What Is a Credit Check and What Does It Show?
A credit check is a request by a business or organization to review your credit report, usually with your permission. The report shows account history, balances, payment records, and public records such as bankruptcies. Credit checks do not always include a credit score; the score is calculated separately.
This guide is general educational information for U.S. readers. It is not financial advice and does not describe your individual credit file. Figures such as score ranges and timeline estimates are typical examples, not promises.
Key takeaways
- A credit check is a review of a credit report, not a numeric score by itself.
- Lenders, landlords, insurers, and employers may each request a different type of credit check.
- Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a consumer can request a free credit report from each nationwide agency every 12 months, and the three agencies currently provide free reports weekly through AnnualCreditReport.com.
- Hard inquiries typically remain on a credit report for 2 years.
- Most credit scores, including FICO and VantageScore, use a range of 300 to 850.
- The three nationwide credit reporting agencies are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
A credit check is a request to look at a consumer's credit report, the file a credit reporting agency keeps about that person's borrowing and repayment history. A credit check is an action — someone reviewing the file — while a credit score is a separate number calculated from the information the file contains. Businesses use credit checks to confirm identity and to see how a person has handled credit accounts over time.
Credit check meaning in everyday use
Everyday use of the term is broad. It covers the lender that opens a credit report before deciding on a loan application, the landlord that screens a rental applicant, the insurer that reviews a report before issuing a policy in states that allow it, and the employer that reviews a report for certain positions. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes how these reports are used and who may request them.
What these situations share is that a third party asks a credit reporting agency for information from a consumer's file. The agency supplies data; the requesting business applies its own standards. A credit reporting agency does not approve or deny applications and does not decide who receives a loan, an apartment, or a job.
What does a credit check show?
The three nationwide credit reporting agencies are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Each builds a file from information furnished by creditors and from public records. The sections below describe what a typical report contains.
| Report section | What it typically contains |
|---|---|
| Identifying information | Name, current and former addresses, date of birth, and Social Security number, used to match records to the correct file |
| Account history | Creditor name, account type, date opened, credit limit or original loan amount, current balance, scheduled payment, and payment status |
| Inquiries | Requests for the report, labeled as hard or soft, with the requester's name and the date of the request |
| Public records and collections | Bankruptcy filings and other public record items, along with accounts reported as placed for collection |
| Consumer statements | A statement a consumer asks to be added, such as a dispute explanation or a note tied to a fraud alert |
Because each agency maintains its own file, the same credit check can produce slightly different results depending on which agency is asked. A creditor may report an account to one agency, to all three, or to none.
Hard credit checks and soft credit checks
Credit checks are grouped by purpose. The grouping determines whether other businesses can see that the check happened.
- Hard credit check (hard inquiry). A request made when a consumer applies for new credit, such as a mortgage, auto loan, credit card, or student loan. Hard inquiries typically remain on a credit report for 2 years.
- Soft credit check (soft inquiry). A request made for a review rather than an application. Examples include a consumer requesting their own report, a creditor reviewing an existing account, prescreened offer lists, and some employment or tenant screenings.
Hard inquiries appear to other creditors who later review the file. Soft inquiries do not appear to them.
Who is allowed to request a credit check
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA, 15 U.S.C. section 1681) limits when a credit reporting agency may release a report. Permissible purposes include:
- Evaluating an application for credit
- Reviewing an existing credit account
- Screening a rental application
- Underwriting insurance in states that permit credit-based insurance decisions
- Employment screening for certain positions, with written consent
- Setting up utility, telephone, or similar accounts
- A consumer's own request for their file
The full statutory text is available at 15 U.S.C. section 1681, which lists the permissible purposes in detail.
What a credit check does not show
A credit report is narrower than many people expect.
- Income, salary, and employment earnings are not part of the file.
- Bank account balances, investment accounts, and other assets are not included.
- A credit score is not included unless the requester orders one separately.
- Characteristics such as race, religion, national origin, and marital status are not reported.
- Most criminal court records are not part of a nationwide credit file.
This is why a lender often asks for pay stubs or bank statements in addition to running a credit check.
Credit check vs. credit score
A credit check looks at the file. A credit score is a number calculated from that file by a scoring model, and it is designed to summarize the information for a lender. Most credit scores, including FICO and VantageScore, use a range of 300 to 850.
