Who Can Ask for Your Credit Report?

Credit reports contain private information including current and past loans, credit accounts and any potentially outstanding accounts. It is important to know who can access that information. The Fair Credit Reporting Act enforced by the Federal Trade Commission states who has legal right to access your credit besides you.

Insurance Companies

When purchasing insurance for home, renting, vehicles or life, the issuing company has the right to pull your credit to gauge your ability to pay the premiums.

Property Management

Landlords will often examine credit reports for any adult requesting to live on their property. The information they receive can affect security deposits, lease agreements and their ability to even rent an apartment or house.

Employers

When applying for a position or a promotion within a company, a credit report can be ordered. It is important to know that employers cannot order a report without your permission first.

Credit Card Companies

Credit card companies evaluate credit scores when issuing a card and typically when a payment has been missed. Your credit score will determine the interest rate of the credit line.

Banks and Credit Unions

Some financial institutions require a credit check before issuing a debit card tied to your checking account. In some cases, a credit report is secured when evaluating an individual's request to simply open an account.

Warning

Remember to watch your own credit, ensuring all information is correct. To order your free credit reports yearly, visit annualcreditreport.com.

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What Wage Does a Nursing Assistant Make?

Nursing assistants, sometimes also referred to as nursing aides, work alongside doctors and registered nurses to help with basic medical and lifestyle tasks such as bathing and feeding patients. The average wage that a nursing assistant makes, as cited by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, can differ depending on where she works or lives.

National Average

The 1,438,010 nursing assistants in the United States -- the bureau estimates that this will rise 19 percent by 2018 -- earn an annual average of $24,980. When broken into percentiles, a better image of the salary range for this occupation appears. Nursing assistants in the 25th percentile bring in just $20,490 on average. Meanwhile, assistants in the 90th percentile net $33,970 annually.

Employer Averages by Size

America's biggest employer of nursing assistants are nursing care facilities, more commonly known as nursing homes. In a nursing home, a nursing assistant can expect an average salary of $24,080. The second-, third- and fourth-largest employers are hospitals, community care facilities for the elderly, and home health services, with respective salaries of $26,540, $23,320 and $23,070.

Employer Averages by Wages

Oddly enough, the air transportation industry employs nursing assistants -- though just 40 out of over 1.4 million assistants. The industry's average wage for a nursing assistant of $41,720 makes it the highest-paying type of employer. The second-, third- and fourth-highest-paying employers of nursing assistants are scientific research companies, universities, and grant and donation companies. The respective annual salaries in each industry for nursing assistants are $35,000, $29,340 and $27,890.

States

The top three states with the greatest concentration of nursing assistants are North Dakota, Maine and Rhode Island. In each state, nursing assistants can expect average annual wages of $23,790, $23,980 and $29,040, respectively. Meanwhile, Alaska ranks as the top-paying state for assistants, doling out $32,390 a year. That's approximately $7,000 more a year than the national average. Nevada and New York rank second and third, with respective salaries of $30,970 and $30,850.

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What Happens if You Have a Student Loan and You Enter the Military?

Out of all groups of individuals repaying education debts, no group enjoys greater repayment benefits than the U.S. military. If you enter the military after completing your education, the military can help place you in a position within your chosen field of study while simultaneously repaying or forgiving your outstanding student loan debts. Your eligibility for loan forgiveness or repayment assistance services may vary depending on which military branch you choose.

Repayment Programs

Each military branch has a student loan repayment program that makes enlisting in the service more attractive for former students who carry considerable student loan debts. The amount you qualify for will vary depending on the military branch. The Army and Navy, for example, each repays up to $65,000 in student loan debt while the Air Force pays up to $10,000 in student loan debt.

Program Guidelines

Not every new recruit qualifies for the military's student loan repayment program. The requirements you must meet will vary depending on which branch of the military you enter. In general, however, the U.S. government requires that you have a high school diploma and no prior military service. Your enlistment contract must also specifically state that you are enrolled in the program.

The military loan repayment program lasts three years. If you meet the qualifications, your service branch will pay your lender either $1,500 or 33 1/3 percent of your total loan debt -- whichever is greater -- each of the three years.

