Can somebody else lower your Credit Score?

Can somebody else lower your Credit Score?

If somebody asks you this question your abrupt reply will be "How can somebody else lower my Credit Rating or Score!". But hold your breath. It is possible that despite the fact that you have never defaulted in payment of bank loans or in making timely payments of your credit card bills, your poor credit score or rating may surprise you and your bankers. I am receiving numerous complaints against CIBIL and other credit rating agencies. When I thoroughly investigated their CIBIL reports, it was found that somebody else was responsible for lowering their credit score and they were ignorant about the real culprits who were spoiling their credit reputation worldwide. 

How to find and locate such Culprits? 

Such culprits are none other than your close relatives, friends and even family members who might have used your good credit reputation to cheat the lending institutions. 

To find and locate such culprits just you need to critically examine your own Credit Report and in the reported accounts just look for those accounts where ownership type is either Joint or Guarantor.

Use the "Know your Lender Name and Loan Account Number" to get the loan account details of those accounts where your ownership is shown as Joint or Guarantor. One you have access to the loan account number and the name of the lending banker, approach the lending banker to provide the details of the account by showing your Credit Report. The lending banker will provide you with the following information:

• Either you are a co-borrower in the loan account 
• Or loan has been granted at your specific Guarantee Bond

In both the situations i.e. as co-borrower or guarantor you have full right to obtain the following documents from the lending banker:

• Statement of Account in default.
• Check the Loan Agreements that you have actually signed the loan agreements as co-borrower.
• Check the Guarantee Bond executed by you if the lending banker informs you that you have stood as Guarantor in the loan account reported in CIBIL report.
• In case the Bank is not able to produce either loan agreement or guarantee bond than do not forget to obtain written undertaking from the Bank officials that you are nothing to do with the said loan account.

Try to recollect the names of the loan account holders, who will definitely be either your close relatives or friends and even family members who might have used your good credit reputation to cheat the lending institutions. At the time of obtaining the loan or credit facilities they might have requested you many times and now it is your turn to request such close relatives, friends and even family members to regularize or close their loan accounts. It will take more than 60 days time even after regularisation and closure of such accounts that such accounts are taken off your Credit Report. In future, think 101 times to become co-borrower or Guarantor of such persons who might spoil your credit reputation and you may get debarred from taking any loan or credit card from lending institutions.

In addition to the above culprits who can lower your credit score without your knowledge, your can also be a victim of recycled or reissued mobile numbers. If you have got issue a brand new SIM from your mobile service provider and you are receiving unnecessary SMSes purportedly meant for the user who might have used this mobile number earlier then you can land yourself in big problem. While getting issued the fresh SIM and Mobile Number ask your service provider to given and undertaking that it is not a recycled or reissued mobile number.

Last word of caution! Get such loan accounts fully adjusted and closed without any waiver from the lending institution as in case their is any waiver the status of the account will become "Settled Account" and the account will remain for ever in your Credit Report. It is very cumbersome procedure to approach the bank again for depositing the waiver amount as the bankers get the waived amount deposited immediately but never update the status of the account with CIBIL due to technical reasons.

Still strugling with your CIBIL Credit Report? Meet our CIBIL Consultant to get rid of any CIBIL related issue.