Most adults in the United States are familiar with Equifax, Trans Union and Experian. These are the "Big 3" credit bureaus in the United States. In the consumer law profession, we call credit bureaus "Credit Reporting Agencies", or CRAs for short, because that is the term used in the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Most people don't know that there are man more consumer reporting agencies other than the Big 3. One of them, Innovis, is trying to catch up to the Big 3, and I have heard the term "Big 4" to include Innovis.
Most of the alternate credit reporting agencies have a niche specialty, for example focusing on rent history as a tool for landlords to screen tenants. Rental bureaus in clude Tenant Data Services and Corelogic Saferent. Bureaus relating to acceptance of checks and screening for opening of bank accounts include Telecheck, Chexsystems and Certegy Credit Services.
Linked Here is a table of alternative credit bureaus at Wallethub.com. You should not consider this list to be exclusive though.
The most important thing to remember when dealing with special purpose credit bureaus is that, for the most part, they have to comply with all the laws and regulations concerning credit reporting that apply to the Big 3. This means that you should be entitled to a free annual report upon request, you need to be notified when data from the bureau is used to deny you credit or insurance, or if you are charged more because of the data. You have the right to dispute inaccurate information in your credit file, and the CRA has the duty to conduct a reasonable inquiry upon receiving a dispute.
You have special rights when it comes to reports used for employment screening ("investigative reports" under the FCRA). These rights include the right to be told in advance and in writing that an investigative report will be done, and to be notified of your rights to dispute the results of the investigative report. Prospective employers often violate these provisions. Sometimes landlords commission what is in fact an investigative report. In these cases special procedures must be followed as well.
Lately we have been investigating complaints from former auto dealers that information from a business database the "KO Book" has been used to screen them from jobs in the auto industry. Our working theory is that to use the business database in this way violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and perhaps the database publisher and the prospective employer are liable for misuse of the information. If you have been denied employment due to the KO Book, please contact me.
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