How to Check Someone’s Credit: The ultimate guide to the top agencies specializing in consumer reports and tips for monitoring your own credit report.
Checking someone’s credit is a key step of many various finances and business operations, including approving loans, rental agreements, and recruiting employees. By reviewing an individual credit’s history, you can assess their financial reliability and trustworthiness. Therefore, when you rent a property, approve a loan, or hire employees without checking their credit history, you may find yourself in serious trouble in the future.
To avoid potential scams, checking someone’s credit should always be your top priority. Well if you do not know how to check someone’s credit or how can you run a credit check on someone without their permission? Then we are here to help – a clear guide. In this article, we will walk you through the steps to get it done correctly and legally.
Can I Run A Credit Check On Someone
The short answer is yes, you can, and here are the two different ways to proceed
Hard Inquiry
There are various situations where you might want to scrutinize their credit history; whether you are lending a large sum of money, taking on new employees at work, or renting out property. This requires a hard inquiry—but remember, you can not do this without their written consent. Without it, accessing their credit history will be treated as an illegal act.
Soft Inquiry
A Soft Inquiry is a relatively informal document, used to gather information rather than make an official credit score assessment. This would mean you are allowed to view their credit if they apply for a pre-approval or one of your affinity offers. Additionally, This type of inquiry does not affect your credit score.
How To Check Someone’s Credit Without Them Knowing
Before any choices are made in finance & business, checking someone’s credit history is a step that can not be avoided. But is it permissible to check someone’s credit history without their knowledge? Remember, only lenders and landlords can pull someone’s credit data for a permissible purpose. Alternatively, you will need to have their written permission.
You still may be wondering, “How to check someone’s credit without them knowing?” If you need detailed information about the person, you can’t access it without their permission. However, if you only want to review their credit to access their payment history (like if they pay things off in time), you can perform a soft inquiry method without obtaining their permission.
What Do You Need To Run A Credit Check
A Credit check is a Process, used By third parties such as insurance companies, utility companies, mortgage providers, and even potential employers to check on what financial history you have. This helps them understand how well you manage your finances and decide whether to offer you an exclusive proposal, loan, new credit card, rental apartment, or other opportunities.
So, what do you need to run a credit check? Here is what you need to know
- An individual’s written consent (in case you want detailed information)
- Full Name ( Ensure the correct spellings)
- Date of Birth
- Social Security Number
- Address Details
- Reason for the Credit Check
- Select a reputable Bureau ( Such as Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian)
- Legal compliance
- A fee for consumer reporting companies to perform credit checks
How Many Companies Offer Credit Reports?
There are three nationwide consumer reporting companies—Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian—that provides you consumer reports containing information about payment history ( such as how much balance you currently have in your account and how much you have used), identity verification, eviction information, rental payment history, employment verification, and criminal background. This information helps landlords, lenders, and others determine whether to consider you for their services. These three agencies offer credit reports for free during a one-month trial.
The free-trial will end after a month, so you must sign up for a paid plan afterwards. If you do not cancel during the trial period, they will start deducting approximately $24 to $30 monthly from your account to continue providing detailed credit check information.
How Do I Know Who Checked My Credit Reports?
There is a section available in your credit reports where you will be notified who has visited your credit and when. Regularly monitoring your credit can help you know who is checking on you or if someone is trying to get information about your credit checks without your permission. Moreover, it will prevent fraudsters and scammers from opening any bogus account. For more information on who is authorized to review your credit history and how to check someone’s credit is provided above.
