lawyer

Last week Johan sent an e-mail to the almost 60 people on his mailing list, including me, giving us what sounded like useful advice.

Anyone can get one free credit check each year to see whether you are blacklisted . So far so good.

Then, in a different typeface and colour, indicating that it was added by someone else, if not Johan, was the following: This is particularly good for people who want to check out prospective clients/tenants etc .

Er, no, that s not how it works, which is just as well, because apart from the fraudulent invasion of privacy, there s a good chance that any negative listings on that record shouldn t be there (see below).

Yes, you are entitled to one free credit check a year of your own profile, not someone else s.

So what s to stop a person laying their hands on someone s else s ID number that of a prospective tenant, for example and pretending to be them in order to check out their creditworthiness? Quite a lot, as it turns out.

When a consumer requests his credit report for the first time, there is an authentication process, requiring the consumer to respond correctly to a series of questions posed to them on information contained in their credit report, said Dee Lawler of credit bureau Transunion.

Should they pass the authentication process, they are granted access to their credit report through a delivery channel of their choosing.

Should the consumer fail authentication, they would then be required to submit Fica documentation and a separate process is followed in order to authenticate and confirm their identity.

And what if you re a business and you want to have access to credit bureau information?

We have very strict criteria for companies which apply to become subscribers because they work in the field of credit or managing risk, Lawler said.

But landlords who aren t credit bureau subscribers and want to avoid being stuck with a tenant who turns into a non-paying squatter can ask prospective tenants to request their own personal credit report, and give them a copy.

Of course, they are entitled to refuse to do this, just as the landlord is entitled to refuse to rent the flat or home to them.

Bottom line despite what that e-mail says, you can t contact a credit bureau with a person s ID number and expect to be given their credit report.

It s incorrect to assume that anybody can use this service to enquire on somebody else s credit history for whatever purpose, and any attempt to do so would be considered fraud, Lawler said.

Take charge of your own credit record

Phone a credit bureau and ask for a copy of your credit record. The National Credit Act entitles you to one free credit report a year. If you want another report within the same year, you will be asked to pay an admin fee of about R20.

Here s some excellent motivation: according to credit bureau TransUnion, of those consumers who challenge their impaired credit status, 70 percent end up with that adverse listing being removed.

But less than one percent of consumers check their credit report annually, despite the free offer and the fact that they are likely to have unjustified blacklistings on their record.

* Contact details of three major credit bureaus: TransUnion: www.mytransunion.co.za. 0861 886 466