FICO publishes approximate weights for the factors it considers:
| FICO factor | Approximate weight |
|---|---|
| Payment history | 35% |
| Amounts owed | 30% |
| Length of credit history | 15% |
| New credit | 10% |
| Credit mix | 10% |
VantageScore uses its own factor weighting and does not publish fixed percentages. Scores are calculated differently across models and across the three agencies, which is one reason a consumer may see more than one number. More detail on the calculations appears in how credit scores are calculated, FICO vs. VantageScore, and credit score ranges explained.
Inquiries, new credit, and how the calculation works
Hard inquiries are recorded in the new credit portion of a FICO calculation, which carries an approximate weight of 10%. A single inquiry is one input among several in that category, alongside recently opened accounts and the time since the most recent account was opened. Payment history at 35% and amounts owed at 30% carry more weight in the calculation.
The amounts-owed category is often described in terms of credit utilization, the relationship between balances and limits on revolving accounts. That topic is covered in credit utilization explained, and the age of accounts is covered in length of credit history explained. Payment records, the largest single factor, are described in payment history and credit scores.
Credit checks and consumer rights under the FCRA
The FCRA was enacted in 1970 and amended by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act in 2003. It gives consumers specific rights connected to credit checks and the files behind them.
- A free credit report from each nationwide agency every 12 months; the three agencies currently provide free reports weekly through AnnualCreditReport.com.
- A dispute filed with a credit reporting agency generally must be investigated within 30 days. That period can extend to 45 days if the consumer provides additional information during the initial 30-day period.
- Most negative information, including late payments, stays on a credit report for 7 years. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy stays for 10 years, and a Chapter 13 bankruptcy stays for 7 years.
- An initial fraud alert lasts 1 year, and an extended fraud alert lasts 7 years.
- A security freeze is free to place, temporarily lift, or remove under federal law.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created by the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 and began operating in 2011. It oversees the consumer finance market and publishes material on credit reporting and the rights attached to it.
When a credit check happens without the consumer's knowledge
A credit check that a consumer did not initiate can indicate that someone applied for credit using that person's information. Under the FCRA, section 605A covers fraud alerts (15 U.S.C. section 1681c-1) and section 605B covers blocking information that resulted from identity theft (15 U.S.C. section 1681c-2).
Identity theft can be reported at IdentityTheft.gov and to the IRS using Form 14039. Related pages on this site include identity theft, credit freeze, credit lock, and credit monitoring.
How credit checks fit into the broader credit system
The Federal Reserve publishes consumer credit statistics, and its G.19 release reports total outstanding consumer credit, which provides context for the volume of borrowing that the reports behind credit checks describe. The individual file remains the unit that lenders, landlords, and others review.
More background is available at credit reports, credit score, and credit profile, and the topic overview sits at credit checks.
This page is for education only and is not financial advice.
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Frequently asked questions
What is a credit check in simple terms?
A credit check is a request by a business or organization to review a consumer's credit report. The report is a file kept by a credit reporting agency that lists credit accounts, balances, payment records, inquiries, and certain public records. The credit check itself is the act of reviewing that file.
Do credit checks affect credit scores?
It depends on the type. A hard inquiry is recorded on the report and falls within the new credit category of a FICO calculation, which carries an approximate weight of 10%. A soft inquiry is used for reviews rather than applications and is not shared with other businesses the way a hard inquiry is.
What does a credit check show that a credit score does not?
A report shows account-level detail: creditor names, account types, dates opened, limits or original loan amounts, balances, payment status, inquiries, and public record items such as bankruptcies. A credit score is a single number calculated from that information by a scoring model.
How long do hard inquiries stay on a credit report?
Hard inquiries typically remain on a credit report for 2 years. Other items follow different schedules: most negative information, including late payments, stays for 7 years; a Chapter 7 bankruptcy stays for 10 years; and a Chapter 13 bankruptcy stays for 7 years.
Can an employer run a credit check?
The FCRA lists employment purposes among the permissible purposes for which a credit reporting agency may release a report, and employment screening of this kind generally requires written consent from the applicant. The employer receives the report but not a credit score.
How often can a consumer get a free credit report?
Under the FCRA, a consumer has the right to a free credit report from each nationwide agency every 12 months. The three agencies currently provide free reports weekly through AnnualCreditReport.com.
Related guides
- How Credit Scores Are Calculated
- Credit Score Ranges Explained
- Fico Vs Vantagescore
- Credit Utilization Explained
- Payment History And Credit Scores
- Length Of Credit History Explained