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Credit Advice
Topics addressed on December 8, 2010:
Why both creditors appear on your report after a loan is sold
Dear Experian,
One creditor sold an account to another. Why are they both showing up on my credit report?
- DSH
Dear DSH,
It is important to remember that your credit report is a credit history. That history will include the sale or transfer of an account from one lender to another or from a lender to a collection agency.
When an account is sold or transferred, the original account will have a notation indicating it was closed or sold or transferred and, usually, to whom. The account may also have what is referred to as a “final status,” such as “charged off,” in the case of an unpaid debt.
The account entry for the new lender typically will show that it was purchased or transferred from another lender, and again, usually from whom. In the case of a charged off account, the debt would likely be transferred or sold to a collection agency.
By listing both the original account holder and the new debt owner, your credit report enables you and potential lenders to trace the history of the account from beginning to end.
Thanks for asking.
- The "Ask Experian" team