Unless you're posting pictures of your credit reports on social media, your credit information shouldn't be available to the public. It won't show up as a search engine result, and your loved ones can't request it, regardless of your relationship.
While the general public can't see your credit report, some groups have legal access to that personal information. Those groups include lenders, creditors, landlords, employers, insurance companies, government agencies and utility providers.
While a handful of parties can access your credit report, they need to have a valid reason for doing so. For the most part, your credit remains confidential.
Even those who want access to your report can only ask for it if they have a legally permissible reason to do so. Both the credit reporting agency and the person seeking access without a “permissible purpose” can be held liable if they breach the FCRA.
Federal, state, and municipal law enforcement agencies may obtain basic identifying information (name, address, former address, employment) on any consumer through a CRA. See § 1681f . If they want more detailed information provided in a consumer report, however, they generally must seek a court order or subpoena.
Individuals and businesses who do not have a legitimate legal reason or explicit permission cannot access your credit report. This list includes: The general public. Family members (even if you're married and share accounts)
Nationwide consumer reporting companies
There are three big nationwide providers of consumer reports: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. Their reports contain information about your payment history, how much credit you have and use, and other inquiries and information.
Can Someone Run a Credit Report Without Me Knowing? It depends. Like we said earlier, there are soft inquiries and hard inquiries. Soft inquiries happen all the time without you even knowing—a company might check your credit score if they're planning on mailing you a promotional offer.
Accessing a credit report that is not your own could be a form of fraud or identity theft. There is no exception for spouses. That's because some people view sharing such information as an invasion of privacy even if they're married. “It's not yours to take,” McClary says.
In general, adding one or two hard inquiries to your credit reports could lower your scores by a few points, but it's unlikely to have a significant impact. Having a lot of hard inquiries within a short time frame though will likely have a greater impact on your scores.
Non-transparency. Credit scoring technologies are not public information as they are proprietary trade secrets of the companies that invent them.
In a Nutshell
In the majority of states, employers can deny you employment if you have bad credit. Some states and cities have passed laws that prohibit the practice, though there are some exceptions, such as for jobs in the financial sector.
There is no minimum credit score for a job. Employers do not even have access to your score but some may check your credit history as part of the hiring process, especially if the job involves financial responsibilities or access to sensitive information.
You can access someone else's credit report by directly contacting one of the credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian). Each of these bureaus technically gives their ratings independently, but all three of the scores should be quite similar for the same person.
Naturally, this is a powerful piece of evidence, but it is illegal for you to request a copy of your spouse's credit report. In order to legally request someone else's consumer credit reports, you need what is called a permissible purpose to do so.
Yes, it's possible for someone to fraudulently take out a loan in your name without your knowledge. This is known as identity theft.
It gives the bad guys a good idea who to target," says Liz Weston, author of "Your Credit Score." Along with other pieces of information shared over social media, a fraudster could piece together enough details to hack into accounts or send you a fake email from a financial services provider requesting more information ...
If you notice hard pulls on your credit that you did not consent to, you can demand the creditor remove the inquiry. If they do not do this, you can sue under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
Ramsey insists that a high credit score doesn't matter because, as he puts it, "it's proof that you've borrowed money and paid it back, so that you can borrow more money and pay THAT back." While Ramsey's insistence that consumers should try not to get caught in a cycle of debt is good advice, effectively telling ...
The primary credit scoring models are FICO® and VantageScore®, and both are equally accurate. Although both are accurate, most lenders are looking at your FICO score when you apply for a loan. There's a lot to learn about credit scores and credit reports and having more than one credit score can get confusing.
Although ranges vary depending on the credit scoring model, generally credit scores from 580 to 669 are considered fair; 670 to 739 are considered good; 740 to 799 are considered very good; and 800 and up are considered excellent.
While older models of credit scores used to go as high as 900, you can no longer achieve a 900 credit score. The highest score you can receive today is 850. Anything above 800 is considered an excellent credit score.