What Does NR Mean on a Credit Report?

Most credit reporting agencies are moving toward using plain English on reports, but some still use a "secret" code for shorthand notation. If you find an "NR" on your report, this can never really hurt you but it could cost you valuable missing positive information. Often, you can just wait for an "NR" status to resolve itself, but you may need to get lenders involved to receive some kind of status.

Identification

"NR" means that the credit bureau received no information on the account for that month. This almost always results from a lender not reporting information to the bureau about that billing cycle. Alternatively, it could just be a place holder for months in which the account was not active, according to Next Advisor.

Effects

If you have good payment history, an "NR" on an account means you miss out on an item that could boost your score. Alternatively, the lender may be doing you a favor by neglecting to report information to the credit bureaus that could damage your credit. Sometimes, when you fall behind on a payment for a month or two, the lender may forgo informing the credit agency and instead let you catch up on payments.

Considerations

Lenders usually update accounts every month. When you see an "NR," it may just mean that lender is taking a little longer than usual to report the status of your account or the credit agency may still be processing that information. If the lender has reported information about your account in the past, you probably just need to wait a month before new data appear.

Tips

Contact your lender if it does not update your account. When a lender "forgets" to update an account with bad information, it is best to accept this kind gesture in silence. You should not, however, rely on lenders failing to report late payments to protect your credit. When you become chronically late on your bills, the lender may get fed up and report this negative item to the credit bureaus.