what credit bureaus can and can t do under the law
the fair credit reporting act describes the kind of data that credit bureaus are allowed to collect that includes the person s bill payment history past loans and current debts it may also include employment information present and previous addresses whether they have ever filed for bankruptcy or owe child support and any arrest record the fcra also limits who is allowed to see a credit report and under what circumstances for example lenders may request a report when someone applies for a mortgage car loan or another type of credit insurance companies may also view consumers credit reports when they apply for a policy the government may request it in response to a court order or federal grand jury subpoena or if the person is applying for certain types of government issued licenses 2in some but not all instances consumers must have initiated a transaction or agreed in writing before the credit bureau can release their report for example employers can request a job applicant s credit report but only with the applicant s permission however some potential lenders and insurers can access portions of your credit report without your permission in order to decide whether to send you unsolicited offers for credit or insurance this process is called prescreening and the law allows you to opt out of it 2the fair credit reporting act fcra mandates that when a business pulls a credit report on someone they must specify the reason for example the reason could be in conjunction with a loan request for employment purposes or part of a credit check by a landlord 