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Credit reports and the fair credit reporting act (FCRA) which requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion... Your credit history is recorded in files maintained by at least one of Canada's three major credit-reporting agencies...
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Your Access to Free Credit Reports
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. The FCRA promotes the accuracy and privacy of information in the files of the nation’s consumer reporting companies. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, enforces the FCRA with respect to consumer reporting companies.
A credit report includes such information as:
- Where you live
- How you pay your bills
- If you have been sued or arrested.
- If you have filed for bankruptcy.
Nationwide consumer reporting companies sell the information in your report to creditors, insurers, employers, and other businesses that use it to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, or renting a home.
Below are the details about your rights under the FCRA and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act.
How do I order my free report? The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have set up a central website, a toll-free telephone number, and a mailing address through which you can order your free annual report.
To order, visit annualcreditreport.com, call 1-877-322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. The form is on the back of the brochure; or you can print it from ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/credit.
The law allows you to order one free copy of your report from each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies every 12 months.
In order to receive your free annual credit report, you must provide the following: Name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. If you have moved in the last two years, you may have to provide your previous address.
Under federal law, you’re entitled to a free report if a company takes adverse action against you such as denying your application for credit, insurance, or employment and you ask for your report within 60 days of receiving notice of the action. The notice will give you the name, address, and phone number of the consumer reporting company. You are also entitled to one free report a year if you’re unemployed and plan to look for a job within 60 days; if you’re on welfare; or if your report is inaccurate because of fraud, including identity theft.
To buy a copy of your report, contact:
- Equifax: 800-685-1111; www.equifax.com
- Experian: 888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742); www.experian.com
- Trans Union: 800-916-8800; www.transunion.com
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Your credit history is recorded in files maintained by at least one of Canada's three major credit-reporting agencies: Equifax Canada, TransUnion Canada and Northern Credit Bureaus Inc. It is possible to obtain your credit file for free - please consult the agency’s website in order to obtain more information.
Credit Score
Your credit score is a judgment about your financial health, at a specific point in time. This report indicates the risk you represent for lenders, compared with other consumers.
Within a credit score, there are many different ways to work out credit scores. The credit-reporting agencies Equifax and TransUnion use a scale from 300 to 900. High scores on this scale are good. The higher your score, the lower the risk for the lender. In Canada & the United States some lenders may also have their own ways of arriving at credit scores. Lenders must also decide on the lowest score you can have and still borrow money from them. By having your credit score, they may also use this rating to set the interest rate you will pay.
source: http:/www.mycreditapply.com
Credit Rating
Some credit-reporting agencies report the lenders' rating of each of your credit history items on a scale of 1 to 9. A rating of "1" means you pay your bills within 30 days of the due date. A rating of "9" means that you never pay your bills at all or that you have made a consumer debt repayment proposal to the lender. Within a canadian credit report, a letter will also appear in front of the number. The letter stands for the type of the credit you are using.
- "I" means you were given credit on an installment basis, such as for a car loan, where you borrow money once and repay it in fixed amounts, on a regular basis, for a specific period of time until the loan is paid off.
- "O" means you have open credit such as a line of credit, where you borrow money, as needed, up to a certain limit and the total balance is due at the end of each period. This category may also include student loans, for which the money may not be owing until you are out of school.
- "R" means you have "revolving" credit, where you make regular payments in varying amounts depending on the balance of your account, and can then borrow more money up to your credit limit. Credit cards are a good example of "revolving" credit.
The most common ratings are "R" ratings. This letter is known as North American Standard Account Ratings and are the most frequently used. The "R" indicates that the item being described involves revolving credit. If you always pay on time, it will be coded an R1. If an amount was written off because you never paid it back, it is coded R9. This coding system translates "on time", "one month late", "two months late", etc., into two-digit codes.
Below Ratings Code Source: http://www.equifax.com/EFX_Canada/
- R0 : Too new to rate; approved but not used;
- R1 : Pays (or paid) within 30 days of payment due date or not over one payment past due
- R2 : Pays (or paid) in more than 30 days from payment due date, but not more than 60 days, or not more than two payments past due
- R3 : Pays (or paid) in more than 60 days from payment due date, but not more than 90 days, or not more than three payments past due
- R4 : Pays (or paid) in more than 90 days from payment due date, but not more than 120 days, or four payments past due Pays (or paid) in more than 90 days from payment due date, but not more than 120 days, or four payments past due
- R5 : Account is at least 120 days overdue, but is not yet rated "9"
- R6 : This rating does not exist.
- R7 : Making regular payments through a special arrangement to settle your debts
- R8 : Repossession (voluntary or involuntary return of merchandise)
- R9 : Bad debt; placed for collection; moved without giving a new address or bankruptcy.
Other rating indicators that might be found on a report are "I" for installment credit or "O" for open credit line.
Here are Canada's three major credit-reporting agencies:
- Equifax Canada
Tel.: 1-800-465-7166
Fax: (514) 355-8502 - TransUnion Canada
Tel.: (905) 525-0262
(except in Quebec)
Toll-free: 1-866-525-0262
(except in Quebec) - Tel.: (514) 335-0374
(Quebec residents)
Toll-free: 1-877-713-3393 (Quebec residents)
Northern Credit Bureaus Inc.
Fax (toll-free): 1-800-646-5876
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