The Credit Report You Don't Know About
For many years, there were three national credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Add a fourth to the list: Innovis Data Solutions.
Unlike the Big Three credit bureaus, Innovis doesn't sell consumers' credit histories to lenders, insurers and potential employers. Innovis specializes in helping creditors compile mailing lists. Adverse information on your Innovis credit report, accurate or not, could prevent you from getting favorable credit offers in the mail. Whether you think that's a good thing or bad thing is up to you.
Innovis became a major player at the beginning of 2001, when mortgage financing titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began requiring their mortgage servicers to report borrowers' payment history. Fannie Mae requires servicers to notify Innovis of delinquencies and foreclosures; Freddie Mac requires servicers to tell Innovis about every borrower's payment status, current or late.
The federal government reports to Innovis about individuals who are late with debt payments to the feds.
Innovis offers two products to creditors. FailSafe is a data base containing names of consumers who are late or who have been late on debt payments.
The other product, called New Movers, is a monthly list of people who have reported a change of address. If you received a torrent of unsolicited commercial mail after your most recent move, it is because of lists such as New Movers.
If you ask consumer advocates and privacy experts what they know about Innovis, they would tell you that they have heard of it and are curious about the company, but don't know much about it. Innovis is an affiliate of CBC Companies, a closely held business based in Columbus, Ohio, that operates a network of local credit bureaus, runs a nationwide collection agency, and screens employees for other businesses.
The Consumer Data Industry Association, the Washington-based lobbying arm for the credit bureau industry, refers to "four reporting systems" and "the four national repositories." But on the organization's Web page that tells consumers where to write to get their credit reports, it lists only Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Innovis is absent.
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Unlike the Big Three credit bureaus, Innovis doesn't sell consumers' credit histories to lenders, insurers and potential employers. Innovis specializes in helping creditors compile mailing lists. Adverse information on your Innovis credit report, accurate or not, could prevent you from getting favorable credit offers in the mail. Whether you think that's a good thing or bad thing is up to you.
Innovis became a major player at the beginning of 2001, when mortgage financing titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began requiring their mortgage servicers to report borrowers' payment history. Fannie Mae requires servicers to notify Innovis of delinquencies and foreclosures; Freddie Mac requires servicers to tell Innovis about every borrower's payment status, current or late.
The federal government reports to Innovis about individuals who are late with debt payments to the feds.
Innovis offers two products to creditors. FailSafe is a data base containing names of consumers who are late or who have been late on debt payments.
The other product, called New Movers, is a monthly list of people who have reported a change of address. If you received a torrent of unsolicited commercial mail after your most recent move, it is because of lists such as New Movers.
If you ask consumer advocates and privacy experts what they know about Innovis, they would tell you that they have heard of it and are curious about the company, but don't know much about it. Innovis is an affiliate of CBC Companies, a closely held business based in Columbus, Ohio, that operates a network of local credit bureaus, runs a nationwide collection agency, and screens employees for other businesses.
The Consumer Data Industry Association, the Washington-based lobbying arm for the credit bureau industry, refers to "four reporting systems" and "the four national repositories." But on the organization's Web page that tells consumers where to write to get their credit reports, it lists only Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Innovis is absent.
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posted by Bob Moser at
3:43 PM
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