 TITLE: What Are Credit Bureaus and How Do They Work? CONTENT: How Do Credit Bureaus Get Information?\n--------------------------------------\nIf you've gotten a loan or credit card from a major issuer within the past seven years, there's a good chance your information is in at least one of the major bureaus' databases. Most of the credit bureaus' information comes from other companies. In the credit world, these companies are called data furnishers. In everyday terms, they're the same financial institutions that you regularly interact with, including banks, credit unions, credit card issuers, collection agencies and loan servicers.\nThese data furnishers send information about their customers' accounts, such as their current balances and whether their bill was paid on time, to the credit bureaus at least once every month. They aren't required to send information to the credit bureaus—it's all voluntary. In fact, it costs money to maintain the staff and systems that allow companies to report to the bureaus.\nHowever, the creditors also benefit from reporting. After all, borrowers may be more likely to make payments on time if they know a late payment will get reported to the credit bureaus and possibly hurt their credit scores.\nCredit bureaus collect public records information, such as bankruptcy filings, and add these to consumers' credit reports. Some types of public records, such as tax liens and civil judgments, are no longer collected by the bureaus. Everything else on your credit report is there because a data furnisher reported the information to a bureau.\nThe bureaus don't just add anything to your report, though. As an example, Experian won't include anything related to a consumer's income, race, religion, personal lifestyle, political preference, friends or criminal record. END