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How do I run credit reports on prospective customers?*
I operate a small business. We are getting into a new market of residential customers and I would like to be able to run credit reports on potential customers. How do I do it?
We sell a consumer product that generally gets financing, however, with the residential customers, we are going to finance them in-house.
Answers:
1) First see if it is legal.
2) You are allowed to screen customers with their permission. There are several websites that provide you with screening tools to evaluate the credit worthiness of your customer. These tools screen all three credit reports, criminal records, evictions, and more! The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has specific rules and regulations: If you're a landlord, you may use consumer reports to evaluate rental applications - as long as you follow the provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FCRA is designed to protect the privacy of consumer report information and to guarantee that the information supplied by consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) is as accurate as possible. The FCRA requires landlords who deny a lease based on information in the applicant's consumer report to provide the applicant with an "adverse action notice." Check the list of websites that provide services as I've described.
3) creditreport.undonet.com - try this service. I use it to monitor my credit. As I know, they have such a service.
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