Credit Reporting Codes and its uses

Credit Bureaus in the States, under legal terms are known as Consumer Reporting Agencies. The credit history in the United States is held by three separate profit organizations that work nationally and possess no government association. The names of these multinational organizations are known as
1. Experian
2. Equifax
3. TransUnion
4. Others that alternatively work as consumer reporting agencies only nationally are PRBC, Innovis Data Services, etc

Such companies form a credit report for an individual and every time the individual applies for a loan, the lenders take a look at his credit report from at least two of the above mentioned companies. These reports include something known as Credit reporting codes that are commonly used. The reports from either companies varies as it is a voluntarily system and the lenders can tie up with any credit agency they see best. An individual can view his own credit report at www.annualcreditreport.com or ask for it at the credit bureau. Maxine Sweet the VP of consumer education at Experian emphasizes that the report should be taken from here instead of at the bank through a friend or some influence. Those reports are designed for the creditors.

The credit reporting codes help to decide the outcome of your application and are quite easy to understand, however these are not the only deciding factors. The creditors are supposed to give reason for declining the loan to the applicant. The codes used are almost similar to most of the credit bureaus over the country. The credit reporting codes used to describe the account condition are:

CURR ACCT Status of the A/c is good and payments are timely

CUR WAS
30-2 Payments were late twice by 30 days

PAID Balance cleared and status of A/c is inactive

CHARGOFF Balance payments are left and the creditor is assigned it as a loss and not trying to get a reimbursement.

COLLECT
A/c is assigned to recovery since it has past due dates.

FORECLOS
Property was foreclosed

BKLIQREQ
Debt forgiven through chapter 7, 11, or 13

DELINQ 60
A/c is due since sixty days

INACTIVE
A/c in inactive

CLOSED
A/c is closed

A monthly credit report for twenty five months by credit bureaus is given with the following codes:

C Current
N Current account/zero balance-no update tape received
0 Current account/zero balance-reported on update tape
1 30 days past the due date
2 60 days past the due date
3 90 days past the due date
4 120 days past the due date
5 150 days past the due date
6 180 days past the due date
7 Bankruptcy Chapter 13 (Petitioned, Discharged, Reaffirmation of Debt Rescinded)
8 Derogatory, e.g. foreclosure proceeding, deed in lieu
9 Bankruptcy Chapter 7, 11, or 12 (Petitioned, Discharged, Reaffirmation of Debt Rescinded)
G Collection
H Foreclosure
J Voluntary Surrender
K Repossession
L Charge Off
B Account Condition changed, payment code not applicable
- No payment history that month

Sources:
1. http://www.coastalcredit.com/html/creditreporting.html
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_reference_agency
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_report
4. http://javascript.about.com/library/blccard.htm