Check Someone's Credit Scores

Checking credit scores is an important part of financial responsibility. Whether you are a potential employer or landlord, loan representative, or individual, there are several advantages to reviewing credit reports and scores. A credit report and score is a good indicator of professional and personal responsibility.

Steps

Requesting a Credit Report for Someone Else

1. Obtain written permission. Individuals and businesses must obtain written permission from the person whose credit they are seeking. In addition to written permission, the person must also give his social security number and current address. Obtaining a credit report without the person’s permission is illegal. It can be punishable by a hefty fine or even jail time.
   • The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) provides sample forms for obtaining permission to do a background check and obtain a consumer credit report for employment purposes.
   • E-Renter provides free forms for landlords, including a Consumer Reports Disclosure, which the renter must sign in order to give the landlord permission to do a background check and obtain a credit report.
2. Contact one of three credit reporting agencies. Three national credit reporting agencies do credit checks on individuals. They are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Going through one of these agencies is the only legitimate way to obtain someone’s credit report. The credit report lists detailed information about employment, credit history, previous tenancies and current debts.
3. Obtain a credit report from TransUnion. TransUnion allows landlords and employers to check credit reports on rental or employment applicants. Landlords use TransUnion SmartMove. Employers can purchase a TransUnion Pre-employment Evaluation Report (PEER) through a third party hiring solutions provider.
   • SmartMove gives landlords a quick, secure and reliable way to check a tenant's credit online. The landlord signs up for an account. For $25, the landlord will have access to a credit screening report, a deposit recommendation, a tenant risk score and a national criminal background report. For an additional $10, the landlord can also see a full credit report and a national eviction search. Once the landlord has the account, he inputs the rental applicant's name and e-mail address. SmartMove contacts the rental applicant on behalf of the landlord and requests permission to grant access to this information to the landlord.
   • A PEER background credit check is the Pre-Employment Evaluation Report designed by TransUnion. Employers can purchase these from third party hiring solutions companies such as Command Credit or USAFact. The PEER report gives employers an unbiased account of the applicant's financial information, including credit history.
4. Obtain a credit report from Experian. Hover over the Small Business tab and choose Check Credit on a Person. You will land on a page that lets you open an account with their Experian Connect service. Once you have an account, you can get access to others’ credit information.
   • This service works a little differently. The person whose credit you want to view can purchase a credit report for $14.95 and grant you free access to the report for 30 days.
   • To open an account with Experian Connect, you provide your name, address and social security number, and you choose a username and password for the account. The system will verify your identity by asking you questions from your credit history for which only you would know the answers. Once you pass the security questions, your account is opened.
   • Once you have the account, you can send a request to view a person's credit from your Experian Connect dashboard. All you need is the person's name and e-mail address.
   • Experian contacts the person on your behalf. If the person agrees, he purchases the report himself for $14.95 through Experian. Then he grants you permission to view the report for free for 30 days.
   • Once the person has granted you access to the credit report, Experian notifies you. You can view the report on your Experian Connect dashboard.
5. Obtain a credit report from Equifax. Equifax offers verification services for landlords and employers. These services allow landlords and employers to verify the identity and view a credit report card for prospective tenants or job applicants.
   • Landlords use the service Equifax Identity Report for Landlords. This service allows landlords to verify identity and view a high-level credit summary and credit score range for prospective tenants. Landlords can request the report by inputting their own name and e-mail address and the name and e-mail address of the prospective tenant. Equifax then contacts the tenant. If the tenant agrees, the landlord is granted access to the identity report. The report costs $9.95, and either the landlord or the tenant can pay for it.
   • Employers use Equifax's employment verification system called the Work Number. This service grants employers access to data reports for potential employees that list the person's employment history and information about their credit. To use this service, employers must prove that they have complied with FCRA and obtained written permission from potential employees to view their credit information.

