Credit Reporting Agency

Credit reporting agency is a common term for an entity that federal law defines as a consumer reporting agency. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a consumer reporting agency is any person or entity that regularly engages in assembling or evaluating consumer credit information for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties. The three largest nationwide consumer reporting agencies in the United States are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. These companies collect data from creditors, public records, and other sources, and they sell consumer reports to lenders, landlords, employers, and insurers when the requesting party has a permissible purpose under the FCRA. The term is often used interchangeably with credit bureau, though not every credit reporting agency is a nationwide bureau. Some agencies specialize in specific types of information, such as rental payment history, medical payment records, or employment history; these are sometimes called nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies. Credit reporting agencies do not make lending decisions. They are also distinct from data furnishers, which are the creditors and other institutions that supply information to them. The FCRA gives consumers rights regarding the information in their files, including the right to dispute inaccurate information and to obtain a free file disclosure from each nationwide agency once every twelve months.