Credit Reports

What is a Credit Report?

A credit report, or credit file disclosure, is a record of your credit activities. Your credit is very important in determining how much you can borrow, the interest rate and the terms. With your permission, it may even be considered by potential employers.

In 1971, the federal government passed the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which provides basic rights to all consumers and recognizes the need for all credit information to be correct. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces the FCRA.

There are three main national credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. All of the creditors you deal with will report your information to at least one of these agencies, and your credit report is continually updated.

Your credit report cannot be viewed by anyone who does not have a legitimate need for viewing it. Credit bureaus can provide information only to the following requestors:

Creditors who are considering granting or who have granted you credit
Employers considering you for employment, promotion, reassignment or retention
Insurers considering you for an insurance policy or renewing an existing policy
Government agencies reviewing your financial status for government benefits or employment
Anyone else with a legitimate business need for the information, such as potential landlords

What is a Credit Score?

Your credit score and your credit report are two different things. A credit report is information about your credit activity. This information from lenders is used to calculate your FICO^® (Fair Isaac and Company) score. FICO^® scores range from 300 to 850, with a higher number indicating a better credit score. Lenders use this credit score to evaluate your creditworthiness, or your ability to repay a loan. A higher score means you are a lower credit risk so companies will charge you less to borrow money. You can obtain your score from the credit bureaus, generally for a small fee. Learn more about credit scores at www.myfico.com.

Your Free Reports

In good news for consumers, the FACT (Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions) Act of 2003 amended the FCRA to allow all Americans one free credit report per year.

Effective June 1, 2005, consumers in 11 Southern states (including Georgia) are eligible to request a free comprehensive disclosure of all the information in their credit file from all three national reporting agencies once every 12 months. To receive this free report, you must go to a single central source, www.annualcreditreport.com (where you can view an online copy) or call the central request line, 877-322-8228. If you prefer, you can also go to the FTC web site and print out an Annual Credit Report Request Form , to be completed and mailed to this address:

Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, Georgia 30348-5281

As a Georgia resident, you were already entitled by the Fair Business Practices Act to two free credit reports from each reporting agency per year. To request the second of your free annual reports, which would be sent to you by mail, contact the three main national credit reporting agencies directly.

Also, if you are denied credit on the basis of information in a credit report, you may subsequently obtain a free copy of your report from the credit bureau that supplied the initial report. If you are the victim of identity theft, you can call any one of the three credit-reporting agencies to request that a fraud alert be placed on all three of your files and a copy of each current report be sent to you.

The credit bureaus may vary in their method of providing your additional free credit report(s), and the report you receive from one of the bureaus (as well as your credit score) could be different from the others. Each collects its own data, and they do not necessarily receive the same information from your creditors. It is important to review your credit report from each bureau to ensure that the information is accurate and there is no fraudulent activity attributed to you.

How to Contact the Credit Bureaus

Equifax Credit Information Services, Inc.
General inquiries or additional free credit report:
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, Georgia 30374
800-685-1111
www.equifax.com/fcra

Experian National Consumer Assistance Center
P.O. Box 2002
Allen, Texas 75013
General inquiries: 888-397-3742
Additional free credit report: 866-200-6020
www.experian.com/freestate
www.experian.com/reportaccess (if denied credit within past 60 days)

TransUnion Consumer Relations
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, Pennsylvania 19022
General inquiries: 800-916-8800
Additional free credit report: 800-888-4213
http://annualcreditreport.transunion.com/pdf/DisclosureRequest.pdf

When requesting a credit report by mail, for the purpose of accurate file-matching please include your full name; current full address including zip code; Social Security number; date of birth; and most recent former address.

Complaints about any of the credit bureaus should be directed to the FTC.

Information on Your Credit Report

Credit bureaus collect many types of information about you in your credit file. This includes where you live, where you work, how you pay your bills, and whether you have been sued or arrested or have filed for bankruptcy. The four basic types of information collected are:

Your identification and employment information:

Name
Social Security number
Date of birth
Current and previous addresses
Telephone number
Current and previous employers

Payment History: All of the credit accounts you have had within the past 10 years appear on your credit report.

