Who Has Permission to Pull Your Credit Reports?
Are you concerned about the possibility of identity theft? If not, you should at the very least be aware that identity theft is an all-too-common crime and it is important to protect your personal and credit information to the very best of your ability. Of course, even if you are responsible with your information there are times when identity theft may occur due to no fault of your own. Data breaches are a prime example of this phenomenon.
Thankfully, the federal government also does its part to offer you some protections from identity theft and some identity theft recovery tools as well. For example, according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), when you properly inform the credit reporting agencies (CRAs) that your identity has been compromised then they are required to remove any fraudulent accounts from your credit reports within just 4 short days.
Another way the FCRA serves to protect your personal information is by limiting who is legally allowed to access your credit reports. Unless a company or entity is included in the list of those who have a “Permissible Purpose” to pull your credit reports then the CRAs are not allowed to disclose your credit information. There are a limited number of scenarios, in fact, when sharing or pulling your credit reports is allows. Here are some of the most common times, though certainly not all of them, when your credit reports may be accessed and a few examples of times when credit report access is denied.
Requests by Lenders
In general lenders, do have permissible purpose to pull your credit reports, especially if you apply for financing or if you are the lender’s existing customer. The FCRA grants lenders the right to access your credit as part of an application or as part of the ongoing account maintenance process for those with a current relationship with the lender.
Requests by an Employer
Per the FCRA, employers have permissible purpose to access your credit reports. However, there is a catch. You must give your overt written permission to an employer consenting to allow your report(s) to be accessed for employment screening purposes. Also, contrary to popular myth, employers are never given a copy of your credit scores.
Requests by Friends, Family, and Significant Others
People you know personally, but with whom you are not doing business, do have a permissible purpose to access your credit information. This means the CRAs are not allowed to disclose your credit reports to anyone on the list above, not even your spouse. There are, obviously, exceptions to that rule such as when you have given power of attorney to someone to act on your behalf in your absence. In fact, if you give someone power of attorney over your financial matter they are allowed to apply for credit in your name.
Requests by Insurance Providers
Your credit information can help an insurance company to more accurately assess the risk of doing business with you. As a result, and since they are legally permitted to do so under the FCRA, when you apply for a policy an insurance provider can review your credit to determine whether they wish to do business with you and, if so, with what premiums.
Personal Requests
The FCRA absolutely allows you to access your own, personal credit information as often as you wish. You are even granted a set of 3 free credit reports once every 12 months at AnnualCreditReport.com. Beyond your annual freebies, you can still pull your credit reports as often as you like, though you might have to pay a fee in order to do so.
Requests by a Court
If a court orders that the CRAs disclose your credit information then, according to the FCRA, they are permitted to do so. I can tell you that in practice the CRAs still ask for some sort of written release by the consumer, as a way for them to play it safe.
Requests by Strangers and Acquaintances
No, no, no, Random individuals or acquaintances are not permitted under the FCRA to obtain copies of your credit reports. If they do so, it is almost certainly an act of fraud.
Requests by Debt Collectors
This one typically causes feathers to be ruffled. However, despite what your opinion may be on the matter, the FCRA does allow debt collectors access to your credit information to assist them in collecting debts. Your written permission is not required.