2.6 Credit Data

2.6 Credit Data

Access to credit information in the United States is regulated by the Fair Credit Act. These reports are matched most commonly by Social Security numbers or a combination of addresses and are broken down into these main sections.

1. The identification section contains the individual name, date of birth, current and previous addresses, and employer information, when available. This section of a credit report is available to anyone because it does not contain any credit information, and each of the three national bureaus bundle and sell these "short" reports for such applications as skip-tracing.

2. The grantor section contains information on account balances and monthly payment amounts. For every grantor listed in the report, there is also detailed information regarding the credit payment history for at least one year. A credit report will also display all inquiries that have been made by grantors; generally, the more inquiries, the higher the credit risk assigned to an individual.

3. The last section of a credit report contains detailed information for contacting all of the grantors listed in an individual's report. Investigators attempting to locate an individual or his or her assets can use this third-party contact information.