What do they check in a credit check?

[Klaatu]

Say I wanted to rent a house, or get a new cellphone contract, etc. They say “we have to run a credit check.” What do they check exactly? Do they get a report from the Big Three? Your credit score? Current activity? Late payment on the cable bill?

I have “passed” credit checks before, just wondering how deep they go.

[xash]

From the website of one of the agencies that provide such information:

http://www.fadvsaferent.com/consumer_relations/faq/index.php

What is a consumer reporting agency (CRA)?
A CRA is a company that gathers and sells information on how a consumer pays rent and bills, whether or not the consumer has a criminal or civil court record, or has filed for bankruptcy. For additional information on what a CRA does, see our Glossary of Terms.

What’s in my First Advantage SafeRent consumer file?
A First Advantage SafeRent consumer file may include criminal and/or landlord-tenant records as well as rental performance history. As a reseller of credit reports, First Advantage SafeRent only resells credit bureau reports to its customers, as permitted under the FCRA, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and/or other applicable laws.

and from the FTC site:

Free Credit Reports

Your Access to Free Credit Reports

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. The FCRA promotes the accuracy and privacy of information in the files of the nation’s consumer reporting companies. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, enforces the FCRA with respect to consumer reporting companies.

A credit report includes information on where you live, how you pay your bills, and whether you’ve been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy. Nationwide consumer reporting companies sell the information in your report to creditors, insurers, employers, and other businesses that use it to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, or renting a home.

Here are the details about your rights under the FCRA and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act, which established the free annual credit report program.

You can obtain a free copy of your credit report from:

Annual Credit Report.com - Home Page

Beware of other sites that claim to offer you a free report.

[Aunt_Flow]

Usually anyplace that runs a credit check will only run one bureau. It’s too costly to run all three and they can usually get the info they want from only one. Which one they run varies by company, but when I worked in the industry, I noticed that rent credit checks were Equifax more often than not, since it’s the ‘big’ one of the three. Some landlords will run an Eviction check too, to see if you’ve ever been evicted from a place.

A good bit of knowledge. If they ever charge you to run the credit check for renting, you’re entitled to a copy of what they get back. If they don’t charge you though, they don’t have to give you a copy. And whenever a company runs your credit for the purposes of extending you credit of some sort and you’re declined, you’re also entitled to a free report. But in those cases you have to go through the bureau itself and you get the info on that when you get the ‘denial’ letter in the mail.

[JCorre]

They usually just reference the FICO score (calculated by the Fair Isaac Corporation). This score takes into account a number of variables from the raw data on your report.

Companies must notify you if your payment performance will be reported to the 3 credit agencies (so it depends on who you get cable TV from). But this performance goes back 7 to 10 years and its all included in the score.

Refer to previous posts about getting a copy of your credit report.

[friedo]

Utilities (including cable) almost never report directly to the credit reporting agencies. However, if your delinquent cable bill gets sold to a debt collector, they will report it. (Unless you pay up right away).