Can an Account Go on a Credit Report Without Notification?

Credit reports contain some demographic information and work history, but the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco explains that the bulk of the information focuses on your credit accounts. The Experian, Equifax and TransUnion credit bureaus have records of all your accounts and credit-related activity for the past seven to 10 years.

Credit Report Compilation

The credit bureaus do not notify you when they add accounts to your credit reports, and they are not required to check your files for mistakes or possible fraudulent activity. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website advises that you have a legal right to see what is on your reports every year. Experian, Equifax and TransUnion jointly run the annualcreditreport.com site, which gives you no-cost copies of your files every 12 months upon your request. You can compare your reports each year to see what data has been added and which former accounts have disappeared.

Accuracy

Dayana Yochim, a Motley Fool financial website writer, warns that about 80 percent of credit reports have mistakes, with incorrectly reported payment delinquencies being the most frequent. Your accounts may also show errors such as the wrong balance, credit limit or opening date. You may even have former accounts on your files that are past their reporting time frame, which the FTC explains is seven to 10 years, or accounts that belong to a different person with a similar name.

Disputes

You should monitor your credit reports diligently, because you are not notified when accounts are added. The FTC explains that the credit bureaus are legally bound to investigate mistakes when you find them and make a dispute. The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives them a month to investigate and fix the issue, and it also requires them to notify you of any changes made in response to your complaints. You get new no-cost credit reports that reflect the corrections and deletions.

Warning

Although Experian, Equifax and TransUnion do not notify you when they add accounts to your files, debt collectors may tell you they will make an entry on your reports if you do not pay a certain bill. Beware of "zombie" debt collectors who buy former debts that are "dead" because they are outside the statute of limitations. You cannot be sued for these debts, and they are not supposed to be added to your credit reports. The NOLO legal reference website warns that unscrupulous collectors threaten to add them anyway, and sometimes follow through by lying to the credit bureaus about the account date. This tactic is illegal, and you can dispute such accounts with the bureaus if you find them on your reports.