10 things credit bureaus won’t say

1. “We track a lot more than just your credit.”

Credit bureaus are well known for tracking consumers’ credit history, including tabulating such details as whether they pay their bills on time and how much debt they carry. And as evidenced by the recent case of Julie Miller, who was awarded $18 million after she sued Equifax — one of the three main credit reporting bureaus — for failing to correct major mistakes in her credit report, the information they compile can sometimes be riddled with errors.

But the bureaus also maintain information that has nothing to do with credit, from consumers’ home addresses to their employment records. While that data isn’t used to calculate credit scores, lenders can access this personal information and use it to help evaluate borrowers who are applying for credit — even to justify denying them a loan altogether. Individuals who change addresses often, for instance, may be presumed less financially stable and harder to track down if unpaid debts ever need to be collected, says Louis Hyman, a consumer-credit historian and assistant professor at Cornell University. Similarly, those who change jobs every few months could be viewed as more likely to miss payments, he says. Read more >>

Delinquencies Rise as Consumers Load Up on Debt

Americans cranked up their use of credit cards in the third quarter, racking up more debt than a year ago, while also being less diligent about making payments on time, an analysis of consumer-credit data shows.

The average credit card debt per borrower in the U.S. grew 4.9 percent in the July-to-September period from a year earlier to $4,996, credit reporting agency TransUnion said Monday.

At the same time, the rate of credit card payments at least 90 days overdue hit 0.75 percent, up from 0.71 percent in the third quarter of last year, the firm said.

While higher, the late payment rate is rising from historically low levels. The lowest late payment rate on TransUnion records going back to the mid-1990s was 0.56 percent, set in the third quarter of 1994. More recently, it was at 0.60 percent in the second quarter of last year.

During the last recession, many Americans reined in spending in favor of paying off debt, particularly credit card balances. The housing downturn also prompted many homeowners to make paying their credit card accounts on time a priority at the expense of other financial obligations, such as their mortgage payments. Read more >>

Americans Are Carrying More Credit Card Debt

Americans are carrying more credit card debt than a year ago, yet the late-payment rate for card holders remains near an 18-year low, an analysis of consumer-credit data shows.

The average credit card debt per borrower in the U.S. grew about 6 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, credit reporting agency TransUnion said Tuesday. At the same time, the rate of payments at least 90 days overdue inched higher to 0.63 percent from 0.60 percent in the same period last year, when the rate hit the lowest level in 18 years. Card delinquencies sank to 0.56 percent in the third quarter of 1994, the firm said.

The April-to-June figures reflect how consumers have been managing their credit card use since the start of the last recession toward the end of 2007. Many borrowers have taken steps to save money and whittle down their debt. Among homeowners with a mortgage, many have made credit card bills a priority over their home loans and other financial obligations. Read more >>