You might easily assume that companies not listed under those which check your credit must by default be listed with those that do NOT check your credit. And you would be correct. However, there exist multiple myths about who is checking and who is not checking your credit, and some that might even lead you to believe that you can build or rebuild your credit by using the services or products of businesses who do not actually check your credit. Let’s get this out there right here: if a business does not check your credit, then they will not report your activity either, which means it will neither help nor hurt your credit.
When it comes to businesses involved in lending you money or items, you should expect to pay much higher fees if they do not use your credit history as a basis for their services. These higher fees have much less to do with your income and everything to do with their inability to predict whether you will pay as agreed based upon your history of credit activities.
Businesses that do not check your credit and, consequently, will charge you extremely high fees for loans and contracts include payday lenders, automobile title lenders, vehicle equity lenders, pawn shops, rent-to-own companies and even many car dealerships, particularly those advertising ”buy here pay here” options.
Before using any such business, be doubly sure of the fees and interest rates they will charge you for the “convenience” of not checking your credit.
Is there a way of identifying specific businesses who have looked at your own credit report? There is.
Coming up in the next lesson, learn how to pull your own credit report and where to find the names of companies who have looked at your credit history in the past two years.
