If Credit Is Denied For more information,
request the publications
If you apply for credit,
“Getting In Touch With
insurance, housing, or
Your Creditors,” “When
employment and it's denied,
Your Bills Pile Up” or
you have the right to know
“Developing a
why. The creditor must tell
Spending/Savings
you why you were denied
Plan” from your UNH
and where the information
Cooperative Extension
came from. If the rejection
county office.
was because of information
from a credit bureau, the
creditor must give you the credit bureau’s
If you're interested in
Your Credit File
the workshop "Taking Charge of Your
name and address.
Finances," also contact your UNH
Cooperative Extension county office.
According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, if
you contact the credit bureau within 60 days Applying for Credit?
of the rejection, it must let you see your credit
Written by Suzann Enzian Knight, M.O.E.,
file without charge.
M.S., CFP, University of New Hampshire
Cooperative Extension Family Resource
Denied Credit?
Management Specialist
Avoid A Bad Credit Report
Many people have financial problems beyond The author acknowledges material adapted
Learn What’s In
their control. A prolonged illness or a job loss from University of Nebraska Cooperative Your Credit Report!
may deplete your bank accounts. But you can Extension and University of Alabama
and should protect your credit rating. Cooperative Extension.
• Don’t take on more debt than you can
handle.
ile
• Keep an “emergency fund” equal to at least
dit F
three to six months take-home pay.
Cre
• Repay all debts as agreed.
• If for some reason you are unable to make a
payment or if it will be late, talk to your
creditor to work out a solution that will
satisfy both of you.
Visit Our Web Site at www.extension.unh.edu
"Helping You Put Knowledge and Research To Work"
When you can’t pay your bills as scheduled, The University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension
contact the creditors before your accounts are is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
declared delinquent. University of New Hampshire, U.S. Department
of Agriculture and N.H. counties cooperating.
2/06
What Is A Credit File unsolicited offers of credit or insurance, have Don’t be surprised if some credit transactions
your name excluded by calling the Opt-Out or accounts aren’t listed. Some stores or
Many people have little knowledge about the
Request Line 1-888-567-8688. institutions don’t report to the credit bureau,
information in their credit file or even where
and some report irregularly. If there are
the information is located. Your credit record
You’re entitled to know what’s in your credit accounts you want included, ask the compa-
follows you wherever you go. You can’t hide
file. To do so, you order a credit report. You nies to report that information to the credit
it nor hide from it.
can order a free copy from each of the three bureau.
credit bureaus once in a 12-month period by
Each person’s credit file contains a record of
contacting AnnualCreditReport.com by tele- After you review your credit record, contact
his or her bill-paying habits and information
phone, mail or by using their web site listed the credit bureau if you find any inaccurate
from courthouse files such as filing for divorce,
below. Be wary of imposter sites that charge information in your file.
declaring bankruptcy, and any judgments
you for unwanted services. Only the site listed
against you for not paying a debt.
below is authorized to fill orders for free
The credit report isn’t a credit rating although
annual reports under the new law. Who Can Get My Credit File
it is often called that.
For New Hampshire residents, additional Credit reports can only be given to those
Information in the credit record has a “file life: persons, other than yourself, who have a
copies of your report can cost up to $9.50
assigned to it. Once this “file life” has been legitimate business need for the information.
unless you were denied credit, employment,
reached, information is removed from your This would include lenders, prospective
housing or insurance based on a credit report.
report. In most cases, bankruptcies are taken employers, landlords and insurance compa-
You can request one free report a year if you
from your file after 10 years and other infor- nies. An employer or prospective employer
are unemployed and plan to look for a job
mation is taken after 7 years. The only excep- can only get your credit report if you give
within 60 days, if you are on welfare, or if
tions are those applying for credit over written consent. Creditors, employers, or
your report is inaccurate due to fraud.
$150,000 applying for life insurance over insurers can’t get a report that includes medi-
$150,000 and applying for employment sala- cal information without your approval.
Before you can have access to your report, you
ried over 75,000. For these exceptions, the
must verify that you are the individual whose
information in the credit file has an indefinite
name is on the file.
“file life.” What If The File Contains Errors
For your free copy go here first: If the file contains errors, the credit bureau
www.annualcreditreport.com must investigate and correct any
Where Can I Find My File misinformation. Ask the credit reporting
Your credit record is kept in a file by a credit For additional reports or to get agency its procedure for correcting the
bureau. The three national credit bureaus are your credit score, go to: information in your credit file. Any
Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union. Equifax information that can’t be verified must be
1-800-685-1111 removed.
Credit bureaus are regulated by the Fair Credit www.equifax.com
Reporting Act. The purpose of the law is to If the information is accurate, no one can
Credit Repo
protect you from having inaccurate or obsolete Experian rt
require the credit bureau to remove it - unless
information passed on about you. Credit 1-888-397-3742
it is outdated. If you don’t agree with the
bureaus, also called consumer reporting www.experian.com
report, you can write a brief statement
agencies, sell information to creditors, insur-
Trans Union describing your version of the dispute. This
ance companies, prospective lenders and
employers. If you don’t want to receive 1-800-888-4213 statement then becomes a part of your file.