A person's credit history shows how they have handled their debt obligations and can be used by lenders, employers, landlords and others to help make an informed decision about a person. Lenders may decide not to offer a loan, or to charge a higher interest rate, for people who have a history of missing payments or defaulting on loans. Employers may decide not to offer a job to someone who has extreme amounts of debt for fear that proprietary information might be sold.

Basic Requirements

To check someone's credit history, you must have a legitimate business reason to pull the report. Legitimate business reasons include, among other considerations, applications for loans, jobs and rent. You must also have the person's written permission. To request a credit report, you will need the person's identifying information, including their Social Security number and last two addresses.

Where to Get a Credit History

The three major credit bureaus in the United States are Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. These three credit bureaus collect information from across the country to give you the best possible picture of how the person has handled their debts. If you are an employer, you need to make sure that you state your purpose when requesting a credit report because federal law forbids the credit bureau from including the person's credit score or birthday on the credit report that you receive.

Legal Obligations

If you decline a person's application because of information you find in the credit report, you must share with that person the information that caused you to decide against them even if the credit history is not the major factor in rejecting them. When rejecting them, you must give the person a copy of the credit report and a copy of the person's rights in regard to credit reports that is available from the credit bureau that you got the credit history from. This gives the applicant the opportunity to appeal the information in case the credit bureau made errors on the credit report.

Source:

Privacy Rights: Employment Background Checks

Federal Trade Commission: Using Consumer Reports: What Employers Need to Know

McNees Wallace & Nurick: Intentional, But Improper Credit Checks Could Lead to Problems

More Information:

Experian

TransUnion

Equifax