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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!akgua!sdcsvax!sdccsu3!ee171bbi
From: ee171bbi@sdccsu3.UUCP (ee171bbi)
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: Credit and the Social Security Number (SSN)
Message-ID: <1823@sdccsu3.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 12-May-84 11:40:38 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdccsu3.1823
Posted: Sat May 12 11:40:38 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 13-May-84 08:30:25 EDT
Organization: U.C. San Diego, Computer Center
Lines: 25

Having worked for a credit reporting/researching company, I can tell you
all from direct experience the following:

1.  If a creditor is willing to investigate your credit even though you
refuse to give your SSN, your credit record can be accessed by your
address, last name, and the first few letters of your first name.
If a credit file matching these keys exists (This may match your
father's name, of course), it will contain a social security number.
The creditor will note this number for his records.

2.  If, on the other hand, you just moved to your present address, it is
extremely unlikely that a file will be found at all.  The credit records
are not matched to name alone.  Either an address or a valid SSN is
mandatory.

3.  The SSN is preferred to the address because it matches your file to
all of your previous credit in the reporting region,  listing credit
long-forgotten at all of your previous addresses for the last seven
years.  If this credit is good, it is to your advantage to supply the
creditor with your correct SSN.

4.  Oil companies and Am. Exp. do not generally report credit unless it
is bad.

I hope that this little review will help somebody out there.