Who can access your credit report?
A company can not pull a copy of your credit report without your consent. When you apply for a credit card or loan, there is usually a form to fill out where you sign permission for them to check your credit.
Keep in mind that any time your credit card is pulled by a company, your rating is slightly reduced. This is because it looks to the lenders that you have been turned down by other lenders and are shopping around to try to get an approval.
Your credit information can only be released when the request is relating to a loan application, debt collection, renting a house or apartment, an employment application, or insurance. Keep in mind that any given company can interpret your credit report in different ways and under different standards. This means that while one company may find you to be “risky” another one may not and give you the loan that you have applied for.
If you have never checked your credit report there are two ways to get a copy of it. The first way is to print out the Credit Report Request form and send it to Equifax with proof of your identity. There is no cost to order your report by snail mail.
The second option is to go to www.equifax.ca and order an online copy of your credit history. This option will give you the report right away instead of having to wait for it to come by mail, however it will cost you a small fee. Check out the Equifax site for options and fees.
If you find any errors or wrong information on your report, you can contact Equifax and request the information to be changed or removed. Here is the form your need to fill out to begin that process: Update form
Are you Foxy? Subscribe to our Newsfeed!
[…] people have never checked their credit report, only 36 % of Canadians report that they have checked their credit report sometime in their lives. […]
Pingback by The importance of your credit rating (part 1) | Foximus Internet Business Blog — June 24, 2007 @ 12:06 am
I actually prefer to pull Transunion reports on debtors, I mean customers… They are much easier to read
Comment by Roberta — June 24, 2007 @ 9:38 am
In the USA you can get real free credit reports from the government created source which is my prefered method: http://www.annualcreditreport.com. There is no fee and you can view it once a year online immediately. You can choose to see the reports from the 3 major companies all at one time or look at one, then in 4 months the next and so one - which is nice because you can get a view every 4 months for free.
Comment by John Hunter — June 24, 2007 @ 11:22 am
Thanks for the info John and Roberta, it’s nice to get the US perspective as well.
Comment by Aimee — June 24, 2007 @ 12:40 pm
I went and got a copy of it a few months ago just to make sure everything was OK. Glad to say it is.
Comment by Natron — June 26, 2007 @ 5:01 pm