Types of credit accounts:

Mortgages
Bank and retail credit cards
Bank loans
Finance company loans

Information collected on these:

Your name and account number
Date account was opened or closed
Amount borrowed and amount still owed
Credit limit
Timeliness of payments

Inquiries: A list of people who have requested your credit report other than you, including:

Lenders within the past year
Potential employers within the past two years

Public Record Information:

Bankruptcy
Foreclosure
Judgments, including child support judgments
Tax liens
Criminal convictions

Most of this information, as well as information on your various credit accounts, will be on your report for seven years. Personal bankruptcies will be reported for 10 years. Correct information, even if it negatively reflects on you, cannot be removed by anyone. While many con men will have you believe that they can remove negative information on your credit report for a fee, only the passage of time will achieve that result.

Common Errors on Your Credit Report

Since credit information is collected from a variety of sources, errors do occur. It is important to check your credit reports periodically and address errors immediately. Serious errors could affect your ability to obtain a loan, insurance or even a job or could affect your credit rating, which in turn would mean that you might have to pay a higher interest rate when you borrow money.

Information about you

Look for misspellings of your name or errors in your birthdate or Social Security number.
Make sure the same loan is not listed more than once.
Look for omissions, such as the fact that you paid off a delinquent account or resolved a legal matter.
Make sure accounts that are closed are actually listed as closed.

Information that is on the report that is not about you

Look for "mixed" information, such as information about Robert Johnson, Sr. on the report for Robert Johnson, Jr.

Information about you that is very old and should be removed

Look for old addresses, employers or a previous spouse's information.

If you find errors on your report, you can dispute them at no cost. Details on how to dispute an error are included with your credit report, but basically you should notify in writing the consumer credit reporting company (Experian, Equifax or TransUnion) as well as the person or company who provided the information of the error. Be as detailed as possible, providing copies of documents as needed. Send your letters certified mail, return receipt requested and keep a copy for your records.

The consumer credit reporting company must investigate your allegations within 30 days and will notify you of the result. More information on this dispute process, as well as a sample dispute letter, is available through the FTC.

How to Raise Your Credit Score

Inspect your credit report and correct any errors. One study found that 29% of credit reports had serious errors.
Own credit cards and manage them responsibly.
Avoid doing the things that lower your credit score.
- Many scoring models compare the amount of debt you have to your credit limits. The closer the numbers, the more negative the impact is upon your credit score.
- A short credit history may have a negative effect on your score.
- Application for too many new accounts in a short time can negatively impact your score.
Pay on time. Late payments hurt your score more than anything, except not paying at all, or bankruptcy.
Pay more than the minimum due each month.
Apply for credit only when you need it. New accounts could lower your score by lowering the average age of all your accounts, and even closed accounts may be factored into your score.

Fraudulent Credit Report Web Sites

Have you ever received an unsolicited e-mail or an Internet pop-up ad offering free credit reports? Be very cautious, as many of these online operators are using such offers to collect your personal information and use your identity for fraudulent activities. Here are a few words to the wise:

There is only one source for your free credit reports - www.annualcreditreport.com. You can make your request on-line, by phone or by mail.
If you get an e-mail offering a free credit report, call the company instead of clicking the link.
Be skeptical of unsolicited e-mail offering credit reports, especially from unusual e-mail addresses that have numbers, misspelled words or a foreign domain.
Verify the company’s name, address and telephone number.
Signs of a scam include misspellings or grammatical errors in the letter, or an area code that does not match the zip code of the company.
Search Network Solutions online to determine who owns the web site.
Legitimate companies will not ask for your personal identification number (PIN) for your bank account, your passport number, or the three-digit number on the back of your credit card.
Only use secure web sites when giving out any personal information online. A secure site will have “https” at the beginning of the web address.
Always check credit card statements for any unauthorized charges.

If you have been a victim of this type of scam, you may report your experience to the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs.

You may also file a complaint with the FTC. Due to the number of complaints they receive, they cannot treat your case individually; but they may use your information for purposes of a national investigation. Their contact information is:

Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580
Phone: 877-382-4357 or (TTY) 866-653-4261
E-mail: uce@ftc.gov

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