is it legal for a credit union to loan money and not have to report it to a credit bureau?

Question

I just got my credit report and found that my car loan and a revolving loan that i have through a local credit union aren't on there. I went in and asked about it and they said that they don't currently report but may in the future. My issue is that it is all the positive credit i have going for me at the moment. Is it legal for them to not report? Do I have any options on what else to do? I think i still owe too much money on my car to be able to refinance somewhere else. anyones help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

The credit reporting system is voluntary on the part of lenders. They do not have to participate by reporting any of your loans.

Since a credit union is a members organization, you may want to talk to board members, or see if you can get a petition started to request that they start reporting to the credit bureaus.

Answer 2

My credit Union does the same thing. They will pull a report to lend you money but they don't report good payback to the credit bureaus. They do report the bad though. Their reasoning is to keep costs down. We were paid 5.86% on a regular passbook savings account. Pretty good. If you explain your situation they might make an exception. My Credit Union will. It's not illegal though.

Answer 3

Contact the credit reporting agencies and ask them why it's not showing on your report, ask them to investigate after giving the name of your credit union and other pertinant fact about your loan(s). As far as I'm concerned, the fact that they are not showing, especially as a plus, on your credit report is kind of shady. Let the reporting agencies handle it for you.
Good luck.

Answer 4

There is no obligation on the part of ANYONE to report transactions to one or all of the three credit reporting bureaus. It is a voluntary practice for everyone.