Posted: 02/09/2007--25/11/2008 || Rate this Article: 3 || Views|| Sign In || Register ||Hello Guest
This information is obtained through a network of companies--the reporting agencies and the businesses that utilize their services to weigh the risks that come with loaning money to individuals.
While it may be a bit disconcerting to imagine how easy it is to obtain personal information about individuals, credit reporting agencies have access which less reputable, or downright criminal groups will not. However, given the possibility that someone could obtain information about you to use fraudulently, it should be some comfort to know that credit agencies are meant not only to protect those with whom you will do business, but also to protect you as a consumer.
Even if you have never had credit of any kind, the major credit reporting agencies might have a file on you. Your files with these agencies are usually created between your sixteenth and eighteenth birthdays. Your file is generated with your full name, social security number, date of birth, current and previous addresses, and possibly your employer. Though you may not have any credit, the reporting agencies can fish information from accounts opened on your behalf by your parents and relatives, from private schools, and from government agencies.
The most reliable providers of information about you are companies who do credit-based business with their clients. Any company that is providing you with money, products or services based on the agreement that you will pay later has an interest in your credit history, and responsibility to other companies to report how well you have fulfilled your end of the agreement. If you have a credit card, the bank that issued it to you has undoubtedly reported informationeither positive or negativeabout your balance and payment history. The information companies report about you also includes the date you opened the account, the date you closed the account (if any), your total available credit with the company, and the terms of payment to which you have agreed.
Things like telephone service and electric company accounts are not generally thought to function as lines of credit. However, because you are using the services of the company with the promise to pay them later, they do, in fact, qualify as reporters to credit reporting agencies.
Additionally, information from public records makes its way into your files with credit reporting agencies. If you have a bankruptcy, failure to pay child support, or late tax payments, these things will be obtained from the public records of government agencies, and noted on you credit report.
Perhaps the most important source of information is you. In an age when identity fraud runs rampant, it is important to keep an eye on your credit reports and to work with creditors and credit reporting agencies to maintain your good name. (There are many inexpensive credit-monitoring services that offer both peace of mind and an early alert to disputable activity on your reports.)
Keep in mind that even though information is largely driven by technology these days, the companies that report your information are still run by human beings. Errors are not impossible, so you must make sure that your own information is current and correct.
Print article ||
Send to friend ||
Publish this Article ||
Author feedback ||
Add new Comment ||
Article Comments
