As you may know, Equifax and TransUnion are the two main credit reporting agencies in Canada. They collect all the data on your loans, lines of credit and credit cards to create your credit report and calculate your credit score. This information is then used by lenders — including mortgage lenders to determine whether you’re a good credit risk.
What you may not know is that recently, both credit reporting agencies started including cellphone accounts in their credit reports. This means that if you make a cellphone payment after the due date, it appears on your credit report and reflects negatively on your borrowing profile. Even worse, if you allow your cellphone account to go delinquent and it’s sent to a collection agency, not only does this appear on your report, it also can reduce your credit score. Mortgage lenders use this information to make underwriting decisions. Therefore, having a negative record with your cellphone provider can actually impact your likelihood of being approved for a mortgage and increase the interest rate you’ll pay.
If you’ve recently walked away from a cellphone contract, it’s a good idea to get the company to put in writing that the contract has been fulfilled and is now closed. This can help prevent any damage to your credit rating.
For more information on how to improve your credit rating, call us today!