When can the government access your credit report?

The government has broad access to your credit report, but rarely does.

Local, state and federal governments have broad rights to access your credit report and in some cases, put things on it.  However, you might be surprised how few times the government actually looks at your credit report.  They mainly use it to aid in verifying your identity when you apply for a government service or job, which is entirely in your control.  It is also used by the courts to post judgments, including small claims cases, but these are infrequent as well.

The Internal Revenue Service can access your credit report in asset searches or to report notices of tax liens.  Contrary to popular belief this is also infrequent and only when they conduct an investigation.

Law enforcement has instant access to your credit report to aid in their investigations.  The U.S. PATRIOT Act, as modified in 2003, under section 126 expands the Department of Home Land Security, Federal Bureau of Investigations and other law enforcement agencies ability to obtain your credit report by simply certifying they will use it “in connection with their duties to enforce federal law”.  Note the use of the word “federal”.  States have their own rules to access your credit report as well.  Section 126 does not require any investigation be related to terrorism or a violent criminal offense.  There is also no notice of law enforcements access to your credit reports that are permitted under 15 USC §1681b(a)(1).  This means you will not get a credit monitoring alert and your credit score will not be affected.

Other ways government agencies can use your credit report is to judge your credit and verify identity for such things as student loans and loan guarantee programs as well as ways to verify your information if you apply for governmental assistance programs, such as disaster relief, welfare or Medicaid.

State and local governments generally use your credit report for criminal investigations, warrants, court judgments, small claims, bankruptcy, collections for child support, and your employment.

How can SmartCredit.com help?

Not all judgments and liens, especially from the Internal Revenue Service, are accurate.  Smart Credit has both identity protection and credit monitoring to keep you informed.  Be proactive about your credit report; make sure it is the best it should be before you apply for a government service or job.

Smart Credit not only includes all your credit scores, but includes our exclusive Jean Chatzky Score Builder App, which is a personalized 120 day plan to better credit, for the credit-challenged or those going from good to great credit.

Use Smart Credit’s innovative credit report and click on action buttons to talk directly with your creditors to get better interest rates, or to ask your creditor anything.  No need for phone calls, writing letters or looking up account numbers.  You can fix credit report errors, get goodwill corrections, recover from identity theft, replace a lost or stolen credit card or settle a debt all directly with your creditors.  It’s fast and effective!

David B. Coulter – Founder and C.E.O. of SmartCredit.com

Categorised in: Credit Monitoring, Credit Report, Credit Score, General, Government, Internal Revenue Service, Money & Identity

This post was written by David B. Coulter