Credit Score Range

By law, every eligible US citizen is now entitled to obtain a free credit report annually, upon request, from any of the 3 credit reporting bureaus – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

But did you know that¹:

• Credit reports cannot be disclosed to employers without the written consent of the prospective employee? Credit related transactions, yes, but not credit reports.
• Any “buyer” of an individual’s credit report must have a legal reason (aka permissible purpose) to do so? Not just anyone should have access to the credit reports of others.
• Lenders must provide a copy of the credit score used for underwriting a mortgage loan to the borrower? This will let people know why they were approved or denied a mortgage.
• Any consumer disputes in a credit report should be clearly marked in the report itself and that the items being disputed must be bypassed in “debt” and “payment history” categories in a FICO score?
• Credit reporting bureaus can ignore disputes if the bureaus believe they are frivolous in nature? This should prevent people from abusing the above clause too much.
• Consumers can hire their own attorneys if the bureaus breach their rights, even if the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforce credit laws?

1. Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act [↩]