Loan Forgiveness

If you enter the military after college yet do not qualify for the government's student loan repayment program, you may be eligible for loan forgiveness under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. The CCRAA provides loan forgiveness for individuals employed in public service and government jobs -- including military members.

Unlike the military's student loan repayment program, there is no cap on the amount of loan debt the CCRAA can forgive. You must, however, make your payments on time each month for 10 years before being eligible for loan forgiveness under the CCRAA. These provisions apply only to student loans issued by the U.S. Department of Education.

Defaulted Loans

Your student loans fall into default if you stop making payments. No branch of the U.S. military allows individuals to enlist if their student loans are in default. If you carry defaulted federal student loans, contact the U.S. Department of Education at 1-800-433-3243 and enroll in the student loan rehabilitation program. Provided you make the next nine payments on time, the U.S. Department of Education considers your account "rehabilitated" and you are free to enlist in the military. The requirements for rehabilitating a defaulted private loan will vary by lender.

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Can a Civil Judgment Be Removed From a Credit Report?

If you are the defendant in a lawsuit and lose the case, the court will grant a civil judgment to the plaintiff. Judgments are typically the result of lawsuits over unpaid debts. The judgment not only grants the plaintiff the right to use more aggressive methods when collecting the debt, it also appears on your credit report.

Time Frame

Civil judgments are severely derogatory public records that have an adverse effect on your credit score. Fortunately, they don't remain a part of your credit history indefinitely. The Fair Credit Reporting Act notes that the credit reporting agencies must remove a civil judgment from your credit report in seven years or when the statute of limitations for debt collection expires in your state -- whichever time period is longer.

Considerations

According to the New York Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project website, if you have grounds to contest a civil judgment's validity, such as improper notification of the original case against you, you can file a motion with the court to have the judgment overturned or "vacated." If you succeed, mailing notification of the court's decision to the credit reporting agencies will result in the derogatory entry being erased from your credit record.

Misconceptions

Many consumers mistakenly believe that, once they pay off their judgments, the credit reporting agencies will delete all evidence of the judgments from their credit reports. Unfortunately, this is not the case. A civil judgment will remain a part of your credit history for the full length of time permitted by law -- regardless of its payment status. Once you pay off the debt, however, your creditor will update your credit report to reflect that you've satisfied the civil judgment.

Features

The record of your judgment was provided to the credit reporting agencies by the court that rendered the decision -- not by the creditor who filed the lawsuit. Because of this, your creditor does not have the power to remove the judgment from your record. It can, however, file a claim with the court to dismiss the judgment. The judgment won't disappear from your credit file, but the court's entry will reflect that the original judgment against you was dismissed. This looks much better to creditors and lenders reviewing your credit history than an outstanding or paid judgment.

Prevention/Solution

A civil judgment record should list the court that issued the judgment, the amount you owe, the case number and the name of your creditor. If any of this information is incorrect, the FCRA gives you the right to dispute the entry with the credit reporting agencies.

After you file a dispute, the credit reporting agency will attempt to verify the information with the court. If the court fails to respond within the 30 days permitted by law, the credit reporting agency must delete the judgment from your credit history.

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How to Get Out of Default on School Loans

Not repaying your school loans places your debt into "default" status. According to the National Consumer Law Center, federal student loans fall into default after you miss nine months of payments. Private student loans, however, can fall into default if you miss a single monthly payment. The process for getting out of default on your student loans differs depending on whether your loans are private or federal. If you leave your loans in default, you could face severe consequences such as wage garnishment, a poor credit rating and losing your annual tax refund.

Instructions

Private Student Loans

1

Review your original loan contract. Sometimes private student loan contracts contain information regarding how borrowers can redeem a defaulted private loan.

2

Contact your lender. Explain your missed payments and ask about your options for restoring your student's loans standing. Your lender can inform your how many payments you must make before it revokes your loan's defaulted status.

3

Negotiate a monthly payment plan with your lender that you can afford but that also allows you to catch up on your loan payments and any additional fees you incurred by making payments late.

4

Make the required amount of on-time payments. Contact your lender after you satisfy the requirements for restoring your loan's status to ensure that your loan is no longer in default.

Federal Student Loans

5

Contact the U.S. Department of Education at (800) 433-3243. Give the representative your name, Social Security number and account number. Notify the representative that you want to rehabilitate your defaulted federal student loan.

