Can I Run a Credit Check on Someone Else?

Consumer credit reports can be purchased from the individual credit bureaus, but you can’t run a credit check on someone without having a legitimate business reason. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a Federal law that says credit bureaus can’t sell someone else’s credit report to you unless you have a "permissible purpose." This includes:

• A court order grants a copy of the credit report
• The person’s written permission to obtain their credit report
• Employment purposes (written consent is required)
• To use the information in a credit transaction or collection account
• To underwrite insurance
• To grant a government license that requires financial responsibility
• A business need to use the credit report in a transaction the consumer initiated

If you check someone’s credit without having their permission, you’ve violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act. You could face criminal and civil charges and could be punished with jail sentence or fine or both.

Before you do a customer credit check or check anyone else’s credit, make sure you have a legitimate business reason and get their written permission to check their credit report. Once you have both, contact the credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – to learn how you can purchase an individual’s credit report.