Is it unlawful to provide truthful but negative credit information
about a customer in response to a credit inquiry?
Answer: No. It is not
against the law to provide factual, historical information. Companies
tend to get into trouble when they offer opinions, or when they comment
on planned future actionsŠ Example - We plan to place this account
for collection next week. Incidentally, offering an opinion could be
as simple as responding to a request from a third party to "rate" an
account. The question typically asks:
"Please rate this account: Excellent ___Good ____ Fair ____ Poor
____." Sections seeking subjective ratings should be left blank.
If the vendor contacts you asking that you "complete" the
credit reference request, simply indicate that your company policy permits
you to provide only factual, historical information. I usually add, editorially,
that the only company I know that provides or offers ratings on customers
is Dun and Bradstreet® . |
