Only organizations with a legitimate business purpose can check your credit report. Usually, this involves getting your permission before they can look at your information, but not always. The main organizations looking at your credit report might include:
- Potential home, auto, personal, private student loan, and even some business loan creditors
- Property management companies
- Potential employers during the application and hiring processes
- Almost all auto insurance companies
- Utilities and cell phone service providers
Some of the less common situations where an organization will look at your credit might involve:
- financial planners if you want to trade on the margin through their brokerage
- private schools for your children
- providers of elective medical procedures
- some government agencies including some courts as well as agencies involved with child support and other familial obligations
If you didn’t hear a description of someone you are worried might be viewing your credit, check out our next lesson to find out definitively who is NOT looking at your credit.
