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From: ark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig)
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: Re: By the Way, How To Find Out about My Credit Rating -so to speak-
Message-ID: <5007@alice.uUCp>
Date: Fri, 21-Feb-86 08:28:35 EST
Article-I.D.: alice.5007
Posted: Fri Feb 21 08:28:35 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 24-Feb-86 06:20:42 EST
References: <262@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU>
Organization: Bell Labs, Murray Hill
Lines: 25

> You can ask your local credit bureau to show you your record.  They cannot
> refuse, although they can charge you a fee.  They are required to investigate
> any items you contest and cannot publicize those items while being investigated.
> Also, a way to see this is to be turned down for credit ... after that they
> must show it to you for free.

Two warnings:

	1. If you ask to see a copy of your file, you will discover that
	   the last item on it is probably "asked to see copy of file."
	   How this affects institutions to whom you may subsequently
	   apply for credit is anybody's guess, but I recall a newspaper
	   story that mentioned a court case that decided that a landlord
	   had the right to refuse to rent apartments to attorneys on
	   the grounds that they would be more likely to cause trouble
	   for him than tenants in other professions.

	2. If you are turned down for credit and therefore ask for a
	   freebie, you will find that the last two items will be
	   "turned down for credit" and "asked to see copy of file."
	   This, of course, is only a problem if they wouldn't have known
	   you had been turned down otherwise.  Of course, the only way
	   to find out if they would have known is to avoid telling them
	   and see if it's there anyway.  But if you avoid telling them,
	   you've got to pay to see the file.