Can anyone get to anothers report? Can I pull someone's account if I am going to rent them a cottage, or sell them something or hire them as a caretaker? What exactly is PP? Woofer
I've wondered about this as well. Also, if an account is paid in full, and then closed by consumer, can the creditor still legally access your account later?
I have some rental property. The CRA's won't let me open an account because I don't have a business license. So I have to use a third-party reseller to get reports on prospective renters. And yes, that is PP because I'm extending them credit. Hiring someone is also PP.
What do you mean a business license A FED ID Number? Also what is a third-party reseller? I hire people in my business but I have never pulled their credit reports. How does one go about it anyway? AND do I get to do a soft pull instead of a hard ? And just to be clear soft pulls do not effect scores and when you do a soft pull you get to see the credit report but not the inquiries, correct? So the reason peole do HI's are to ruin your score? Does anyone do soft pulls? Thanks This is very interesting. Woofer
From the Equifax website: "To establish service with Equifax, you must be a licensed business. If you are not a licensed business, we will be unable to consider your request for service." I don't think they are talking about a Tax ID number, I think they want to see an actual business license. But you could call them and ask. The number to open a business account is 1-888-202-4025. A third-party reseller is a company that has an account with a CRA, and is licensed to provide that information to others as part of their business. Go to Google.com and type in "tenant screening" and you'll find a whole bunch of them. If you google "employee screening" you'll find a bunch of companies that will do this for you. Many of them are the same companies that turned up under "tenant screening." I'm not sure exactly what the reports look like in terms of soft pull vs. hard pull. If you are screening a renter, that person has applied for credit and it is a hard pull. If you are screening a potential employee, then it is a soft pull. The only time a hard pull should show up on anyone's report is as a result of a credit application -- or maybe a collection, since the legality of a hard pull by a collection agency is disputed but as far as I know has not been decided by a court.
I dunno, I guess I am not into pulling a report. i DO have several retail businesses but I don't want to snoop into someone that I have good vibes about in hiring or renting to. I must be doing something right as my help always have stayed with me, both since the early 80's : ) I also don't ask people for ID's when they want to pay me by check. Maybe I am just lucky, maybe it is just good karma coming back to me. Woofer
TeeVeeDude, My mother was involved in managing rental properties she owned until she passed away last year. As part of her screening process she pulled credit reports through a third-party service until the CRA's changed their rules. Then she had to stop pulling the credit score info, since she didn't want to be bothered with going through the rigomarole imposed by the CRA's of having a properly secured office to store that information. Even if you pull CR's through a third party, you have to satisfy the CRA's that you have a properly secured site before you can get full credit score info on prospective tenants. FWIW, we used National Tenant Network to get our information, since they were associated with the local homeowners' association my mother belonged to. They provided good information. Their web site is at National Tenant Network. Hope this may help, John P.S.: I am not an employee of National Tenant Network but speaking solely for a satisfied customer.
Hi, I wonder if these people have to give a free copy of the file they have on people. My reading of their website leads me to think that this would be yet another CRA and under the law we should be entitled to a free report just like the rest of them. Has anyone here dealt with them? Thank you. juliej
The answer is: 1) The landlord or property manager (PM) who uses a tenant screening service cannot directly give you a copy of the report that was pulled on you. Any landlord or PM who did so would be in violation of their subscription agreement with the screening service. 2) If you are turned down for a rental because of your credit score or other derogatory tenant-related info like prior evictions, etc., then the landlord or PM is obligated to tell you the agency from which the report was pulled in their rejection letter. You can then request a free copy of your report from that agency. Hope this helps.
i have been confused about this also, i know that for some reason our credit reports have been used to some how evaluate us, whether we are purchasing a product or a service, or even when we are trying to get employed... if you don't mind me asking, how does this exactly work? can 'anyone' just request to take a look at one's credit report...
