Credit glossary
Public record
Information drawn from government records on a credit report; today mainly bankruptcies, since the bureaus dropped civil judgments and tax liens.
Credit reports used to carry civil judgments and tax liens alongside bankruptcies. The CFPB says that under the National Consumer Assistance Plan, all civil judgments and almost half of tax liens came off reports in July 2017, and by April 2018 no tax liens remained. Bankruptcies still appear, with the chapter shown when the source provides it, for up to 10 years.
Foreclosures and repossessions aren't separate public records; they're reported on the loan accounts themselves. Court records still exist outside your credit report, and tenant screening companies may draw on eviction filings and other court records. If a public record on your report isn't yours, or a discharged bankruptcy is misreported, dispute it with the bureau.
Guides that go deeper
- Rebuilding credit after bankruptcy: the first 24 monthsWhat your report should look like after a bankruptcy discharge, which accounts to open first, which offers to ignore, and how long the record really stays.
- How to read your credit report, line by line and field by fieldWhat each section and field on an Equifax, Experian or TransUnion report means, which dates matter most, and how to tell normal entries from real errors.
- Credit scores and renting: what landlords see and how to get approvedMany landlords buy a tenant screening report that goes beyond your credit score. What it contains, who sells it, and how deposits and guarantors work.
Sources
- New retrospective on removing public records, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- 15 U.S.C. 1681c: Requirements relating to information contained in consumer reports, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- What is a tenant screening report?, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
This is education, not legal or financial advice. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it.