<p>Very valid point! </p>
<p>The only way to know for SURE what is included is to order copies and look them over yourself.</p>
<p>Printed material (or whatever the user can see on-line) usually does NOT represent what is stored in computer files. It represents only the output data of the computer program that produced this document (paper, screen…). You will never know what other (invisible to you) information is included in your record(s). I am very sure that places that loan $$ to people care a lot about as much info a about people who they apply to loans as possible and it is not a big deal at all to collect this info.</p>
<p>Of course what you say about “invisible” information is true. However, I have asked more than one business entity to describe to me what information they received by doing a “soft” or “hard” hit on my credit. I have been told by some that all they had received was my credit score, while others have shown me a printed copy or screen image of my electronic output data, a.k.a. credit report, which includes a limited amount of personal information and an extensive history of my borrowing and repayment activities. </p>
<p>Does this mean more information would not be available to the IRS, intelligence or law enforcement agencies if they took an interest in me? No doubt they would have access to far more detailed information, from a variety of sources, than a potential lender, employer, insurance company or landlord would have by doing a routine credit check in the course of their business dealings with me. </p>
<p>Just out of interest, you might like to begin asking individuals or companies you have financial dealings with the same questions I have, and you could also ask to see the credit reports they have ordered for you. Some of them will be more accommodating and forthcoming than others, especially those higher up in the chain of command. You might also find it interesting to order your credit reports and compare the information displayed therein to what these companies have described or shown you. </p>
<p>I can’t think of anything else a consumer can do. We live in the information age, and our lives are no longer our own.</p>
<p>My position may be influnced by the fact that I have never was interested in my credi report / score. Tha t may explain the fact that I do not think this way about my kids. I guess, everybody is different. We never cared too much about amount of credit available to us. If we do not have $$, we just do not spend them. Couple simpletons. Others will be in very different position. But disaster can happen to anybody, then our position may also change, nobody is safe.</p>
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<p>I have high credit limits but pay my credit card bills religiously and in full every month. That way, if I ever do need to get a new car or to take out some other big loan, I will have high enough credit scores to guarantee I get the lowest interest rate available. I know it may seem counterintuitive, but that’s the way credit works in this country. </p>
<p>It seems clear from your postings, MiamiDAP, that you and your family have good, sensible money management skills. But how do the credit bureaus know you do? The fact that I have $44,000 available to me through my three cards – but generally charge no more than $1,500 total per month – demonstrates to them that I manage my finances well. (Mind you, nowadays people are generally given lower credit limits than this due to post-recession controls on credit and lending enacted by the federal government.) </p>
<p>It’s always a good idea to charge 5% or less of your total available credit each month because if you are seen to use much more than that or, worse still, if you max one or more of your cards out, it’s looked upon negatively by the credit bureaus. For that reason, larger purchases should always be put on the card with the highest limit. </p>
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<p>I follow the same rule of thumb as you, MiamiDAP, always living within my means. The only loan I have that carries over from one month to the next is my mortgage. I use credit cards for almost everything else, and pay the bill(s) at the end of each month in full by electronic transfer from my checking account since a person can never be 100% sure that a check dropped in the mail will actually get there on time, or will get there at all (and on-time payments are extremely important in the calculation of your credit score). I have one debit card and use it, or a personal check, only in the rare instance that I can’t use a credit card. Debit cards don’t report to the big-three credit bureaus. </p>
<p>Speaking of personal checks, bank accounts report to a different type of credit bureau called “ChexSystems”. Here is a description of what they look at, taken from a non-copyrighted public interest website: </p>
<p>“A consumer’s ChexSystems report typically contains banking irregularities such as check overdrafts, unsatisfied balances, depositing fraudulent checks, or suspicious account handling that other banks have reported in the past five years. The majority of banks using ChexSystems will not open a new deposit account for a customer that has a negative item reported. In 1999, ChexSystems was successfully deemed a consumer reporting agency, and therefore, governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Consumers are now able to retrieve a free ChexSystems report annually, which allows them to dispute negative items and demand proof of the data contained in the report.” I, personally, have never ordered a report from ChexSystems.</p>
<p>I realize all of this is terribly nit-picky and requires a lot of forethought but, over time, it becomes second-nature. Those who have long credit histories like you, MiamiDAP, probably don’t need to stress over these things, but for young people – or people like me with short credit histories – it’s advisable to develop spending patterns that will pay off in the long run in the form of lower interest rates.</p>
<p>About less than a year ago, I exercised/sold immediately some stock options. The broker sent me the check which I deposited to the bank quickly. Two days later, I received another check (with the same amount of money) from the same broker. I reported this duplication of checks to both the broker (it is a very large broker) and the bank, and hold on to the the second check and waited to see what they (the broker and the bank) will do. The broker told me that they had two systems which could send out the check and they did not know why both systems send out the check.</p>
<p>A week or so later, the first check was cancelled by the broker/bank (treated as a bounced check I deposited. The bank did me a favor and waived the penalty as it knew it was not my mistake and likely I am a long term customer. This is also because I went to the bank to explain the situation to them beforehand.) After the trouble for the first check had been resolved, I deposited the second check.</p>
<p>The big, bad broker (in my eyes) even did not apologize to me for giving me this inconvenience. During our phone conversation, they said that if the money was sent out to me by mistake, after half a year or even a year, they could still get the money back directly from my bank’s account. It is as if these brokers have the same privilege as IRS, which could get money from your bank account when they think you owe them. I do not know whether the broker is bluffing or not.</p>
<p>I wonder whether this out-of-my-control event would lower my credit score.</p>
<p>Another interesting opinion one of the personal bankers from my bank told me at one time: In a sense, a person really could not totally “own” anything. If you have purchased a house and has paid off the mortgage, you still owe the property tax every year, which in some state (where the property tax rate is high) is still a significant amount. When you purchase a house, you also acquire the liability of paying the property tax.</p>
<p>mcat2,</p>
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<p>A simple bounced check is not an event that would normally be included on your Experian, Equifax or TransUnion report, hence it would not have an effect on your credit score. To my understanding, there is no way the incident of the bounced check would ever be reported to the big-three credit bureaus unless there was some kind of court action or collection agency involvement with a negative outcome demonstrating you had committed a financial impropriety, which you obviously did not do. Thus, I highly doubt this incident will impact you in any meaningful way. Just to be sure, you can always order your free annual reports from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Then, if you see any incorrect information whatsoever pertaining to this or any other event, you can file a dispute and have it corrected.</p>
<p>The bounced check may or may not have been reported to ChexSystems or another of the less well-known credit bureaus that deal solely with bank accounts. The way to find out if it was reported is to order your ChexSystems free annual report. If you see the issue presented as a negative mark against you, you have the right to contest it and/or to submit a written statement explaining the circumstances, which may or may not be made a permanent part of your ChexSystems reports. The other type of credit bureau does allow consumers to add written statements to their credit files, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if ChexSystems did, as well. </p>
<p>Only if you do not pay your property taxes and, as a result, have a lien placed on your home would a reference to these taxes appear on your credit reports. The same thing goes for contractors who don’t get paid for their services. If they sue you or refer you to collection for unpaid invoices, these actions can end up being reported in your big-three credit files. However, they are never reported right away, and you will be given multiple chances to make good on these payments before they eventually show up as black marks on your credit history. With taxes, just as with payments to telephone, gas and electric, and garbage companies, you never get recognized on your credit reports for good behavior, only for bad.</p>