Credit Report - Employers subject to 7 year limit?

[expatCanuck]

I'm wondering whether one can require a credit agency to remove a listed employer (or, for that matter, an address) if it's more than 7 years old.

Sample real-life impact: my background is being investigated for security clearance.  An investigator wanted to know why I didn't include an employer listed by a credit agency.  My answer: the form asked for a 7-year history; the employer in the credit report was from '99-'00. 

Not big deal, but a nuisance, and one that I don't think I should have to deal with.

Thoughts?

[RobertEG]

No.

The FCRA exclusion provisions, detailed under FCRA 605(a), apply to the exclusion by a CRA of adverse items of information from credit reports they provide to others, and not the exclusion of personal consumer information, such as former employers, that is accurate and not clearly adverse by its nature, although undersirable on the part of the consumer.

More specifically, the FCRA identifies four types of common adverse items of information in subsections 605(a)(1) - 605(a)(4) that are subject to exclusion, and then provides a catch-all subsection 605(a)(5) that applies to "any other adverse item of information" in your credit file.

If former employers were to be subject to exclusion, they would fall under subsection 605(a)(5), but must be considered an "adverse item of information."

There is no relevant interpretation in any case law of which I am aware that a former employer comprises and adverse item of information, and thus no basis for exclusion of that information from your credit report at any set time, such as the 7 year period that is set forth in subsection 605(a)(5).

You can make an informal request to the CRA that they remove that information, but it would be totally voluntary on their part.

They may balk at removal of accurate information simply because you want it removed.

Their primary customers are businesses and creditors who want to review consumer history by pulling their credit reports, and completeness of that history is usually their overriding consideration, and not the desires of individual consumers.

[expatCanuck]

Oh.

Well, that sucks.

Thanks, Robert.

[rbentley]

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@expatCanuck wrote:

Oh.

Well, that sucks.

Thanks, Robert.

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Don't give up so quickly.  Go ahead and dispute the information if you think it is not valid.  You must have a good faith basis for disputing the information.  I just had "self" removed from all 3 of my reports because my last 10 years of employment has been with an employer and I had not credit which was based on self-employment.  Go ahead and try.  You have nothing to lose.

[UncleB]

While they might not be required to do so, in practice I've never had a problem getting them removed in the past... YMMV.

At this time, I don't have any employers showing on my credit bureau reports, or phone numbers either for that matter.

Addresses seem to be a bit hit-or-miss, though, especially with EX... I think they show all of mine going back to the early 90s, which is quite a list since I moved a lot in my 20s. 

[Anonymous]

I too have never had any difficulty getting Personal Information removed.

The removal of old address can be complicated by the fact that existing creditors have to get fixed first -- you need to make sure that all of them are reporting with your most recent address or your report or your report gets reinfected. with the address that was removed.

And of course you should never request the removal of your current or last address: the CRAs like having two addresses on you when possible.

CRAs may vary on their responsiveness as Uncle says as well.

[expatCanuck]

I've had addresses removed (not *that* difficult). Corrections, at least for me, have proven far more difficult. In my experience, folks working at CRAs don't seem able to comprehend that an apartment number is an important element of one's address. < smh >

[HeavenOhio]

@expatCanuck, you need to find the creditor or creditors that are reporting the incorrect address and get them to include your apartment number. Once you do that, it should show up on your report.