Who can access my credit report?

There are two situations under which a company or individual can access your credit report. 1) You authorize a business or individual to obtain a credit report. 2) A business or individual may inform you that they are going to review your report. Federal and provincial laws are very specific about this. Any person or business asking for a copy of your credit report must provide a legitimate business reason for doing so.

Applying for a mortgage is a legitimate business reason to obtain your report. The lender needs to evaluate the risk involved in lending money to you. Other valid reasons for asking for a credit report include other requests to extend credit, attempts to collect a debt, applying to rent an apartment, home or office, applying for a job, or purchasing insurance.

You need to expect to that one of the forms that you will sign during the loan application is a written consent authorizing the lender to check your credit report. If you eventually sign a mortgage with the lender, you can expect the paperwork to authorize the lender to continue checking your credit report on a monthly basis. In most cases, your lender will report to the credit bureau, adding information to your credit report at regular intervals.

Typical credit report authorizations include your name, date of birth, current address, last previous address (if one is available), and your SIN. This ensures that the credit reporting agency used by the lender provides the correct information.

The request is noted in your credit file as an inquiry. This is useful for two reasons. It lets the potential lender know how often you have applied for credit and it lets you know when a credit request has been made. This can be important for catching identity theft.

All information in your credit report is factual. Interpreting the facts is subjective. This means that one lender may determine that you are a good risk, while another may decide you aren’t worthy of a loan. There is nothing personal in these evaluations. Every lender looks for different qualities. The credit report is one way lenders try to protect themselves from mortgages that end up in foreclosure.