You can’t control which credit reporting agency your creditors use, but you can take a few vital steps to ensure your credit report uses comprehensive credit reporting (CCR). As this video explains, credit reporting agencies that practice CCR provide more informative credit reports that provide a higher level of information than typical. In Australia, CCR has become the normal level of reporting, but the U.
S. has yet to implement it.
A traditional credit report notes negative information only. Each person begins with a base score and adds or loses points based on activity. A late or missed payment incurs a point deduction, while six months in a row of timely payments incurs added points.
CCR adds to those practices by noting positive information about a person’s financial history.
For example, a credit reporting agency that uses CCR includes items like homeownership and employment information, especially if the creditee has held a job with the same employer for many years. This type of information reflects the financial stability of a person. Creditors sometimes consider extraneous information contained on a credit report. For this reason, U.S. credit reporting agencies let consumers add notes to their credit files that explain late or missed payments or note information, such as homeownership.
