How Do I Report Delinquency to a Credit Bureau?
Business owners and landlords often have cause to report delinquencies to the credit bureaus. If an individual or another business is delinquent in paying their invoice, bill, rent or lease, the only option business owners and landlords often have is taking legal recourse to obtain a judgment, which will in turn be made public record and then reported to the credit bureaus. But if the delinquency is not justifiable to pursue legal action, business owners and landlords may use other methods to report delinquencies.
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Instructions
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Pay a fee directly to the credit bureaus. This is the most direct way to report delinquency to a credit bureau. While each credit reporting agency has its own set of guidelines and schedule of fees to report directly, the general process is to pay the fee and submit the pertinent information to the credit bureau such as, but not limited to: the delinquent payee's full name, date of birth, Social Security number, current (or previous address) and the delinquency amount and time of delinquency, along with the business' name or landlord's name. There may also be a requirement to submit supporting documents (such as an invoice or lease). (See Resources 2, 3, 4)
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Hire a collection agency. Collection agencies are typically members of the three credit bureaus and have privileges to report legitimate delinquencies. Collection agencies will charge a percent of the amount owed for their services, but they will attempt to collect the debt(s) and have a streamlined process to report delinquency to the credit bureaus.
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Use a credit reporting company. Credit reporting companies specialize in not only reporting delinquencies, but they also provide support to businesses and landlords in all aspects of credit reporting (see Resources 1). While credit reporting companies will report delinquencies to all three credit bureaus, they will not assist in collecting the debts, as do collection agencies.
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Tips & Warnings
If your business has more than 500 delinquent accounts, it may qualify to join all three credit reporting agencies.
Knowingly reporting a delinquency that cannot be substantiated is against federal law.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit performance report image by Christopher Hall from Fotolia.com
