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Across
the Nation there are three major credit bureaus;
TransUnion,
Equifax, &
Experian (TRW). There are,
however over 2,000 smaller credit bureaus located in
every medium size city in the United States. Because
each of these smaller credit bureaus may or may not be
affiliated with one of the "Big Three", they will have
different information in the consumer's credit file.
When you apply for credit, a creditor might check only
one credit file. If they find anything derogatory on
your credit report, they probably will not check with
the other credit bureaus. If you are denied credit, the
creditor, by law, has to let you know which credit
bureau has the negative information. However, the other
credit bureaus may also have the incorrect information.
Therefore, when checking your credit you need to look at
all of the credit reports.
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Q. Are the
Credit Bureaus empowered with some kind of governmental
authority?
A. No.
Credit bureaus have no legal authority at all, they are
simply private companies who are in the business of
selling credit information.
Q. Are the
credit bureaus required by law to keep derogatory
items on your credit report for 7 to 10 years?
A. There is no law that the credit bureaus
report anything on you at all. Just the opposite is
true! Credit bureaus are required by law to
automatically remove all derogatory items older than 7
years or in the case of a bankruptcy, 10 years.
Q. Is it impossible to get a bankruptcy off?
A. Bankruptcies come off just like any other
derogatory that is incorrectly reported, obsolete,
erroneous, misleading, incomplete, or that cannot be
verified. Remember, the nature of the item has nothing
to do with its removal under the Fair Credit Reporting
Act.
Q. Can the information on your credit report be
changed?
A. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act; both
the federal and various state laws REQUIRE that items be
removed if they are not 100% accurate ore cannot be
verified in a timely manner.
Q. Is it illegal or immoral to have the
information on your credit report altered or removed?
A. Not only is it not illegal or immoral, but
it is what the Fair Credit Reporting Act is all about.
It was enacted by congress for the very purpose of
protecting consumers from the intrusion of the credit
bureaus into our lives.
Q. Is it true that by paying a past due debt
removes it from your credit report?
A. Just because you pay an old debt does not
change or erase the fact that at one time you were not
paying on it as you agreed. Can this record be changed?
Absolutely!
Q. Are Inquiries derogatory and can they affect
your credit rating?
A. Anything that erodes your financial
credibility is damaging to your credit standing. In the
case of inquiries, one or two is not too bad, but any
more than that and they begin to tell a story of their
own. Any prospective credit grantor will look at your
credit report and think that you are desperate for
credit.
Q. If you get a derogatory item removed, can it
just come back?
A. Not if it is removed legally. When it is
removed with cause under the Fair Credit reporting Act
it cannot legally be placed back on your credit report.
The same law that required its removal prohibits it from
being placed back on.
The past equals the future.
This is the biggest myth of all. The concept that
once bad, always bad, or at least for 7 years is totally
false. Anybody can run into hard times or an emergency
situation now and then, but that doesn’t automatically
mean that they are a poor credit risk for a magical 7
years. The simple truth is, no credit report can predict
the future.
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