Who Can See Your Credit Report
Riley McManus contributes to http://www.spendonlife.com on identity theft and online fraud topics. She encourages you to use the Spendonlife.com Identity Theft Kit if you are trying to protect yourself or recover from id theft.
Many people worry about who can see their credit report and why. You might be surprised about how many people can see your financial history. In this article, we will briefly touch on all of these organizations and why they need to see your credit report.
Lenders and credit card companies
Lenders and credit card companies will want to see your credit report before they do any business with you. These agencies make their money by lending money and they want to make sure they aren’t going to lose any of it. Bad credit simply leads to lower limits and higher interest rates.
Utility and cell phone companies
Utility companies and cell phone companies have one thing in common: They both provide services in advance and hope that their customers pay their bill at the end of the month. That’s why these companies often check your credit report ahead of time to see if you are likely to pay your bill on time.
Employers
Employers sometimes like to check a potential employee’s credit report before hiring them in order to find out if he or she is a responsible person or not. Your credit history may also play a factor in your job, especially if it has to do with finances.
Landlords
A landlord has the right to check a potential tenant’s credit report before letting them move in. This is completely expected as moving into a new house is a very big project and moving out is even more complicated. It is better for the landlord to know ahead of time whether a tenant is likely to pay their rent on time or not.
Insurers
An insurance company may check your credit report to form an insurance policy with you. This helps them decide how much to charge you and how likely you are to pay them on time, including other key factors that go into your relationship with the insurance company.
Courts
A court can request a copy of your credit report to help a judge with his or her ruling. This must be relevant and necessary to complete a particular case. Courts cannot simply request a credit report of anyone they choose.
Child support agencies
Child support agencies can get a copy of your credit report to decide whether a parent is financially able to support their child. They can use this information to determine custody of the child or children in question or to provide a certain level of government aid for the child.
Collection agencies
Collection agencies can check your credit report in order to decide whether you have the ability to pay back a particular debt. They can use this information against you in a court to show that you are capable of paying your bills but aren’t or that you are just irresponsible in general.
You
Individuals have the right to check their credit score at any given time. Each year, you may receive one free credit report from TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. Additional copies may be purchased at any time.
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