When a person takes out a loan or accrues debt, this information is often added to his credit report. A credit report is a dossier compiled by credit bureaus or credit reporting agencies and includes information used to determine credit ratings. A person cannot remove his credit report from a credit bureau -- it is the bureau's property -- but he does have certain related rights.
Credit Reports
A credit report includes a variety of information related to a consumer's debt. The report will include all current and many past debts, as well as information about whether the person paid the debts back. The credit bureaus use formulas that process this information into a credit score. Credit bureaus consider these reports their property and the formulas used to determine credit scores to be proprietary information.
Credit Scores
A person will have a valid interest in the contents of his credit report, as this report affects his credit score. A person's credit score is often used by lenders to determine whether they will lend to the individual and, if so, at what rate of interest. The higher a person's credit score, the less the person can expect to pay in interest payments on loans.
Removal
A consumer may wish to remove his credit report from a credit bureau, particularly if he has a bad score. However, credit bureaus are under no obligation to remove a credit report from their files. Individuals have no legal right to demand that a credit bureau change information about them or make their report unavailable to parties who have a legitimate business interest in viewing it.
Rights
While a person cannot compel a credit bureau to remove his report, he can choose to view it once a year for free. In addition, negative information about the person must be removed from the report after seven years and cannot count against the person's score. The only exception is a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which can remain on a credit report for up to 10 years.
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