Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 7, 1990 TAG: 9005060016
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF BUSINESS WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Few people bother to check their own credit files even though the information goes to stores, banks and any other business from which they seek financial terms.
Your records are open to your own inspection as well. Credit bureaus, in fact, welcome your review of the file that controls your ability to get financing.
TRW Credit Data of Orange, Calif., one of three national reporting networks, suggests that consumers look at their record every year or two before applying for a major loan.
TRW said consumer credit reports contain payment history for credit cards, lines of credit, government student loans and other secured or unsecured loans.
The information is collected from creditors and stored in data bases. Credit bureaus also check public records for bankruptcies, judgments and tax liens.
Credit reporting services don't make the decisions about loans, retail charges and the like. They only provide your financial history to banks, stores and other businesses where you apply for credit. Those businesses use the data to take your measure as a credit risk.
TRW advertises locally an offer to provide, for a fee, a copy of your credit report plus notice whenever anyone asks to see it.
But Larry Poteat, president of the Roanoke Credit Marketing and Management Association, said a different network covers Western Virginia. Credit Bureau Inc./Equifax of Atlanta, he said, also circulates throughout the Southeast.
TRW is especially active in Western states. A third network is Trans Union of Chicago.
It's possible for a consumer to be listed in all three networks, Poteat said, but Credit Bureau Inc. is the most important here. It's the one your creditors in this area use.
You have the right by law to see your own report without charge if you have been denied credit within the prior 30 days on the basis of information it contains.
Poteat said Roanoke's credit bureau has a policy of extending that time to 45 days.
Anyone else can see his own report for a $5 fee. The amount could vary in other communities. The hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday in Roanoke.
Credit bureaus are scattered throughout Southwest Virginia. They are listed in the Yellow Pages under "credit reporting agencies."
Poteat said that four interviewers in Roanoke spend full time reviewing credit reports with individuals.
He estimated that 60 percent of visitors come there because they have been refused credit. The rest want to see their histories.
People must show proper identification, Poteat said. Even spouses are not permitted to see each other's reports.
The American Bar Association, in a pamphlet on consumer credit, recommends that spouses establish credit records in their own names while they are married. The ABA said this is especially important for non-employed spouses.
Without a separate credit history, a widowed or divorced person faces the burden of proving that the former spouse's accounts were actually shared.
Poteat said the record shows where a person has credit, the amount owed and the history of payments. (The form resembles the TRW format on this page.)
In most cases, adverse information about such things as judgments and charged-off debts must be eliminated from the file after seven years.
Bankruptcies, however, are reported for 10 years.
Poteat pointed out that favorable information is reported as long as an account remains active.
If someone contends that information is erroneous, he said, the bureau rechecks. Mistaken data must be deleted.
People also have the right to give their version of any problem that remains.
by CNB