6

Negotiate a payment plan with the U.S. Department of Education, which may alter your monthly loan payments, within reason, to make them more affordable and help you catch up on your loan payments.

7

Submit your payments on time for nine months. After nine months, your federal student loan will no longer be in default and the U.S. Department of Education will update your credit reports to reflect the loan's status as "current."

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How to Repair Credit Charge-Offs

A charge-off is a negative entry on your credit report, indicating that you defaulted on a credit agreement. After about six months of missed payments, creditors typically will close your account and list it internally as a write-off for tax purposes. You remain responsible for the debt, and the charge-off is listed on your credit report. Charge-offs hurt your credit score and can make it difficult to be approved for new credit. The Federal Trade Commission reports that charge-offs will remain on your credit report for seven years, and cannot be removed sooner unless the information is wrong. The only remedy is to pay the charged-off debt and move on.

Instructions

1

Order a free copy of your credit report and score from Annual Credit Report . According to the Federal Trade Commission, the website is the only site authorized by the U.S. government to offer free reports under the terms of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. You're entitled to three free credit reports every 12 months -- one from each of the major credit bureaus.

2

Review your credit report to find accounts that have been listed as charged-off.

3

Call the creditors or debt collectors for the charged-off accounts. Find their names and contact information listed on your credit report with the charge-off. Make arrangements to pay the balance due in full through a lump-sum or installments. Or offer to pay less than the full balance through a process called debt settlement. The SmartMoney website reports that creditors and debt collectors will sometimes settle for 20 to 75 percent of the balance.

4

Get the terms of any agreement in writing. The terms should include the amount you have agreed to pay, due dates and a stipulation that your credit report be updated to show the charge-off as a "paid charge-off."

5

Order a new copy of your credit report about 60 days after you complete payment of the charge-off. Confirm that your credit report was properly updated.

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Does Debt Get Passed Down to Heirs?

When you die, your loved ones assume ownership and responsibility for your assets and possessions. Debts you owe are not an asset but a liability. Provided your loved ones never signed a contract agreeing to pay the original creditor, they are not liable for your debts and cannot directly inherit them. Your creditors, however, can still pursue payment from the estate you leave behind.

Inheriting Secured Assets

Any creditor that holds a security interest in an asset can repossess that asset should timely payments stop arriving--even if the owner of the asset dies. An heir that accepts ownership of an asset must also assume the payments lest he lose the asset to the secured creditor. For example, if you inherit and accept a home that carries a mortgage, you must obtain a new mortgage or assume the existing mortgage to prevent foreclosure.

Heirs can avert making payments on inherited items by forfeiting their right to the inheritance. The executor of the will then offer ownership of the asset to the next heir in line to receive it. Heirs are not forced to take on their deceased loved one's financial obligations involuntarily.

Reduced Inheritance

A probate court handles the distribution of the deceased's estate. Unsecured creditors lack the right to seize any of the deceased's assets when payments cease and must file payment requests with the probate court.

Depending on your state of residence, payments to unsecured creditors could take precedence over family allowances--reducing the inheritance heirs receive from the deceased's estate. In this case, heirs aren't directly responsible for payment but pay the debt indirectly through a reduced inheritance.

Joint Debt Liability

When two people share joint liability for a debt, such as a joint credit card account, and one of them dies, full liability for payment falls to the surviving individual--regardless of whether that individual is an heir to the deceased's estate.

Both account holders on a joint debt are legally liable for 100 percent of the debt. Thus, liability for payment is not "passed down." Because joint account holders are often married or closely related, however, the surviving account holder's responsibility for paying the full amount owed may appear to be debt inheritance when, in fact, his liability never changed.

Collection Activity

Although a deceased individual's family members do not inherit her debts upon her death, creditors may still sell these debts to collection agencies that demand payment from the deceased's loved ones. Informing a consumer that he is legally liable for someone else's debts is prohibited under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)--but that does not stop collection agencies from using the practice to frighten misinformed heirs into making payments.

No matter what a debt collector tells you, it cannot transfer a deceased family member's debt into your name, insert the account on your credit report or sue you for payment. If a collection agency representative threatens to do so, you have the right to sue the company for violating the FDCPA.

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