How Can You Put a Loan on a Credit Report?

It's possible to add loan information to a credit report, but it may take some effort to convince credit bureaus to do so. It's worth the effort if you have a good payment history on a loan that doesn't appear in your credit file. In that case, adding the loan to your file could help you get other loan and credit accounts.

Process

According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), consumers can ask the national credit reporting bureaus to add favorable loan and credit information to their credit files. The major national credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. People who are trying to improve their credit ratings could benefit from getting positive account information added to their files, but credit bureaus aren't obligated to make such additions. You likely will need to pay a fee to any bureau that agrees to add the information to your file.

Documentation

The Nolo law information website suggests sending copies of canceled checks, a loan contract and other documents to the three national credit bureaus to show you made on-time payments on a loan. The documentation helps the bureaus verify whether it's a legitimate loan. The lender also might be willing to write a letter attesting to your good payment history. For instance, some people finance their houses through private owners instead of through banks. In such cases, the original property owners may be willing to help you get the loan added to your credit history if you made your payments to them on time.

Fair Credit Reporting

The three national bureaus don't promote adding loan information to credit files on their websites. Contact their customer service departments to determine the fees they charge to add the information. Experian and the other companies provide information on why some accounts don't appear in consumers' credit files. The Experian website states the U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act doesn't require businesses to report account activity to all three national credit-reporting companies. Therefore, businesses may report to one or two of the bureaus or none at all. According to Nolo, you can still include your loan information on a credit or loan application even if you can't convince the credit bureaus to add the loan information to your credit file.

Considerations

You may have several credit and loan accounts that don't appear in your credit file. According to the FTC, some local retailers and credit unions don't report consumers' account activity to credit bureaus. Gasoline credit accounts and accounts with travel and entertainment companies also may not appear in consumers' credit files.