From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Adverse credit history, also called sub-prime credit history, non-status credit history, impaired credit history, poor credit history, and bad credit history, is a negative credit rating.

A negative credit rating is often considered undesirable to lenders and other extenders of credit for the purposes of loaning money or capital.

A consumer or business' credit history is regularly tracked by credit rating agencies. The data reported by these agencies is primarily provided to them by creditors and includes detailed records of the relationship a person or business has with the lender. Detailed account information, including payment history, credit limits, high and low balances, and any aggressive actions taken to recover overdue debts, are all reported regularly (usually monthly). This information can be quite detailed and arduous to navigate by a potential lender dealing with a new applicant. To address this issue, credit scoring was invented.^{[citation needed]}

All credit bureaus also offer a supplemental service called credit scoring. Credit scoring is the process of using a proprietary mathematical algorithm to create a numerical value that alleges to be a total picture of an applicants creditworthiness. Scores, based on numbers from 350-850 are alleged to statistically analyze a credit history, in comparison to other debtors, and gauge the likelihood of the magntitude of financial risk. Since lending money to a person or company is a risk, credit scoring offers a standardized way for lenders to assess that risk rapidly and "without prejudice."^{[citation needed]}

Credit scores allege to assess the likelihood that a borrower will repay a loan or other credit obligation. The higher the score, the better the credit history and the higher the probability that the loan will be repaid on time; this theory purports. When creditors report an excessive number of late payments, or trouble with collecting payments, a "hit" on the score is suffered. Similarly, when adverse judgements and collection agency activity are reported, even bigger "hits" on this score are suffered. Repeated hits can lower the score and trigger what is called a negative credit rating or adverse credit history.

The information in a credit report is sold by credit agencies to organizations that are considering whether to offer credit to individuals or companies. It is also available to other entities with a "permissible purpose." The consequences of a negative credit rating is typically a reduction in the likelihood that a lender will approve an application for credit under favorable terms or at all. Interest rates on loans are often based on credit history in an almost backwards-intuitive way—the higher the credit rating, the lower the interest while the lower the credit rating, the higher the interest.

In the United States, in certain cases, insurance, housing and even employment can also be denied based on a negative credit rating. Laws to protect consumers are in place however, to regulate this behavior.

Interestingly enough, it is not the credit reporting agencies that decide whether a credit history is "adverse." It is the individual lender or creditor which makes that decision. Each lender has its own policy on what scores fall within their guidelines. The specific scores that fall within a lender's guidelines is most often NOT disclosed to the applicant due to its nature as a trade secret. In the United States, a creditor is required to give a reason for denying credit to an applicant immediately and must also provide the name and address of the credit reporting agency who provided data that was used to make the decision.

• Equifax
• Experian
• Fair Credit Reporting Act
• Office of Fair Trading
• TransUnion
• Credit card
• Credit rating agency
• Credit reference agency
• Credit score
• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
• Identity theft
• Credit history
• Remortgage

• Federal Trade Commission
• Office of Fair Trading
• Credit Cards for people with adverse credit history/credit re builder card.