When Your Credit Report is Missing Information

When you’re checking your credit report, one of the things to watch for is that all your information is complete and accurate. But, if you notice an account missing from your credit report, you could be concerned, especially if it’s an account with a positive payment. These are a few explanations for why an account could be missing from your credit report and what you can do about it.

The account is new and the creditor hasn’t started reporting it to the credit bureaus. Give it a few more weeks, then check your credit report to see if the account shows up yet. Otherwise, you can call to see if the creditor plans to report the account. Businesses aren’t required to report your account to the credit bureaus. When they do, they must make sure they’re reporting accurate and complete information.

If the account is inactive, the creditor may not sending updates about the account. In that case, the account will show up on your credit report, but the last updated date will be some date in the past. Inactive accounts may not be included in your credit score, depending on the account status.

It’s not a credit account. Some of the bills you pay every month don’t count as credit accounts, at least not for credit reporting purposes. For example, rent, cable, utilities, insurance, and cell phone service typically are not included on your credit report. Your on time payments won’t help your credit score, but late payments won’t hurt either.

The creditor is reporting to another credit bureau. Some businesses report to all three credit bureaus and others only report to one or two the credit bureaus. It’s based on that company’s credit reporting operations. Most major credit card issuers and lenders report to all three credit bureaus. So if an account isn’t showing on one of your credit reports, there’s a good chance it’s on another.

Some businesses do not report authorized user accounts to the credit bureaus. The account will show up for the primary account holder, but not for the authorized user. This is important to watch out for if you want to use an authorized user account to boost your credit score.

There could be some mistakes with credit reporting. If you have an older credit card or loan that’s not listed on any of your three major credit reports, contact the creditor to find out. First, confirm that the business reports to a credit bureau. Then explain that the account isn’t showing on any of your credit reports. The creditor will be able to look into the issue and get your credit reporting sorted out.