CoreLogic, a company that already works with lenders to consolidate credit reports from the three reporting bureaus, is developing a new credit report and score. The company believes its information, culled from public sources and proprietary databases, could give lenders, employers, and any other company that wants to evaluate an individual’s risk, a more accurate picture of that individual. This new credit report will go far beyond reports from Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.
In addition to the traditional information already available on typical credit reports, the new CoreLogic “CoreScore” report includes:
- Rent payment history, with missed payments being negative.
- Payday loan applications and payment history.
- Evictions, with any record being negative.
- Child support or other court judgments, with any record being negative.
- Property lax liens.
- The value of real estate property owned.
- Home ownership fee payment history.
CoreLogic claims that it can receive new information about a transaction or inquiry within 23 days, two months faster than the other credit bureaus. The company’s databases already have 1 billion consumer transaction records covering 99.9 percent of the United States population.
Like the credit reports from Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, most information on the CoreLogic report will remain for seven years.
How to obtain a copy of the report
The new report is already available to lenders, but it won’t be available for free through AnnualCreditReport.com for another year, and the score calculation will not be available until March, after CoreLogic works with FICO to develop the formula. Consumers will be able to challenge any item on the report that is inaccurate, and considering the source for some information is publicly available information, I expect a high rate of inaccuracy.
Until the new report is available online, you’ll need to order the report directly if you’d like to review the information for any errors to dispute.
To order a CoreLogic “CoreScore” report, call 877-532-8778 or mail CoreLogic Credco, LLC, P.O. Box 509124, San Diego, CA 92150. You’ll need to include proof of your identity, proof of your address, your first, middle, and last name, Social Security number, current and previous addresses, and date of birth.
The effect of this new report on consumers
As a result of this new report, individuals who currently have a clean credit report but owe more on their home than its market value, even if they pay their mortgage on time every month, could now have this information provided to prospective lenders who will likely interpret this as negative. People who were not considered a risk without the CoreLogic report could now be unable to qualify for the best mortgage interest rates.
Having more information and a potential for a wider variety of blemishes, lenders will be more inclined to offer higher interest rates on loans or deny credit entirely. As these records focus on problems that affect poor individuals, like evictions, payday loans, and child support, it reduces even further access to credit for society’s neediest.
There’s also a possibility for marks to remain on the report that could be interpreted as negative despite legitimate circumstances. Renters have rights, and in some cases, can refuse to pay rent due to actions by the landlord. Nevertheless, lenders will likely see missed rent payments as a sign of risk. Since the missed payments are not inaccurate, the information can’t be disputed. You may be able to attach a comment to the report, but the new score that will be calculated based on the information will likely be affected negatively regardless of the comment.
What do you think of the new CoreLogic credit report and score? Is it a further invasion of consumer privacy or a better way for lenders to assess consumer risk?
New York Times, CoreLogic [pdf]
Updated June 20, 2014 and originally published December 7, 2011.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
This is terrific! The banks lend to people who can’t afford a home. People default on their loans. Result is lower home values across the board, with many who COULD afford their homes now owing more than their home is worth, through no fault of their own. Now we have CoreLogic telling the banks that those who acted responsibly in the first place are a greater credit risk. Simply terrific. Or is it terrifying?
This is terrible! Another reason that I am staying away from credit. The logic behind the upside down homeowners is just ridiculous. Let’s say someone bought a house they could afford, built up equity and are now upside down because of the drop in home values. Now they get penalized because of this new score?
Nobody said CoreLogic is penalizing homeowners who are upside down. That was something Flexo pointed out could be done with the data, *theoretically*.
It will be intersting to see if that does happen. The “value” of the house is itself a tricky number to calculate in any automated way.
Yeah, because the banks would never use available information for evil.
With services out there like Zillow, which assigns a value to just about every house, either based on public tax assessments, public sales records, current real estate listings, or in other cases, invented estimates, this data isn’t hard to find, though it could be wildly inaccurate. It’s yet another item for you to dispute on a report. Since Zillow contains no personal information in these records, it could have no problems with selling access to the data to an organization like CoreLogic. That’s just an example… I don’t know specifically the source of the data.
Zillow is a joke. However do they come up with prices that fluctuate weekly or monthly?
This information is already available. This new report is just consolidating info. Nothing bad with that. I just hope their scoring algorithm shows a larger variation for users so there is a more standardized distribution curve of scores.
Hmmm…sounds like just another thing Big Brother can keep tabs on.
My thoughts, exactly. Another organized effort to keep tabs on all of us.
Access to cheap credit is already impacted by this whole meltdown… For example, I bought a house in 2004 @189K. My neighbor sold their house last year @95K…. Despite the fact that I’ve paid an additional $30k on top of monthly mortgage payments… I can’t refi my house into cheaper rates or refi it at all. In fact, if I were less fortunate, I’d be at risk of loosing my house despite managing the monthly payments within my budget. We had a 10 yr balloon on the 20% of the loan and that’s going to come due with no means to finance it because my house won’t have any equity in it. We’ve sunk $30k of what was our emergency funds into it knowing we won’t be able to finance our way out of this mess… I can get all kinds of cheap credit cards but I can’t get cheap money.
And now… my wife is suffering from Bi-Polar disorder has lost her income and we don’t have the emergency funds to float us until she’s up to going back to work…
I can’t tap cheap home equity to float us, if needed, just really expensive loans despite being someone who’s managed fairly well over the last few years. This whole meltdown and healthcare situation is burden that weighs on my mind daily. Despite getting promoted, my benefits have been cut, my incentive pay has eroded and I’m doing more for less for a fortune 50 company.
I’m getting by but not ahead.
There are many people in similar situations, MC. It can be a very stressful situation. I hope your wife gets the treatment she needs and your situation improves. Thanks for sharing.
I am sorry to hear of your wife’s health issues. I know how difficult this situation can be. However, I would wonder why you would get a mortgage with a balloon payment? It just doesn’t make fiscal sense to me. For anyone, at any time. I wnat you to know I’m not being snarky. Just wondering what your thought process was.
I didn’t think we were going to be in the home for more than five years. Also, due to our own ignorance and short sightedness. Obviously when there is no recent history of houses dropping in value, let alone 50%… Being in this place for ten years didn’t seem likely as we saw this as a starter home. So far as being an informed consumer, I’m don’t recall that part of the loan. It was just two years ago I was revisiting the terms of the loan when the 20% loan became apparent. I guess I was a sucker.
MC, I don;t think there is a person on this earth who hasn’t been a sucker at one time or another. What’s done is done. I think we learn as we go. The banker should have informed you of a balloon payment. I sincerely hope you find a solution to this problem. God be with you.
2nd mortgage is paid!