About Credit Report
What's all about credit report? A credit report is a file about you and your credit history. A credit report includes information on where you live, how you pay your bills, and whether you’ve been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy. Nationwide consumer reporting companies sell the information in your report to creditors, insurers, employers, and other businesses that use it to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, or renting a home. The credit reports are created and maintained by the 3 credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
The agencies gather your credit information from various sources from which you have obtained credit accounts. The agencies sell these credit reports to anyone who is considered to have legitimate business reason to do so. The buyers of the credit reports use the information contained in your credit report to make sound financial decisions regarding whether or not to approve your application for a job, car loan, mortgage, credit card, etc.
As stated, anyone willing to pay for the credit reports that appears to have a permissible purpose can look at your credit report. Such buyers may include lenders, insurance companies, employers, landlords, government agencies, identity theft monitoring service providers, or any other company to whom you have provided written authorization or from whom you have requested products or services.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. The FCRA promotes the accuracy and privacy of information in the files of the nation’s consumer reporting companies. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, enforces the FCRA with respect to consumer reporting companies.
To learn more about credit report and getting a free copy of your credit report from each of the 3 agencies, read this section, and don't trust misleading sites that try to sell you other products or services by promising you free credit reports. You are entitled to free credit reports by law every 12 months from each agency.
Read about credit report and your rights under FCRA.