Credit Report Laws – Not Everyone Reports Credit

When it comes to credit report laws, some people have a misconception about how credit histories are compiled and maintained. Contrary to popular belief, the three major credit-reporting agencies are not attached to the Federal Government though they do (like any business) operate under some specific laws. That means that there are some credit report laws that impact how your report is filed and maintained, along with some access issues. Another misconception is that every single creditor turns every credit transaction in to these credit-reporting agencies. Actually, there is no law requiring that a creditor turn in credit actions at all. In some cases, that would be good for the creditor. But in some cases, it’s not a positive move for the creditor to do business with a company that doesn’t report credit activities to the companies that maintain the credit reports. Consider this scenario. You’ve had some credit problems in the past and you want to get your credit back on track. You save up a significant lump and money, go to a used car dealership and put your savings down on a car with the agreement that the dealership will finance the balance.

You faithfully make your payments on time and expect that by the time the car is paid for you’ll have significantly improved your credit score. The problem is that this particular dealership doesn’t submit information to the companies that compile credit cards and non of this is going to show up on your credit report. It might not be fair but it doesn’t break any credit report laws. So if you’re looking to improve your credit rating, be sure the company you are considering doing business with does make the appropriate reports. While there are no credit report laws that require businesses to make those reports, it can be to your advantage to deal only with those businesses that do.