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Information on Creditors Reporting to Credit Bureaus

Mark Cappel
UpdatedApr 30, 2009

How does an individual who financed a mortgage report to the credit bureaus?

How does an owner financed mortgage that went through a closing and is actually being financed by a person; be reported to the Credit Bureau? Do they have to legally?

Creditors are not legally required to report information to credit reporting agencies. The only requirements made by law are that those creditors which choose to report customer account information report accurate data, and that their reporting be done in a fair and consistent manner for all customers. For example, a creditor cannot report information for only half of its account holders, if all of the customers have the same type of account. Most lenders choose to report information to the credit bureaus to reward consumers who pay their accounts in a responsible manner. The negative credit consequences of falling behind on a debt can also serve as s strong incentive for consumers to pay their debts in a timely manner. In addition, creditors utilize credit reports in their underwriting process, so participating in the credit reporting system, and making as much information about consumers available, is an important business practice.

Unlike larger creditors, many smaller banks and individual lenders choose to not report account information to the credit reporting agencies, simply because the time and cost of reporting the information can be prohibitive given the small number of accounts such lenders may be handling. In addition, many individual lenders may not know how to report payment history and account information to the credit bureaus. Because your mortgage was privately financed, it is not surprising that your loan is not being reported. You will likely need to focus on building other positive trade lines if you are trying to improve your credit score.

You can learn more about credit, credit reports, and credit scoring by visiting the Bills.com Credit Resources page at http://www.bills.com/credit/. I wish you the best of luck, and hope that the information I have provided helps you Find. Learn. Save.

Best,

Bill

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