Reading and Analyzing Someone's Credit Report

1. Know the categories of information. Each credit reporting agency has a unique format for its reports. However, they all report the same categories of information. These categories include identifying information, information about credit accounts and credit inquiries, public record and collections items, satisfactory accounts and negative items.
2. Understand identifying information. This includes the person's name, social security number, date of birth and employment information. If the person's name has changed for any reason, such as a marriage or divorce, previous names will be listed here. Also, any nicknames or variations on the person's name will be included. Current and previous addresses are also listed.
3. Learn about the person's credit accounts. These are also referred to as trade lines. Lenders report all information about credit accounts. This information includes the type of account, the date the account was opened, the credit limit, the loan amount, the account balance, and the person's payment history. Three different types of credit accounts exist.
   • Mortgage accounts include first and second mortgages, home equity loans and any other loans secured by real estate.
   • Revolving accounts are charge accounts with a credit limit that must be paid each month. Credit cards are an example of revolving accounts.
   • Installment accounts are credit accounts in which the amount and number of payments is predetermined in a fixed amount. Car loans are installment accounts.
4. Understand the difference between hard and soft credit inquiries. A hard inquiry occurs when the person requests a loan and the creditor checks the person's credit score. A soft inquiry occurs when a lender is not reviewing the person's credit for the purposes of granting a loan. Examples of soft inquiries include a person requesting his own credit score and credit checks made by businesses for the purposes of promotional offers. Credit inquiries may have a negative effect on a person's credit score.
5. Learn public record information. The credit report includes information in the public record. State and county courts and collection agencies report information about overdue debt. Examples of public record financial information includes bankruptcies, foreclosures, liens and judgments.
6. Interpret positive and negative items on the credit report. All three credit reporting agencies separate positive and negative items on credit reports. This makes it easier to interpret the information. In the section detailing negative items, you will find information about late payments. This includes when a late payment occurred, how late it was, the balance on the account, and whether the account was written-off or submitted to collections.
7. Understand credit report formats and codes. Each credit reporting agency has its own set of codes for payment history, public records and credit check history. Understanding these codes makes it easier to interpret the credit report.
   • Visit the Merit Credit Engine to learn about the Experian, TransUnion and Equifax credit report formats and codes.

Knowing if You're Eligible to Check Someone's Credit Scores

1. Understand the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FCRA is a federal law that governs how credit reporting agencies manage your credit information. Its goal is to protect individuals’ privacy and identity. It also protects your right to access and correct any inaccuracies in your credit report. Finally, it specifies who may or may not obtain a credit report on someone else.
   • Under the FCRA, you can obtain others’ credit reports only if you need it to qualify them for a job, insurance, government benefits or tenancy. Also, having power of attorney makes it legal for your to view that person’s credit report.
2. Check the credit score of a potential employee. According to CNN.com, in 2010, nearly 60 percent of employers ran credit checks on potential new hires. They see it as an important part of the hiring process, like checking someone’s references.
   • Some employers check applicants’ credit because of the nature of the job for which they are applying. For example, banks, brokerages, the government and other financial institutions want to hire people with a proven ability to manage their personal finances.
   • Other employers use credit histories as a way of weeding out weak applicants. They see the existence of high debt or credit delinquencies as a possible distraction that may affect job performance.
   • Federal law allows employers to see a modified credit report for job applicants or employees. This is sometimes referred to as a credit header. It omits account numbers to protect privacy. If an employer decides not to hire someone based on a credit report, the applicant must be given a copy of the credit report and told of their right to challenge it under the FCRA.
3. Learn about credit history of potential tenant. As a landlord, you want tenants who pay their rent and take care of the property as if it were their own. Landlords check potential tenants’ credit reports as a way of assessing their ability to do this. One way landlords avoid renting to deadbeats is by checking potential renters' credit. They can run the credit report themselves, or they can hire a services to run a credit and background checks.
4. Guard against identity theft if your spouse has died. A person’s identity is especially susceptible to theft in the months following death. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the problem is increasing because identity information about the recently deceased is so easy to get.
   • The government publishes the names and social security numbers of the recently deceased on the Social Security Administration’s website in order to prevent welfare fraud. But identity thieves need only to download this Excel file from the website.
   • Some genealogy websites publish social security numbers and maiden names of the deceased.
   • It can take up to a year to settle the affairs of a person who has died. During this time, bills continue to come in and creditors are notified of the death. Identity thieves think a few extra credit card bills in the person’s name are not likely to get noticed.
5. Find out if your child’s credit has been compromised. If your child is receiving credit card solicitations in the mail, then you might want to check for fraud. Identity thieves target minors because they think it won’t get noticed. Also, if you and your child share the same name, it is possible for some of your credit information to get reported on his credit report. You want to check your child’s credit report and address any problems before he turns 18 and begins applying for student loans or a credit card account.
   • Typically you cannot pull a minor’s credit report online. You must call the credit reporting agency directly.
6. Check on the finances of aging parents. Senior citizens are often targets of fraud. Look for unusually high balances on credit cards or lines of credit for which they did not sign. Thieves sometimes convince the elderly to cosign on loans. When the loan doesn’t get paid, the cosigner becomes responsible for the debt, and this can negatively affect a credit score. Also, if an elderly person is suffering from dementia, he may randomly apply for credit or use credit irresponsibly.
   • You will need power of attorney or a court-appointed guardianship to obtain a parent’s credit report.

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Sources and Citations

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• Check a Background for a Tenant