Myth: Credit Bureaus Make the Decisions

Fact: Wrong. Credit bureaus don't make any decisions regarding whether an individual is approved for or denied credit, employment, insurance, or any other goods or services. Potential creditors generally have multiple criteria that must be met before deciding to grant credit to an individual. Information contained in a credit report is usually just one of the factors upon which a creditor may base a decision. Many lenders also use a variety of predictive information to help determine an applicant's creditworthiness, such as household income, home ownership, and employment history. For example, if an applicant has met the lender's other criteria and the lender finds negative or questionable information in the credit report, the applicant may be asked to provide the lender a letter explaining the circumstances surrounding the negative information in the credit report. This is common during mortgage application processing.