccuracies, falsehoods, or any other types of misinformation this article may contain and will not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by a user through the user's reliance on the information gained here. |
|||||||||||||
