Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies

A consumer credit reporting agency can provide a borrower with a report containing a history of his financial transactions regarding loans, credit cards, mortgages, and other pertinent consumer information. There are three major consumer credit reporting agencies from which all other sources glean their information--Equifax, Trans-Union, and Experian-TRW. Each company, however, does not always accumulate the identical financial history about a particular consumer, so each report is essential to obtain.

When a person decides to apply for a new loan, it may be beneficial for him to receive comparative reports from all three consumer credit reporting agencies. Many times, unfortunately, there is misinformation within theses reports that can hurt the borrower when he attempts to secure a mortgage, buy a car, or take out an unsecured loan. The borrower may not even be aware of the problem until the loan application is turned down from a lending source that ran a check through one of these companies. It is required by law, however, that each person have access to a free credit report within 30 days of being turned down for a loan.

Many times, consumers have found that they were turned down by a lending source based on mistaken information reported to them by one of the consumer credit reporting agencies. That's why it's so important to check out a person's financial history before applying for large loans such as mortgages and car loans. If the applicant finds inaccurate reporting, he will need to make sure that it is corrected. In order to insure that receiving early correction of any errors, it is suggested that the applicant send a letter to the consumer credit reporting agency explaining exactly what mistakes were made and how to verify the new information. The applicant should send a letter through certified mail with a return read receipt requested to make sure that the consumer credit reporting agency has received the request for corrections. Making phone calls or sending emails are not as effective, and sending a certified letter provides them with hard copy evidence of the request.

When discovering an inaccuracy on a report, follow up with consumer credit reporting agencies in order to make sure the corrections have been made. Financial experts recommend requesting a report at least once a year to be alerted to problems such a identity fraud, or other types of fraud, with a person's credit history. In all our financial decisions, God is our greatest advocate and counsellor. Psalm 111:2 tells us, "The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein." If we are getting our pleasure from spending or in our possessions, we have our priorities wrong. Our greatest pleasure should be in God and His Word, and we should always look to Him for any financial decision.

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