FAQ Articles (2024)

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) specifies who can see your Equifax credit report. Businesses must have a "permissible purpose," as defined in the FCRA, to obtain your credit report.

Otherwise, only you and those you give written permission to can access your credit report. Your neighbors, friends, co-workers or family members cannot access your Equifax credit report unless you authorize it. Some examples of those who can access your credit report are:

• Credit grantors, when you apply for credit
• Collection agencies, when they need it to collect a debt
• Insurance companies, to underwrite insurance
• Employers, but only with your permission

Section 604 of the FCRA (Permissible Purposes) sets forth the purposes that permit a business or other person to gain access to your credit report. Equifax discloses a credit report only to a person who has a permissible purpose to receive that credit report. The permissible purposes include:

• A court order or Federal grand jury subpoena
• In accordance with written instructions from a consumer to whom the file relates
• As part of a credit transaction involving the consumer
• To review and collect the consumer's account
• For employment purposes (only with the consumer's written consent)
• Underwriting of insurance for personal, family or household purposes
• Government agencies for determination of consumer's eligibility for a license or other governmental benefit
• In connection with a valuation of, or an assessment of the credit or prepayment risks associated with, an existing credit obligation
• In connection with a legitimate business need relating to a business transaction initiated by the consumer.
• To review an account to determine whether the consumer continues to meet the terms of the account